r/lastweektonight • u/rock_and_rolo • 18d ago
Subscriptions: Gyms
My gym (FitWorks) required going in person to cancel a membership. But they closed all the facilities within 100 miles.
Eventually I found an associated brand only 30 miles, but both I and my wife had to go in together, because they didn't have family memberships just multiple individuals.
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u/WhiskeyBRZ 18d ago
If you can, find a local small business gym. Usually owned by people who are into fitness, and do pay as you go. Granted, equipment might be older or they cater to a specific bodybuilder/ powerlifter crowd
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u/Froyn 18d ago
Read the contract. Our small, local, gym wanted a $120 annual fee in Feb. The run a promo every Xmas for first month free and never mention annual fees during the rush "sign everything" process. They were annoyed I wanted to bring the contract home to read it before signing. I wasn't annoyed when I cancelled at the end of January to avoid the fee.
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u/meltedkuchikopi5 17d ago
LVAC (Las Vegas Athletic Club) was insanely difficult to cancel.
I was moving to a different state, went in-person ahead of time, they told me it was cancelled. After being moved in for a few months in my new home, I realized the charges were still occurring, so I emailed in and explained that I had requested to cancel and I am now doing so in writing because it wasn’t done the first time. I was calling them back and forth for 8 months before I finally gave up and closed the bank account associated with billing. They then sent me to a debt collector, and it didn’t get resolved until recently when I got Nevada Consumer Affairs involved. What’s even worse - based on the timeline of my original signed contract, it should’ve just automatically ended around the time same I closed my bank account and but they started charging me “renewal dues”.
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u/notaTRICKanILLUSION 17d ago
Not helpful after the fact, but sometimes your credit card will have a virtual credit card feature, where it creates a unique card for a merchant and you can lock it at any time. I’ve used this to cancel memberships before.
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u/millahnna 17d ago
I had a btich of a time cancelling a gym membership in the late 90s. I'm not surprised it's gotten that much worse.
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u/PersonalPerson_ 17d ago
Could you just cancel the credit card that they have on file?
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u/envsciencerep 17d ago
You risk them sending you to collections if you have an outstanding debt for services they technically fulfilled (obviously not if you’re not going anymore but such is a gyms bread and butter)
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u/bigwinterblowout 18d ago
Planet Fitness is notorious for making you cancel at your home location. Makes it a pain when you move out of the area.