10-23-2012, 12:03 AM
My 19 y.o. son went to a local gym (to remain nameless but its periodic chart symbol: Au) for a month this summer. He wanted one month only because he thereafter was returning to his university where the gym is 10 times better - and is 65 miles away. The local gym had been there for years and was often very busy. He paid cash. He told the salesman one month and was told that was just fine. Then he signed a contract without reading it. :bomb: And he lost his copy of the contract. :bomb: :bomb: Neither he nor I thought anything of it. Afterall, the business is well established with many customers, what's to worry about, it must be reputable, and he paid in cash.
At the end of the month he quit going. A month later they dunned him for more money. He explained everything and the guy doing the dunning said he would take care of it but that my son would still have to pay for the additional month up until that date. My son kicked himself, then paid in cash again. Lesson learned. Except now he has received another bill. Because he is away at college, he asked me to follow up on it. I called and was told that he would have to cancel in person. The gym has changed hands and they don't have anything to do with the old gym. The nearest gym is 168 miles away and it is a franchise which won't cancel another (closed) franchisee's contract. The customer service rep put me on hold to check with a supervisor, then told me there was nothing they could do about it. Didn't matter that the place was no longer in business. So he can't cancel.
I was listening to Clark Howard the other night who said never sign a contract for a gym. Paying up-front by the month is fine, just don't sign a contract. People have posted on the web that they are being dunned years later, sometimes twice a day. Some report that because they aren't current on their contract, the contract never runs out.
At the end of the month he quit going. A month later they dunned him for more money. He explained everything and the guy doing the dunning said he would take care of it but that my son would still have to pay for the additional month up until that date. My son kicked himself, then paid in cash again. Lesson learned. Except now he has received another bill. Because he is away at college, he asked me to follow up on it. I called and was told that he would have to cancel in person. The gym has changed hands and they don't have anything to do with the old gym. The nearest gym is 168 miles away and it is a franchise which won't cancel another (closed) franchisee's contract. The customer service rep put me on hold to check with a supervisor, then told me there was nothing they could do about it. Didn't matter that the place was no longer in business. So he can't cancel.
I was listening to Clark Howard the other night who said never sign a contract for a gym. Paying up-front by the month is fine, just don't sign a contract. People have posted on the web that they are being dunned years later, sometimes twice a day. Some report that because they aren't current on their contract, the contract never runs out.