The Latest to Gold’s Gym
TO:
GOLD’S GYM # 672
825 PIKE STREET
WASHINGTON STATE CONVENTION CENTER
SEATTLE, WA 98101
CC:
GOLD’S GYM INTERNATIONAL, INC.
358 HAMPTON DRIVE
VENICE, CA 90291
RE: CONTINUED BILLING OF CLOSED ACCOUNT
Dear Managers,
By now you may have received my previous letter, outlining the continued billing of my checking account for five months after the termination of my Gold’s Gym Membership in late July. To summarize, I was billed a total of $168.35 from the months of August to December while not enrolled in Gym #672 and not present even in the Seattle area. Near the end of my summer internship in Seattle with Amazon.com, I went to great trouble to arrange a meeting with Erica, the accounts manager for Gold’s Gym, Downtown Seattle, to cancel my membership. At first, the gym claimed I was on a one year contract. After retrieving my original contract, Erica told me that the account was then closed. At this point, I assumed all business with Gold’s gym was done, but the billing has not actually stopped.
To this end, I demand the following within 30 days:
- The immediate cessation of your illegal billing
- My “membership” with Gold’s Gym to be officially terminated
- Full payment of $168.35 by check to the name and address above
I strongly recommend that you immediately reply via telephone or email of your intentions to comply with these terms, followed by a signed agreement in writing.
Sincerely,
Elliott C. Back
ecb29@cornell.edu
| This entry was posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2006 at 4:53 pm and is tagged with venice ca, summer internship, hampton drive, seattle area, gym membership, accounts manager, pike street, amazon, seattle wa, five months, cessation, name and address, checking account, washington state convention, washington state convention center, cornell, email, gold, state convention center. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback. |
11 Responses to “The Latest to Gold’s Gym”
Leave a Reply
Stick it to the man! Even if the man is solid gold. You should have CC’d your blog too!
I just recently opened a new bank account. I used my debitcard to pay my Golds Gym dues. I always pay at the location. Not trusting automtic debit for many reasons. And sure enough they on their own took my new debit card info and automtically debited my NEW account. Without my authorization. I am canceling my account along with my daughters and husband. I am dissapointed in GOLD’s ethics when I have been a member for years
I have just received a collection notice from an expired contract with Gold’s. I signed up for a year long contract and at the end of that year they say that you also sign up for continued monthly billing forever or until you give them 60 days written notice. I would like to see a class action law suite against them for bad billing practices.
I was searching the web for how Gold’s Gym operates generally in the country and I am a bit distressed by what I have managed to find in a matter of hours.
My gym, Xcel Spa and Fitness, I signed up with last year in Bountiful, Utah was sold to Gold’s Gym. I hadn’t been to the gym for about a month and in that time never received a notice, phone call, or email about the sale. So imagine my surprise when I get there and there are Gold’s Gym symbols and trademarks everywhere on my gym. I have been told that my two year contract is valid at that Bountiful location, however I would not be allowed to continue going to the other two Xcel locations near where i currently live. If I want to visit the other Gold’s locations, I have to sign a new contract with them.
This is the thing, maybe some of you can help, if anyone reads this blog anymore…Having no authorization from me to be billed by Gold’s Gym, can they legally take my billing info off my contract from Xcel Spa and Fitness, bill me, and then bar me from the gym because I refuse to sign the liability form? Shouldn’t the original Xcel contract/membership that was sold, hold up as binding, including the liability waiver I signed as well?
I’ll bookmark this page for further comments and advice.
James
SLC, Utah
All together it is a bad situation and it sucks that a state funded rec center drove a striving business out of town. Sorry off post but yes it is possible for them to ban you from the other clubs. Read the back of your agreement you signed. It talks about “cease of operation” Sorry…
James
Did you get anything solved?
Chris
Did you have the same types of problems in this situation?
I enrolled at Gold’s Gym with my daughter. When I was signing my contract, I went to extreme lengths to let the Gold’s Gym employee know that I was unsure if we would be living in the state for more than 1 year. I signed the contract based on a 1 year contract. I authorized my bank to be debited automatically each month. I had the employee make a special note on the contract that the terms included a 1 year contract. I had been a member for over 18 months, went to cancel the membership and was told that all contracts are 2 years – no matter what. I didn’t have the time or energy to fight them. Just want to spread the word, they stink
I prepaid for a two year contract two years ago. I was at the gym this evening and asked to make sure my membership would be terminating at the end of the week. The employee kept harassing me about starting a new contract and I told them I was not interested. I asked if I could do month to month and the employee said that they never do month to month memberships and I had to have a contract. I said no thank you and left to do my workout. The employee stopped me and told me my bill was delinquent for $15. I prepaid for the entire membership and asked what on earth it was for and how I could be delinquent on a charge I had never heard of or been billed for. He said that it was a maintenance fee for this month. He told me I was not allowed to use the facilities unless I paid it or renewed my contract–keep in mind I still have a membership.
I was livid and left. I called another location to cancel my membership and they informed me I have to give 30 days written notice to the corporate office or it will automatically default to month to month. I was too late to cancel and was going to be charged for the following month. I asked the employee about what the other person had told me and he informed me that I was allowed to go month to month at the end of my contract and that I was also allowed to use the facility regardless of the weird $15 fee. The employees at this location admitted that Gold’s is a sneaky company and structures their contracts to be confusing and fee-loaded.
I was very frustrated with the dishonesty of the first employee as well as the culture of dishonesty that Gold’s Gym breeds.
I just had a problem with them today. I went to the Gold’s Gym here in Utah, and I went in to clock in for normal gym services, and the lady working there says I was cancelled. I had this issue for a while for few times, but what I told her is I paid in full for two years from July 31st 2009 to July 31st to 2010. It says here right in the contract that it was supposed to go that long. When I made the payment they had me fill a automatically close the account after the 2 year contract was up. I think they changed it from 1 year to 2 years without telling me and just closed it. I think they just make up their own rules on their end, and just screw anyone over when they please. The WORST company I have ever dealt with in my 38 years of life. They are not a healthy company to make anyone healthier. I go fat just because of the stress those people give others.
I have been going through the same drama with them, they refused to cancel my membership, so I had to cancel my credit card, I am pissed, they are a predatory corporation.
If all of you want to get to together, sign a petition against them, and ABC financial, e-mail or call me. 973-534-6178.
I had a friend who worked there for a year or two and finally made it to management…where he found out that there is a fairly standard procedure of actually forging the signatures on renewal contracts. Be aware these folks are up to no good.