Canceling Crossfit Membership

DrifterBear

I'm wondering what you all think of this...

I have a crossfit membership that I'm trying to cancel. The bold text below is from their website description of the membership options. I have the "Zero Commitment" plan at $205/month. It's getting to be too expensive and I want to cancel. My automatic renewal is set for 6/21, so I contacted the owner and asked him to cancel the auto renewal because it's too expensive. He wrote back and informed me they require 30 days notice for cancellation. I reviewed a waiver online that says simply there are no refunds. He claims that he has another agreement that states the policy. But wouldn't "Zero Commitment" mean cancel anytime? I'm not asking for a refund on what I've already paid but this seems super shady to advertise Zero Commitment when they require 30 days notice. That essentially means when you decide to cancel you'll still owe them at least one additional payment, which sounds like a one month commitment to me. And trying to fall back on an agreement that I signed last November and have no memory of or access to when the website clearly advertises "Zero Commitment" seems unethical at best.

Anyway, I'm pissed and planning to deny charges on the credit card. Any thoughts?


Step 2: Full membership
All of our memberships are UNLIMITED, which means you can come workout as many times per week as you wish. Unlike many of the other CrossFit gyms out there that limit you to just 2 or 3 classes per week, we encourage you guys to come workout as often as you want.
$205/month – Zero Commitment
$195/month – 3 Month Commitment
$185/month – 6 Month Commitment
$175/month – 12 Month Commitment
$165/ month – Student/Family/Military/ Fire/ Police
Why the Commitment? We at [OCCF] take health and fitness seriously and we want you to as well. It is vital for overall wellness which is why we REWARD you with a LOWER monthly rate. Make a promise to yourself to stay fit for at least 3 months and you will not regret it!

tcunbeliever

The contract you signed last November would be more important than anything on their website - if you don't have a copy of it already, then they should be able to provide one for you out of their records.

oocdc2

tcunbeliever wrote: »

The contract you signed last November would be more important than anything on their website - if you don't have a copy of it already, then they should be able to provide one for you out of their records.

What she said.

jemhh

"Zero Commitment" is a catchphrase, not a legal term so I wouldn't assume it means cancel at anytime. As the previous poster wrote, the contract you signed is what is important. FWIW, I wouldn't be surprised if it includes a statement that you have to give 30 days notice to quit.

TR0berts

Just about every "no commitment" type of deal I've ever seen had an X-day opt-out notice, including my last gym. As such, and since they take your last month up front, I canceled last weekend, but still have access to my old gym until the end of August.

That said, like others have mentioned, look at your contract. If it's not on there, or supplemental paperwork that you acknowledged you read, then you can fight it. Otherwise, you'd be in breach of contract.

DrifterBear

TR0berts wrote: »

Just about every "no commitment" type of deal I've ever seen had an X-day opt-out notice, including my last gym. As such, and since they take your last month up front, I canceled last weekend, but still have access to my old gym until the end of August.

That said, like others have mentioned, look at your contract. If it's not on there, or supplemental paperwork that you acknowledged you read, then you can fight it. Otherwise, you'd be in breach of contract.

You do pay up front here too, so on 6/1 you pay for all of June. They're saying if you give notice on 5/20, you still owe another payment on 6/1 which is crazy to me in a no commitment agreement. In fact, you committed to the 6/1 payment as of 5/1. I understand in an apartment lease, or if they're giving some price concession for longer commitments as they do, but not in the $205 no commitment membership. That's why you pay full price, to cancel when you want.

Doesn't matter, he just emailed back and they never had me sign a contract anyway. So not only is their policy grossly misleading, they're also too unorganized to enforce it.

Kimo159

So, if you didn't sign a contract then did he say he would waive the 30 day notice part then and cancel your membership as of the end of the current month that you've already paid for?

Azdak

When you do payments via EFT, there is usually a fairly early cut-off date each month to cancel without incurring charges for the next month. Part of it is due to the procedure they go through to set up the EFT--basically they want to give themselves a large time cushion so that they don't make a mistaken charge and have to issue a refund, the other is they want to give you a "cooling off" period and a chance to either reconsider the cancellation or for them to make an offer to try to keep you going.

Technically, it's not really a violation of the contract since it is a billing procedure/policy that applies to everyone.

ShellyBell999

Call your bank and put stop payment on the auto withdraw.

Ready2Rock206

30 days sounds pretty typical to me. I've never heard of less in a contract.

rainbowbow

Nope, sorry. Zero commitment? Yes, you don't have to stay committed to training and can cancel at any time. This doesn't mean that you don't have to give them proper notice.

30 days is the norm, so it doesn't sound like any sort of shady business to me. Most gyms require 30 days notice ESPECIALLY considering that this is the amount of time they need to change automatic billing, whether they need to run promotions, sign new clients, etc.

In the future you should review your contracts more closely. Pay the fee, let it go, and move on. In my opinion, trying to fight this is a waste of time. My step-dad did this once at a 24-hour fitness by refuting the payment with his bank and it ended up on his credit report. Worth it? Nah.

DrifterBear

Kimo159 wrote: »

So, if you didn't sign a contract then did he say he would waive the 30 day notice part then and cancel your membership as of the end of the current month that you've already paid for?

Ya, they never even had me sign the agreement so there is no agreement and they're not going to charge me. It has nothing to do with billing, it's a small gym and they just go in and make the change. I just canceled my wife's 24 hour membership a couple months ago and she was able to use the remaining time we had paid for and then it expired. That's kind of how no commitment contracts work.

He said it's because they have to staff the gym... but it's class based so they won't be firing a coach as a result of me leaving, or scramble to fill my appointments. It's just so funny that when you sign up and pay for the first month of a month-to-month membership, you're already locked into paying for a second month. And for the record, I notified them on 6/6, 17 days prior to the next payment due date which I felt was ample time given the nature of my membership.

By the way, here's a link to a law firm discussing this specific business practice. Say what you want, but this is deceptive at the least. You can't say one thing on your advertising and then have the complete opposite in an agreement. That's deceptive marketing and is illegal. If you're experiencing anything similar with a gym, don't just give in, consider getting help.

http://thejacobslaw.com/cancel-no-commitment-no-contract-gym-membership/

Some fitness clubs will try to charge a cancellation fee, require that a form be filed in person at your home gym / club or some other method that makes it more difficult or impossible to cancel your fitness club membership (especially if you’ve moved out of state or across the world). How can a fitness club charge a fee to cancel a no commitment membership?

In many cases, the answer may be simple: they can’t, and it’s a deceptive business practice or breach of the membership agreement. But in all cases it depends first on the specific language of the agreement and then, quite possibly, the language of the advertising, commercials, handouts, promotional materials, website etc. A fitness club cannot simply advertise that its memberships are ‘no commitment’ or ‘no contract’ and then charge a fee to cancel even if the contract states that a cancellation fee will be assessed upon cancellation of the membership.

rainbowbow

DrifterBear wrote: »

Kimo159 wrote: »

So, if you didn't sign a contract then did he say he would waive the 30 day notice part then and cancel your membership as of the end of the current month that you've already paid for?

Ya, they never even had me sign the agreement so there is no agreement and they're not going to charge me. It has nothing to do with billing, it's a small gym and they just go in and make the change. I just canceled my wife's 24 hour membership a couple months ago and she was able to use the remaining time we had paid for and then it expired. That's kind of how no commitment contracts work.

He said it's because they have to staff the gym... but it's class based so they won't be firing a coach as a result of me leaving, or scramble to fill my appointments. It's just so funny that when you sign up and pay for the first month of a month-to-month membership, you're already locked into paying for a second month. And for the record, I notified them on 6/6, 17 days prior to the next payment due date which I felt was ample time given the nature of my membership.

By the way, here's a link to a law firm discussing this specific business practice. Say what you want, but this is deceptive at the least. You can't say one thing on your advertising and then have the complete opposite in an agreement. That's deceptive marketing and is illegal. If you're experiencing anything similar with a gym, don't just give in, consider getting help.

http://thejacobslaw.com/cancel-no-commitment-no-contract-gym-membership/

Some fitness clubs will try to charge a cancellation fee, require that a form be filed in person at your home gym / club or some other method that makes it more difficult or impossible to cancel your fitness club membership (especially if you’ve moved out of state or across the world). How can a fitness club charge a fee to cancel a no commitment membership?

In many cases, the answer may be simple: they can’t, and it’s a deceptive business practice or breach of the membership agreement. But in all cases it depends first on the specific language of the agreement and then, quite possibly, the language of the advertising, commercials, handouts, promotional materials, website etc. A fitness club cannot simply advertise that its memberships are ‘no commitment’ or ‘no contract’ and then charge a fee to cancel even if the contract states that a cancellation fee will be assessed upon cancellation of the membership.

they aren't charging you a cancellation fee they are requiring 30 day notice to end your contract.

rainbowbow

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=civ&group=01001-02000&file=1812.80-1812.98

Looked up your place and it's in california. here are california's regulations which states that they only have regulations for cancellation within the first (up to 45 days) based on the total contract price. After that time has passed all cancellation regulations are subject to the agreement as per your signed contract. Find that and make sure it clearly states that they require 30 day notice.

If not, you can try and refute the charge based on-
" Any contract for health studio services entered into in
reliance upon any willful and false, fraudulent, or misleading
information, representation, notice or advertisement of the seller
shall be void and unenforceable."

However, if it states "30 days notice" in your contract the above is null and void. Your assumption of exactly what "no commitment" means is not a basis for fraudulent or misleading claims. essentially, you were given notice of their policies and practices and definition of "no commitment" which you agreed to and signed regardless of what you assume "no commitment" to mean.

Erik8484

Good outcome OP.