Angry Gym Rant
a45cal
Posts: 85 Member
Not sure where to put this, but this is starting to grind my gears, and I thought fellow fitness people might be able to sympathize.
Not too far from where we live is a neighborhood gym that my husband has been a member of off and on for years. It's a simple, no-frills sort of place with a good selection of equipment at a decent price. So back in late April when hubs and I decided to get serious about getting in shape, we paid in advance for a year-long membership for each of us at the place.
From then until late August, we went pretty regularly to lift a few times a week. But in August, I injured my knee and was having trouble walking, so we took a couple of weeks off from heavy weights and just went down to our building's tiny basement gym to keep the drive to work out going.
When we returned to the normal gym at the start of September, the outside was being repainted, which the desk staff treated like it was routine. Two days later when we went in for our next workout, however, we were met by "Under New Management" signs and a very excitable woman who introduced herself as the new owner.
She stood and talked one-sidedly for fifteen minutes about how the place was being turned into a Crossfit gym (we weren't excited; no offense to the Crossfitters here, but it's not our scene) to compete with another Crossfit gym several blocks away. And rambled on about everything from how much she hated the color the walls were painted, to how she was getting "new equipment from Europe" and installing a juice bar and a sauna (which there isn't room for no matter how you gut the place). She even badmouthed the previous owners, who had generally been beloved by the members.
We were told the price for membership was going up (because of all the "awesome" new equipment). But since we'd paid the original owners in advance, she would honor the rest of our year-long contracts, though she couldn't give us a refund. All of that pretty much killed our mood to work out that day.
For the next month, we went in constantly expecting sweeping changes, but apart from a couple small cosmetic changes at the entrance, things seemed much the same.
Then, we went on vacation for a week at the start of October. And when we returned, we found our gym door shuttered with a sign on it reading "Will reopen under new management". It's been like that for a month now, with no visible changes when looking through the window.
Reading recent reviews for the place online, it seems other members have attempted to phone the number on the sign and have gotten no response. Some people who had signed up for memberships using their bank- or credit cards are apparently still being charged for the past month while the gym's been shut. There's currently nothing to indicate that the place is going to reopen at all.
So. Despite having signed a new contract with the new management that declared that we would have our membership transferred to a comparable gym in the event that the gym closed, we're basically out a little more than half the amount we spent on our memberships with nothing to show for it. So since we can't really afford to shell out more money on another gym membership, now we're stuck with our basement gym where the only strength training equipment is a set of dumbbells going up to 50lb, and a cable machine whose explanatory poster shows you how you can "deadlift" on it. *sigh*
Thanks for listening to the long rant, people. Any of you have any gym horror stories to share?
Not too far from where we live is a neighborhood gym that my husband has been a member of off and on for years. It's a simple, no-frills sort of place with a good selection of equipment at a decent price. So back in late April when hubs and I decided to get serious about getting in shape, we paid in advance for a year-long membership for each of us at the place.
From then until late August, we went pretty regularly to lift a few times a week. But in August, I injured my knee and was having trouble walking, so we took a couple of weeks off from heavy weights and just went down to our building's tiny basement gym to keep the drive to work out going.
When we returned to the normal gym at the start of September, the outside was being repainted, which the desk staff treated like it was routine. Two days later when we went in for our next workout, however, we were met by "Under New Management" signs and a very excitable woman who introduced herself as the new owner.
She stood and talked one-sidedly for fifteen minutes about how the place was being turned into a Crossfit gym (we weren't excited; no offense to the Crossfitters here, but it's not our scene) to compete with another Crossfit gym several blocks away. And rambled on about everything from how much she hated the color the walls were painted, to how she was getting "new equipment from Europe" and installing a juice bar and a sauna (which there isn't room for no matter how you gut the place). She even badmouthed the previous owners, who had generally been beloved by the members.
We were told the price for membership was going up (because of all the "awesome" new equipment). But since we'd paid the original owners in advance, she would honor the rest of our year-long contracts, though she couldn't give us a refund. All of that pretty much killed our mood to work out that day.
For the next month, we went in constantly expecting sweeping changes, but apart from a couple small cosmetic changes at the entrance, things seemed much the same.
Then, we went on vacation for a week at the start of October. And when we returned, we found our gym door shuttered with a sign on it reading "Will reopen under new management". It's been like that for a month now, with no visible changes when looking through the window.
Reading recent reviews for the place online, it seems other members have attempted to phone the number on the sign and have gotten no response. Some people who had signed up for memberships using their bank- or credit cards are apparently still being charged for the past month while the gym's been shut. There's currently nothing to indicate that the place is going to reopen at all.
So. Despite having signed a new contract with the new management that declared that we would have our membership transferred to a comparable gym in the event that the gym closed, we're basically out a little more than half the amount we spent on our memberships with nothing to show for it. So since we can't really afford to shell out more money on another gym membership, now we're stuck with our basement gym where the only strength training equipment is a set of dumbbells going up to 50lb, and a cable machine whose explanatory poster shows you how you can "deadlift" on it. *sigh*
Thanks for listening to the long rant, people. Any of you have any gym horror stories to share?
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Replies
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So sorry you lost your gym and your money. It sounds to me like the deal with the new owner fell through somehow, because they normally wouldn't abandon a business after 1 month. I hope there is a new owner soon who can reopen. My small fitness studio is closing next week, it's very sad for me because that's where I've done my entire weight loss journey. Fortunately, I was able to use all my prepaid sessions and was paying monthly for classes, so am not out any $.1
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Belonged to a gym once. One of the owners said he was starting to sell insurance and could we set up an appointment to discuss
Place closed 2 weeks later. Did not buy insurance from the dick.0 -
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Thats crummy. File complaint2
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k9education wrote: »Most (all?) states have a law requiring fitness centers to maintain a fund for reimbursement of membership costs if they offer any membership packages of 3 months or longer. If your gym has been closed for a significant amount of time, I would seek recourse through the credit card company if it has been less than 120 days since your card was charged for "item(s) significantly not as described." If it has been longer than 120 days, I would seek the help of the attorney general's office in helping you get in contact with whatever agency enforces the aforementioned law(s). If that fails, I would go to small claims.
As an aside, my gym is going to be closed for renovations this month to make it more oriented to "functional training." That's code for "Crossfit" and I am most certainly not a fan. I tried to find out exactly what was being done before I paid for the month, but the manager promptly blew me off. If it turns into a Crossfit gym, my wife and I will be moving on.
Thanks very much for this information. Unfortunately, we're in Canada, so I don't know if there's anything similar in place here. But now that you've given me the idea, I'll have a look around to see if I can find any information in regards to what sort of recourse we might have. I think it's almost certainly past 120 days since the initial charge now, so finding some official body to which we could complain would be the only course at this point.
I can't for the life of me figure out why gyms decide to suddenly change their whole focus. I know Crossfit has gotten popular, but if you already have a loyal member base who joined when you weren't a Crossfit gym, you're not going to keep them by changing. Seems such a huge gamble to make.0 -
I have heard awful things about Crossfit, basically anyone can pay the franchise fee and get certified. I agree with the poster above about contacting the state attorney general's office and having them look into the whole thing. I'm guessing you won't be seeing any of your remaining balance. Sorry this had to happen to you.0
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Ugh, I am so sorry that this happened to you. A similar thing happened to my partner: he paid for a year membership up front, and within 2 months the guy who owned the gym just vanished and the location was boarded up. Rumour around town is he was using the gym as some sort of a front and then had to leave town for some shady reasons ... Who knows if that is true or not though.
We are also in Canada and haven't had any luck finding him or finding a way to get money returned.
One of the things that is so frustrating about this is that I want to support smaller and more local gyms rather than GoodLife, but then when these things happen it makes you think twice ...2 -
kathrynjean_ wrote: »
One of the things that is so frustrating about this is that I want to support smaller and more local gyms rather than GoodLife, but then when these things happen it makes you think twice ...
I hear you. I think one of the more frustrating aspects to me is that this gym was so well established. It'd been there for years, at least since back when my husband was in college, and the members were the very loyal, regular type. So we didn't even think twice about signing up for a long membership with it, since it was such a "safe bet". Goes to show how quickly things can change, I guess.0 -
i'd feel homeless if my trainer were to shut his space down, so that sucks in so many ways.
i don't know much about this kind of law but maybe you and the other members would have some kind of class action recourse? maybe the better business bureau would have ideas about which direction to go or what the options are.1 -
If it happened to me I'd call the credit card company and see if I could dispute the original charge from April. I don't think it could hurt.1
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canadianlbs wrote: »i'd feel homeless if my trainer were to shut his space down, so that sucks in so many ways.
i don't know much about this kind of law but maybe you and the other members would have some kind of class action recourse? maybe the better business bureau would have ideas about which direction to go or what the options are.
I hadn't thought of the Better Business Bureau. Thanks, I'll look into contacting them.
As for a class action, it's a good idea, but I'm not really too certain about where to begin with something like that. I figure since it's a smaller gym and, likely, my husband and I are among the few people who've paid a significant amount in advance, that most members wouldn't have a lot to gain in return for the investment. It's something to consider though, if an avenue for it presents itself.
As far as I can tell, Ontario doesn't seem to have clear cut laws about this sort of thing (which doesn't help). At least, their little "your rights before joining a gym" page only seems to vaguely suggest that if a gym goes bankrupt and you've paid a lot of fees, that you're basically SOL.
https://www.ontario.ca/page/joining-gym-or-fitness-clubPayment options
The club must give you the option of paying your membership and any initiation fees in monthly instalments.
It can charge up to 25% more than the total would be if payment were made upfront – but there’s no danger of a big loss if the club goes bankrupt.
I'm contemplating just breaking into the place and lifting weights in the dark. I've paid for it.
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BrunetteRunner87 wrote: »If it happened to me I'd call the credit card company and see if I could dispute the original charge from April. I don't think it could hurt.
Mm, perhaps we should try it. (Guess there's nothing lost by asking.) But as @k9education was saying above, I think there's a time limit to file a chargeback dispute after the initial payment is made. If so, then we're pretty far beyond the maximum of 120 days.1 -
That sucks. Unfortunately I know the feeling. Years ago I belonged to Lady of America. One day I showed up and it was closed. They had another location so I started going there even though it was across town. I had a 24 membership but only felt comfortable taking classes or doing cardio there at the time. Of course this location closed soon after. Luckily even though I paid up front the price was very cheap and by the time the second location closed I felt I had gotten my money's worth. Lesson I took away from that was going forward if I pay a membership up front put it on a card so I have some recourse.1
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Thanks for listening to the long rant, people. Any of you have any gym horror stories to share?
Yep ... pretty much exactly what happened to you, and I refuse to get a membership at a private gym anymore.
City recreation centres (with pools, gym equipment, classes, etc.) are good. University gyms are good. But not private gyms. I've seen too many of them suddenly go under.
In our case, the place sold my ex-husband and me a "lifetime" membership to a co-ed gym open 7 days a week, from about 5 am to midnight. Convenient location, convenient hours. About a month later, they changed their format so that women were allowed in 3 days a week, and men were allowed in 3 days a week, and they closed on Sundays. Not convenient! We wanted to workout together, for one thing, and Sundays were a good day for us to work out. But we kept going for another few months, and then the renovations started.
This was years ago, before the whole Crossfit thing, so I didn't have to deal with that, but the renovations meant that large portions of the gym were unavailable, and it was closed more days than just Sunday. Really inconvenient.
Then it closed completely for a couple weeks ... and reopened under new management, and then all sorts of legal weirdness started (including the gym claiming we owed them a pile of money!) ... and the Better Business Bureau got involved ... and eventually we (and a bunch of other members) were reimbursed about half what we had paid.
Then I got a membership with a city gym.
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That stinks. I guess you'll be wary of contracts in the future. That's what happened to me. Once bitten.0
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retirehappy wrote: »I have heard awful things about Crossfit, basically anyone can pay the franchise fee and get certified. I agree with the poster above about contacting the state attorney general's office and having them look into the whole thing. I'm guessing you won't be seeing any of your remaining balance. Sorry this had to happen to you.
That applies to any gym. It doesn't take anything to open one.0 -
k9education wrote: »Most (all?) states have a law requiring fitness centers to maintain a fund for reimbursement of membership costs if they offer any membership packages of 3 months or longer. If your gym has been closed for a significant amount of time, I would seek recourse through the credit card company if it has been less than 120 days since your card was charged for "item(s) significantly not as described." If it has been longer than 120 days, I would seek the help of the attorney general's office in helping you get in contact with whatever agency enforces the aforementioned law(s). If that fails, I would go to small claims.
As an aside, my gym is going to be closed for renovations this month to make it more oriented to "functional training." That's code for "Crossfit" and I am most certainly not a fan. I tried to find out exactly what was being done before I paid for the month, but the manager promptly blew me off. If it turns into a Crossfit gym, my wife and I will be moving on.
Thanks very much for this information. Unfortunately, we're in Canada, so I don't know if there's anything similar in place here. But now that you've given me the idea, I'll have a look around to see if I can find any information in regards to what sort of recourse we might have. I think it's almost certainly past 120 days since the initial charge now, so finding some official body to which we could complain would be the only course at this point.
I can't for the life of me figure out why gyms decide to suddenly change their whole focus. I know Crossfit has gotten popular, but if you already have a loyal member base who joined when you weren't a Crossfit gym, you're not going to keep them by changing. Seems such a huge gamble to make.
Not sure what part of Canada you are in, but here's Ontario
https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/0 -
If your credit card is being charged on a monthly basis I recommend filing a charge back with your credit card company and unauthorizing any future charges by the gym. If you payed for a long term in advance, though, you'll probably need to contact your local or province attorney general.0
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