L.A. FITNESS SCAM.

wjewell

So I decided to get a personal trainer at L.A. Fitness. It was kind of expensive so of course I had TONS of questions. He assured me I wasn't under any type of contract, it was month to month so if I decided to go solo I could just cancel it, no repercussions, just cancel. When he asked me to sign I asked to read over it all and he said, "Oh it's just the receipt saying that we can bill your visa card"...So I said okay and signed. I never got measured, weighed, my BF%, never got my "fitness plan", never got my "dietary plan"...NOTHING. So Finally, $250 later I decided to just go cancel it since I can't get them to do anything... When I go to cancel I'm told that I'm under a 12 month contract, and if I want to cancel I have to pay an additional 50% of what I owe.. which is about $700. Also, the four-1 hour sessions I was supposed to get per month is actually only 2-30 minute sessions per month..ALSO, the trainer i was supposed to have, is not my trainer... in fact I have no specific trainer.. ALSO they aren't supposed to give me and dietary advice even though I was told they would. On top of all of that... My initials were FORGED on the CONTRACT that was supposed to be a receipt! I'm livid....and you know what the company said? "We can't help you because you signed the contract...." Who do these people think they are? What a JOKE.

Any advice?

MrsRobertson1005

like i said, horrible! I'm just commenting to bump you up so hopefully you get some answers!

wjewell

Thanks hun! I am really trying to not get too upset...but basically I'm going to owe them over $1200... I thought at most I would be paying them like $300... Just do it three months until I get a good idea of what I should do and then do it on my own.. I was so wrong and naive. I was at a very vulnerable time and believed the lies.. :-/

usedasbrandnew

I would contact their corporate office, let them know you will be writing a letter to your local news station, paper, all of us on MFP all of your friends if this situation is not resolved. Have the names of the people who did this, dates and whatnot on hand when you call so they'll know you're serious. It would also be cool to be able to let them know if they can't work it out you have so and so on retainer as your attorney.

wjewell

I most definitely do have an attorney at my fingertips should I need to call him.. Similar lawsuits are happening right now due to the forgery... It doesn't even LOOK like my handwriting..however, it does match HIS handwriting perfectly well. It stinks because I like this facility and its very close and convenient...but this isn't.. :-/

sweet110

Call your credit card company about revoking their right to bill your credit card. Getting LA Fitness to cease billing you is one thing...getting back any money that they've already billed to your account is something else entirely. Its always harder to get money back than to avoid paying it.

Good luck.

nrvo

Report them to the Better Business Bureau, and write a negative yelp review.

00trayn

That is INCREDIBLY shady! I did personal training at my gym for a year, but they were very upfront about the stipulations of the contract. They let me choose 3, 6 or 12 months (it was cheaper per session for the longer commitments), and I knew what would happen if I canceled (same as you, pay 50% of remaining). The fact that they lied to you about what was in the contract and initialed portions you didn't even see is illegal. I'd definitely start with contacting their corporate office and reporting the incident. The local news channel isn't a bad idea either... bad PR is way worse to a place like that than some legal issues.

FlynnMacCallister

I most definitely do have an attorney at my fingertips should I need to call him.. Similar lawsuits are happening right now due to the forgery... It doesn't even LOOK like my handwriting..however, it does match HIS handwriting perfectly well. It stinks because I like this facility and its very close and convenient...but this isn't.. :-/

Yeah, I was going to say take it straight to a lawyer, or if you're not in a position to do that contact your local police station or legal aid office for advice. Sometimes all it takes is a stern look from an attorney and the scammers scatter like cockroaches.

SexyMrsCarty

I agree 100% Report them to the Better Business Bureau, and write negative review's call your credit card asap and have them spot all payments further on. This is fraud and should be dealt with proper.
On another point this is why I hate most big name gyms they get you all hyp in your "free" assessements and talk you into **** you don't need or don't want and who was he to tell you what you were signing and not let you read it for your self :mad: I am very sorry for your situation I wish you were close to me and I would take you to my gym smaller yes but working for the people and really care about you.

neelia

I agree with the above posters- & I would DEFINITELY report them to the BBB and write your local news media.

wickedcricket

I'd go on twitter & facebook- give it as much bad publicity as possible. That's really the only thing that works these days. Get the word out- tell your friends to tell their friends. If you can get it out on twitter... they might reconsider.
Also, if it's a bogus charge on your credit card, can't you just get that taken off? I don't have the best credit, I'd default & let them sue me (whatever) and tell what happened in court- let the chips fall where they may.
but that's just me - I'm WICKED cricket

chevy88grl

First thing? Cancel that credit card before they try and hit your card for all the charges as I'm sure somewhere in fine print it says they can do it. Even though you didn't initial it, they will try and do it. Cancel that card NOW.

Once you have cancelled the card, I would cancel the membership and I would let them know that your initials have been forged. Let them know you're in contact with an attorney for forgery. Usually, when you start saying "Lawyer", companies back WAY down.

Angela_Freeborn

I agree, I would call your credit card company right away and stop all payments to them, then contact the BBB report them, And contact their head office to let them know what happend and if nothing is done you will take it furtherie news, freinds ect..., all at the same time contact your laywer advise him/her of whats going on, and take it from there, but what ever you do please dont let them get away with this, as im sure you are not the only person they have done this too, and will not be the last. Im very sorry to even hear this happend to you.
It really makes me angry when you have companies or people out there for that matter reeping benifits from our weight problems.. they use us is what they do!
Please keep us updated though.. I wish you luck hun.

laineyluma

In our area the saying is "channel 9 is on your side"

Sorry they did this to you!

emrys1976

I signed up for a year-contract with LA Fitness and for the most part, I had completely incompetent *kitten* training me, blowing out me knee, no-showing for appointments, etc. When I was diagnosed with a heart condition a month later and told not exercise, I was told to fill out all my paperwork and supply a letter from my doctor, which I did, and then I never heard from them again - until after I had my bank issue me a new debit card and they weren't able to get their payment. My bank told me that changing my card number was only a temporary solution because Visa can release my new number to them if they request it. We're switching to a credit union that only issues MasterCard now :-) Stay away from those contracts - that is a bad, bad company! (And they pay the trainers peanuts, btw, for anyone who cares about fair wages)

dad106

Just so you know for next time, unless a trainer is a registered dietitian they can not give diet advice.... They can suggest, but they cannot legally give you a meal plan and diet advice.

I'd also get the heck out of that gym.. and go find another one if you can... where they will treat you better.

I've heard from another poster on here, that their trainers are not even certified.. that they just take a training course through the company and then suddenly they are PT's.. which is not right.. You can get seriously injured if a person has no clue what they are doing.

dovesgate

You can also file a complaint on Ripoffreport.com

First thing though, I'd have your lawyer get in touch with them. Forgery is illegal so you've got the tools to get them by the balls so to speak. Go through legal channels first - they are more likely to deal with you to keep it all under the table so no one knows how shady they are.

deadstarsunburn

Tell your credit card company, contact corporate, inform BBB.
The only hang up I for see is that you didn't read the contract and signed it. The forced initial may be the thing that saves you if you had to go to small claims.
I'm actually in the middle of studying contracts and as long as you signed it they kind of have you stuck.

wjewell

Tell your credit card company, contact corporate, inform BBB.
The only hang up I for see is that you didn't read the contract and signed it. The forced initial may be the thing that saves you if you had to go to small claims.
I'm actually in the middle of studying contracts and as long as you signed it they kind of have you stuck.

Here's the thing.. I asked to read what I was signing.. I was assured there was no need to because it was only a receipt authorizing him to charge my card... I had no idea it was a contract...After I asked several times and was told "No, no contract.." and that I was only signing a receipt I was an idiot and signed... THINKING it was actually a receipt.. After wards is when he must have initialed for me...because since he didn't want me to know it was a contract, and the initials HAD to be there authorizing the 12 month term and blah blah...he knew i wouldn't sign if I knew it was a 12 month contract... SO frustrating. HOPEFULLY I will be getting some help. More updates to come for sure

kamillion77

Did you get any results? I kinda went thru a similar situation..however they DID inform me it was a contract but like u didn't really allow m,e to read over it clearly. I'm kinda regretting signing up. What can I do to get out of it? Any advice?