Health Club Membership Nightmare

I believe that the US consumer protection is quite good, at least it is better than a lot of places in Asia. I also don't believe the protection was a sole result of law and regulation. It is also the willingness of the venders and service providers to honor the 'satisfaction guarantee or money back' policy in order to strengthen customers' confidence of conducting business with them and to stay competitive in the market. Gradually, the 'satisfaction guarantee or money back' scenario becomes some kind of standard, a consensus between seller and buyer, and quite a common sense. 

Wait! Not really! 

You ought to be careful in some cases! Really careful!

It is because out there, there are a tiny portion of venders who really do not honor the above 'common sense' and they use a lot of different tactics (or we call it gimmicks) to get your money out of your pocket for something that you don't really need or the quality of the product or service really does not fit in. 

Recently, my daughter ran into one of those things and it was a nightmare for her. Before I unveil the story, my advice is that:

When you expect to have a simple service or product of low dollar value, and eventually end up being given a CONTRACT to sign and the contract has pages to read. QUIT first and think! 

To check for the quality of the vender, type the "name of the company + complain" in an internet search engine and browse for relevant reviews. Quit those places with adverse reports or research more. Ask your friends, parents etc....

If you are buying something big, you even ought to check thoroughly! Right! 

No haste decision such as in a pressure sale scenario. 

　

My daughter recently moved to Philadelphia and she would like to find a place, such as a fitness or health club, to do some workout or just stretch. She saw an advertisement of a health club with one month free trial and so she went to ask for information. I make the story short. She ended up being 'said' to sign up a membership package of 36 months and each month of around $52.00. And, it was said to be contract binding. Nothing was explained to her about this package and the seriousness of a membership, what I mean the important rules, consumer right and especially the way out!

While you would think you can easily cancel the membership because you are not satisfied, you might just be WRONG. You could end up with 3 conditions to quit.

Check the following link of 'Attorney General of Pennsylvania'

This is Pennsylvania, check for Attorney General in other states for their rules. Do I interpret them wrongly! Continue to read my daughter's story.

http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/consumers.aspx?id=179

My naive and heedless daughter even don't remember whether she had signed something as a contract. When she asked the fitness club to have a copy of the signed contract, the fitness club office that she went to said they had no such copy. You have to call their corporate office. When the corporate office was contacted, they said even they didn't have a copy at hand, and they had to get them somewhere. They seemingly make things very procedural, tedious and time consuming.

There are other things about their poor customer service.

Even my daughter had signed up as a member, she had never got a membership card to use.

My daughter then had a fever the day she was supposed to see a trainer. She called the trainer twice to explain she couldn't have come, but there was no return call. Emails got no reply too. My daughter used to have hip pain too and it recurred in the same period and she had to do acupuncture for the problem. She thought she could not do any workout at the moment.

While she was waiting for some reply, she was not taking an active role to track what was happening. My daughter was working nightshift and tired. She had her hip pain and the time was the coldest season of the year. Sometimes, I say it is very unfair to put all the burdens onto the customer for a service provider's likely "malpractice". This is especially serious in the health care service industry and I would shortly write something on my experience in doing physical therapy. Consider the aged people, they just don't have the energy to get things right.

My daughter got slightly nervous when she saw that her credit card was charged with the monthly fee. And, even shocked, when the second charge came in another month's time. When she called to try to cancel the questionable membership, she now got the impression that was not easy. Basically, the three options in the above web site apply.

That is the second wrong thing that my daughter had done. DON'T EVER GIVE YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER TO A VENDER FOR A SERVICE THAT HAS NOT EVEN STARTED or ordered. There is supposed a one month free trial. Why should they need my credit card so early. If they insist, walk away and try to find any complains in the internet about them and more information about the general practice of the industry. Don't make haste decision. You will regret. Don't let the so called 'BIG SALE' blur your mind!

My daughter even gave then her social security number, what can I say? You are just trying to stretch out in a gym. Why you would need my social security number? Think, think, think! Walk away and double check!

The dispute is still going on, but one of the good aftermath is that my daughter decided to come back to live with us. Fortunately, our home is more than 25 miles away from the the nightmare fitness club and it does not have a branch within five miles of our home. So, my daughter might find a way out! Hope so!

I say, there is no common sense here. Suppose, I gradually find the workout boring and not improving my fitness, I should be able to terminate the membership.  But the reality is, it is not that simple.

March 2007