I'm back from overseas. I was surprised to find a refund when I returned. National Fitness deposited $211.80 on 11/28/07. I haven't received a follow-up call from Richmond Fitness, but I'm not surprised about that.
My regularly scheduled draft occurred mid-month, so it will be interesting to see if National Fitness attempts to draft my account again later this month. I don't believe they will. I have my ducks in a row, and they know it. There are plenty of others out there who haven't taken the care that I've taken.
I'm not sure if I'll continue my campaign or not. So far, I've received almost no response from this blog, which is surprising given that my page rank is pretty high on the search engines. I don't think that many people make the connection between National Fitness and their local gym.
I'll probably write a letter to the Utah Attorney General later this week.
I sent a follow-up email to my bank and they have closed my case.
For the record, Richmond Fitness officially received my letter (according to USPS tracking number 0306 0320 0003 6128 8880) on 11/21/07 and National Fitness received my letter (tracking number 0306 0320 0003 6128 8712) on 11/21/07.
My Story
On June 13, 2006, I joined American Family Fitness in Richmond, Virginia. American Family, or “AFF” is a gym owned by Richmond Fitness, Inc., also located in Richmond, but “Member Services” are managed by a company called National Fitness Financial Systems in Layton, Utah.
I knew at the time that I joined American Family that I would be moving to Atlanta in the future. As such, I was certain to inquire about cancellation. I was presented with a contract which has a “permanent relocation” clause that allows one to cancel membership if the member moves to a location where no affiliated facility exists within 25 miles of the member’s new residence. The clause stipulates that the member must provide proof of permanent relocation and is liable for a one-time cancellation charge of $100. It further states that “[t]ermination takes 30 days to process and any draft(s) or payment(s) due during this 30-day period must be processed and collected….” My red flags should’ve gone up, but I accepted: 36 months at $52.95.
It was over a year later that I actually moved to Atlanta. On July 17, 2007, I phoned National Fitness to find out if there are any affiliated gyms within 25 miles of my new home. I provided my new address (and phone number) and I was informed that there are no affiliated gyms in my area. I requested information regarding cancellation and was informed that I must submit a letter of intent to cancel and proof of residency to the Membership Service Department in Layton, Utah, just as the contract stipulates.
On July 18, 2007, I made two crystal-clear copies of my Georgia driver’s license and sent one copy along with a polite cancellation letter to the address provided to me by National Fitness. I mailed the information via Priority service with address confirmation from my local post office. According to the USPS web site, my information was delivered 7/21, so I expected my 30-day processing period to begin on that date.
I was away from home from July 30th through August 6th. When I returned, I found an undated letter from National Fitness. “We have new information regarding your inquiry and have been unable to reach you by phone,” it read. I checked my caller ID and found no calls from National Fitness and none from a Utah area code. There were no voice mail messages, either.
I called National Fitness on August 8th at 3 p.m. and spoke to Hammond (I started writing down the details at this point). Hammond informed me that National Fitness had received my documentation and everything was in order. I’d just need to submit a $100 payment and my 30-day processing period would begin.
You’ll notice at this point that I didn’t mention a $100 payment in the list of items National Fitness asked me to send when I phoned them on July 17th. That’s because I wasn’t asked to send $100. I foolishly assumed that National Fitness would charge $100 to my debit card, the way they’ve charged every payment since June, 2006.
“You haven’t authorized us to charge the $100. You’ve only authorized us to debit your monthly payment,” Hammond informed me. “I didn’t know I was supposed to authorize you. You’re authorized,” I replied. So, Hammond charged $100 to my debit card, and I suppose my 30-day processing period thus began on August 8th, 18 days after it should have.
After I hung up with Hammond, I checked my contract, where I authorized National Fitness to charge my debit card. It reads, “[a]s a convenience to me, I authorize my Bank to make payment to National Fitness for Richmond Fitness, Inc.” It does not specify the type of payment or an amount, so no distinction was made between automatically charging $52.95 monthly and charging $100 once. In my estimation, payment is payment; National Fitness was authorized to charge the cancellation fee and they chose not to do so.
If your “something is fishy” alarm isn’t going off by now, you haven’t been paying attention. Why didn’t National Fitness tell me to send a $100 payment with the letter of cancellation? Why did National Fitness claim they tried to call me when they didn’t? Why didn’t National Fitness automatically charge the cancellation fee to my debit card? Why did National Fitness choose the slowest form of communication to inform me that my cancellation was not being processed? I believe National Fitness is intentionally dragging their feet, hoping to get an extra payment or two in before they cut me loose.
I could complain. I could argue over the contract. I could yell at the customer service reps and demand to speak with a manager. I could threaten. But I don’t believe it would do any good.
If you troll the Internet for information about National Fitness, you’ll find similar stories. Stories of unathorized credit card transactions. Stories of National Fitness' propensity to "lose" documentation. Stories of threats and intimidation. This appears to be the National Fitness modus operandi: do what it takes, just get the money.
And so my mission is to show National Fitness (and every gym that associates with National Fitness) the error of their ways. I intend to hit them where it hurts: in the pocketbook.
In the immortal words of Howard Beale, I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore.
I knew at the time that I joined American Family that I would be moving to Atlanta in the future. As such, I was certain to inquire about cancellation. I was presented with a contract which has a “permanent relocation” clause that allows one to cancel membership if the member moves to a location where no affiliated facility exists within 25 miles of the member’s new residence. The clause stipulates that the member must provide proof of permanent relocation and is liable for a one-time cancellation charge of $100. It further states that “[t]ermination takes 30 days to process and any draft(s) or payment(s) due during this 30-day period must be processed and collected….” My red flags should’ve gone up, but I accepted: 36 months at $52.95.
It was over a year later that I actually moved to Atlanta. On July 17, 2007, I phoned National Fitness to find out if there are any affiliated gyms within 25 miles of my new home. I provided my new address (and phone number) and I was informed that there are no affiliated gyms in my area. I requested information regarding cancellation and was informed that I must submit a letter of intent to cancel and proof of residency to the Membership Service Department in Layton, Utah, just as the contract stipulates.
On July 18, 2007, I made two crystal-clear copies of my Georgia driver’s license and sent one copy along with a polite cancellation letter to the address provided to me by National Fitness. I mailed the information via Priority service with address confirmation from my local post office. According to the USPS web site, my information was delivered 7/21, so I expected my 30-day processing period to begin on that date.
I was away from home from July 30th through August 6th. When I returned, I found an undated letter from National Fitness. “We have new information regarding your inquiry and have been unable to reach you by phone,” it read. I checked my caller ID and found no calls from National Fitness and none from a Utah area code. There were no voice mail messages, either.
I called National Fitness on August 8th at 3 p.m. and spoke to Hammond (I started writing down the details at this point). Hammond informed me that National Fitness had received my documentation and everything was in order. I’d just need to submit a $100 payment and my 30-day processing period would begin.
You’ll notice at this point that I didn’t mention a $100 payment in the list of items National Fitness asked me to send when I phoned them on July 17th. That’s because I wasn’t asked to send $100. I foolishly assumed that National Fitness would charge $100 to my debit card, the way they’ve charged every payment since June, 2006.
“You haven’t authorized us to charge the $100. You’ve only authorized us to debit your monthly payment,” Hammond informed me. “I didn’t know I was supposed to authorize you. You’re authorized,” I replied. So, Hammond charged $100 to my debit card, and I suppose my 30-day processing period thus began on August 8th, 18 days after it should have.
After I hung up with Hammond, I checked my contract, where I authorized National Fitness to charge my debit card. It reads, “[a]s a convenience to me, I authorize my Bank to make payment to National Fitness for Richmond Fitness, Inc.” It does not specify the type of payment or an amount, so no distinction was made between automatically charging $52.95 monthly and charging $100 once. In my estimation, payment is payment; National Fitness was authorized to charge the cancellation fee and they chose not to do so.
If your “something is fishy” alarm isn’t going off by now, you haven’t been paying attention. Why didn’t National Fitness tell me to send a $100 payment with the letter of cancellation? Why did National Fitness claim they tried to call me when they didn’t? Why didn’t National Fitness automatically charge the cancellation fee to my debit card? Why did National Fitness choose the slowest form of communication to inform me that my cancellation was not being processed? I believe National Fitness is intentionally dragging their feet, hoping to get an extra payment or two in before they cut me loose.
I could complain. I could argue over the contract. I could yell at the customer service reps and demand to speak with a manager. I could threaten. But I don’t believe it would do any good.
If you troll the Internet for information about National Fitness, you’ll find similar stories. Stories of unathorized credit card transactions. Stories of National Fitness' propensity to "lose" documentation. Stories of threats and intimidation. This appears to be the National Fitness modus operandi: do what it takes, just get the money.
And so my mission is to show National Fitness (and every gym that associates with National Fitness) the error of their ways. I intend to hit them where it hurts: in the pocketbook.
In the immortal words of Howard Beale, I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore.
Fitness Facilities Associated With National Fitness
Monday, December 10, 2007
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9 comments:
Hey, i'm having troubles with National Fitness also, when we didn't have the funds and tried to cancel the account because i moved they said we had to pay it in full!
I hate National Fitness Financial and their " affiliated" clubs.
i hate them, too. They are just ridiculous.
Also starting to have issues. Has anyone had luck with legal action??
I have nothing but issue's. I can't afford the membership anymore but they won't allow me to cancel without moving. I didn't know what to do. I canceled my card so they couldn't do automatic deduction anymore. I'm basically making a monthly payment of what I can afford so they won't send to collection.
National Fitness is charging me $1600 because my card got flagged and one payment did not go through.
I just called my gym to cancel my membership today and they sent me to an 800 number for National Fitness. Their customer service rep was very nice but I didn't have a good feeling. He said he would email me a link so I could send my written request. The link was not helpful at all. I then started "googling" the company and realized what a mess this could potentially be.
I plan on giving them notice in as many ways as possible, speaking to my gym, and my bank about it. I live about 30 minutes from their office and I will drive out there and do my best to fix it that way or get them to play nice if necessary.
If they don't play nice I will be contacting our local media. They have a segment devoted to hard to deal with, scummy businesses.
I have also been mislead by Just Fitness 4U Snellville, GA. They are also affiliated with National Fitness. In 2012 I joined the gym. I was told there was no contract and that I could cancel at anytime after paying $75. About a year later I attempted to cancel and pay the $75 fee. I was told I signed a 3 year contract. I disputed and requested a copy. I was sent a copy of page 2 of a contract which is obvious my signature was forged. I immediately notified them that I has no intentions of making anymore payment and cancel my credit card. I just reviewed my credit report and saw that National Fitness reported a Collection account. Now that my credit has been compromise, I plan to file fraud charges against them. I also would love to file a class action lawsuit. Please let me know if anyone would like to reach out to an attorney. I'm not going to let them get away with this.
Hello i live in roswell GA and im currently having the same problem as many of you. The gym my mother attended has been charging her for over a year when her contract had already ended. Is there anyone that can tell me step by step what i should do in order to get a refund and successfully cancel her membership?
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