*Has anyone ran into problems like this*

bigblockchevy · 03-03-2009, 09:15 AM

When I was able to get back in the gym I joined Lady of America............BIG MISTAKE! I went 2 days and quit the next day I signed a contract the whole nine yards they refunded me my money and everything was cool! TODAY!!!!!!!!! I check my bank statement online and I see where the exact SAME AMOUNT that had been credited to my account was drafted AGAIN! on the first of this month! so i called the payment center which is ABC Financial and they said its showing on their stuff that I'm an active member WTF?! i told them I cancelled at the beginning of february because I was totally unsatisfied with their gym and equipment and they said I have to fax them some form of proof showing that it had been cancelled when they didnt give me anything to begin with. well I called my bank and told them that they was unauthorized to do that. So they are printing me copies of my bank statement and i also called Lady of America and told them what had happened I have to wait and call them back at 11 when the manager gets there and they said they would get it straightened out. when I googled lady of america to get the phone number I seen a review lady had posted just this past saturday on the 28th which she had the same issue I'm having... here is her post:

Unethical contract practices

I completed my 3 year contract with Lady Fitness. If I had to do it again, I would NOT. I've been there when it opened and times when it closed, yet I've never seen sweat or spit wiped off the machines....and they smell that way. Be sure to bring your own wet wipes. The ladies working there spent all their time on the internet or texting on their phones when they could have been cleaning. When the machines break down, it could be months and sometimes a year before they are fixed. And still there are machines that are so LOUD and squeaky, people are staring at you. It's more embarrassing if there is a class going on. So I attended another gym the last year of my contract and it was a million times better. My expiration date on my contract was 1/2009 and I called this Lady Fitness center to ensure that my contract was cancelled. In Feb, another payment was taken from my checking account. I called the payment center: ABC Financials and while they put me on hold for 10 minutes and pretended to research my account, they told me they had no information from Lady Fitness for cancellation. Now I have to fax cancellation confirmation to them plus I do not get my money back even though they can prove I have not been there and ABC Financial said Lady Fitness would not do this. I asked if ABC Financials will contact me to confirm plus I will put a stop payment with the bank. They told me that if my cancellation does not get processed, they will still attempt to extract money from my bank account and if not, I will still be liable, also for additional non-payment fees plus I will be reported to the credit agencies. And if I request confirmation, they "MIGHT" be willing to send me one via email. If one person decides NOT to sign up, then me losing a month payment is so worth this report. I was an excellent customer and this is how I was treated in the end.

Posted on: 02/28/2009

freebirdmac · 03-03-2009, 09:22 AM

Hasn't happened to me, but the internet is loaded with stories like that. From just about every gym you can think of. I hope they straighten it out fast.

bigblockchevy · 03-03-2009, 09:25 AM

Gurl me too!!!! thats nuts this kinda stuff happening to people. and writing a review about a place thats what its for to alert other consumers to how they treat customers and stuff

grace_ou · 03-03-2009, 09:54 AM

This is a pretty common problem with gyms.. because they don't actually handle your account it's handled by a finance institute.. now they'll claim lots of things like oh it was a mistake blah blah blah.. but I've heard this enough that personally I think they do it on purpose cause alot of people will let it go or overlook it.. sometimes they'll try to tell you oh you didn't cancel and it's late now.. alot of bull****! Stay on top of it and make sure your banks stops them from withdrawing the money in the future..like next month it's not uncommon for this happen to more then once!

bigblockchevy · 03-03-2009, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grace_ou

This is a pretty common problem with gyms.. because they don't actually handle your account it's handled by a finance institute.. now they'll claim lots of things like oh it was a mistake blah blah blah.. but I've heard this enough that personally I think they do it on purpose cause alot of people will let it go or overlook it.. sometimes they'll try to tell you oh you didn't cancel and it's late now.. alot of bull****! Stay on top of it and make sure your banks stops them from withdrawing the money in the future..like next month it's not uncommon for this happen to more then once!

Oh gurl i already called my bank and told them about it so they know now. I'm fixing to call that gym back as soon as I post this message because the manager is suppose to be there and they said they would take care of it.

bigblockchevy · 03-03-2009, 10:31 AM

okay so i finally was able to talk to the manager when she FINALLY got there to the gym after waiting 30 minutes. I told her what had happened and of course she acted like she didnt know anything. I told her they drafted 58.53 from my account and I told her that they never received cancellation confirmation from them so she said she would call them and she also said it takes 7-10buisness days for the money to be refunded back into my account! still sounds ****ed up to me! i know I will be raising all kinds of hell if that money isnt back into my account!

Deborah_Lyn · 03-03-2009, 01:44 PM

Give them 1 chance to resolve it, then contact your better business bureau.

You can also check out Clark Howard's web site (consumer advocate) to see how to handle them and get your money back.

03-03-2009, 02:10 PM

Its common for a gym to try and rip you off. The last two times I moved I had to call, and call and call to get my money back. The last time I had to actually call my CC company and get the fraud department on them.

If you dont get your money back go in face to face.

humblegenius · 03-03-2009, 02:44 PM

Its for this reason I always like to pay for things upfront and not use direct debit.

bigblockchevy · 03-04-2009, 07:36 AM

Thank you all for the replies. My bank is staying on top of this as well hopefully everything works out! I have never had this problem at other gyms like the one I'm back at which is Aspen Athletic Club.

margotspera · 03-04-2009, 07:45 AM

What kills me is even after your money is back, you can never make up for all the lost time clearing the issue up! ESP if its not your fault.

I work at a gym, and before I had an employee memberhip I was a regular member...cancelling the regular membership (as an employee!) gave me the same problem! Unreal...

Keep documents!

bigblockchevy · 03-04-2009, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by margotspera

What kills me is even after your money is back, you can never make up for all the lost time clearing the issue up! ESP if its not your fault.

I work at a gym, and before I had an employee memberhip I was a regular member...cancelling the regular membership (as an employee!) gave me the same problem! Unreal...

Keep documents!

thats messed up right there and ya know when you say keep documents thats exactly what i didnt do... real smooth on my part because I kept all the documents right up until they refunded my money back the first time because I was with in the 3 days to cancel. and after they refunded my money I ditched the documentation and I wished now I hadnt because seeing on my bank statement they drafted the same amount they refunded me again. CRAZINESS!!!!

behealthynfit · 03-05-2009, 09:41 PM

i feel sorry to hear that you are having trouble with this people, i hope
you can clear that up and you get your money back. i read that cancelling
a gym membership its one of the top complaints that BB get all the time,
what i would recomend to you is to get one of the prepaid membership, that
option would be the best bet for anyone who doesnt want to deal with this
kind of problems in the future, that's what i been getting for the past 4 years at bally's, and so far, no problems at all, when its time to renew, just
make a call and thats it, dont have to haggle with this salespeople that are annoying trying to sell you what not stuff, when its time to renew i also check their websites to check who has the better deals on prepaid memberships.
anywas wish you luck, and thats my 2 cent.

bigblockchevy · 03-06-2009, 05:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by behealthynfit

i feel sorry to hear that you are having trouble with this people, i hope
you can clear that up and you get your money back. i read that cancelling
a gym membership its one of the top complaints that BB get all the time,
what i would recomend to you is to get one of the prepaid membership, that
option would be the best bet for anyone who doesnt want to deal with this
kind of problems in the future, that's what i been getting for the past 4 years at bally's, and so far, no problems at all, when its time to renew, just
make a call and thats it, dont have to haggle with this salespeople that are annoying trying to sell you what not stuff, when its time to renew i also check their websites to check who has the better deals on prepaid memberships.
anywas wish you luck, and thats my 2 cent.

Thanks for the reply! :-) well as of yesterday when i got in from work last night I checked my bank statement and they have creditted my account for the amount they drafted! so everything is good I just hope they dont do it again next month!..I'm at my old gym that I was at before. Ya know I should just went back there instead of being cheap and going someplace like lady of america that was cheaper and totally sucked A$$!!!! LOL I could've avoided this WHOLE problem if I hadnt been a cheapskate! ah well live and learn right?