W Fitness

Review: I joined W Fitness on 1/12/15, due to promotional postcard received in mail advertising $1 joining fee and $10 a month. Enrolling Manager disclosed classes cost additional $10 a month, which I declined (as this was not disclosed on promotional postcard I received). Manager disclosed there was an additional monthly $1 club multi access fee (which is mandatory) making my only financial commitment $11.00 per month, which I verbally confirmed to manager before formally proceeding with enrollment process. Manager DID NOT disclose there was an ADDITIONAL $49.99 annual "rate lock" fee, billed to my credit card a month after I joined, nor disclosed there was a 7 page membership agreement/financial contract or it's terms and conditions, nor did the manager show me any contract, ask me to review any contract, or provide me with a copy of a contract upon joining W-Fitness on January 12, 2015. After manager took all my personal information I was asked for my credit card for monthly billing of dues and requested to sign an "electronic signature pad" for credit card authorization on file. As the final step of enrollment, I was handed ONE piece of paper which stated: Gold Membership, name and contact info, emergency contact, confirmation of complimentary personal training session, joining due to "promotional mailer" and "recurring payment" information was $11/month starting 1/26/15 (monthly) and ** DUE TODAY PAYMENT ($11) WILL BE THE SAME AS RECURRING PAYMENT INFORMATION. That was it. There was NO contract mentioned, seen, or provided to me upon joining club. A credit card charge slip was provided for $11 for "Gold last month dues" which were required up front and was disclosed to me. I received no other membership related paperwork from club the day I joined on January 12th or anytime after, to date.

My first month's dues of $11.00 (per the paperwork I received upon joining) were billed correctly to my credit card and were paid; however, the second month (February 15th) I was charged $11.00 monthly dues plus an UNSPECIFIED charge of $49.00. When I called abcfinancial.com (3rd party billing company listed on credit card statement), to report this billing error, I was informed it was my "annual membership fee" per the contract I signed. I informed them they must be mistaken as there was no contract presented upon joining, nor was I given or had any such contract from W-Fitness. After hours on the phone, abcfinancial disclosed that an "electronic contract" with my personal information could be found on the following website: MYiCLUBonline.com. At this point I became VERY alarmed as I was never told about a contract the day I joined W Fitness or shown ANY contract as part of my enrollment process so created an account and user name in order to access MYiCLUBonline.com immediately after hanging up with abcfinancial.com rep on March 17, 2015. Once on this site, under my name, I noted an icon that stated "documents." I clicked on it and found a **7 page** finely printed, membership (financial) contract, with all of my personal information listed, including my electronic signature, which was provided to W-Fitness for credit card authorization and billing purposes only.

Without my knowledge or permission, W-Fitness used my electronic signature, given for credit card billing and authorization only, on an electronic contract which was never disclosed the day I joined, which now resides on a 3rd party website. I immediately noted there was no handwritten date next to my signature, which further indicated I was the victim of fraud.

I have called the manager who enrolled me who refuses to acknowledge the non-disclosure of the 7 page contract and fraudulent activity, also declining to provide the name of the independent owner of the club. I have spent hours on the phone with abcfinancial.com who continues to state "their hands are tied" and are only "authorized" to speak to the manager who failed to disclose a contract and posted my personal information online without my knowledge or prior written authorization. I have been informed by everyone associated with W-Fitness that I must pay the $49.00 annual membership (rate lock) fee since my (electronic credit card) signature appears on an electronic contract that was never disclosed to me. No one is concerned, willing to correct the situation, or investigate the fraudulent activity.

In order to immediately cancel my club membership, I submitted W-Fitness' mandatory "30 day notice form" and personal letter of explanation via email, as directed, to [email protected] on 3/17/15 and immediately received a date/time stamped email receipt ([redacted] dated 3/17/15 @ 2:51 pm) as evidence I have submitted my request to cancel my membership. My letter states that a membership contract was NOT disclosed and fraudulent activity occurred.

My membership must be cancelled within 30 days of receiving my written, emailed request (which goes by the automatic date/time stamped return email receipt from abcfinancial.com dated 3/17/15). Therefore, I expect my membership to be cancelled no later than 4/17/15. However, I have been told since I have already pre-paid my last month's dues of $11, I am still responsible for the 49.99 annual membership fee as outlined in the 7 page membership contract which was never disclosed when I joined W-Fitness. I am unable to resolve the matter with either W-Fitness Foxboro OR abcfinancial.com.

I immediately put a stop payment on the $49.99 charge due to non-disclosure of a membership contract and fraudulent activity involving my signature.

I am still waiting for a written acknowledgement from abcfinancial.com that my membership cancellation (received by abcfinancial.com on 3/17/15) is being processed and the $49.99 fee will be waived and removed from my account, per my letter to abcfinancial.com which they received on 3/17/15.

It is my hope W-Fitness will resolve this matter amicably by removing the $49.99 charge from my account and immediately cancelling my membership. I have all documentation supporting W-Fitness' non-disclosure of 7 page membership contract and posting my personal information on a 3rd party website without my knowledge or explicit written prior permission.Desired Settlement: (1) abcfinancial.com will immediately waive and REMOVE the $49.99 annual membership fee on my account, which was not disclosed upon joining nor disclosed by means of providing new member with said contract upon joining on January 12, 2015.

(2) abcfinancial.com will change my account balance to $0 (waiving and removing and all finance charges since my account is in the process of being cancelled as of 3/17/15 and last month dues were paid up front;

(3) abcfinancial.com will immediately REMOVE ANY and ALL of my personal information and any personally identifiable documents on MyiCLUBonline.com (W-Fitness did not disclose my personal information would be posted on 3rd party website and failed to obtain my explicit, written permission to do so);

(4) abcfinancial.com will immediately provide me with a dated, written notice that my membership is cancelled and account is at zero balance, to include my unique W-Fitness membership number.

(5) The independent owner of W-Fitness Foxboro be notified of this incident.

Business

Response:

I have attached a copy of the membership agreement that [redacted] signed upon joining our gym. Member agreements are automatically emailed to the members, to the email address they provided when they joined. Members are allowed to view the agreement while signing up as well as being able to go home and review the contract at their leisure and can cancel anytime within 3 days and get a full refund of anything they have paid. I have also attached a copy of the mailers that we send out that clearly state that there is an annual fee.There are also several signs in the club stating that there is an annual fee. The Annual fee is also listed on our pitch sheets for staff to discuss with the new members.[redacted]'s membership has been canceled but she still owes $60.99, before she would be allowed to rejoin the gym. As a courtesy we have already waived all her late fees and service fees.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and determined that the response satisfies complaint #[redacted]. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved.

Regards,

Review: On 12/15/14 I joined W fitness gym in [redacted]. There were a number of deceptive billing practices with an automatic payment collection with my credit card. I was initially told on 12/15/14 that there was a $1 special membership fee to join. Then I was charged an additional $49.99 less than a month later for the yearly fee. This was never explained to me and I feel it was deceptive. I was also told it was only $20.99 a month and I could cancel at anytime. I was initially charged $21.99 for the first month and $1 membership fee. Then again on 12/28/2014 I was charged again for January's dues. When I called to question why I was charged twice the local gym said they could not help because they don't handle anything financial and gave me an email address to contact corporate. Corporate never responded. On 1/23/15 When I called the local gym to mention that I wanted to quit and how to go about that because of the misleading charges, they told me I had to come down to the gym to get a form and if I did not come before the 28th I would be charged for the next month. On 1/24/15 I went to the gym in person to obtain form and the representative at the desk did not have it. He took down my email address and said they would email it to me. On 1/28/15 no one from the gym had sent the email or called and I was again charged the 20.99 after they could not provide required form in order to cancel. I called again on 1/29/15 and explained the circumstances and they said they would email me the form and to call corporate to explain the circumstances and they would refund this months dues. When I called the main company I was told that they could not refund any of the charges. I was also told that the two charges charged in December were to cover my last month. Although they claimed I could cancel at anytime they did not explain that they would pre-charge for the last month. I could not cancel at any time because they could not provide required paperwork. It is also deceptive that it is only 30 days to cancel because they said that even though I emailed the cancellation form it would take them 3-5 business days to process before the 30 days goes into effect essentially rolling me into another pay period and an additional $20.99. When I told them that these charges would be disputed on my credit card they said if there was an outstanding balance on my account they could not process the cancellation of membership request. This is deceptive and makes it impossible to quit without paying large sums of money. It also makes the representatives statement that you can cancel at anytime false because I could not cancel at the time I expressed that I wished to by withholding form and not responding to requests to cancel.Desired Settlement: I wish to be refunded the $20.99 charged on 1/28/15 as well as one of the two charges charged in December.

Business

Response:

First off, I apologize for any issues you had with the health club and the regional manger will be investigating to ensure that all club staff is properly trained and knows the proper procedure. All terms are stating in the attached membership agreement that [redacted] signed as well as club signage. When [redacted] joined she was charged the $1 joining fee plus the last month dues. As stated in membership agreement there is an annual fee of $49.99 charged on the 15th of the month after joining. She was also charged monthly membership dues for the month of December and January.[redacted]'s membership has been cancelled with nothing further due. Also as a courtesy I have refunded the joining fee and last month dues to her American Express Card. I have attached a copy of the original payment made at the club as well as the returned amount. A copy of the signed Agreement and a copy of the billing and payment history.Please let me know if you have any other questions or if this answers the complaint.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #[redacted]. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved.

Regards,