Weston Fitness

*** *** signed up for a membership with Weston Fitness on 1/9/ This was a corporate membership that was payroll deducted through her company, the *** ** *** On 5/19/her boyfriend, *** ***, was enrolled in a membership "under the care" of *** *** There
are two separate agreements associated with each membership, which are attached "Under the care" simply means that *** would be paying for the membershipIn July *** came in to cancel her membership A membership termination request was filled out in the club and her membership was cancelled However, a membership cancellation request was never received for *** *** and the account was never cancelled
*** recently was payroll deducted for ***'s membership She contacted us inquiring about a refund We informed her that a refund was not possible because a cancellation request was never submitted for ***
Usually we require a membership termination request or letter sent by certified mail to cancel a membership When *** contacted us we cancelled ***'s membership immediately dispute typically requiring documentation of cancellation

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: I specifically asked for all payroll deductions to cease. That including the other membership as it is a payroll deduction coming from myself. Regardless of if the "other" account was separate and a separate termination had to be done. I as the payer was not made aware at the time that I had to do such, as I was not aware the accounts were separate which Weston failed to make clear. Which is also not clear in either contract that the "family" package is not a package. Weston Fitness also failed to follow their own policy when it comes to terminations and final billing. As I stated I requested ALL a payroll deductions to cease, if the other membership was indeed in my care, but contact information for the other party was available why wasn't a personal invoice sent to the active member so that they may take financial control of their own membership? This is clearly detailed in the termination process and the contract as a policy of Weston Fitness following the request to terminate payroll deductions. Had I been aware they were separate memberships I would have never signed a contract for the advertised "family" membership option, as the memberships were never used by either parties. 
Also attempting to take focus away from this issue by using  indentifiers such as "boyfriend" are questionable and appear as an attempt to bring my own character into question concerning this issue. Please leave any mention of my personal affairs and relationships out of this dispute, thank you. 
Regards,
[redacted]

Review: I began a membership with this gym through my company. It was detailed as a company contract. As an employee I was given a corporate rate for myself and the option to buy a family package for $35/mo which includes me and the family member. In May I activated my membership and choose to upgrade to the offered family package, which was and IS advertised as a package and not separate memberships billed to a sole person. This was given to me for an inclusive price of $35/mo.

In July after moving into my own home, I decided to end my business with the gym. I went online and attempted to cancel my contract. My next pay period I realized that the attempted termination was not processed and I contacted my companies HR, who was advised by a employee of the gym that I visit the gym in person to cancel my contract. I did just that the same day and thought I had successfully cancelled my business with the gym. Upon my in-person visit to terminate my business with the company I made it clear that I wanted all payroll deductions to cease. I was told that my wishes were fulfilled. However, recently I was billed and $105 was taken from my pay. I was not notified that this was happening neither by my company nor by Weston Fitness. I contacted Weston with proof that I had attempted to cancel. I was told that the family member still had an active membership and that I was billed for non-usage. I provided the proof that I had in fact attempted to terminate. However, Weston would not admit that their package is not as advertised and I had actually signed two free standing contracts legally binding me financially to the gym. This “family” membership was billed from my pay as ONE membership and not two as the gym insists.

At the time I had made the in-person visit to cancel I was not told that the account was separate, I was not told that I had to undergo an entirely separate termination for the other account. I was also not told upon signing up for the family membership that they were in fact two separate accounts. I as the employee, the payer, and subscriber of the contracts terminated the payroll deduction and the employee membership. I was told by Weston that the account was “in care” of myself. I asked if that was so, why I was still being billed when I made it clear I no longer wished to finance memberships at the gym. Why did the company not follow their own policy and personally send me a final bill?

This entire process was underhanded and seemed purposefully misleading in orer to bill past terminations requests. I have asked from my monies back, however the company refuses to pay me back. I would like my money to be paid back to me.Desired Settlement: I would like my monies paid back to me. I would also like a formal apology that includes putting in place a quality control policy that would alert not only members but employees about memebrs names that appear on more than on account specifically for billing purposes.

Business

Response:

[redacted] signed up for a membership with Weston Fitness on 1/9/14. This was a corporate membership that was payroll deducted through her company, the [redacted]. On 5/19/14 her boyfriend, [redacted], was enrolled in a membership "under the care" of [redacted]. There are two separate agreements associated with each membership, which are attached. "Under the care" simply means that [redacted] would be paying for the membership.

Review: My wife and I were members of [redacted] Fitness Center located at [redacted] They announced the week of June 2nd, via email, that after 30 years in business they would be closing and our memberships had been sold to Weston Fitness located at [redacted].

When I emailed [redacted], a representative from Weston who had sent out a June 7th email welcoming me to Weston, that my wife and I wished to cancel, he said we could do so prior to June 10th, which was the next billing cycle.

On Saturday, June 8th, my wife and I went to the Westpm Fitness Center and spoke with [redacted] and [redacted], the Operations Manager ([redacted]). We were told that we can fill out cancellation forms, but we would be billed another month, despite the fact we cancelled prior to June 10th as [redacted] had indicated. When I asked why I was told by [redacted], that “we require a 30 day notice” for cancellation. When I reminded [redacted] that we had just received a notice earlier this same week making it impossible to provide such a notice, he said “we were only notified on Monday”.

I then called [redacted] Fitness to speak with a [redacted] who said because of the agreement between the owner of [redacted] Fitness and the owner of Westpm Fitness, he could no longer handle any issues regarding membership. He himself indicated that entire membership list sale excluded ANY notification to members of the closing in enough time for them to have the choice to cancel future membership or stay with Westpm.

My wife and I filled out the form, noting on the form we are disputing the charges. We filed a block on our [redacted] account to try and stop the charge from coming through. Today, June 10, 2013, the charge for $29.00 went through. We have disputed this charge as fraud, as it certainly is, and wish to get our money back from Westpm Fitness.

This perfectly legal for [redacted] Fitness to sell memberships to Westpm Fitness within a 10 mile radius per the Health Care Act, but they must waive any cancellation charges, in what amounts to a scam of $29.99 per member.

My wife and I were members of [redacted] Fitness Center located at [redacted]. They announced the week of June 2nd, via email, that after 30 years in business they would be closing and our memberships had been sold to Weston Fitness located at [redacted].

When I emailed [redacted], a representative from Weston who had sent out a June 7th email welcoming me to Weston, that my wife and I wished to cancel, he said we could do so prior to June 10th, which was the next billing cycle.

On Saturday, June 8th, my wife and I went to the Weston Fitness Center and spoke with [redacted] and [redacted], the Operations Manager ([redacted]. We were told that we can fill out cancellation forms, but we would be billed another month, despite the fact we cancelled prior to June 10th as [redacted] had indicated. When I asked why I was told by [redacted], that “we require a 30 day notice” for cancellation. When I reminded [redacted] that we had just received a notice earlier this same week making it impossible to provide such a notice, he said “we were only notified on Monday”.

I then called [redacted] Fitness to speak with a [redacted] who said because of the agreement between the owner of [redacted] Fitness and the owner of Weston Fitness, he could no longer handle any issues regarding membership. He himself indicated that entire membership list sale excluded ANY notification to members of the closing in enough time for them to have the choice to cancel future membership or stay with Weston.

My wife and I filled out the form, noting on the form we are disputing the charges. We filed a block on our [redacted] account in an effort to stop the charge from coming through, however, on June 10, 2013, the charge for $29.00 went through. We have disputed this charge as fraud, as it certainly is, and wish to get our money back from Weston Fitness.

This perfectly legal for [redacted] Fitness to sell memberships to Weston Fitness within a 10 mile radius per the Health Club Act, but they must waive any cancellation charges, in what amounts to a scam of $29.99 per member.Desired Settlement: My wife and I will only accept a FULL REFUND of the $29.00 in authorized charges back to our [redacted] Bank.