A & M Gyms

Poor explanation of agreement and terms by gym staff and inconsistent information from both gym "Manager" and National Fitness Representative.

I joined Golds Roseville approx 3 years ago. (Aside from poor explanation of enrollment fee's at sign up, I hadn't had any major issues until this year.) Then earlier this year on 5/16/13, I noticed an unauthorized charge of $29.00 for a company out of Utah. After calling my bank, they informed me that it was from Golds Gym Roseville. I called Golds, and was told It was a "Gym Maintenance Fee" that they are National Fitness now and I should have been notified the month prior. When I told them guy I was never notified of anything, he said "Well we mailed a letter to your home" I told him I never received a letter and asked where it was mailed to. He read me an address that was not mine which was why I never received notification. The guy then told me, that I wasn't the first person that day to call and complain about the same thing. However, there was nothing they could do about it.

Then I believe on 8/25/13 I called Golds again, this time to Cancel my membership as I was just laid off and two days later my credit card and bank information was used for hundreds of dollars in Salem OR as a result of Identity Theft. The person who answered said I would need to speak to the Manager "[redacted]". When [redacted] came on the line, I explained my situation and that I needed to cancel. [redacted] suggested that I freeze my account, but when it was reactivated that I would have to pay the back due balance. I told him that I didn't like that b/c why would I pay for the membership if I wasn't using it, and to just cancel. [redacted] then said he would waive the balance for me as a courtesy. I thanked him and we ended the call. Then today 10/14/13 I get a call from "[redacted] with National Fitness telling me that I'm past due on two months of my membership and there was also an additional $15 for the payment not going through. I told [redacted] of my conversation with the Manager [redacted], and she proceeded to tell me, that I was only frozen for 1 month, not the typical 3 months and that I did not submit anything in writing to National Fitness which I was "made aware of when I signed up". I told [redacted] I was never notified about any of that, as I had been with Golds for at-least 3 years, and to my knowledge National Fitness has only been in-charge of Golds for the last year (which I was notified of on 5/16/13 when I was billed $29.00 unknowingly). [redacted] proceeded to tell me that was gym policy, and that I was being sent to collections since I was unable to pay the past due balance and I would need to call Golds in order to have anything changed or cancelled.

I then called Golds, and spoke with [redacted] and explained everything that had happened. [redacted] then told me that their system only shows $14.00 past due and that National Fitness doesn't know the gym policies or how they operate. That they were trying to scare me and wont send me to collections for like 5 months. I told [redacted] I didn't wanted to go to collections and mess up my credit b/c of this error on their end and that I wanted my membership to be cancelled. [redacted] told me that he was unable to cancel anything b/c of the $14 past due balance. So I asked if he could then extend the freeze for 3 months as [redacted] stated was the typical procedure. [redacted] said in order to freeze my account there's a $5.00 monthly fee. Again, something I was never told back in August. [redacted] said he wasn't sure who I spoke to, and I told him it was him, the manager "[redacted]". [redacted] told me that I spoke to a different Nick, but it wasn't him and there was nothing he could do, I had to pay the $14 to cancel. I asked how he expected me to pay that when I had no job, no income (the government is shut down) and no Credit card b/c of the Identity theft issue. He responded with "Well you can pay cash". After a few minutes of silence and trying to hold back my tears I ended the call with [redacted]. Twenty minutes later I decided I would call back and speak to the manager, [redacted] answered again, I asked for the manager he said was the manager!?