Fitness System-Lodi

I just wanted to say that, as it is nice of the facility to offer us the complimentary 2 months of gym access, it unfortunately is of no use to us as we cancelled the membership because of a serious auto accident injury & the inability to exercise. Also, due to this error of not canceling & instead freezing the account we were charged for two months of membership. Had this been addressed immediately when I addressed it and was charged, we would not have been charged twice. Also, this facility neglected this issue for several months (over 6 months) and led this issue to escalate to this point. I don't believe that under any circumstance this is good nor proper business ethic. In addition, this proves to be very poor customer service and shows the lack of concern for their customers concern. For these reasons, we request that we be refunded our money. I hope you can see my point and I look forward to hearing from you. Thank You very much,[redacted]

Review: I went in to cancel my account, went through the paperwork, received a cancelation number and thought everything was taken care of. Little did I realize months later after getting a call from a collection agency that my account was continuously getting charged. I called to ask what was the problem, but there was only 1 person named [redacted] who could talk to me regarding my issue. I try to call numerous times, even asking when she will be in next. Each time (4-5) they leave a note on her desk to call me. She had ample time to call me back and never did. However, every time I call during her working hours she can't and won't talk to me. I even went in twice and tried to talk, but when they went to ask her if she was free they came back saying she couldn't talk to me. Im at the point where it is hurting my credit since they sent it to collections. There is no possibility of making contact with [redacted], and I could really use some help on this issue. I don't live in the area anymore and it is becoming a huge hassle to deal with. If [redacted] is so hard to get in contact with, then they should train more employees to be able to deal with account issues.Desired Settlement: I only would like for [redacted] to wipe the charges on my account, and immediately call their collection agency to fix their mistake. I would like the error on my credit delt with first, then wipe my charges. Thank you

Business

Response:

We have a policy of giving carbon copies of every document related to an account to the member, for them to keep as accurate a record as we do. After looking into this particular account, we found no record that any cancelation had taken place. (Furthermore, there is no such thing as a "cancelation number.") We had made attempts to call Mr. [redacted] and ask him to please bring in his copy of the cancelation, in which case we would happily remove the balance and take him out of Collections. He made no such effort. Marie, the manager, did attempt to contact him, with no resolve. Because he is taking this route, the owners have advised to remove him from Collections to rectify this situation, which has been done.

Review: I requested a refund from this fitness facility as they charged me even after I had canceled my membership an over a year ago. I went in to cancel our membership last year due to an injury taken place due to a serious auto accident. At the time the gentleman working at the front desk took our information and asked for a note from the doctor indicating that my wife was no longer going to be able to attend the facility. We brought in a note from the physical therapist that indicated exactly that. Six months later in July we were charge for our membership. When we saw the charge on our credit card statement I immediately called the front desk. They told me that they had in fact frozen our membership instead of canceling it. I explained to them the situation that had taken place and they asked us to send in the doctor’s note that was provided previously and come in to cancel in person. So we did both, we came in in person and requested the cancellation and a refund and also mailed the note we initially submitted. We still did not receive a refund. Then my wife called and spoke to someone and they told her someone would call her back because a manager was not available. She waited no one returned her call. Two weeks went by she called again and asked to speak to a manager after reciting the entire situation again and of course the manager was not available and she was told he would be available between 230 and 5 PM and would return her call. He said he would personally deliver the message and help find a resolution to this problem. The clerks name was [redacted]. She got no response so she called him again to follow up. After numerous calls and becoming frustrated with the situation she asked if there was any way she could speak to the owner of the facility because 3 months has passed & we were charged again & nothing was done. The clerk told her that the owner does not speak to people and is not available because he hardly comes into facility. She asked if he could just give her a quick call so we can get this resolved as it was just getting dragged on and we were getting charged more. [redacted] said that he would speak to the owner and manager and come back with a solution and give us a call. He did not call and she called again to follow up after another week or so and he told her the owner would like me to send an email indicating in writing that we would like to cancel the membership. She explained to him that we had already done that numerous times and had done in person at the facility. He however said that was the only way we would get our refund. We did so immediately. And no response again. She then called again after two weeks thinking maybe it would take them some time to process the refund. When she asked him what was going on and why we have not received a refund he said that he went ahead and canceled the membership as of now and apologizes for the mistake that they did not cancel in the very beginning and instead ended up freezing the account. Regarding the refund he said that he would not be able to do that and that he would pass the message along to the owner and manager and someone would contact us. She expressed her concern about being given the runaround for the past four months. It has now been a little over six months and we still have yet to receive a refund and receive a call from an assistant manager or the owner of the facility. Therefore we sought out to speak to the Revdex.com so we can get our money back. We have followed their instructions on how to cancel and they did not cancel our account instead they froze it and error that is on their part. Secondly they did not keep any records of the information that we provided to them and the information they requested over and over again.

After waiting so many months for a response and a solution to this situation, we have decided to reach out to you for assistance to help get out money back.Desired Settlement: Full refund ($168.00)

Business

Response:

At Fitness System we have very clear and transparent billing practices. Members are made fully aware of policies at sign-up. As noted on their original membership agreement, we require a written 30 Day Notice of Cancelation, signed and authorized by the primary member on the account. On November 30, 2014, Mr. [redacted] came into the facility and did in fact FREEZE his account, he did not cancel it. Please review the attached receipt showing that Mr. [redacted] signed the receipt requesting to freeze the account until July 2015. This was the action taken on the account. On July 1, 2015, the account unfroze and he was charged, per his original request. It was not until July 30, 2015 that the official letter requesting to cancel was received. Per the 30 Day Notice of Cancelation, August 2015 was the last draft of the account and no further transactions have taken place. We have only taken the actions as requested by Mr. [redacted] himself. Had we canceled the account and not frozen it per the signed documentation, we would not be truthful in our business practices.We use carbon copy documents to keep track of every alteration to every account, so that both we and the members are fully aware of their standing.We unfortunately cannot and will not supply a refund, as we simply followed the requests of Mr. [redacted]. We respectfully request that the issue be considered resolved, being that the account has been properly canceled. Thank you.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: Thank you for your prompt reply which I failed to receive in the past 6 months. Had I known I would receive such a quick response by taking this route, I would not have wasted 6 months trying to speak to an assistant manager, manager and owner to seek a resolution. Anyhow, I took a closer look at the “receipt” which you were so kind to provide. Upon looking at this I would like to state that I in fact came in to your facility to “CANCEL” not “FREEZE” my account. Secondly, the written explanation that is provided was 1. Not written in at the time that I signed & 2. Is not in my handwriting, meaning I did not write it. Clearly it was written after my signing. Lastly, I was never given a copy of this “receipt”. From this I have learned a very big lesson, and from here on out I surly will ask for and retain a copy of something as simple as a gym membership cancellation. Nonetheless, if your billing policy is “very clear and transparent” then my concern should have been addressed immediately in July when I first contacted you. But this was not the case. I was lead on by your clerks time and time again all while I continued to fulfill the requests they made not to mention waiting on the promises they made that an assistant manager or manager would be in touch with me. So for 6 months I continued to work with your staff and finally decided to reach out to the Revdex.com as I felt this was simply unethical. For your reference, I have noted below the sequence of events that took place since my first contact with your staff member regarding this issue. Should you need, I have a timeline of all the events documented along with my phone statements to support what took place. When I went in regarding this, I in fact when to CANCEL my membership NOT FREEZE it. This was due to the auto accident we were in and the severe injury my wife has suffered. (For which a doctor’s note was provided previously as well). Anyhow, when I went in I told the clerk that I wanted to CANCEL my membership. He told me that he would process the cancellation and it would take in effect immediately if a doctor’s note/proof of the accident was provided. I told him we have already provided the note previously and he said they do not keep such documents on file and that we would need to provide again. So once more, my wife provided the note along with an incident report taking by the Police Department. The clerk told her that they would process the cancellation. After that meeting, I did not see any charges to my account from the facility and I naturally assumed everything was taken care of. However, a few months later I saw the charge appear on my statement and immediately contacted the facility thinking there was clearly an error. I spoke to the clerk and explained what had happened. He then informed me that they made an error in that, instead of cancelling my account, they froze it. I asked to be reimbursed for the charge and he told me that he would need to speak to his manager and get back to me. I had no problem with that and told him that I would look forward to hearing from him. Two weeks went by and I did not hear from the clerk. I then contacted the facility myself and spoke to the clerk and he told me that his manager said I would need to provide the note & proof of the accident once again as they had no record of it. I informed him that I had submitted these items last time when I came in to cancel. He told me that they have no record & do not keep such documents on file as it would result in excessive storage of documents. A little confused & unclear, I asked him then what the purpose of asking for these documents was? He said that there was nothing he could do until the items were provided to support the reason behind the cancellation request. So, again I went in and dropped off the documents. The clerk said he would be in touch. A few weeks passed and as I had not heard back from anyone AND I was charged again I reached out to the facility. This time I spoke to a different clerk and he told me he would speak to the manager and get back to me. Again, no reply. I told him that I was waiting to hear from him and asked if I could simply speak to a manager myself as so much time has passed in trying to resolve this issue. I was hoping to speak to the manager & address this ongoing issue & get a resolution. The clerk however told me that the management never returns customers phone calls and do not speak to them. I was very surprised. However, the clerk expressed his sympathy as he confided in me that this type of behavior takes place often and many customers get frustrated and give up or they just keep trying but never are able to get in touch with the manager. At the same time he reassured me that he would speak to the manager on my behalf and get back to me by the afternoon. Again no call from the clerk. I reached out again and this time I was very frustrated as I felt like I was getting nowhere and so much time had passed trying to resolve this one issue. I reached out again to the clerk and he told me again, the same thing. I asked him if he would really call me back or was simply saying that he would. I trusted that I would hear from him. But sadly, I did not. (I have records of my phone statements showing the many times I made calls (lasting 25+ minutes) to this facility with hopes to speak to someone in management who could help me get my money back. I called again and asked the clerk if I could please speak to the owner and he informed me that the owner does not frequent his business and is unaware of what goes on. I was floored and expressed to the clerk that I could not understand how an owner of any business be unaware of what takes place at his business and that I would naturally assume that no business owner would want a matter to be dragged out for such a long period of time. He again expressed his sympathy & said he would relay my message to the owner and ask him to give me a call. I received no call. Therefore, I called again to follow up and the clerk informed me that the owner requested I come into the facility and request personally for the cancellation and reimbursement of the charges. I was unable to go to the facility as I had many back to back meetings that week so I asked if there was anything else I could do. I expressed to him how tired I was of being given the run around and being strung along. He said he spoke to the owner and the owner requested that I send an email requesting a cancellation. I did so via email & waited to hear from the clerk. No one called & so again I followed up. He told me that he received the email and had cancelled my account so I would no longer be charged. I asked him, “What about the 2 charges? When shall I expect to see the refund as I have provided everything you have asked?” He said he would get back to me. And again he did not. I was very upset and frustrated so I decided to reach out to the Revdex.com and this brings us to present day. So regarding the facilities reply, I have to strongly disagree because if this was disclosed to me in the very beginning that the error was on my behalf and I was not following policies, I would not have pursued any further. However that is not the case. The error was on the clerk who processed my cancellation as a freeze. In addition, upon seeing the charge on my account, I immediately contacted the facility to have the charge reversed as I was under the impression that my account was already canceled 6 months prior. And due to the lack of response from the facility’s staff, I was charged again. For this & all the reasons above, I respectfully request the 2 charges be reimbursed.

Business

Response:

We understand your frustration, however, with any documented proof other than what we have provided, we cannot supply a refund. Yes, the staff member fills out the slip according to the member's specifications, so it is completed properly. The member is then asked to sign, authorizing what the receipt says. It is absolutely ludicrous to suggest we would alter paperwork after having our members sign it-- we would not have been able to run a successful business for 10+ years if we were not truthful in our business practices. We did not force you to sign a freeze slip instead of a cancelation slip. The staff member filled out what you had requested, you signed it, and you were in fact given the blue carbon copy. If you could supply an actual cancelation receipt showing that you did in fact cancel instead of freeze we would not hesitate to refund you and make it right. However, with the current documentation, there is nothing to suggest we made a mistake. We respectfully request the matter be considered resolved, as without any further documentation there is no proof showing we erred and owe a refund. We'd be happy to extend a month or two free to you should you choose to return to our facility.Thank you.

Consumer

Response:

I just wanted to say that, as it is nice of the facility to offer us the complimentary 2 months of gym access, it unfortunately is of no use to us as we cancelled the membership because of a serious auto accident injury & the inability to exercise. Also, due to this error of not canceling & instead freezing the account we were charged for two months of membership. Had this been addressed immediately when I addressed it and was charged, we would not have been charged twice. Also, this facility neglected this issue for several months (over 6 months) and led this issue to escalate to this point. I don't believe that under any circumstance this is good nor proper business ethic. In addition, this proves to be very poor customer service and shows the lack of concern for their customers concern. For these reasons, we request that we be refunded our money.

Review: On Sept 3 2013 I arrived at Fitness systems in Lodi to Cancel my membership. I informed the gentleman at the counter that I was unable to afford the membership, and was in the process of moving, and I needed to cancel my membership. He informed me that because it was the 3rd, that they would still be billing me for the month of September. Unhappily I accepted that, but told him I still neede to cancel the membership. He pulled out a form, which I signed, and handed me a piece of blue paper in which cancelled was circled at the top. I proceded to leave, and thought I had completed the transaction and had my membership cancelled. Six months later I recieved a call stating that my card declined and I needed to come in and make a payment. I explained that I had cancelled my account and I did not owe them a payment.The card in question was not linked to the account and had expired. She said that my account was only frozen, and now payment was due. This was obviously an error on their part, and now they were trying to cover up that they screwed up. I told them I wasn't goinjg to pay and that they needed get this fixed. This was the last I heard of it, and assumed it was taken care of. Until May 21st 2014, I recieved a phone call stating I needed to come in and pay for my membership, and I had to go through with the same routine again. This time a manager called me two days later and explained to me the only way I could cancel my accout was to pay $80.00 and a cancelation fee. This was definately a scam to force me to pay for the membership which I cancelled 8 months prior.Desired Settlement: I would like them to cancel my membership, and stop trying to bill me. I also hope this has not gone to a collection agency, as I would need these charges reversed as well. I don't think I owe them the $80.00 or the cancelation fee as in my contract I was a month to month client.

Business

Response:

Fitness System keeps paper records of all changes, cancelations, and freezes of all accounts, as to validate any alteration made. Unfortunately, Mr. [redacted] is not being completely truthful regarding this matter, as you can see by the attached documentation. On August 3rd he actually requested to FREEZE his membership, which puts the account and billing on hold for a specified period of time. As stated on the slip which is both signed and dated by the staff member on duty and Mr. [redacted] himself, the agreed upon freeze was to occur between 10-1-13 and 4-1-14. On 4-1-14, the account unfroze and billed him. This is what he requested to do, as "Freeze" is circled at the top of the document he signed. In April, instead of contacting Fitness System directly to resolve his account and cancel it for good, he charged back his April dues. He has not come into the gym to cancel his account permanently, as there is no paper record of that. We respectfully request that Mr. [redacted] pay at least 50% of the outstanding balance to properly close the account, and that this complaint does not go on our Revdex.com record. We are happy to cancel his account for good and resolve this matter if Mr. [redacted] is truthful and does not hurt our business because of his lack of attention. We only make a change to an account when there is documentation to prove it, therefore we could not have known he actually wanted to ever cancel his account. Fitness System is not at fault for this issue.