Retro Fitness

[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:There are several incorrect statements posed by the business.  [redacted] states I was due a $100 restaurant.com gift card free, but unfortuantley I never received such. Also, in my original request to cancel my membership, and the complaint submitted to Revdex.com the question was raised concerning the verbiage in the contract which specifically states "In some cases you may also cancel this agreement if you signed it before the health club facility was completed," under the Terms and Conditions sections.  The response from the business still does not answer this question, which was posed several times.  The main point of my complaint is based soley on this statement in the agreement.  [redacted] avoids answering this.I called the business, not long after sending several emails to get an answer about the clarification of the statement about canceling listed in Retro Fitness's agreement, the representative said the manager was not in but he would call him and have him return my call.  The employee called me back a few minutes later stating that Bryan didn't have time to talk to me but would call me tomorrow.  I never recieved a call back and there was no mention of him being out for any extended period or anyone taking his place in his absence that could help me.[redacted] states that the code violation are unfounded.  I never said there was an actual violation yet.  There is a room in the front of the facility used for cycling which hold approx. 15 bikes for the class.  The maximum occupancy clearly says 8 max.  When I questioned this I was specifically told by Bryan H[redacted], the manager, that they remove the bikes when they know the Township Inspector is coming in to take a look at the facility because they still did not have their occupany permit due to unbalancing of the heater/AC system.  After the inspector leaves, they put the bikes back in the room for class.  Clearly this is a violation, but they have been avoiding being caught.   I was not the only person present when Bryan advised me of what they do.   As the fiance of a fire-fighter in the township this was NOT something I was comfortable with. The terms and conditions of the membership do not state that a reason the cancel is required; only needed is the request which I provided.  Unfortunately due to the ignorance of responding to my question listed above resulted in going over the manager in hopes of clarifying the adamant terms of 12 month memberhship.   Bryan was quick to respond concerning the 12 month agreement, but when I posed any additional questions I was ignored. A simple clarification would have avoided any further involvement of Revdex.com.  My cancellation request is not an arbitrary request, holds merit with safety concerns and customer dissatifaction.
Regards,
[redacted]

Thank you for helping me in this matter.I have received a potential agreement with Retro Fitness, Howell, NJ.I spoke with John M[redacted] at the corporate office and Phil the managerat Retro Fitness Howell.  Phill agreed to accept $156.95 for the total owedand remove my account from...

collections.  This will be finalized on Thursday,June 18, 2015 with a credit card transaction.  I would appreciate a followup through the Revdex.com to verify this agreement as paid in full.Thank you for your help in this matter!
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]

Member joined gym in March of 2015, member used gym in April of 2016, so members medical issue in march 2015 does not make sense to this timeline. We have no record of member attempting to cancel membership. Member was in a 12 month agreement and medical cancels must be submitted with doctors note...

stating member is physically unable to workout. Member never provided this info. Corporate does not handle club cancellations and we do not refer members to corporate for cancels. Below check in dates are after stated March 2015 hospitalization. Member joined club on March [redacted] of 2015.Check In Count: 4 04/**/2015 04:42 PM 8907 03/**/2015 04:37 PM 8907 03/**/2015 04:21 PM 8907 03/**/2015 04:32 PM 8907 After the year agreement member can cancel at anytime with a 60 day notice of when member processes this cancel. Member went into collections because did not pay for more than 90 days. Club cancel policies are clearly stated in members agreement in which member received via email upon joining.

As to the allegations contained in the initial and subsequent responses, we respectfully refer to the documents submitted by the complainant as the best evidence and most accurate version of its contents and deny the allegations to the extent that they are inconsistent with those documents.

[redacted] signed up for Personal Training on 05/**/2**7 for one time per week which is $50 per week/session. We do not have programs of $50 per month. When [redacted] signed his contract, his agreement was instantly sent over to him VIA EMAIL he provided to Retro Fitness when he first signed up...

which is [redacted] (we have his contract on file if he would like to review it). If [redacted] had any issues with his agreement, he could have brought it to my attention right away and not two months later. I am the District Personal training manager and I would be more than happy to readjust his program and find something that 100% fits his budget and I will personally customize his program to his financially liking. His personal training sessions are all on his account and they were never tampered with. Our Retro Fitness app sometimes has technical errors, this could have fallen into an error. I do see one session being scheduled but, there was a last minute cancellation on [redacted]'s part. As for returning his funds and cancelling both gym agreements, this is not a valid reason to do so this is why I would love to find a program that works with his finances(this would be at no penalty and he would not need to sign a new 12 month agreement).Sent on: [redacted]Sent by: [redacted]

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by Retro Fitness regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,
[redacted]

Due to member changing membership type, expiration date of the agreement was extended. Although her signed  legally binding agreement does not expire until September 2014, as a courtesy, we have cancelled her agreement.

From:
sans-serif;"> [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]...⇄ March 16, 2015 12:50 PMTo: [email protected]: Website: Complaint Response
 
Business Response to a Complaint
Complaint ID#:
[redacted]
Company Name:
Retro Fitness
Company Contact:
Vinny
Company Phone:
[redacted]
Company Email:
[redacted]
Person Who Sent the Complaint:
[redacted]
Staff Member:
[redacted]
Response:
These account are now cancelled and nothing further is due from members. They will be mailing certified letter to us to cancel all accounts

10/31/15Dear Sir:I am in receipt of the complaint registered by [redacted]. When she joined our facility in June, [redacted] was offered our pre-opening promotion which included $0 Enrollment fee and as a bonus for joining before the gym opened, a $100.00 restaurant.com gift card free. It is our policy...

to reiterate the terms of the agreement which is a 12 month agreement. Our members use our [redacted] to sign the agreement and it REQUIRES that they scroll and agree to the terms before they can sign and the agreement is accepted. it clearly states in the terms that it is in fact a 12 month agreement and that THEY MAY CANCEL the agreement within 3 days of the actual opening of the gym or it remains in effect. Additionally a copy of the new member's agreement is automatically emailed to the email address provided.We opened the facility on July 31, 2015 and leading up to the opening, in addition to prominent signage, flags, and banners, we sent postcards to every home, made announcements on our [redacted] page, secured ads on local radio and our billing company, [redacted], called every member. Our manager through our gym software, also sent an email blast to every member announcing the opening date.[redacted] checked into the gym for the first time on August 8, 2015 (9 days after opening). She again checked in on 8/9/15, 9/02/15, and again on 9/14/15 where we indicated to her that she needed her photo taken for her gym ID to which she cheerfully obliged. She returned to the gym again on 9/21/15 for a total of 5 visits. In October, she apparently tried to contact our manager who during this time was hospitalized suddenly, had surgery, and did not return to work for two full weeks.[redacted] is stating that she is “not happy” however does not provide any specifics and is not a valid reason to void her agreement. I have spoken to my manager who has informed me that he had been in contact with her however she was not pleased when he explained it was a 1 year agreement. Additionally, her claims of code violations are absolutely unfounded and without merit. It is a brand new facility governed by a brand new construction official who held us to every detail. The gym is fully code compliant or it would not have been permitted to open.If it is not a convenient time for [redacted] to utilize the facility, we would be happy to "freeze" her membership for up to 2 months and would waive the charges. Additionally if [redacted] would be willing to provide us with the specifics of her dissatisfaction, we will do our best to rectify the situation up to and including upgrading her membership to include Group Fitness Classes at no charge.It is our desire to satisfy our customers and will make every attempt to do so given the opportunity however it is a business and we cannot cancel agreements arbitrarily and without merit.Very truly yours,Peter B. (Partner)

March 9, 2016To Whom It May Concern,I have received the notification today from Revdex.com regarding a former member’s complaint against our establishment. The member in question claims to have cancelled his membership in January and was wrongfully charged an additional month in February.The member in...

question signed up under a month to month agreement which allowed him to cancel at any time given he provides a 30 day written notice. This policy is stated clearly in the membership agreement he agreed upon as well as stated in bold on the cancellation letter he completed and signed to avoid any confusion on the final bill.In reviewing this matter it is discovered that the member did not cancel in January but cancelled his membership on February 17th with his final bill occurring on February 24th. His signature on both the original agreement and cancellation letter confirmed his knowledge of this policy. In addition the member took to social media to try and leverage a poor review of our establishment for a refund. I have attached documentation of this conversation where said member once again falsifies information stating he cancelled in January then later identifies he did cancel in February. I tried to ask to speak to the member directly however he already said he called our facility with no help provided. In his complaint the member notes to calling our company on March 1st however I have reviewed all phone calls from that date since every call is recorded and that proved to be false as well.Due to the reasons provided above we will not issue a refund for this member. If you need any further documentation from our company please let me know so that I may provide.Thank you,Andrew S

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: while I did not call myself, when the business reached out to me for payment I verbally communicated that I did not want the membership any longer. Charges continued to accrue. The ONLY option communicated during the call  was going in person to close the account. And yes, absolutely it is because A GYM MEMBERSHIP over $150 dollars is sent to collections that I am submitting a formal complaint. Regardless why isn't a phone or online option for cancellation provided by this business? Also what is the relevance of how many times I attended? This was over a period of a 3 year affiliation. If you find that detail important, also include the periods of my attendance versus when I withdrew payment and susequently when the additional charges($150 - now in collections) began to accrue.
Regards,
[redacted]

June 21, 2016Dear Sir:[redacted] joined our facility in September of 2015. She agreed to and signed a 12 month contract for a gym membership. In October of 2015, she entered into an agreement for personal training which is a separate agreement than her gym membership. In essence, she entered into...

2 contracts.(1 for the gym and 1 for PT)While the personal training services are under our roof they are administered by [redacted], a company that we allow to conduct personal training services in exchange for monthly rent. At the time when [redacted] signed her personal training contract, we were administering our personal training “in house” however under the agreement we subsequently entered into with "[redacted]", we relinquished the contract to them to service.[redacted] spoke with our GM and indicated that she thought she was being overcharged for personal training. I reviewed her original contract and while she satisfied the original contract requirements, she failed to notify the personal training company that she wanted to cancel after the 3 sessions she contracted for. Additionally, her contract was on “auto renew” which is explained at the time of signing and initialed separately to ensure the client understands the provision so in essence, she continued to be billed for monthly sessions under the "auto renew' provision when she could have cancelled at any time. [redacted] was given a copy of her agreement which clearly states this provision. Additionally, [redacted] entered into another agreement for personal training for additional sessions without canceling the first agreement. I attempted as an owner to intervene and come to a resolution however since they are a separate entity paying rent, I have no real authority or influence and was unsuccessful in resolving the issue.In essence, [redacted] ultimately signed two Personal training agreements, agreed to the auto renew provision, and never followed protocol for canceling which would have been a written letter stating her intent to cancel with 30 days notice so her sessions continued to be billed and her sessions continued to accrue.Since I was sympathetic to her situation I instructed my GM to cancel her gym membership at her request with no penalty or additional charges even though she signed and agreed to a 12 month agreement which would not have expired until 9/2016. Since I have no legal power to influence [redacted]'s decisions on Personal Training contracts, and they within their legal right to enforce the contract signed by [redacted], the best I could do was cancel her gym membership at her request.I have checked with [redacted] and she still has 15 Personal training Sessions available to her. While a member MUST be a gym member to utilize these sessions, in light of her situation I would be willing to allow her to use her 15 sessions at no “gym” cost. She would need to contact [redacted] at the gym to make arrangements and I would instruct my GM to allow her entry into the gym without signing a new membership agreement and at no cost a total of 15 times. I would however need to speak with the training manager for [redacted] to make this happen and would be happy to do so at [redacted]'s request.I have included a copy of her Personal Training Contract for your review which was signed as well as “initialed” at the “auto renew provision.Yours truly,Peter B.

The member was informed she is entering in to a 12 month contract for training just like her gym membership. Additionally when she signed the contract was shown to her and we informed her...

she would receive a copy to her email. The $250 downpayment referred to was explained as the [redacted] and [redacted] month of her contract. Alla approached us with a desire for training and was never placed with an "intern". The client's account will not be closed and we will hold her to the obligation she knowingly entered herself into.

[redacted] signed up on 11/**/2014 For a 1 year gym membership that renews on a month to month basis after that.
font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode", sans-serif;">The way to cancel the agreement is through certified mail which is clearly outlined in her membership agreement that she signed and which gets emailed to her upon signup. She needs to pay the balance that is past due to have her name removed from collections. 
On 5/*/16 She called the gym to ask about her account and told the front desk that she will not pay us a dime.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in...

reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because: 
Please be advised the charges have not yet been reversed on my account.  I was promised the refund within 3 business days. It has been almost a week since my contact with Retro Fitness.
 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

This gym hasn't been helpful in resolving my issue and at this point I  am so aggravated that I do not want them to simply give me back my sessions they cancelled. Not only that they are only giving me a month to use the sessions after them giving me the runaround on this issue since August. The staff there have no idea what is going on and for all I know my sessions will be cancelled before we even hit January. So them offering me back those sessions is unsatisfactory especially considering the stress they put me under trying to resolve his issue. It's not as though I am asking for much, $240 is peanuts to them whereas I could use that money to pay bills. Not to mention them charging my card without my authorization put strain on my monthly budgets. They are thieves and I do not want anything more to do with this gym. If I got food poisoning at a restaurant, do you think I would ever eat there again? No, and simply offering me another meal, instead of refunding my money,at that tainted restaurant wouldn't cut it.
 
 
 
 
In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Response:Ms. [redacted] signed up her daughter on May 14, 2015 with the understanding the membership is for one year. Ms [redacted] paid $52.45 for the first month that also included a processing fee. Thereafter, all credit card charges for membership fees were declined. We received a letter from Ms [redacted] on...

August 17, 2015 saying that she wanted to cancel her daughters membership because it was a "waste of money since she never put a foot in the gym," which is correct. Our General Manager, [redacted] called Ms [redacted] after receiving her letter and explained to her that there is a $75.00 cancellation fee and that she would need to come in to sign a cancellation notice and pay the fee. Apparently, Ms [redacted] called [redacted] Financial and paid the $75.00 fee directly to them on 9/16/2015 without coming back to our club to resolve this issue. We did not know that Ms. [redacted] paid [redacted] Financial directly and thus we did not cancel her daughters membership at our club. [redacted] Financial continued to bill Ms [redacted]. I fired our General Manager [redacted] on 10/28/15 and found the Revdex.com letter informing us of Ms [redacted]'s complaint against our gym. I immediately canceled Ms [redacted]'s daughters membership and contacted [redacted] Financial regarding the past due membership fees and late fees. [redacted] Financial cleared up all the charges on her account on 10/30/15. I have tried calling and emailing Ms [redacted] to let her know that we have taken care of her account and hope that she will consider coming back to our club in the future.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and IF the refund is complete by Friday this issue will be resolved. If not I will advise.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

The membership has been cancelled and a refund for the classes has been authorized.

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by Retro Fitness regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted]