Town Sports International, Incorporated

Review: I had a gym membership with Washington Sports Club, aka Town Sports International, that I cancelled in early November, 2012. I walked into the [redacted] club and the man at the counter “cancelled” my membership. I received no paperwork. I just trusted the membership was cancelled and left. My bank account was automatically debited the following month. So on December 6, 2012, I went back to the gym to complain to the manager, [redacted], who goes by the name of [redacted], cancelled my membership “again”, and told me he’d do his best to get me a refund for December, since the first cancellation was done erroneously. I called a few weeks later after finding no reimbursement to my bank account. The gentleman on the phone relayed the message to me that Sunny said that I’d receive the refund in approximately one week. The following week my account was yet again debited; this time for a different amount than what I’m normally charged for the monthly membership. Then the same thing happened a few days later. I filed a dispute through my bank for those charges and the December auto debit too, and cancelled my debit card. Since then the sports club has made several attempts to contact me regarding payment that I owe them. I’ve explained the situation to several people with the club, who all say they’ll take care of it. I’ve recently spoke to a collection agency who’s contacting me to collect on the club’s behalf. I’m very frustrated and disappointed, and beginning to feel harassed by a gym that I intended to discontinue my affiliation with to begin with; which is how this all started.Desired Settlement: Everyone I speak to tells me they're going to take care of it; that they're going to clear the debt; that they apologize, and they won't call anymore (the collector's don't nessessarily say all that). I'd like for someone to actually mean it. All I wanted was to cancel my month-to-month membership and be done. Now months later I'm still receiving calls for payment, telling me they've tried to bill my card (the one I had cancelled because of this), and that the payment won't go through, and additionally I'm now having to deal with a collection agency.

Business

Response:

Good Day,

I apologize for the inconvenience; it looks like one of our representatives attempted to remove [redacted] from the collections list. Obviously there was a failure somewhere in the chain. I have contacted our collections department to cease all calls/letters and have ensured the membership is cancelled with no further balance.

Please allow 24 hours for all contact to cease.

Thank you

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find the proposed resolution to be satisfactory.

Thank you,

Review: Despite numerous phone calls and emails to TSI, I am still receiving calls to collect debts. I sent a certified letter by USPS with Signature Confirmation Number on 5/30/2013. On 7/18/2013, I spoke to a representative who confirmed my cancellation via email (available upon request). My effective account cancellation date was 6/30/2013.

In the past few weeks, I have been receiving phone calls from a debt collection agency on behalf of TSI from the following phone numbers:1) ###-###-####; 2) ###-###-####. Not only have I been inconvenienced, but now my credit is suffering due to TSI's administrative error. I spent over 25 minutes on hold on 3 occasions when calling TSI (###-###-####) within the past week between 9AM-5PM and nobody answered my call.Desired Settlement: I am asking for TSI to make the appropriate corrections on their end to correct this matter. I will consider any further attempt from TSI or affiliates to collect debts related to my account as harassment. I would also like something in writing stating that attempts to collect a debt were the fault of TSI so that I may dispute negative reports on my credit record.

Review: I have been trying for several months to stop PSC from charge my wife's credit card for a membership she terminated over one year ago and to credit my account for over charges. My wife's name is [redacted]. I have made repeated phone calls to the manager of the club and the corporate office in NY. Each time I am told that I will receive a call back after reviewing my file. That call never comes. The only return call I have received is from the NY office about up dating my credit card on my membership. My wife has not been to the club in over a year. She met with the club manager at the time to cancel her membership. When she notice the charge continuing on our [redacted], she assumed it was for my membership which I did not cancel. A few month ago we realized that the charge on the [redacted] was for her membership as my charge was on a different card. After we discovered this, I requested to have my account frozen for the month of August while I decided what I wanted to do. I called the acting manager of the club and was told he would freeze the account until September. I later notice that I was once again charged for August. When I complained to the manager, he said he would issue me a credit and not charge me for September. Neither action was done.

Lastly, the club began charging me for a personnel training membership which I never agreed to.Desired Settlement: I would like the company to either credit on me for all the overcharges to my club account or cancel my membership and issue a credit to my credit card.

Review: PSC withdrew from my checking account a total of $207.90 (includes two NSF fees @50.00) WITHOUT MY PERMISSION OR AUTHORITY. I do NOT have a membership with PSC.Desired Settlement: A full refund.

Review: The billing practices at [redacted] Sprots Clubs are very sloppy. This allows them to make unjustified charges to members' accounts without ever providing a clear explanation. I cancelled my gym membership in February 2013. My account had two separate memberships under my account for two separate people. I called the corporate number to cancel these accounts. I paid $280.00 and was assured that I would not be recieving any additional charges. Then, on March 4th, I was charged $158.00. I called the local branch in [redacted] to dispute this. They told me that the account for one of the individuals was never cancelled during my February call. I told the associate that I was informed otherwise when I made the $280.00 payment in February. The associate reveiewed my account history and told me that I would receive a refund in the amount of $158.00 and that both accounts would be cancelled. 3 weeks later, I called to check on the status of my $158 refund, and was told that it was in process. Then, on April 8th, I still had not received my refund. I called on that day, and was told that a $69 refund was processing and that I would not be receiving the $158 refund. The sales associate ([redacted]) could not give me a sound reason as to why I would not be receiving the full amount. they simply changed their story.

I'm hoping to recieve at least the $69.00 refund soon, but I shoudl should be getting the $158.00. This is very unethical.Desired Settlement: I would like to receive a refund in the amount of $158.00 for the charge that was taken from my account in March 2013.

Business

Response:

Good Day,

I have reviewed both [redacted] and [redacted]'s memberships. The source of the billing issues were several disputes and insufficient funds in [redacted]'s account. PSC was unable to collect dues and the balance continued to grow. [redacted]'s membership was cancelled due to non-payment on 1/22, but as it was still within the commitment period, it was reinstated on 2/27 once a valid credit card was on file and payment was collected. The $88.60 was the balance in dues from 1/22 to 2/27 for the reinstate and the $69.95 was for March 1st dues. The membership was then cancelled while in commitment on 3/4 and would have required a $150 early termination fee. This fee was never paid. Not only is the refund of $158.55 not due, the $69.95 should not have been returned either, but was processed on April 3rd.

No further refund will be submitted and depending on [redacted]'s financial institution, she should see the refund on her account in a few days.

Thank you.

Review: In August 2013, I joined the Philadelphia Sports Club (PSC) in [redacted], PA. When the PSC employee who was setting up my membership, [redacted], ran the credit card he said "it didn't go through." I, therefore, had to give him another credit card, which was accepted without difficulty. In early October 2013, my husband was checking our credit card statements and he noticed that we were being charged monthly dues for PSC on 2 of our credit cards. We brought this to the attention some of the PSC managers, [redacted] and [redacted], who told us that somehow two accounts had been created, which is why both of our credit cards were being charged. [redacted] told us via email that the issue had been resolved and that we would be credited the extra charges. By the end of November, we had still not received the refund ($259.96), so I contacted [redacted] directly. Initially, I spoke with her in person and then she sent me a confirmatory email stating that "a refund has been submitted for the duplicate membership. It included the 3 month dues and the processing fee at the time of joining. Please allow 14-21 business days for the refund to reflect to your card." I waited until the end of December 2013 to check in again. [redacted] did not respond to emails that I sent at the end of December or beginning of December, so ultimately, I called the PSC to try to speak with her over the phone. At that point, I was informed that she no longer worked there. They suggested that I contact [redacted], another PSC manager, to further discuss the issue. I initially emailed [redacted] on January 13, 2014 to see if he could look into this billing error. On January 23, 2014, he told me that the refund request had previously been submitted, but was overlooked and hence wasn't approved. This made no sense to me, considering I had previously received an email from [redacted] in November confirming that the request had been approved. At that point, [redacted] told me he re-sent the refund request, which was subsequently approved. He said I should receive the refund in 7-9 days. It has now been 10 business days since [redacted] sent me the last email and I still have not received the refund. I contact him today via email and he said "I just talked to my refund department and there was an error on the document I submitted. I just had it fixed and now it is in the processing area. Please give another 7 to 10 days and you will have it." This is totally unacceptable. I have been more than patient with this issue and the PSC keeps giving me the run around.Desired Settlement: Refund the $259.96 to my credit card.

Consumer

Response:

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Revdex.com of Metro Washington DC <[email protected]>

Date: Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 3:29 PM

Subject: Fwd: Complaint #[redacted]

To: [redacted] <[redacted]>

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: [redacted] <[redacted]>

Date: Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 2:01 PM

Subject: Complaint #[redacted]

To: [email protected]

To whom it may concern,

Review: On 11/1/2013 the TSI charged my [redacted] card $283.27 for a memebership fee for another client. On November 8 2013 TSI recognized this was a mistake by its part and I should go to the refund process. The same day I provided proof of ownership of my [redacted] card together with copy of my D. Today I still have not received the refund. Considering this was an unathorized charge refund should had ben provided already, not to mention I had to submit the information several times and have called the organization as well. The trend is to put me on hold for a long time and when asking a for a supervisor none of the supervisors did come to the phone.Desired Settlement: I want my refund to my creidt card ASAP. I already have been waiting for a 1.5 months for this fraudulent charge to my credit card.

Business

Response:

Good Day,

We received a dispute on the charges that were collected on the consumer's credit card. We are unable to process a refund while there is an open dispute. I have contacted our accounting department to check the status of the dispute and instructed them to accept it if they haven't already. If the dispute has been closed in our favor, we will move forward with the refund.

Thank you

Review: My personal trainer quit and I was never informed, no replacement was offered despite phone calls trying to figure out what happened. I decided to leave the gym and was never told I was under contract for the training as it was never explained to me, I was told it was month to month when I signed up.When I saw I was being charged for the training I called the gym several times and no one responded. After a few weeks of trying a new customer service manager spoke to me and promised me a refund because many clients were in the same position. The refund never came. I called again and she again promised me a refund and cc'd the request she sent to the corporate office, but again I got no response.I decided to call the corporate office after emails to the customer service manager was not answered. After being on hold for 45 minutes I was told I would not get a refund and that the manager knew that but just did not tell me. I was essentially lied too and tied to a contract where the services were not provided.Desired Settlement: I want a refund for the 3 months of personal training I was charged for and told I would be refunded - $177

Review: I signed up my 5 year old Daughter for swim classes at [redacted] for group classes and paid $200 for eight classes. The group class was cancelled with no notice and my daughter was told she would be getting private swim classes with an instructor. The instructor was abusive to my five year old daughter and screamed at her during the classes. After enduring this for three classes I called [redacted] to cancel our class and asked for refund. After initialy refusing to refund any money, they finaly agreed to refund $125 for rest of the classes. It has been more than three months and we still have not received the refund. They are not responsive to our phone calls. I addition after this experience, I cancelled my monthly membership. Although I was told the membership agreement is terminated, they still charged my credit card for the monthly membershipDesired Settlement: Refund of the dues and stop charging the credit card for monthly membership.

Business

Response:

Good Day,The club has contacted the member and is working to resolve.Thank you

Consumer

Response:

[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] Review: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: I still have not received my refund although the club said they will process my refund. ( A $39 refund for erroneously charging my card even after I terminated my membership and a $125 refund for swim classes) Regards,[redacted]

Review: I used to belong to the Philadelphia Sports Club. I subscribed to their Personal Training program for $552 a month before my wedding. I cancelled the personal training subscription at the end of June and was yet subsequently charged in July and August. I cancelled my entire membership in August and was still charged in August and September. I have called over 15x and asked to speak with a manager. [redacted] and [redacted] assure me that my credits have been processed but not 3months later, I am still owed over $1100. The managers do not return phone calls anymore. They give false expectations. They consistently say they are escalating, when they didn't escalate to begin with. I want my money back.Desired Settlement: I want a refund with interest of all of my payments.

Business

Response:

Good Day,

The club has issued refunds on this account for the Membership and PT Membership.

Thank you

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Please let it be noted that the business did not refund my funds on their own accord, however my credit card company rejected their charges and reversed the charges.

Regards,

Review: In spring 2012, I had purchased a training package at the [redacted] Sports Club. [redacted], the trainer, lied about my completing sessions when in fact I had been out of state on a business trip or on vacation. [redacted], the training manager, and [redacted], the general manager, promised me a refund to correct this error. When I did not receive that refund, as promised, I was disappointed and not interested in continuing as a member of the gym. I cancelled my membership in December and have continued to be charged on my credit card since that time. I have spoken to the [redacted], the general manager there, on numerous occasions via phone and in person, called Town Sports International, and billing services. I also tried to dispute the charges with my credit card company and was told that they do not interfere when gym memberships/contracts are concerned. I even sent Town Sports a certified letter and later a fax about my situation, including copies of plane tickets to show that I was out of state/country on the dates that the trainer claimed he exercised with me. And reminding them that I am no longer a member, yet continue to be charged by them. When I saw new charges on my credit card last week I again went to speak to the manager, [redacted], who assured me yet again that he has done everything on his end--he even showed in the computer system that I am showing as no longer a member there--and that corporate billing is the only one who can rectify this. I can provide Revdex.com with additional details and documentation giving more specifics. I have tried everything I can on my own and need the Revdex.com help now. Small claims court would be the next step. Or getting a lawyer.Desired Settlement: My desired outcome would be a refund for those sessions in the training package that I did not use (the ones that [redacted] lied about) and a refund of membership charges to my credit card in December, January, February, March, and April. We are talking about a few thousand dollars now.

Business

Response:

Good Day,

I apologize for any inconvenience and miscommunication; all of the information needed to investigate and process a refund if due is located within the club. I have contacted the Regional Directors for Business and Fitness for the [redacted] club and instructed them to contact [redacted]. I ask that if [redacted] does not hear from the club by Wednesday, May 8 that she contact me directly at the information below.

Executive Support

Thank you,

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted]. I have spoken to the General Manager, [redacted], of the [redacted] Sports Club many times, both in person and over the phone, since December. He has mentioned that he has done everything he can on his end. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed this time and hope with the Revdex.com support I will get some resolution this time. At least now I have a contact name at the corporate office which I wasn't able to get on my own.

Regards,

Review: I was signed into a 6 month contract from Philadelphia Sports Club. I signed this contract on February 24, 2014. This contract was supposed to end on August 24, 2014. My trainer, Osayi O[redacted], stopped training me at the end of April 2014. He said he was no longer able to train because corporate made him take a test so he could become a certified trainer. I never heard from the trainer again. I asked to have the contract cancelled in May 2014 so I would not be charged the $632 that was payment for personal training. I was told the contract was cancelled. Cut to October 1, 2014, I was charged $632. I have made multiple attempts to contact Member Services and I have heard nothing back. I contacted and spoke with the personal trainer director at the gym at [redacted], Philadelphia, PA, Clinton J[redacted], and he sent me to member services. Member services is sending emails to Clinton, that's all they said they could do is send emails.

The contract was broken in April when the trainer said he could no longer train and never contacted me again. I was never offered another trainer. The contract was actually broken from the very beginning, as I was never offered a fitness journal and was never offered 4 guest passes per month, as was stated in the contract. The $632 was charged on October 1, 2014, for 8 personal training sessions that were never completed because the trainer stopped training me because corporate would no longer let him. Corporate never offered me anything else until the end of the contract and when I was charged on October 1Desired Settlement: I want the $632 refunded to me.

Business

Response:

Please see attached response.

Review: Per the instructions on [redacted]'s website and in my membership contract, I sent in a letter via certified mail to cancel my gym membership. This was in January. By the time February rolled around, I was billed for my monthly membership. When March hit, I was billed again. I had attempted to contact [redacted] several times between February and March to check on the status of my cancelled membership. Earlier in March I did get in touch with customer service and they informed me that I needed to show proof that my cancellation request had been sent in via certified mail. They also refuse to honor my cancellation request through email even though I forwarded my original letter of cancellation. They are continuing to charge me for a membership I haven't used in several months and couldn't use if I tried to because I sent in my membership card.Desired Settlement: I would like [redacted] to cancel my membership immediately and stop requesting monthly payment.

Business

Response:

Good Day,

[redacted] requested cancellation through email and was advised that this is not an approved method in accordance with TSI's cancel policy. [redacted] would have been charged in February as part of her 30 day notice and has now charged back her March dues. We are unable to request or process any refunds while a membership has disputed charges on it. [redacted]'s account has been cancelled.

Thank you