Fitness First hate thread

[bigbob111]

I hope im not offending anyone (OK, actually I do, just a little) but I have a serious moral problem with Fitness First. I left their gym not on bad terms, but due to a change of location for personall reasons, however, they proved themselves not to be trusted at a certain point. Upon announcing that I was leaving and did not intend to continue with my membership, I was told I needed to pay a "discontinuation of membership fee" which is illegal here in Australia. I thought then, that I may as well just keep the remiander month of my membership then not purchase a new one on the anniversary of joining. THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. They again, illegally billed me for another six months without my permission nor notice. This money has since been recoverd, but only after a prolonged struggle.

The manager who I originally delt with had moved on somewhere else out of contact, so I asked to speak to the new manager who apparently "was not in today" nor anyday that he was asked to appear for some reason...
I eventually cancelled my bank billing account and set about to reclaim my lost money. They continued to resist, until the threat of bringing this matter to the legal authorities was made - THEN SUDDENLY - the mysterious manager appeared! he was right there the whole time hiding in plain view!

The drama does not end there. I asked a new fitness first gym in the new town about joining there with my member card. You know those member cards dont you? You can use them anywhere on the planet cant you? actually you cant and you never could. For those of you who are holding membership cards with fitness first, you can use the card in any gym, but you need to purchase new membership if you go to a new gym. bottom line, nuff said, end of story.

In retrospect, Fitness first is one of the 3 biggest reasons people voluntary destroy their credit cards due to the problems with ongoing billing. They are also facing endless criticism of press ganging people into joining for ridiculous high fees; something close to a dollar a minute in the inner city just to use the treadmills over lunch break. Also, offering incentives to members if htey in turn ask other people to join is illegal and immoral, yet they do that anyway.

Does anyone else have a problem with these folks?

[Mdlftr]

Bigbob,
Thanks for the warning about Fitness First. I haven't used them, but I see their facilities popping up all over -- like toadstools after a rain!

From your experiences, it sounds like they need to be reported to Better Business Bureau (and consumer agencies ) in the United States!

Thanks for the warning...

[bigbob111]

They have in fact responded do a number of comlaints over the years from a variety of nationalities. The UK office is pretty much out of the picture in most cases because they operate a franchise, therefore the responsibility rests on their underlings. The biggest blow out was the matter of the card that supposedly can be used anywhere when you can neither buy universal membership nor transfer existing membership. Since most people dont travel much to use a different gym, you can assume few people ever find out.

The issue of gym managers gouging out extra money is a pretty consistant accusation in the industry. My advice is to just buy a package of membership on your own terms without letting the sales rep beat you to the pitch. a few hundred $$$ a year should be decent coverage, just offer to buy a standard 12 months for $700 and negotiate from there if you must.

[Voyager]

Sorry to hear about this issues with Fitness First. I had something similar with a gym chain I used to go to.

They had a cancellation policy that required you to cancel in writing and still pay a month's fees. I did that. I followed the procedure and had the paperwork showing I wished to cancel my membership. First month after I did that, the gym fees were deducted from my credit card. The second month, the fees were again deducted. Calls to central office proved fruitless. Multiple faxes of my paperwork also proved fruitless. They finally said that if I wanted to cancel from that day (two months later), they would be happy to accept my month's fees and then cancel. I finally called my credit card company, which had agreed to dispute the extra fees and give me a new credit card number.

The gym company was incensed. They could not get my money! They kept demanding it. I once again sent the documents, but they still insisted on payment. I finally ended the argument by insisting they prove I owed them money. Funny, they stopped bothering me then.

And they keep inviting me to come back!

[bigbob111]

just pay in cash. hit the nearest bank and make a withdrawl without the debit details passed on to third parties

[joel24242]

I've used Fitness First in the past and have found them to be fine. Not only have I used my membership card at multiple locations in NSW (Australia), but my older brother who is also a member was able to use his card both here and in the UK for a certain number of visits.
Like most gyms these days however you do have to be careful about the contract you sign as most of them have a minimum contract period that you are signed in for and an auto renew function if you do not cancel it.
I cancelled my membership a couple of weeks ago as I joined a gym closer to home and with 24 hour access. I went in and told them I wanted to cancel. One of the membership consultants came down and spoke to me about my reasons and then sorted it all out for me no problems.
I guess it comes down to the actual people at each location that you deal with more than the company itself. That's my experience anyway.

[inflated]

I am so glad that I do not have to go to a chain gym--I prefer our old warehouse with lots of free weights.

[grywlf]

i joined planet fitness last month cause it was cheap i'm sure i'll pay for it when i want to quit i notice they don't accept bank cards anymore now they want everyone checking account info my issue with them already is if its 39.99 a year to start plus 10 a month why will they be billing me again for the year in 6 months