About to join Gold's Gym..contract questions...it's the only option in the local area

[Savij]

I recently moved to a small town and Gold's gym is the only reasonable option in the area. I checked it out, got the hard sell and all of that. I was expecting that. What caught me off guard was that when I asked to take the contract home and read it, the guy wouldn't let me.

I'm planning on moving to a different area in the summer so I don't want to be locked into a long term contract so I wanted to take a close look at their end of membership policy. I'm already wary of gyms because so many people end up having problems at the end of their contracts. I really wish I had another option in the area but that's not the case.

Has anyone else joined Gold's recently? Is this normal? Do they at least make a copy of the contract for you? I'm a little paranoid when it comes to legal contracts already and gold's franchises have gotten in trouble for changing contracts after they have signed.

In case it makes a difference: I'm not an expert, but I'm not a complete gym newb either. I used to belong to a smaller local gym for a number of years (no long term contract). I'm skinny but in decent shape. I have no problems with cardio/running outdoors but I want freeweights a bench and a squat rack 3 times a week.

 

[Pantlegz]

Every time I've signed a contract for anything I've gotten a copy of it. I Don't know why it would be different in a gym. That said if they don't let you get a copy I wouldn't sign it.

 

[Savij]

Every time I've signed a contract for anything I've gotten a copy of it. I Don't know why it would be different in a gym. That said if they don't let you get a copy I wouldn't sign it.

I didn't sign it because of that. I asked to take it overnight before signing it and the guy refused citing "legal reasons".

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Well fuck 'em. My best workouts are done outside of a gym. I do a shitload of pushups, try to get some pull ups done, intense running and bicycling, pickup basketball games, etc.. I have a gym membership I use mostly for my heavy weightlifting workouts. If my wife didn't force me into it I would of probably got me a squat rack and never looked back.

 

[Savij]

Well fuck 'em. My best workouts are done outside of a gym. I do a shitload of pushups, try to get some pull ups done, intense running and bicycling, pickup basketball games, etc.. I have a gym membership I use mostly for my heavy weightlifting workouts. If my wife didn't force me into it I would of probably got me a squat rack and never looked back.

I'm a skinny guy trying to bulk up. I can run no problems...I can do push ups till I get bored. No pull up bar so I do fingertip pullups off the doorframe and right now I can do sets of 5-6...I'm looking to seriously add bulk and really push the heavy lifting...this is the workout I'm going for:

Monday
Squats (5x5)
High pulls (5x5)
Bench Press(3x5,3x3,backoff 8)
Chinups (4xmax)
Incline Press (2x20)
Medicineball Cruches(120)

Wed
Incline Bench(5x5,backoff8)
Light Squats(5x4)
Goodmornings(4x8)
Straigh-Arm Pullover(2x20)
Dips(4x8)
Medicineball Cruches(120)

Friday
Squats (3x5,2x3)
Bench(4x8)
Shrugs(5x5)
Straight-Arm Pullover(2x20)
Chins(4xmax)
Medicineball Cruches(120)

I don't think no-gym is an option for my goals.

 

[elitejp]

Oh man! my first post and the computer screws up in the middle of answering this. Anyways, golds gym and just about any larger type gyms are well known for not letting you out of a contract. Many people suggest opening up a bank account and giving them direct access and when you want to terminate the contract you also terminate the bank account. At bare minimum tell the bank to put a hold on golds gym and bar their access. if you dont you will be paying extra months fee.


Also if you are trying to bulk up the most important thing is to eat...and eat alot!

 

[PsiStar]

If you google "golds gym contracts", you will first see a lot of complaints; 2nd you will see your post here; 3rd someone has posted a .tif of a Golds Gym Contract.

I was a member of a Golds Gym & I liked it, but I was a member for at least the year (or was it 2?). So leaving was not really a big deal. what i did not like & would not rejoin a Golds again, is that they deduct monthly payment from a CC or checking account. I gave them a check card number which my bank changed a couple of times due to security breaches .... and I forgot to get the info to the gym.

As a result the "collection bureau" that actually processes the payments (not the local gym) calls & states that "this is an attempt to collect a debt"! Cr@P on that.

If you are moving away from the gym in a few months, do not join ... unless you can get a student membership. That could be ok.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I'm a skinny guy trying to bulk up. I can run no problems...I can do push ups till I get bored. No pull up bar so I do fingertip pullups off the doorframe and right now I can do sets of 5-6...I'm looking to seriously add bulk and really push the heavy lifting...this is the workout I'm going for:

Monday
Squats (5x5)
High pulls (5x5)
Bench Press(3x5,3x3,backoff 8)
Chinups (4xmax)
Incline Press (2x20)
Medicineball Cruches(120)

Wed
Incline Bench(5x5,backoff8)
Light Squats(5x4)
Goodmornings(4x8)
Straigh-Arm Pullover(2x20)
Dips(4x8)
Medicineball Cruches(120)

Friday
Squats (3x5,2x3)
Bench(4x8)
Shrugs(5x5)
Straight-Arm Pullover(2x20)
Chins(4xmax)
Medicineball Cruches(120)

I don't think no-gym is an option for my goals.

No way man. If you got yourself 400lbs of weights and a squat rack that would be plenty. You could do deadlifts, squats, shoulder presses, and more. You really want to get serious get yourself a freaking tractor tire and flip that sob around your backyard for about 20 minutes and tell me you need a gym. I feel being outdoors adds a cardio (or something) aspect to it that being inside a air conditioned gym doesn't provide. Its good to be able to go to the gym but not necessary.

 

[Blackjack200]

Oh man! my first post and the computer screws up in the middle of answering this. Anyways, golds gym and just about any larger type gyms are well known for not letting you out of a contract. Many people suggest opening up a bank account and giving them direct access and when you want to terminate the contract you also terminate the bank account. At bare minimum tell the bank to put a hold on golds gym and bar their access. if you dont you will be paying extra months fee.


Also if you are trying to bulk up the most important thing is to eat...and eat alot!

Just a note of warning as I tried to do this:

I had a monthly personal training contract and when I tried to cancel they gave me BS about having to cancel a month ahead of time. I re-read the contract and disagreed and called my bank and told them not to pay Golds any more. My bank told me that I had no ability to refuse the automatic charges to my account, and that I should settle the dispute with the merchant. Enraged, I told the rep on the phone that I wanted to close the checking account immediately to prevent the charge from happening.The phone rep agreed that closing the account would accomplish this, but told me I had to close the account in person.

The next business day I walked into my local Wachovia branch and filled out the paperwork to have my account closed. I had no outstanding checks, so I left no money in the account. Less than a week later, I got an overdraft notice from the bank. They had paid the automatic fee to Gold's, and charged me a slew of fees for insufficient funds. I called the manager at my Wachovia branch (who had helped me close the account) He said that there was nothing he could do, but agreed to eliminate half of the overdraft fees if I brought my account back up to zero. I took his offer in the absense of any better options, brough my account back to zero (costing me nearly a thousand dollars) and he never followed through on the fee rebates.

The expensive lesson I took was this: never allow automatic charges to your accounts, you lose control of your money when you do this. Today I still have three accounts with automatic charges: Netflix, Verizon DSL, and a monthly gym membership (~$30) none of these had the option for invoiced billing, and I ultimatly decided that each was worth the risk involved with automatic charges. I did get rid of automatic payments for my mortgage and my utility bills. As for Wachovia, I maintain a small balance in the account and they can recordkeep that and send me paper statements in the mail until kingdom come. I know it won't hurt them, but it will make me feel a little better.

 

[Savij]

No way man. If you got yourself 400lbs of weights and a squat rack that would be plenty. You could do deadlifts, squats, shoulder presses, and more. You really want to get serious get yourself a freaking tractor tire and flip that sob around your backyard for about 20 minutes and tell me you need a gym. I feel being outdoors adds a cardio (or something) aspect to it that being inside a air conditioned gym doesn't provide. Its good to be able to go to the gym but not necessary.

I don't have a yard or a real place to keep a weightbench. The squat rack is completely out of the question in this apartment.

 

[Savij]

If you google "golds gym contracts", you will first see a lot of complaints; 2nd you will see your post here; 3rd someone has posted a .tif of a Golds Gym Contract.

I was a member of a Golds Gym & I liked it, but I was a member for at least the year (or was it 2?). So leaving was not really a big deal. what i did not like & would not rejoin a Golds again, is that they deduct monthly payment from a CC or checking account. I gave them a check card number which my bank changed a couple of times due to security breaches .... and I forgot to get the info to the gym.

As a result the "collection bureau" that actually processes the payments (not the local gym) calls & states that "this is an attempt to collect a debt"! Cr@P on that.

If you are moving away from the gym in a few months, do not join ... unless you can get a student membership. That could be ok.

Awesome! I got the .tif/pdf of the contract. They really like to stick it to you with fees. If I don't do CC or some other automated payment, the have an additional $20 fee for that...I was thinking of just paying in cash up front for a 3 month membership...I'll take a closer look at the contract again when I'm not so tired...

 

[Ns1]

I rather enjoyed my Golds Gym when I was a member

 

[Jeffg010]

I liked Golds too but it got very crowded. It was good for the first 6 months. As long as I went after 7 pm the crowds died off. Then Bally closed and every one jumped to Golds. It would be 9 pm and packed. The bad thing about Golds is they don't have enough free weights. At my Golds at downtown Pittsburgh they only had 1 squat rack and 1 power rack. Then you had the retards who would do chin ups in the power rack when there were plenty of other places to do that. Towards the end I was waiting 10 mins to get on any station. Even at 9:00 pm it was crazy.

The good about Golds is the bikes and tread mills with video screens made it fun. The stretching area was cool and I like some for the machines to work on my crunches.

I had to wait it out and quit after my year was up. Best thing I ever did was buy a squat rack and 300lbs Olympic set.

 

[LMK247]

@Jeffg010

When you cancelled with Golds Gym after a year, did they give you a hard time? Did they keep charging your card?

 

[Eric62]

Cash up front is the only way to go.
I've been doing that at Gold's in Vegas for 13 years. Cheaper and you won't get screwed down the road...

 

[Jeffg010]

@Jeffg010

When you cancelled with Golds Gym after a year, did they give you a hard time? Did they keep charging your card?

I had no problem after my year was up. They seem to not care because how over crowed that it became.