What are my options: gym is trying to screw us over

[oogabooga]

Just curious, why would you let them take you to court, rather than try to resolve the problem? Especially if you are clearly in the wrong?

I'd guess 80% of people are too lazy to actually take it to court assuming they even have a case to begin with.

I'm not saying I agree- I'd probably still try to fix the problem.

 

[Modular]

$45 a month. Is that really worth it?

Don't be a pussy. Of course it's worth it. Think about the hundreds of people they're screwing with this scam. If they took an extra $45 a month from 200 people that's 9k/month or 108k per year! Not to mention the fact that many of those people may not have signed up at all if the promotion wasn't going on, so arguably their entire membership fees have been obtained in an unethical manner.

I say screw the gym as bad as you can. Then get your money refunded and go elsewhere. Is it a chain gym or local?

 

[blackdogdeek]

assuming your wife gets the lower rate, do you really want her to keep patronizing this business?

you know she's going to be known as "the pain in the ass woman".

 

[dawp]

If they don't honor the ad, isn't that false advertising? That may get them in a whole lot of legal trouble.

 

[Crusty]

Don't be a pussy. Of course it's worth it. Think about the hundreds of people they're screwing with this scam. If they took an extra $45 a month from 200 people that's 9k/month or 108k per year! Not to mention the fact that many of those people may not have signed up at all if the promotion wasn't going on, so arguably their entire membership fees have been obtained in an unethical manner.

I say screw the gym as bad as you can. Then get your money refunded and go elsewhere. Is it a chain gym or local?

Thank you for reading my posts, now come back when you actually have.

 

[Modular]

Thank you for reading my posts, now come back when you actually have.

I read them all. You didn't back up your position in your original post, but even if you had, I think that this kind of slothfulness on the part of consumers is why companies that pull stuff like this exist in the first place, therefore it needs to be called out for what it is. Also, he mentioned that his wife already tried to deal with the situation. If this were me, my lawyer would be on the phone. Emotional damage to wife, stress to me...

 

[ViviTheMage]

I would give them a chance to honor the rates or dissolve the contract. Otherwise I'd contact the local news and file complaints. I wouldn't sue until I had tried to smear their rep over the whole freaking town.

Agreed, people pull the sue card too early.

 

[waggy]

Just curious, why would you let them take you to court, rather than try to resolve the problem? Especially if you are clearly in the wrong?

when i was wrong i fixed it I did my best to run a honest business. BUT you get scammers who will claim something is wrong and do there best to get stuff for free. first thing out of there mouth is something like "give me what i want or im takeing you to court" or "im going to the newspaper!" at that point its best to say ok and stop dealing with them. you aren't going to make them happy unless you give them a bunch of stuff for free.

people who do not work in retail as managers or owners really have no clue how often people will try to scam a business. i am willing to bet that 90% of the problems i had were from scammers

 

[ElFenix]

depending on the laws in your state you may be able to get 3x damages.

 

[Gibson486]

I just signed up to Golds Gym last night...

$89 for the whole year, no fees. Not sure what the catch was, but they said there was none. I am waiting for this screwing to commence....

 

[dfuze]

Is there an expiration date on the referrel program?

I'm assuming even if there was, that your wife and sister inlaw did the referrals within a time frame or you wouldn't be complaining.

As to his "this is a business" remark, yes it is and your family brought in another 4 or 5 members to his business. There are probably other gyms in the area that people could use instead, and since a lot of them rely on word of mouth, I would suggest he honor it or prepare for this to be brought to the local news consumer department, they eat up stuff like this.

 

[soulcougher73]

$45 a month. Is that really worth it?

It is not about the money. It is about doing the right thing.

 

[Crusty]

It is not about the money. It is about doing the right thing.

Of course, and that doesn't involve taking them to court immediately. Thanks for playing, come back after you've read the rest of the thread.

 

[crt1530]

send a certified letter with copies of everything and ask them to honor your contract. IF they do not respond take them to court.

This. Then you have an even stronger case when you go to small claims court.

 

[soulcougher73]

Of course, and that doesn't involve taking them to court immediately. Thanks for playing, come back after you've read the rest of the thread.

I have read the whole thread. Thanks for playing also. Such a fun game you have here.

Your post i quoted nor my post mentioned going to court. But $45/month is worth fighting for when someone has wronged you. All i was saying is the $ amount isnt the issue. The issue is that they are running false advertising etc.

 

[Crusty]

I have read the whole thread. Thanks for playing also. Such a fun game you have here.

Your post i quoted nor my post mentioned going to court. But $45/month is worth fighting for when someone has wronged you. All i was saying is the $ amount isnt the issue. The issue is that they are running false advertising etc.

Then you would realize that you are arguing for the same thing I am.

If you think money isn't the issue....money is always the issue, the entire world revolves around money, $45 is NOT worth going to small claims court over when there are plenty of other viable means to get the problem fixed first.

 

[Phoenix86]

This is simple, tell them to pound sand and let them know you have a copy of the advertisement. If they want to sue, let them. They are in breach of contract not you.

This costs you nothing but the 10 minutes to drive there and inform them.

 

[Bateluer]

It's not the money, it's the lack ethics and the shady deceptive business. My wife has a gym membership somewhere else that we pay a monthly fee for. I understand that taking them to court would cost much more than the amount of discount that should be applied to our rate, but it's something I think I'm willing to do.

Do you have these discounts specified in the contract? If you do, then you'd probably have a strong case in court. The sales advertisement is good, but not legally binding, a contract is.

Either way, I would want them to honor their word. If not, being the vindictive jackass that I am, I would inform them in writing that I was dissolving the contract and that I wouldn't be paying the membership dues nor utilizing their gym either. Furthermore, I would also make sure everyone knew about their deceptive business practices. If necessary, I would also change my debit card numbers to prevent them from charging the account, because that's how I would likely have set up the payments.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

The court system is there for a reason. For people like the OP to have legal recourse if they have been wronged or screwed. In this case if the OP is telling us the truth. Clearly this company did a bait and switch and their excuse is "well the previous manager is gone so we wont honor our own contract".

Imagine if that happened in other industry? Oh, my loan officer is not with the bank anymore and you wont honor our contract now and will be charging me 10% instead of 5%?

The court system is not there to bog down with stuff that can be resolved through other means. The court system is supposed to be the LAST RESORT.

However it would make for a more forceful demonstration to take the small claims court filing, filled out and notarized to a face to face meeting with the Manager of the "fitness" club.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

I just signed up to Golds Gym last night...

$89 for the whole year, no fees. Not sure what the catch was, but they said there was none. I am waiting for this screwing to commence....

Gold's is a franchise operation where the individual owners can set whatever rates they want. The rates and term of their contracts vary widely according to the location. Here they require a 2 year contract and an exorbitant rate. In Cincinnati they require no contract and a modest annual or slightly less modest monthly rate.

 

[krunchykrome]

when i was wrong i fixed it I did my best to run a honest business. BUT you get scammers who will claim something is wrong and do there best to get stuff for free. first thing out of there mouth is something like "give me what i want or im takeing you to court" or "im going to the newspaper!" at that point its best to say ok and stop dealing with them. you aren't going to make them happy unless you give them a bunch of stuff for free.

people who do not work in retail as managers or owners really have no clue how often people will try to scam a business. i am willing to bet that 90% of the problems i had were from scammers

gotcha

 

[Kntx]

Do you have these discounts specified in the contract? If you do, then you'd probably have a strong case in court. The sales advertisement is good, but not legally binding, a contract is.

Either way, I would want them to honor their word. If not, being the vindictive jackass that I am, I would inform them in writing that I was dissolving the contract and that I wouldn't be paying the membership dues nor utilizing their gym either. Furthermore, I would also make sure everyone knew about their deceptive business practices. If necessary, I would also change my debit card numbers to prevent them from charging the account, because that's how I would likely have set up the payments.

If the gym informs its membership that for each new member refered a discount will be provided, that is an offer. If the member then refers someone to the gym, that is acceptance of the offer by performance. That is a contract. Legally binding 100%.

 

[krunchykrome]

Do you have these discounts specified in the contract? If you do, then you'd probably have a strong case in court. The sales advertisement is good, but not legally binding, a contract is.

Either way, I would want them to honor their word. If not, being the vindictive jackass that I am, I would inform them in writing that I was dissolving the contract and that I wouldn't be paying the membership dues nor utilizing their gym either. Furthermore, I would also make sure everyone knew about their deceptive business practices. If necessary, I would also change my debit card numbers to prevent them from charging the account, because that's how I would likely have set up the payments.

The discounts aren't specified in the contract. The discounts were verbal. What I have is a copy of the advertisement, and testimonials/witnesses in the people that we referred.

I could easily contact AMEX and have them block this payment every month until this gets resolved, however, I'm worried that they will turn the account over to collections. Our credit is stellar and I don't want to make that much of a mess for myself, at least not now.

 

[krunchykrome]

If the gym informs its membership that for each new member refered a discount will be provided, that is an offer. If the member then refers someone to the gym, that is acceptance of the offer by performance. That is a contract. Legally binding 100%.

well said- thanks

 

[sourceninja]

Nothing wrong with bluffing either (as long as you are willing to deal with them calling the bluff). Saying legalish stuff and acting (but not saying) like you talked to a lawyer could be enough to scare a misinformed small business owner into seeing the light.

"I recently reviewed my options and discovered that your posting of this advertisement and your previous manager's acceptance of said advertisement may constitute a legally binding contract, one that we have grounds to legally persue. I would suggest that in light of this a fair compromise would be to end our contract immediately and without penalty. If this is not acceptable, I may be forced to continue on a path neither of us really wants."