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Getting out of a fitness/gym contract
Godfather
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So here's the story:
A couple of months back in July I decided to sign up for a gym membership at this new gym that opened up on Yonge and Dundas. New facility, friendly staff, etc. I was impressed and wanted in.
During my orientation they gauged my strength, stamina and weight. They started telling me about the contract membership deals, then went to the personal training option. Since I literally knew nothing about handling equipment, and my previous personal trainer was extremely flaky, I decided to give it a go so I wouldn't fuck up myself during gym time.
So around the beginning of July I started training twice a week. Great.
About a month later, my boss drastically cut my hours at work, and I decided that I could no longer afford PT anymore. When I got to the gym to see if I could either reduce my plan to a lower rate or cut it off entirely, the rep I spoke with said that I was locked into a contract with no way out. He was able to knock off a few sessions on my price, but i'm still stuck in this stupid PT contract.
Long story short, I signed a contract originally offering 52 training sessions (now knocked down to 47). What I didn't realize was that the payments for these sessions would be spread out over the course of 17 months, and the grand total would (initially) be around $4000. I had thought payments for training were supposed to stop on February 2011, not 2012. Ouch.
I simply do not have that kind of cash to burn. I can pay for the sessions i've done so far with no problems, but i'll still be paying for this damn bill long after I finish my sessions and am on my final year of school.
I was talking with my buddy today about it, and he said that I should just cut it off right now, the consequences be damned. I've only gone through 20-ish PT sessions as of yet, so i'd be able to pay off that part of the bill from now till April of next year no problem, but once April is done i'm leaving the country to return home, and with it the job that pays this bill.
Since this is (assumingly) a low-level contract, and considering that i'm not a canadian citizen/just under a work visa, what are my options here? What's the worst-case scenario if I just walk in the office, tell them that I cannot afford the rest of the sessions, and am simply going to pay for the ones i've used up?
My buddy told me to tell them that I won't be showing up for PT anymore, and that the money won't be in my account period once i've paid for what i've used up, but I don't think it's so black-and-white like he thinks. I don't want to get into any major trouble with this, but i'm almost positive that this type of thing has happened before, so there's gotta be some sort of escape clause.
Any suggestions?
TL : DR - Signed a long-term personal training fitness contract. Need to get out but i'm locked in. Help?
A couple of months back in July I decided to sign up for a gym membership at this new gym that opened up on Yonge and Dundas. New facility, friendly staff, etc. I was impressed and wanted in.
During my orientation they gauged my strength, stamina and weight. They started telling me about the contract membership deals, then went to the personal training option. Since I literally knew nothing about handling equipment, and my previous personal trainer was extremely flaky, I decided to give it a go so I wouldn't fuck up myself during gym time.
So around the beginning of July I started training twice a week. Great.
About a month later, my boss drastically cut my hours at work, and I decided that I could no longer afford PT anymore. When I got to the gym to see if I could either reduce my plan to a lower rate or cut it off entirely, the rep I spoke with said that I was locked into a contract with no way out. He was able to knock off a few sessions on my price, but i'm still stuck in this stupid PT contract.
Long story short, I signed a contract originally offering 52 training sessions (now knocked down to 47). What I didn't realize was that the payments for these sessions would be spread out over the course of 17 months, and the grand total would (initially) be around $4000. I had thought payments for training were supposed to stop on February 2011, not 2012. Ouch.
I simply do not have that kind of cash to burn. I can pay for the sessions i've done so far with no problems, but i'll still be paying for this damn bill long after I finish my sessions and am on my final year of school.
I was talking with my buddy today about it, and he said that I should just cut it off right now, the consequences be damned. I've only gone through 20-ish PT sessions as of yet, so i'd be able to pay off that part of the bill from now till April of next year no problem, but once April is done i'm leaving the country to return home, and with it the job that pays this bill.
Since this is (assumingly) a low-level contract, and considering that i'm not a canadian citizen/just under a work visa, what are my options here? What's the worst-case scenario if I just walk in the office, tell them that I cannot afford the rest of the sessions, and am simply going to pay for the ones i've used up?
My buddy told me to tell them that I won't be showing up for PT anymore, and that the money won't be in my account period once i've paid for what i've used up, but I don't think it's so black-and-white like he thinks. I don't want to get into any major trouble with this, but i'm almost positive that this type of thing has happened before, so there's gotta be some sort of escape clause.
Any suggestions?
TL : DR - Signed a long-term personal training fitness contract. Need to get out but i'm locked in. Help?
Godfather on
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Fitness contracts suck. All contracts suck. Read them carefully. They are not "locked in" until you sign them, and you CAN negotiate for more favorable terms. Always be willing to walk away when something looks fishy.
Ok, with that out of the way, these contracts typically let you cancel for a cancellation fee, which can be pretty expensive, but certainly less than $4000. That's something you can sometimes get waved if you argue it into your contract before you sign it. Check your contract for something like that. Otherwise, you are in default, and I'm not business savvy enough to help you out with that. Hopefully someone else (like Thanatos) can respond.
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As of now it'll probably take to the end of April to pay off the sessions that i've already used, but once that's done I can start saving up for practical things, like living expenses for Toronto once I finish school.
Would they still charge me even if I didn't use the vast majority of the sessions? I hear that if I miss a few payments then i'll have to take it up with a credit union or whatever to buy off my debt, and if that happens then the gym makes little to no money off of my endeavors, while I owe even more money! It's kind of a lose/lose situation for both parties.
Investigate legal recourse, I unfortunately did not, but all I can tell you is my more abrupt way of handling it (I'm in the USA, I don't know how credit scores and stuff work in your frigid northlands). I got the same message you did "lol itz a contract bro u screwed" so I promptly changed bank accounts, got a call a few days later, listened to a voicemail warning me that I needed to give them my new bank account info so they could keep deducting my payment. I did not return that call. For about the next 3 or 4 years (until I was 22 and had a full-time good paying job) I regularly had to ignore calls from collectors and listen to voicemails telling me to pay up (always polite, for what it's worth). I owed close to 2000 dollars
Finally I was making the big bucks, and the collectors were starting to say things like "let's work out a deal." I called one back and he said the gym was willing to call it even for 200 dollars. You tell me, who's going to settle for a tenth of what they're owed and be ok with it? ****ing sharks. 200 wasn't a big deal to me at the time so I got it done, and that was the end of it. The hit to my credit? I didn't take out any major loans after this happened until last year (age 24) when I bought a car. My credit score was in the 700s, with the account sent to collections still on my credit report. As far as I'm concerned I got off damned near scot free.
Based on my experience, I think if you walked in there and asked if you could square up with them for a considerable fraction less, they'll do it. Tell them otherwise you simply cannot pay and don't intend to. They'll take some money over no money.
But first check for legal recourse, google the gym, you'll find stories just like yours
additional thought: Basically if you find out the contract is ironclad and they won't give you a deal (which would just be stupid on their part), then that's that. If you can't pay, then don't. When they sell the account to a collection agency, they will start calling you numerous times a day. Annoying but not the end of the world. Once they do that, your credit score gets hit and that's the end of it. It doesn't get worse the longer it's there (in fact it's gone after 7 years). Even paying them won't repair it, so definitely don't cave in as there isn't any incentive to at that point.
For the record, I don't start making payments for this till October. I want to tell them that I cannot pay for the rest of the sessions, case closed, and if they can't deal with that then i'll move to another gym then and there. I'm hopeful that the threat of this will cause them to cut their losses, take the money that I owe them and keep a gym member than lose one altogether.
Perhaps they'll want to collect some penalty money, but if they let you off the 4000 dollar contract for something you can afford that's probably a good deal, I think. I would be surprised if that doesn't work (but that's based on my fairly limited experience!). If they push back, maybe then it's time to start saying words like "lawyer" and "will haunt your dreams into the afterlife with my black magic"
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— Robert Heinlein
-You pay a set amount of your remaining balance (50% seems to be the usual predatory rate)
-You can get out if you move a set distance away
-You can get out if there is local laws allowing you to leave
What you will need to figure this out is your contract, and to check out if your national/state/local government allows you to get out of the contract. Without knowing where you live or what is on your contract specifically, there is not much else we can do.
— Robert Heinlein
I'd like to second the above advice. I don't know about EF, but many gym memberships I've seen have cell-phone style contracts where you can get out early if you pay a penalty (which is going to be nasty itself) or, as noted above, if you move far enough away. I'm not sure Extreme (or is it "Xtreme"?) has any holdings outside of Canada, but there may be a "if you move far enough away, you can break the contract early" option. Be sure to look over your contract.
That said, 52 personal trainer sessions? Jebus. 10 is pricey enough at my gym (never hired a PT, just checked into the pricing out of curiosity), I can't imagine agreeing to an entire year of them.
Don't try to just not show up. If they have a credit card or bank routing number or check on file they'll just charge your account every month anyway.
Just go talk to them, explain your situation, be polite, and document everything. Hopefully they'll offer you an out that won't break the bank. Gyms have sleazy contracts, but you did sign one. You're going to have to pay something to get out of it unless they close down or you move more than 25 miles away.
See if you can drop the training sessions but keep a membership. A lot of them just want to keep you there, so they'll offer you their super "$25 a month membership" offer instead and it won't extend your contract.
Finally, a lot of them have options for members who don't go to the gym. You can say that times are tough, and a lot of times they'll let you pay like $15 a month or something for up to six months, which will count towards your contract length. You won't be allowed to go to the gym, but you won't be paying $100's a month either. You could do that until you've got the cash to continue with the sessions.
Good luck man!
The Vac - My Science Fiction Epic
Fortune Pancakes - My Gag-A-Day Comic
I'd really hate to have this escalate into getting a credit collection agency involved. If it happens then it happens, but should I stop showing up for training regardless of the situation?
If they have access to your bank account they're going to charge you whether you show up or not, so I guess show up until the bank finally starts refusing the charges and they tell you that you can't work out there anymore.
Alternatively, can you call the bank and tell them you no longer give authority for them to bill you?
If they're not auto billing you, just walk in, say your reasons for being unable to afford the service, give them a contact number and mailing address where they can bill you, and hope to work something out.
They don't want to go through the hassle of collections, you could probably settle with them for pennies on the dollar. Like if you owe 4000 dollars for the sessions, offer them a thousand for two months worth.
The Vac - My Science Fiction Epic
Fortune Pancakes - My Gag-A-Day Comic
I would, the next time you go in there, revoke any authorization you've given them to withdraw funds from your bank/charge your card. In writing. Make a letter saying that, that any future payment will be made by mail or in person, and have someone there sign it acknowedging they received it. Let them keep a copy, hold on to the original.
Then if they do charge you can dispute it with your bank as unauthorized and fraudulent without too much hassle.
EDIT:
Also how old are you? Do you look like you could pass for 17? If so did they ever copy your ID? Again, I don't know Canada, but usually contracts with minors are unenforceable.
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I talked with this girl at the desk about my whole situation (under the table of course). Initially she said that there wasn't anything they could do, but then I told her I was from Texas and would be returning home this April. She asked me if I was heading home for the holidays and I said yes.
She then told me that I might be able to forcefully cancel out of my contract if I tell them that i'm moving back home, and simply want to pay for the time that i've used. They can't track me outside of the country apparently, and just want the money, so this might actually work without me having to explain the situation entirely.
Regarding Personal Training, she told me to tell my trainer to not schedule any more sessions after this upcoming Monday, then ignore his calls until December. That way they can only charge me for the time i've used up.
It's a long shot, but let's hope it works!
I was talking to my landlord/owner of the house that i'm renting from, and she said that I shouldn't pay anything at all beforehand, regardless of how much I owe. She told me to make the changes to my account before the 1st of the month, then speak to a manager about the situation (moving,etc.). That way if they want me to square this whole thing away for, oh, say $700, i'll haven't paid the first month's fees off yet, and I can use the money I was going to pay anyways towards that.
Is this a good plan, or should I go with my previous one?
I was once able to get out of a gym contract by having some mail addressed to a guy I know that lived on a farm, and then mailing them from that address saying that I moved there to work.
It took a few calls and dragged on for a few months, but I was able to get out without any collections process, or paying past the month I started the process in.
I believe the required minimum distance for them was 30 miles.
You can easily accomplish either with a PO Box or a buddy in med school. Or if you have health insurance, legitimately go to a physicians office and complain of shortness of breath, muscle pain, and chest 'tightness' - that'll get you a note to get out of your contract (depending on your insurance that may be quite a bit of money).