Overcharged for 10 months (update, carpet bomb SUCCESS)

1ddqd

So I posted a while back to ask for help in resolving this matter (edit forthcoming with link).

Here's an email I sent to the president and director of human resources (only definite email addresses I could find online):

To whom it may concern;

I've had an ongoing issue for nearly a year, and have had no feedback whatsoever from my local branch. I am writing to you in a plea to help resolve this issue once and for all.

I'm a member at the Blankville, TX location and currently have a membership with both LA Fitness and Body of Change. Total, I pay about $100 a month for my memberships. LA Fitness is the closest gym to me and the facilities are clean, well lit, and well maintained. However, I am still being charged for a membership cancelled nearly 1 year ago, in addition to my current membership.

So far, $32.46 has been taken out of my account for 10 months. I have been refunded 1 month's worth of fees in all of this after speaking with the operations manager at my branch. He has not responded to any calls about the issue and direct attempts at contacting him have been unsuccessful. Usually, he's walking around on the phone, and I wait over 30 minutes. My schedule never seems to coincide with his.

There are 2 requests I have in regards to this issue. I need the monthly charges from the old account stopped. They are still happening, even after the operations manager assured me it had. He even showed where the barcode paper we had printed out had been received - the computer system showed the account was cancelled, but the charges continue!

The second request is that I am refunded the full amount of the 10 payments I have since been charged. My contact information follows below (and is the same as my account info listed in LA Fitness' system):

Cell: ###-###-####
Work: ###-###-####
Email: blank@gmail.com

I got an immediate "out of office reply" from Mindy, won't be back til the 22nd, so I know that email worked. I can only assume the president's email worked as well, since I didn't get any daemon failures. I also got 2 other emails out of this (since there was a message saying "If you need immediate assistance, please email sherric@lafitness.com or lindab@lafitness.com." So yeah, they got emails also. Hopefully this gets cleared up tomorrow - I have $300 potentially at stake and owe $400 in taxes to the IRS this year, so...that'd help.

I'd Fuck Chuck Lidell Up

1ddqd wrote: »

So I posted a while back to ask for help in resolving this matter (edit forthcoming with link).

Here's an email I sent to the president and director of human resources (only definite email addresses I could find online):

To whom it may concern;

I've had an ongoing issue for nearly a year, and have had no feedback whatsoever from my local branch. I am writing to you in a plea to help resolve this issue once and for all.

I'm a member at the Blankville, TX location and currently have a membership with both LA Fitness and Body of Change. Total, I pay about $100 a month for my memberships. LA Fitness is the closest gym to me and the facilities are clean, well lit, and well maintained. However, I am still being charged for a membership cancelled nearly 1 year ago, in addition to my current membership.

So far, $32.46 has been taken out of my account for 10 months. I have been refunded 1 month's worth of fees in all of this after speaking with the operations manager at my branch. He has not responded to any calls about the issue and direct attempts at contacting him have been unsuccessful. Usually, he's walking around on the phone, and I wait over 30 minutes. My schedule never seems to coincide with his.

There are 2 requests I have in regards to this issue. I need the monthly charges from the old account stopped. They are still happening, even after the operations manager assured me it had. He even showed where the barcode paper we had printed out had been received - the computer system showed the account was cancelled, but the charges continue!

The second request is that I am refunded the full amount of the 10 payments I have since been charged. My contact information follows below (and is the same as my account info listed in LA Fitness' system):

Cell: ###-###-####
Work: ###-###-####
Email: blank@gmail.com

I got an immediate "out of office reply" from Mindy, won't be back til the 22nd, so I know that email worked. I can only assume the president's email worked as well, since I didn't get any daemon failures. I also got 2 other emails out of this (since there was a message saying "If you need immediate assistance, please email sherric@lafitness.com or lindab@lafitness.com." So yeah, they got emails also. Hopefully this gets cleared up tomorrow - I have $300 potentially at stake and owe $400 in taxes to the IRS this year, so...that'd help.

pretty much make sure you keep written copies of everything including times and dates. if this isn't resolved real quick (and or charges keep coming in) put a temporary hold on your card through your bank and take this to a lawyer. a lot of gyms and other subscription based services make a lot of money this way because peopel aren't willing to kick up a fuss over it

1ddqd

Oh yeah - if this isn't resolved by next week, I'm disputing all charges with the bank. LA Fitness will also be receiving a nice tidy little letter from a family friend (who just happens to be a contract lawyer with a copy of said contract...)

I'd Fuck Chuck Lidell Up

1ddqd wrote: »

Oh yeah - if this isn't resolved by next week, I'm disputing all charges with the bank. LA Fitness will also be receiving a nice tidy little letter from a family friend (who just happens to be a contract lawyer with a copy of said contract...)

then that's pretty much all you need to do.

let the lawyer handle this, it's what he's there for. especially since you have the paperwork

1ddqd

I'd Fuck Chuck Lidell Up wrote: »

1ddqd wrote: »

Oh yeah - if this isn't resolved by next week, I'm disputing all charges with the bank. LA Fitness will also be receiving a nice tidy little letter from a family friend (who just happens to be a contract lawyer with a copy of said contract...)

then that's pretty much all you need to do.

let the lawyer handle this, it's what he's there for. especially since you have the paperwork

Thanks, I just figured I'd go beyond the requisite "reasonable person" limitation, just in case things escalate. I'd like to think this is all beyond reasonable.

Shadowfire

Fair warning - they may try and say that "we only offer refunds of X number of months due to errors."

Do not let that shit stand.

1ddqd

Shadowfire wrote: »

Fair warning - they may try and say that "we only offer refunds of X number of months due to errors."

Do not let that shit stand.

Thanks, swift retribution anticipated, Monday we'll know where I stand.

1ddqd

Update: just got a call from Catalina at 949-255-7430 after emailing the 4 people. Problem was, my girlfriend's letter to cancel was never received (even though it was sent the same day as my email). Unfortunately, I was unable to record the call with my Google Voice number, so you can't hear the conversation, but since they never received the letter, the charges continued. They refunded some recent charges (since she had created a new account at the end of March) but that's it.

The carpet bomb was a bittersweet success, so I'm going to dispute the other charges (August 2008-March 2009) with my bank. The accounts were inactive (since we tried to use both of them, to confirm the cancellation) and I was still billed, so I shouldn't have an issue getting the bank to collect for me.

I'm getting in touch with my friend's dad (who is a contract lawyer) and seeing what my options are forthwith.

This is a pretty widespread issue, so I'll post the emails I used here for internet search engine pickup.

1ddqd

Here are the emails resulting in success for the email carpet bomb (and subsequently, the email address format, in case someone finds a board of directors somewhere).

LouisW@lafitness.com, MindyS@lafitness.com, SherriC@lafitness.com, LindaB@lafitness.com