Complain about a product or service

Gold's Gym

Erica of Jacksonville, FL August 19, 2009

I am writing b/c my husband and I have been battling with Gold's Gym (previously located on Baymeadows Rd.) for three months. The situation has become drawn out and the wild goose chases they are sending us on has become unbearable. For the record, we have complied with all of their requirements (none which are standard or mandatory), made up rules, rudeness, and still to no avail they are ignoring us, claiming to fire employees who have been helping us, and most recently hanging up the phones on us mid conversation.

Two years ago in May, my husband and I joined Gold's Gym #6657 located on 8552 Baymeadows Road, Jacksonville, FL 32256. Their phone number is 904-683-5353. We signed a 2 year contract w/o the authorization for an automatic, month to month renewal. This is clearly stated in our contract and up until 2 weeks ago was confirmed to be in their computer system as such by an employee named Megan. When our 2 year membership was up in May 2009, according to our contract, we we no longer responsible to do anything to verify cancellation. Surprisingly, we were charged for the month of May and so we contacted ABC Financial who handles their billing.

They said we needed to send a certified letter to cancel even though this is not stated in our contract, but either way we followed their procedure. They claimed to receive it in June. Having done this, they still did not cancel our membership as promised and charged us for June. When I called back they said their policy is to receive OUR cancellation letter, wait for confirmation from Gold's to authorize the cancellation at their leisure, and when they receive the okay from Gold's, they will then officially cancel our membership. Until this is done, they will continue to charge us for another 60 days after the official cancellation (2 additional months of payments). I contacted Gold's and said that this policy (writing a letter and the additional charges) would ONLY apply to someone who signed a contract with an automatic renewal to go month to month once their 2 year membership had been met, NOT US!

We were just being nice and complying with their rules to help further this along. The two women (Megan and Toni) I spoke with at Gold's confirmed that I did not have any renewal requirements on our memberships. Apparently they are now claiming that Megan no longer works there to verify this and Dan will not allow us to speak with Toni about this issue. How convenient Gold's said they would email the gym owners of this situation b/c they don't have their phone numbers...this was over a month ago.

Two more weeks had gone by at this point and I have called almost everyday to speak with Toni who said she had no word from the owners. We were then transferred to a very hostile man named Dan who refuses to call me back when I am forced to leave messages. He claimed that he had no idea that Toni had sent 2 emails on my request to the owners or the additional one that Megan sent. Dan and Toni said that they have not heard back from the owners who they claim to be in meetings with all the time when we call. Well obviously they aren't responding b/c they are crooks. They have now illegally charged our Visa 154.08 and they are planning on charging me another 51.36 for the month of August. Our membership and contract was up in May 2009 and we are paying for a gym that we don't use b/c we are NOT MEMBERS anymore!!!

It has now been a total of 3 months. Dan put us on hold today, then another man picked up and we said we were holding for Dan. The man said Dan was in a meeting with the owners and so we called his bluff and said we were just on the phone with him. A minute later Dan picked up and tried to turn the tables and yelled that we hung up on him. He keeps telling us that we need to send additional information (copy of our contract and a write up on the entire situation) and not ask to why he wants it and to not ask why he didn't ask for this months ago. He was hostile, threatening and extremely rude.

Dan is claiming that they have new owners, but Toni says the owners are the same but the investors are different. They say they want a copy of our contract since they no longer have any of their clients contracts when the gym switched names this month. I find this hard to believe that they don't have a single contract for their members, but if this is the case, then they have no leg to stand on. They are claiming no contract says there is not an automatic renewal, but they claim to have no contract to back this up

My husband has called Dan every day, 2 times a day (on his way to work and on his lunch hour) for the past 2 weeks and each time he tells us we need to do new things to accommodate him, but each time we do it he blows us off. They are giving us the run around. These people are crooks and they should not be able to run scams like this. ABC Financial who was responsible for their billing also claims they don't have a record of our contract either. I also was told ABC Financial is no longer their billing company, but we still need to work through them. I find that this is ridiculous. This situation has upset my husband, but it has really become a health issue for me.

I have recently (3 months) been suffering from chronic hives which are stress induced (originated from something else), but this whole nightmare has escalated my condition and has me medicating myself with steroid packs and it has left me physically and emotionally stressed. These people are illegally charging our credit card and there is nothing we can do to stop them. This is just not right. For two years we have made every payment and we have records of doing so, so why are they taking advantage of ideal clients? We have been patient, never raised our voices, and yet we are being belittled and treated terribly.

They now want us to send them a copy of our contract and a write up of everything that has gone on thus far. I told them I would do this via certified mail, but I doubt this will solve anything. My husband works full time, I am a full time mother and full time student (16 credits at UNF) and so we don't have much spare time to play games or be treated with such disrespect.

When we told Dan to ask Toni for this (who was standing next to him) b/c we already sent her this information with a copy of the contract last week, he said to leave Toni out of it and he hung up on us. We have a record of the email and our cell phone logs to show home many times we have called them to follow up on this issue.

DaVina of Indianapolis, IN August 12, 2009

My complaint is this: My membership contract with Gold's Gym's at 7140 E. Washington St. Indianapolis, IN 46219 was to end in June 2009. On May 5th 2009 I went to the location to cancel my contract and spoke with a manager who's name I did not get however he is not the manager that I have a complaint with (Chris). I provided a written letter requesting to cancel my account at the conclusion of the Membership agreement at the time I was told that the manager on duty would have to speak with me and he did.

The manager offered me 3 complimentary months rather than canceling at that time. I wanted to verify that I would not be placed back into an agreement as a result of accepting the complimentary months. He assured me that I would not be placed into another contract. My complimentary period was to extend from June 2009 through the end of August 2009. During this interaction I also changed my credit card on file. My next billing would be September 2009.

In the first week of August I returned to the gym to cancel my membership finally. The gentleman who helped me told me that I would have to complete paperwork. I told him that I had already done this in May but he said I still needed to do it again. I filled out the form and was told the manager had to speak with me. He called the manager Chris over who after a brief question about why I wanted to cancel signed the form and left. Then the original person I was working with told me that I would have to be billed for another month of membership because I did not provide 30 days of written notice to cancel.

When I reminded him that I had been in to cancel in May he said he was just the messenger so I asked him to call the manager back over because I didn't agree with this. The manager Chris came back and told me I would be billed regardless of me coming in to cancel in May because they did not keep the paperwork therefore there was no proof that I was canceling at that time. I said fine, cancel the contract and bill the last month. I just wanted it canceled outright. I signed the form and left it and the key tag with the manager and turned to walk out. He yelled behind me to have a good day.

Today I received a letter from ABC Financial Services stating that my credit card had been declined for a payment due in August. Recognizing this card that I had on file I knew the problem was simply that ABC was using my physical address in Indianapolis, IN rather than the billing address for the card which goes to a residence I maintain in Florida. I advised the representative of the correct address for the card. As she was about to process my payment I asked her to verify for me that this would be the final payment.

After a lengthy hold she came back to the line to tell me that she had no proof that I had canceled the membership. She also told me the amount was slightly in excess of 69.00 (39.99 membership fee, 9.99 late fee, 19.99 declined payment fee) On my other line I called the E. Washington St. Gold's gym and spoke with Kira who also told me that she did not see anything indicating that I canceled. She asked me to come back in now for a third time to cancel. I told her that I had given my form directly to the manager when I canceled. Kira told me that if the manager remembered me the cancellation would stand for the prior date. Back on the line with ABC Financial I asked the representative Tony Williams to hold off on taking the payment until I got the cancelation issue resolved.

I immediately went to the gym and spoke with Kira about the situation. She gave me another form to complete and called the manager Chris out. I reminded Chris that I had been in 1.5 to 2 weeks ago to cancel. Chris stated that he did not remember me and he couldn't have helped me because he had only been in the location for a week. I told him this was not true as I handed my form and key chain entry piece directly to him. He still feigned ignorance of the situation until I reminded him of our argument surrounding the cancellation. At this point he admitted that he did remember me and stated that the problem was that I didn't have the money to pay for the membership. This was a lie and I told him such.

He had no way of knowing about my conversation with the representative with Tony at ABC Financial today so I advised him that they were using the incorrect billing address for my card. He continued to attempt to embarrass me by saying that I couldn't afford this membership. Finally he asked me if I had a copy of the cancellation form that I filled out on that date. I told him he hadn't given me one. At this point he said that the membership wasn't cancelled because the transaction wasn't complete when I left. I asked him why he didn't tell me this was the case rather than telling me to have a good day? The form had been signed by me and him and left with him so the process should have been complete. Regardless of all this Chris has now acknowledged that I was in the location and cancelled my membership with him on a day that he originally claimed not to be at that location.

Kira was present for this entire conversation. Kira now was trying to process my final payment and now told me that I would be billed for September 2009 too for this membership and I originally came to cancel in May and have given 30 days notice twice so far. My total was 108.98 I told her to go ahead and process the payment (with the same card mentioned above) I had no urge to be in that establishment any longer.

She charged me for the month of September even after she heard Chris say that he remembered me canceling earlier this month. She provided me with receipts and a copy of my cancellation again. It was at this point that I came home to contact the corporate office. The corporate office told me that this location is a franchise and it is up to them to refund me the money or not.

I have satisfied the requirements of my membership that was to end in June 2009. I have followed all required processes to cancel my membership twice now but I have now been billed for the month of August including fees for a payment that I should not have had to pay and the month of September- Even though Chris admitted that he was there when I canceled the second time. I want to ensure that my membership has been cancelled and I want a refund of the payments and the fees for these two months.

Also, the manager, Chris has found the need to lie for some unknown reason however it is unappreciated. I have had memberships with three different chains in the past and have never been treated as disrespectfully as he has treated me even when I canceled. Although I know that no establishment wants to lose the revenue generated from a customer this is no reason to treat former customers in this manner.

In addition, my financial stability is the concern of no one within the Gold's Gym establishment however I can assure you that I am able successfully maintain a residence in Florida as well as Indiana during a recession which should indicate that I can certainly pay for my gym membership. Perhaps Chris has no experience with mismatched billing address with credit cards to know that they will cause a decline regardless of the balance available on the card. His comments and behavior are unacceptable.

eniko of pompano beach, FL August 12, 2009

I signed up in golds gym in a Boca Raton location where this person Anthony was nice the time I signed up, than I decided just want to go at the pompano location at the mall since I live closer there and I asked them just charge me for one place 20dollar than they kept charging me 30dollar every month they kept telling me its all taking care of but it took 6month for them to really do it, than just recently both location is notgolds gym anymore and pompano sad go to Boca raton cancel we give you a good deal

I cancelled, than tried to go to Pompano now its Pompano fitness and the same man Anthony who signed me up in Boca raton now works at Pompano beach wouldnt even let me to the class this Tuesday night, wanted to charge me more money 30dollar a month and was very rude and arrogant so I sad forget it it is not worth the aggrevation , and its very frustruating that all this was golds gym and that is what they do to people and they expect someone join up fo memberships, well I would tell everyone stay away from these kind of people, the owner at least would appreciate those people who go there for a while. I really liked some of their classes and its very said that how they cheat.

Ray of Houston, TX July 31, 2009

Gold's Gym now claims I owe them over 300 for services never rendered. They say it was in my "contract". They say I am required to cancel the contract. The arrogance of Gold's Gym is amazing. Consumers act on good faith and expect the same from vendors. I never read this extraordinary clause and it was never pointed out to me. Now I get calls from very aggressive and threatening collectors acting on behalf of Gold's Gym.

Gold's Gym should be required by law to point out these extraordinary clauses verbally with the caveat that they will threaten to prosecute you or attempt to terrify you if you fail to meet the terms of their extraordinary agreement. I am a senior citizen and maybe this is the approach to senior citizens that they think works. It should be illegal to harass and threaten anyone with tone. Gold's Gym is, in my opinion, a disgrace.

Bruce of Moorpark, CA July 29, 2009

29.00 debited from my checking account in addition to my monthly membership dues of 39.99. The 29 is what the gym calls an enhancement fee that is taken out once per annual contract.--My contention is that it was not verbally disclosed by both the salesperson and the manager who had me sign the retail installment contract (which has the enhancement fee listed opposite of the box that labeled "state and federal disclousures made by golds Gym" which provides data on all fees except the enhancement fee is not listed in this section.

furthermore, the salesperson understood what I was paying at a prior gym and sold me on the fact that I would not pay anymore than the monthly gym membership fee. My second contention is that I never agreed to have another fee debited from my personal checking account other than the monthly charge of 39.99 for membership. Furthermore, regarding the contract this enhancement fee not only was not verbally disclosed nor did I have to initial the section which if you view this contract is separate from where the monthly fee and finance charges and enrollment fee are listed.

Monica of Pikesville, MD July 17, 2009

Recently I switched Gold's locations simply because the one location I was going to was run so poorly and the equipment wasn't kept up well. Shortly after I had joined the original location I had billing issues and had to contact corporate Gold's at that time. I've now been at the new location since the Winter and all of a sudden this month I was charged twice, once for the old gym dues and once for the new gym dues. I don't understand the fraudulent billing and how this can occur. I'm sincerely ready to contact the BBB also. It appears that many others are having similar issues with billing after reviewing your site.

Karyn of Bethlehem, AL July 2, 2009

My husband and I were members for 2 years. We were only presented with the automatic payment by credit card, otherwise you could not get a membership. We had to pay 160 for initial membership and 60/month. When we moved, we went to cancel the membership. They told us that they canceled it out of the computer. I asked if there was something we needed to sign, and they said no. We had to wait 30 days, and they continued to withdraw from our credit card for 2 cycles. I called and asked why they were still taking out money when we cancelled the membership. Then the associate said we had to send a letter to the corporate office to cancel the membership.

We sent the letter certified mail with our cancellation notice. They then charged us another month while waiting for the confirmation for corporate. After that charge, I called my credit card company to tell them that the charge was not legitimate. I told them what I was going thru and they said they couldn't do anything. They had the right to keep charging me. I asked if I could cancel the card so they couldn't charge me anymore. He told me that the charge would still go thru on the card even though it was cancelled and they could report me to the credit bureau.

I was furious after that conversation. I then got a letter from corporate saying that I needed proof that I had moved and needed a managers signature on a document and a statement saying that I am cancelling and why. During that time, I was charged for another month. I sent in those documents and they charged me two more months before it was canceled. I was furious. In total, we were charged 9 months more than we should have been charged (480). I contacted the BBB about it while I was waiting for our membership to end. I ended up getting 5 months back.

Brian of roanoke, VA June 27, 2009

The owner of Golds gym North Roanoke Virginia and abc financial are equally fraudulent..on top of lieing and treating their loyal customers like left out garbage they refused to let me cancel my contract as agreed upon. This has been an ongoing issue havent been resolved.

Susan of Reno, NV June 26, 2009

I have been a member in good standing at Golds Gym since October 2005. I decided this month to cancel my membership as I have not been using it regularly and my husband just lost his job. I was told that because I signed my cancellation paperwork on 6/23/09 and my monthly automatic billing occurs on the 15th of each month that I would be charged for membership until 8/14/09.

My contract clearly states that I am obligated to give 30 days notice which I am agreeable to. Nowhere in my contract does it state that they have the right to charge for an additional month if the billing cycle is less than 30 days away. I was threatened with additional fees including late charges and interest and told the matter would go to collections if I did not pay.

Pekka of Suwanee, GA June 5, 2009

I have been a member at this gym for several years, paying a monthly fee. In September 2008 I took advantage of a special, and paid a year's membership in full. I filled out all the forms to cancel the bank drafts, mailed them, etc. Apparently the Gym forgot to confirm this with ABC Financial. ABC kept drafting the fee until I got really upset and said over the phone that this has to stop. Then I received notices of late payments. It took me three months to finally get it cleared out (but I never got the extra money back). Then the gym changed ownership. From somewhere (old files) they found my account information and started drafting my account again! I contacted both ABC and gym management (while blocking any further drafts) in March 2009 and was told it's going to be OK. However, I started receiving letters showing increasing balance owed with all kinds of late fees etc. I finally found out that I supposedly had signed a new contract in February 2009. At my request, ABC mailed me a copy; it had a forged signature. I sent a copy of the forged document, with a note explaining that's not my signature, to both ABC and the club (certified mail), along with a copy of the agreement that showed I'm paid in full for through October. I have now talked with both ABC and gym management several times. The people I dealt with were polite. At ABC they say they can't do anything, this is a club thing. At the club they say not to worry, they'll fix this - they just have to do it through "corporate". There is something fishy going on with all these arrangements; seems all too convenient for the club. Who is ABC Financial anyway? Is it just a company owned by Golds so that the independent franchises can keep on bouncing responsibility from one place to another? I take it very seriously when someone starts taking money out of my account - using a fraudulent document - and then starts sending threatening letters when I put a stop to it. Somebody on this site already mentioned a class action lawsuit. Maybe it is getting to be time. Only about 45 taken from my account (unauthorized). However, the claim is now that I owe almost 200. My concern is that it will soon show up on my credit reports.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Follow us on Twitter.