Gold's Gym Reviews

I have called corp and emailed corp. So now today, I am calling the number that comes up on our bank statement. They said they need the address or account number. Well, hello, we don't have his card anymore and the address is your guess as good as mine. All I have to say about Gold's is they are just another big company that will bend their clients over and take whatever they can, another reason so many people are broke these days.

I have the cancelled check and membership paperwork to prove it. Heaven help me if I didn't since the Gold's Gym manager, Donna ** and salesperson, Sandra **, never entered it into the computer on my behalf. Gold's Gym also requires members to give 60 days’ notice before the end of your "12 month" membership in order to have it end when they promise it would. I have never heard of a 12 month membership that requires you to "quit" 60 days in advance of the original agreement. I can see giving a month's notice if you want to continue, but to be allowed to end your "12 month membership"? That's not a 12 month membership; it's a 14 month membership or an infinity membership where they just keep taking your money.

The manager, the salesperson, and the supervisor of the salesperson never returned a single phone call in the last three days. I had to call a dozen times, was put on hold, and finally the manager used sarcastic and demeaning language and tone when I asked for a letter from her stating I had paid the first month's dues for my son and I on the evening we signed up. No apology for keeping me waiting three days, no apology for not giving the financial organization the correct billing information, no apology for never returning my call - sarcasm and rudeness. I had to call back to ask if the letter was done. The letter was phrased in a sarcastic tone, ending with Ms. **, stating she hoped this cleared up any misunderstanding I had.

I did not misunderstand the fact that I shelled out over $200 last January and was being told that I had not paid. Gold's Gym bullies customers into joining, is rude to customers who have paid on time for 12 months, expects customers to call 60 days in advance to cancel a membership they expect to end in 12 months, and lies about how much you have actually paid. I spent the last three days making dozens of phone calls, typed up a 3 page letter explaining the details, paid to have an 8 page document faxed to ABC Financial, hired an attorney to fight having to pay beyond my 12 month membership, and paid Bank of America for a copy of the cancelled dues check from January 2009.

Now Gold's has told me twice they have taken care of the situation. But here it is six months later and I still don't have the issue resolved. They have received $100 and I am paying interest on $100 for six months. I did what they and ABC Financial asked, but yet they keep the money. I took my card and asked they refund the card while I was there. They said they can't do it and they would take care of it. I have done all the legwork to get this taken care of and they still can't follow the instructions to refund my money. This is only half of the nightmare.

Meanwhile, we thought everything was fine because we were paying for my husband's account. Originally, they were supposed to put us both on the same account! After many calls and being pushed off to a number of people, my husband and a manager, Tom **, figured out the problem. We paid him money to settle the account so we could cancel. Tom then stated he would contact the collections agency, which was a lie. He never did. We ended up having to pay the collections agency! When I contacted him about it, he stated that he would call them. He has not. We are out over $300 for one year membership for two people.

Now, in February 2009, the manager at the gym told me that she cancelled my membership. In March, when I saw my credit card bill, they charged me another $30 plus $20 some equipment fees. I went to the gym and I asked about that. Now they were saying that the cancellation would take 45 days, so I have to wait for that. In these 45 days, I paid two months charge without using the gym. So the total amount that I paid to Gold's Gym includes (from December 2008 to March 2009) membership fees of $88, four months charge of $29.99 each month, so approximately $120. So, I paid approximately $200 without using a gym for a single day.

Now after seven months in August 2009, they charged my credit card $120. Now, I called ABC Financial and asked about that. There was a lady named Christene who told me that my membership was cancelled in March 2009 and they had not charged any single dollar from my account. Then, I went to my bank and checked my bill and it clearly said that it was charged by ABC Financial. The gentleman in the bank named Mr. ** called to inquire about the charging. They also told Mr. ** that they have not charged me any money. They requested a copy of my statement and he faxed and emailed it to them. Then, I cancelled my credit card and requested a new one.

After about a week, I got the mail from ABC Financial stating that my credit card was declined, so they need the new credit card number. Again, I called ABC Financial and I got some strange answers. I was surprised. They told me that my membership would expire on 12/20/2010. Until then, they will charge me $29.99 every month. I said I was totally unaware about that and the guy didn't tell me anything about it. Now they are saying that, "You have signed up for the contract so you have to pay every month." I told them that I was willing to pay for the early termination fees but they were not listening to me. Whenever I am going to Gold’s gym, they are not giving me good answers, are rude and always ignoring me. They are saying that, "We cannot do anything about billing. You have to talk with ABC Financial." ABC Financial is saying that my membership is expiring in 2010 so I have to pay until then. I cannot concentrate on my studies. I'm thinking about what I should do next all the time. I always advise my friends or everyone who is reading this message not to go to Gold's Gym.

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 without 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 **. When our 2-year membership was up in May 2009, according to our contract, we are 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 because 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 all the time when we call. Well obviously, they aren't responding because 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 because 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 writeup 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 said 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 no automatic renewal, but they claim to have no contract to back this up. My husband has called Dan everyday, 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 runaround. 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 writeup 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) because 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 cellphone logs to show how many times we have called them to follow up on this issue.

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 the 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, **, 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 ** 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 ($39.99 membership fee, $9.99 late fee, and $19.99 declined payment fee).

On my other line, I called the E. Washington St. Gold's gym and spoke with ** 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. She 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 **, to hold off on taking the payment until I got the cancellation issue resolved.

I immediately went to the gym and spoke with ** about the situation. She gave me another form to complete and called the manager, **, out. I reminded ** that I had been in 1.5 to 2 weeks ago to cancel. He 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, ** 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.

** was present for this entire conversation. She 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 ** 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 ** 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, **, 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 ** 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.

Now it's Pompano Fitness and the same man Anthony, who signed me up in Boca Raton now works at Pompano Beach. He wouldn't even let me to the class this Tuesday night, he wanted to charge me more money, $30 a month, and was very rude and arrogant. I said forget it, it is not worth the aggravation and it's very frustrating that all this was Gold's Gym and that is what they do to people. They expect someone to join up for memberships. Well, I would tell everyone to 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 it's very sad. That's how they cheat.

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.

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.

We joined and after 3 months, we decided that we were paying and not going, so I went in to cancel on a Saturday. I'm told the cancellation hours are only from Monday thru Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. This conflicts with my work schedule because I don't even get off work until 5:30 p.m. and work about 45 minutes away from the gym. The general manager looks for my account and cannot find it. He gave some b.s. about a new system and I said, "Well, my account sure does get hit every month for you not to find me." He goes and pulls out a copy of my information and says I cannot cancel because I have a contract.

I said, "Something is wrong because Marcus, your salesperson, said there were no contracts and it was only month-to-month." I said, "Where is Marcus?" Come to find out, Marcus has been fired! Imagine that! I explained that this can't be right because of how he got us to join. The general manager just sat with a blank stare and said, "Well, it's a contract," and he didn't say anything else. I am fired up at this point and told him that I will resolve this myself and just pull my account information so that they do not get another dime from me. That's exactly what I did.

I told my bank to decline any kind of payments in the future from Gold's Gym. I called ABC Financial on Tuesday, July 14, and spoke to a lady named Toni. She heard my situation and after placing me on hold, came back to tell me that my monthly dues would be reduced to $10 a month. I was like Wow! I said, "How do we do this because I don't want to give my account information again to Gold's Gym?" She said if I paid on my own, it would only be $15 a month for my membership. I agreed to this and she said she would send me a coupon book to mail in payments. Well, then I talked to her again on 7/15/09 to go ahead and agree to giving my account information and be billed $10 a month. She then apologizes and says she gave me the wrong information and that I would be paying $10 less than I was paying before.

I was paying a total of $60 a month originally so this means I would be paying $50 which does not sound appealing at all. I am furious with ABC Financial and Gold's Gym for lying and cheating people out of their money. I work in the hospitality industry and we would not have a job if we treated people this way. This makes me so mad and I'm not paying for this ** any longer. They can send me to collections if they want - I don't care at this point. They will get zero dinero from me! I also looked at my contract and my form only has the month to month box checked. When the GM gave me a copy, it looks like the salesperson made a tiny mark on the contract box to make it look like it was agreed to, which makes this invalid!

We sent the letter certified mail with our cancellation notice. They then charged us another month while waiting for the confirmation from 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 through, 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 through on the card, even though it was cancelled and that 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 manager's 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.

My husband hasn't used the gym in over a year. We are writing to cancel his membership since they haven't opened the pool that they said would be ready by the summer of 2008. Then, it was postponed to the summer of 2009 and is still nowhere near ready. I have contacted the health department about the heat and condition in the gym but they said that it is not under their jurisdiction. So I believe that the only way to prove a point is with our feet (cancel memberships). I would like the owner to put the a/c on!

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 the 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 the 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 Gold’s 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’s time. Only about $45 taken from my account (unauthorized). However, the claim now is that I owe almost $200. My concern is that it will soon show up on my credit reports.

I called and spoke with Jeramiah and asked for the number to call his boss, and he refused to give that info and took my number and promised that I would receive a callback. No call was received. I spoke with the corporate office and informed them of the situation and received a callback refusing to return the money that we were overcharged and offering future services. Our contract is up and we no longer wish to continue to have future services. We want our money back and the $70 that we were forced into spending to prove to them that we were overcharged. We are trying to get a refund of $156 for overcharging our account and $70 for the bank charge to prove the overcharge that we never should have had to prove for a total of $226.

I was told that I could not be pulled out of the joint contract to have the money come out of my account, and that I would have to sign a new contract, and we could cancel the old one if we paid $100.00 and wrote an official letter of cancellation. I said ok and I signed a new contract. That evening, I sent a letter, $100.00, and the 2 barcodes into the corporate office. A couple of weeks went by and I received an email from the customer service rep saying I was not allowed to cancel the joint contract. I explained to her that the manager told me that in order for me to keep my membership, I would have to sign a new contract and that we could cancel the old one for a fee. She said the manager has nothing to do with cancellations and should not have told me that.

She ended up calling the manager, who of course, denied ever saying I could cancel. I asked the rep, "Why would I ever agree to sign another contract when I already had one if I was not under the impression I could cancel the old one?" She didn't have an answer. So I said, "So I am stuck with paying for 3 memberships for 2 people?" And she said yes. I asked, "So, is it my problem that your manager lied to me and now I am paying $80.00/month for one person?" She said yes.

I asked to speak with someone higher up, and she said the only other people I could speak to was the corporate office in Texas but they would just send me back to her so I shouldn't bother. I called Texas and spoke to a manager there and explained the situation. She said it is against policy for one person to have 2 contracts under the same name. So, as of now I am waiting for a response but am paying for three memberships, 2 of them under my name. It just doesn't make sense!

After being put on hold for over 20 minutes while they dug into my account - they came back telling me that they still can't find out who reinstated my account and that there was nothing further they can do. Now they want another certified letter to cancel the account again - before they bill me again - on May 15th. Even though they already have verified with me that I have sent the certified letter on Feb. 23rd 2009 - that cancelled my account.

I spoke with the account manager at my local gym - and they had also spoken with DeeDee from ABC Financial - and corrected them on the situation and they know they should not have billed me and to debit back my account. They claim to them that Lynn, the manager, had called them on March 9th, 2009 and reinstated my account. But Lynn did not do that - nor had any reason to. Also, when I called on March 17th to verify that my account was closed and I would not be billed again, this was never mentioned to me as, obviously, I would have corrected the situation then.

There was more than one sales person that kept pressuring me into signing the contract because they kept on insisting that I couldn't possibly lose for signing up that day. I have talked to many employees of the gym including the head office manager and all they can say is that it's not in their best interests to help me even though they flat out lied and told me that this contract isn't actually in effect until after the gym opens.

I cancelled my contract about 2 months before the gym even opened so as per my discussions with their sales people, I have not broken contract. I'm a student and I can't afford to pay for any of this. I have found several others that are in the exact same position as me and we are now preparing to take them to court. Employees of Gold's are all like robots. They are all trained to scam in the same way. I can say every person that I talked to pretty much answered each question word for word as the previous employee I talked to did.

This kept happening for almost two years until I ended up canceling my debit card so that the charges would stop. None of the managers or the home office employees would return my calls. I never stepped a foot into that gym since I canceled the membership. They can verify that in their system. I need a refund for the whole amount I was charged of $39.99 a month from the day I terminated my membership in April of 2007 until October of 2008. I am an active duty member of the army and have been gone for two years.

I signed up for a personal trainer in April. I spoke with the personal trainer manager who became my trainer. I spoke with him and about rates and I was assured that I would be billed monthly at a rate of $75 and would be able to cancel for any reason at any time. I gave authority to charge my account. I was never explained that this was a non-cancellation 1 year contract. I had 1 session. The guy was very nice, but he really killed me with heavy weights for a girl, did not talk about food, did not write what we were doing, was not given a copy of what the plan or billing info was, or when we would meet again. I tried calling the gym a couple of days later and the trainer was out sick. Well, in the meantime, I get a notice from the collection agency about my PT contract. It was for a year and on top of being billed 2 months. I now owed 10 more payments of $75.

I called the credit agency and they explained to me that this was due to a contract that I signed. I tried calling the trainer who was still out. In the meantime, one of the regional managers called me about my recent call to the credit agency. I explained to her that I did not feel satisfied and I felt like I was taken advantage of. I told her I would be glad to pay for training on a monthly basis, but I was informed that a one-year contract was my only option. After her telling me that I was given a contract that I signed by the trainer (which I was not; I told her to check the security tapes) and that I needed to learn about reading things before I signed them, and more BS, she agreed to cancel the whole thing. I am awaiting a credit on my account next week. Hopefully, it will go through as promised. If not, I will be calling my credit card company. I am glad that I was offered a solution to my problem. But I feel like I was taken advantage of and lied to. I have spoken to other people who have the same stories. Beware of this company. There are many similar complaints on various websites.

I called the company who does the billing, and they said nobody had called them to cancel my membership. I keep calling Gold's Gym. They keep saying they will call me back when they fix it. They never did. There is no way out of it! They lie. If you like the gym, it’s okay; but if you are just going to try it, do not waste your time. They will get all the money they can get out of you. It’s very frustrating. I wish they would just tell me the real deal. I would rather they be honest with me than pretend they are doing something when they are not.

Why should I be required to cancel a contract that was for 13 months? Well, my credit failed on my 11th PMT and was charged a $25 late fee. Another catch, you are billed 30 days in arrears so that created another revenue source for them. After sending the registered letter for cancellation, I was notified that all PMTs must be current in order for the cancellation to be effective!!! More revenue!!! Now, I know why I didn’t get a copy of the contract. When I told the manager that by not giving me a copy of the contract, they had violated the Federal Truth in Lending Law. My comments were ignored. I believe that business conducted like this needs a hand slap.

I signed up for it to be a friend's workout buddy but they ended up screwing me over and got training sessions with a trainer instead. I told friends not to go get membership at Gold's Gym after getting screwed over. I got taken for granted by a friend who is always putting me down and making me feel ** about myself. I had to sacrifice going to a brother's wedding because of this **. I work for a temp agency right now and the money could have been used for more important things. It's making interest on my credit card really high also.

And it's hell if you need any type of customer service. They'll string you along and give you wrong numbers, tell you the person you need to speak to is on vacation or happened to just leave... Right! I hear that it's hell getting out of your contract at expiration (do a search of Gold's Gym and contracts and you'll see what I mean). But I still plan on getting out of my contract as soon as it expires whether it takes an attorney or not. I would NOT suggest signing up for Gold's Gym. I made a mistake joining that crap hole.

It feels so good to know that this company does not care how many people they screw out of their money on a daily basis. I tried calling their Corporate Office and was told they do not accept verbal cancellations, and that yes, I would be charged for the following month. After hearing this and being so overwhelmed with a sense of disbelief and shock that this sort of blatant thievery is accepted in today's society, I responded to this woman that I would do everything in my power to make others aware of this company's shady business dealings and bring as much negative publicity as I could to this company. Her response was a simple, "Okay." Really? Okay? Is it okay for a company to prey on its clients and make it a nightmare experience for all those who want out of a contract that is misleading and improper?

Everyone I have dealt with at this company is of no use whatsoever, and that is from the local level to the corporate level. They have changed their name from Gold's Gym to Urban Active in my area, and I can only assume it is due to the massive negative light which has been shown upon them. May all those considering joining this gym be warned. This company cares nothing of its clients except the money they can bill from you. I have nothing but ill will towards this company and can only hope that they be investigated by the Government. Their high pressure sales tactics and unwilling re-enrollment of clients says it all.

“Since the situation, I have purchased a membership at another gym, so I will have to pay for a service I will not be using at your gym. I would like to bring the following marketed information, that I pulled directly off of Gold's Gym website, to the attention of the owner prior to me further pursuing discussion with Corporate on this matter: What makes Gold's Gym different? Atmosphere - Comfortable and Inviting. Staff - Friendly, helpful, & professional. Service - Exceptional. Follow-up - What most clubs won't do after they have your money - to us it is ESSENTIAL!

I strongly believe that this incident, regardless of the women no longer working for the gym, goes against more than one of the values listed above. She was a representative of the gym when the situation occurred. I have now expressed my level of discomfort brought about by the unprofessionalism of a Gold's gym staff member. I am hoping that this situation can be resolved with some sensitivity and professionalism with no further action.” The gym responded with the following: “Unfortunately, this is a franchise Gold's Gym and the decision is up to the owners and not corporate.”

The conclusion: The owner, regardless of what they might display on their Chantilly Gold's Gym website, feel that I must pay for the full length of the 1 year contract, and that they are not responsible for living up to the reputation they portray through their self marketing. Is this legal?? Roughly $240 will be paid for a service I will not utilize.

After two months, I could not face going into that gym. It is dim, dingy and dirty with little privacy. I called corporate office and was told that I must pay for the remaining 23 months. I was shocked and dismayed and faxed in the document I signed that proved I didn't owe anything should I want to quit. They are deceptive liars. I intend to take them to court should they try to take any money out of my account again, on principle if nothing else. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Maybe, just maybe, someone will listen.

I have a friend that owns a tanning salon. Why would I tan there? I am sick of them taking money out of my account when they are not authorized and then having to wait weeks for a reimbursement. Why should I be penalized for their ignorance. I would close my bank account and reopen a new one but I've had the account since 02 and definitely don't want to do that. And calling their corporate office generates no results because they never call anyone back. Well if I hadn't caught their error my bank account would have definitely bounced and I would have incurred a charge and it wouldn't have been the first time that their negligence caused this to happen.

I also asked if there was a problem with my payment, why wasn't I notified. He said I was, in the mail, which I wasn't. He was extremely rude, acted as if he was bothered by my phone call, and didn't have time for me. I told him I want to cancel my account, and he said, "Read your contract, you can't". I am EXTREMELY dissatisfied with this gym's customer service. The gym itself is dark, dingy, with broken and old equipment everywhere. I regret joining this gym, and would like the people at Gold's Corporate to be aware of this problem.

Due to various factors, including the occurrence of 2 hip surgeries and large quantities of physical therapy, I called to cancel my membership in February 2008. Their rep told me that instead of canceling I should change it to inactive,? thus being able to reactivate at the same monthly rate later. I specifically asked about charges and he stated that there would be NO CHARGES WHATSOEVER for keeping my membership in inactive status. I made sure to ask about this more than once, to be sure.

I had recently decided that since my post-surgery physical therapy is finally winding down, I would return to a regular gym visit schedule and was planning to call Golds. Coincidentally, I noticed on my most recent credit card bill a charge for $7 from Golds. It turns out that they have been charging me $7/month during the time my membership has been inactive.

I called the local gym and their corporate membership group to inquire. They all told me there was nothing they could do and the best any of them could do was offer an apology about one of their staff having given me incorrect information. Even after I explained to them that not only would I be discontinuing my membership if they didn't reverse the charges but also that many others at my company (who tend to listen to my opinions on this subject; I have been a personal training / PE teacher for many years) would likely be canceling as well. They still offered nothing more than apologies for the confusion. I faxed through my membership cancellation on October 22, 2008, as I had originally intended to do in February had it not been for their rep giving me incorrect information and am now researching other gyms in the area for me and my coworkers to consider.

This ($7/mo; total of $77) is a relatively minor charge for me. But when these minor charges are multiplied by so many deceived members, one can plainly see their strategy for maintaining an inflated revenue stream.

We also asked certain questions to the salesman which he gave us his word on then later found out what he said was not true at all. I talked with customer service on many occasions and became increasingly frustrated because they don't care about you at all, they don't care that you are having a bad experience or difficulty with class sizes or problems with day care. The customer service reps were not only horrible but one of them hung up on me and then was conveniently gone to lunch when I called back seconds later (I know you have to deal with unhappy customers all of the time - but that is your job that you are paid to do). I paid off our account early with a promise that 2 or 3 extra months could be added to our contract - not true. We were told that if we were not completely satisfied, we had the option of changing the contract or canceling - they forgot to mention that that was only with in the first few days.

I called to see if I could add day care to my account and they said sure for an extra 50 a month and a new contract. My sister pays 38 a month for a membership with day care and my PAID for contract would be replaced by a new one, with a year of paid membership lost. Do they think I am an idiot? I would be very careful before signing a contract with Gold's - take it home read the small print. Do not believe any of the sales department or customer service department. I will never be a Gold's customer again. And if I could get out of our crappy contract, I would have been gone a year ago.

I looked at my contract and somebody initial it for me. I contacted the gym and told them the situation and the guy told me to bring in the copy of my membership agreement. When I got there, he told me to write out my initials and I did. He took a look at the agreement and he came to a conclusion that it was my initials. I told him I do not write like that. I did not initial that paper. We went back and forth. My point is that they owe me the enhancement fee and they owe me a penalty fee. When they took the money out of my bank account, it sent my bank account over. My bank charged me a $35.00 penalty fee. I just don't think that this is right. I will not let this issue go. If they do it to me then they will do it to other people.

This was unacceptable and I called the gym. They refused any further refund therefore I wrote them a letter stating that I will be taking them to court and then I recieved a call from the gym stating they made a mistake and were going to refund me $120 more. This was still $60 short of the proper amount therefore I called them again and they refused a further refund and the general manager who I spoke with was extremely rude and unprofessional. They further claim that I have been using the gym in July, August and September which is fraudulent. The first day of usuage that they are claimng of myself starts on July 23.

On July 22, they recieved my letter of cancellation via certified mail return resiept. Further more, I was in upstate New York with credit card statements and movie ticket stubs to prove that I was not at their facilities and have not been since June of 2008. I also called the gym as a potential customer and stated the exact case that I am going through now of being a college student wanting the best rate and possibly having to move back home. They stated that I would recieved 13 months for $699 which comes out to $47 per month and that if I moved home before my contract was up, then I would be refunded for the unused portion of my membership at $47 per month and would not be charge anything extra.

I believe that the gym is taking advantage of customers by having people sign up under false pretenses. Also no where in the contract does it state that I will be charged a prorated rate due to cancellation. It also stated that in my contract that I will recieve a refund within 15 days of reciept of cancellation. I did not recieve the first check of $401 until about 22 days after their reciept of my letter.

The witholding of $581.50 that I could be paying off bills with or earning interest on. Also the phone calls, stress and postage payments that I have had to under gone.

After about 6 months of going to the gym I was just plain over it. I hated going because evertime I went so nasty, sweaty old man hit on me!!! The equipment was always being used and the women's workout area was a JOKE!!!! I somehow managed to get out of my Gym contract in May. I told them I had moved back with my parents who lived more than 40 miles away from Gold's. However, I still had to pay a $100.00 fee to cancel! Which when I had originally signed up, they told me I wouldn't have to pay if I relocated!!!

When I went to cancel my personal training contract, I discovered that it was going to be $250.00 just to cancel because I relocated!!! I decided that it would be cheaper to just let it run out. Well come to find out that they have an auto-renewal program. Supposeably you have to write a letter 30 days before you contract is up to stop this renewal fee!! I wasn't aware of this.

When I found out I was charged for August, I went in and got a copy of my contract. The manager at the gym told me I could call a number and they would refund my money....WRONG!!!! They said that they will not refund my money and that I will be charged for September as well because they don't cancel it until 30 days after you send the letter!!! I am trying to chargeback the $90.00 for August and will tell my credit card company to not honor any more charges from these people!!! I've had enough of GOLD'S GYM!!!

I walked into the Gold's Gym in Falls Church VA in june of 2006 with my then 16 year old daughter, and specifically asked for and purchased in full a ONE YEAR membership for 800.00 for me and 200.00 for a family member, paid in full with a check, for both my daughter and myself. I clearly told the salesman that it was for one year only. He NEVER mentioned the fact that they could tap my account after the first year.

Yes, I should have read the fine print, BUT, HE SHOULD HAVE ALSO VERBALIZED IT. He said "Well, if either you or your daughter wants to renew, we'll be able to get a monthly rate for you, around 29.00 a month. Just let us know." The fact that he didn't, clearly points to the fact that they are hoping we won't read it or won't remember it, so that they can take money that is not morally theirs to take! Unfortunately I no longer have the contract, but I did read it over when I was signing, and have no memory of charges beyond the first year.

At the end of that year, May 2007, my daughter, when asked by the staff if she was coming in again, very plainly let them know that she would be living out of state, due to her training, and would no longer be able to attend. They simply said, "OK, Please let us know if you return to the area!" If there was a policy in place, in regards to how we were to cancel, WHY DID THE STAFF NOT TELL HER? Clearly, it again points to the fact that they want our money any way they can get it, doesn't it? Would a reputable company do that? No, of course they would not.

Unfortunately, that checking account is used by three of us, and monitored by my husband. He assumed that the money being taken was for something I had arranged for my daughter. So they managed to get 29.99 per month, for one year and 3 months. When I began banking on-line, I noticed and instantly called my bank, and they stopped the charges, then called Gold's, and cancelled. The woman on the phone at Corporate headquarters in Texas-- who was VERY rude by the way - insisted I still owed 59.00, and said, "Too bad, you didn't read or remember the contract. Not our fault. But it's cancelled now." I did not realize when I was on the phone that day that my daughter had that conversation with the staff at the gym, as I mentioned above.

I have continued to receive threatening notices from their credit agencies. I also didn't realize, until I pressed my daughter on the membership, that a male staff member, well over 21 years of age, had been calling her private cell phone. Asking her out, repeatedly, even after she said she was not interested. HOW did he get that number I wonder? Did the personal trainer, whom we trusted, give that out? She was NOT 18 years of age at the time! I trusted that Gold's Gym was a family facility, and that I could be assured that my under aged daughter, wearing workout attire, would be safe in their professional environment. I was wrong. Neither of us has walked into that gym since the end of that first year, so we have not used ONE piece of equipment.

Sadly, after searching the web, I see that we are not the only ones that have had their personal bank accounts tapped repeatedly, even after they have thought they had cancelled. I'm also appalled that so many people claim to have been told so many ways that they have to cancel. Clearly, this is nothing but a scam tactic to get our money. A company with an honest reputation would not take money from someone who did not use their facility. Im paying for something I NEVER RECEIVED, and they know it.

I had used Gold's Gym for one year in the past and was planning to begin a long term membership after the first of the year, but I will NEVER trust Gold's again. And, I will tell anyone I can about my personal experiences with this business. They are certainly not the reputable business that I thought they were, not even close, and why are they allowed--as I saw in another message--to just send us to a credit agency without any grounds?

We all should be contacting Better Business Bureau, our congress, and telling every person we know. If no one walks into those facilities, they won't have anyone to fleece. I expect at any time that they will try to take back the close to 400.00, that my bank riembursed me. I worry every day about not only my credit report, but my now 18 year old daughters. It may be just a few hundred dollars from each of us, but add that up from all the complaints I read on this page alone!

$6.00 a week for about two to three years. And still counting.

When we tried to cancel, Kevin had quit his job, and the new salesman informed us that the contract could only be canceled after two years. This would cost about an additional $1,840. If you do not pay, they turn your account over to a collection agency who is skilled at ruining your credit scores and extorting money from you.

I caught this after two months, called ABC financial services and they said I must write a letter requesting the automatic renewal cease. Ok, I mailed the letter, and paid the bill. Surprise two more months of withdraws from my checking account. So, I changed my checking account number, called ABC who said they didn't receive my letter. Ok, maybe it was lost in the mail. I paid the $123.90 balance on the account and mailed another letter (faxed also). As soon as ABC couldn't auto withdraw payment. I started getting the threat letters and phone calls. This has not stopped to this day. ABC financial says they have never received the letters or faxes.

I talked to an ABC financial representative today who said the letters had to be certified, and that ABC financial will not honor the letters unless the account is paid-up. I have not visited the gym in over 8 months and ABC financial wants me to pay $390 plus late fees plus the time it takes for a certified letter to arrive. Will this never end! Who has the money to fight a big nasty company that writes contracts to trap the customer.

I was dismissively handed a business Card for "ABC Financing" and told to call them. I did, and when I reached a phone representative, was told that I needed to send a formal letter requesting a cancellation via certified mail, and that there was a thirty (30) day delay - so I would be charged one more time. I followed the instructions and sent off the cancellation request.

during the thirty (30) days, my credit card was used fraudulently (not related) and the bank canceled that card and issued me a new one. I figured that ABC Financing would not be able to stick me with the last billing, since the only card they had on file had been canceled. Instead, I received a letter explaining that my account WOULD NOT BE CLOSED until the final payment was made ... and since they were holding my account open (AGAINST THE EXPRESS WISHES STATED IN MY LETTER) they were not only continuing to charge me, but were adding late fees and interest.

In order to resolve this and keep the matter from going to collections and damaging my credit report, I ended up paying over $60 in lieu of the $30 final payment. I ADVISE IN THE STRONGEST POSSIBLE WAY, DO NOT DEAL WITH GOLD'S GYM OR ANY GYM THAT USES ABC FINANCING. Unless you want to go through a similar hassle and be ripped off. I was coerced into paying over twice the amount of a monthly fee, AFTER having jumped through their hoops and requesting a cancellation of membership. These business practices are CLEARLY unfair and predatory; designed to extract money from their clients _AFTER_ the termination of membership and without due compensation.

i found a contract that was frugelenty signed. we cancelled our contract 7-2-08 we r now getting nasty letters fron ABCfinancing , the funny part isthe amount in the letters is different rom what we r supposed to pay. there is so much more you would not believe. With this said i do Have attorney And we r going to file criminal charges with local police DEpt. Like i told the owner I WILL GET MY MONEY.

my checking account has been a mess for so long , not to mention the stress of it all and the physical toll it has taken on myself

Later, we received a statement from the billing company saying that we would be charged for 24 MONTHS, TWO years, not the ONE year Sophia stated. We immediately checked inside the pocket folio Sophia had handed us. Lo and behold, she had filled in July 2010.

On the one hand, I am angry at Sophia for her trickery. On the other hand, I almost admire her subtle and clever technique she used to deceive us.

We later learned from colleagues that this is quite common at Gold's Gyms.

I was also told I would have to talk to a manager who comes in around 8am but I was not able to wait that long that day. The next day I made arrangements and waited until 8:15 for him to show up but was told it could take him until 9am to show up and had to leave as well. When I was finally able to reach him he stated the trial period was only 3 days and there is nothing left I can do but pay the $270 to cancel it.

Subsequent calls to thier corporate office resulted in the same response. I feel this is a breach of contract and deceptive marketing. I was told 30 days trial, lied to on the second day of membership, and strung along until I was past the 3rd day of membership. When I requested copies of our contract specifics were not the same as the ones we signed.

I'm out over $300 for a one day membership for my wife and I have become so aggivated that I do not wish to return to that Gym myself but now I'm locked into a $400 contract. Can anyone help.

I went into the gym and they could not see me becasue they were busy in a meeting. I left my contact information and name and I wrote on a piece of paper that ok to take the money out of my bank account. I received no call, I gave it no more thought thinking everything was fine. My son goes in again and said he cannot go into the gym, he needs to pay. I call and they said I have to sign a form, I go into the Oxnard, Calfornia office and sign the form and by this time I have to pay late charges. I sign so that they can take the money due for July and the late fee and the following monthly fees.

My son goes into the gym in about a week and cannot get in, becuase they say that he needs to pay and have forms signed? They have no customer skills and I thank God I never joined the gym myself. They must forget that one lost client his many lost clients. I have been with 24 hours gym in Oxnard, CA. and changed my bank 4 times in 10 years and I have never had any problems.

Everytime I would ask to speak to the manager or the owner there was not one available. The other day the gym was empty and the doors were locked. No information posted on the doors or windows. After hours of research I found out that they had closed permanetly and sold our info to another gym I had never heard of. This new gym would require me to travel an additional 10miles a day, 50miles a week, 200 miles a month.

With gas being so expensive I am not able to do that so I called the co. that works for golds gym and takes the money out of my acct monthly. They are insisting I have to pay 250.00 to get out of my contract or go to the other gym. So let me get this right, the gym can close and not notify the memebers, sell our information without our permission, yet we cant break our contract. I am going to get to the bottom of this.

I asked them about transfering all my personal training and my membership to Hollywood. They stated it could not be because it was not part of their alliance/franchise AKA meaning different owners. They stated it would cost me $250.00 to get out of my personal training contract and an additonal $100.00 to cancel the membership. They also stated that I can't be refunded for unused PT sessions because I did not pay for them in full, instead I broke up the payments.

So I asked then I will pay for all them in full and then you can refund me back, correct? They stated no you must of paid for them in full at the time you signed up. So I am very confused considering I moved to a state where they won't allow me to transfer it even though I offered to pay any difference in cost at the new location and they will not refund me for PT sessions that I can't use since I live out of state now and they want to continue to charge me for the remaining personal training payments! This is absolutely insane and there must be some sort of law against this.

I have already paid over $500.00 and they want $600 more to get me out of a membership I used 6 times and 6 personal training sessions out of 54.

She went in and signed the cancellation notice and they stated my account would be charged since there was a 30 day cancellation agreement. If it is monthly and there is no penalty to cancel why are they charging me an additional $49.99 I was told by the Accounting Mgr that regardless what the Sales representative told me or didn't tell me I signed an agreement (under pressure I might add) and it was not a penalty, it was just a 30 day cancellation fee. What is the difference between a cancellation fee and a penalty?.......nothing. They have made me miserable and I will never deal with them again. They are rude, and nasty when you try to cancel.

They are threatening to send me to collections, they tried to charge my account, have spent way too much time and upset on this.

I called Gold Gym who was unable to tell me where this $134 balance came from. They were really UN-helpful. The collection company said she wished she had a doller for every person who called and questioned an account from Gold's. Mind you, this is someone who makes a living off of collecting for her clients. She stated that she hates Gold's gym and would never recommend anyone doing business with them. She told me how to fight it but she wishes everyone would get together and do a class action law suit. Everyone dont forget to report it to the BBB and the corporate Gold Gym offices. Include me in the lawsuit.

Damage credit rating and health! Severe frustration and rage!

He refuses to call me now that he has verbally admitted Gold's Gym liability and that they refuse to pay even my out of pocket expenses of $1000. The local manager is Emily and now she refuses to talk to me. I have called the corporate office for a copy of my contract and they will not send it to me nor will anyone from corporate talk to me. Beware if you get hurt at the gym. They will not help you at all.

I am out $1000 of out of pocket medical bills.

And as you know I've tried to contact a manager and one can't be found or contacted. I should have learned my lesson 10 years ago when I had difficult with this gym. I gave them more credit than I should have and the so called fitness consultants have no clue to the way a gym is supposed to be run.

Since I have moved within Maryland, I do not need a new license and the address change card is sufficient. But I need a new license in order to get out of the contract at Gold's Gym! This did not make sense to me at all. So tried talking to the manager at Gold's Gym. He was very rude to me and did not listen to my arguments at all. I told him that i could send/fax him copies of my utility bills at my new address and the lease agreement to prove that i indeed moved but he rudely hung up on me.

I do not want to go to MVA; stand in a line; and waste half of my day to get a new drivers license when it is not necessary. And I hate the fact that nobody told me in the beginning that i need a new drivers license and that only a new drivers license will constitute as a proof of relocation.

If I do not get a new drivers license they will keep billing me until December this year.

I did not use the membership I paid for because I couldn't take the loud metal music, and I still have not received the $180 that they admit they owe me.

By this time due to lack of response, and being given the run around for a schedule, I decided I did not want to do the training after all, and asked for a refund. The gym refuses to give a refund. They want to keep the money and not provide the service.

Each session cost me $65.00 and I paid for 4 sessions.

When the year had passed, I called the 800 number. Unfortunately, I was then notified that I could not cancel my membership this way (as I had originally been told) and that I would have to call the gym in which I signed up at. Immediately, I called the gym where I had signed my contract and talked to the person who answered the phone. When I told the individual that I spoke with that I needed to cancel my membership, she informed me that I would need to come into the gym in person to cancel. To this, I responded that because I was not in the area this would be impossible. Furthermore, I told the person that this was not the condition in which I signed my agreement. After we went back and forth, the person assured me that my membership would be cancelled.

A few weeks ago, I received a call from the gym telling me that I have a balance on my account. At the time that I placed the call cancelling my membership, I did not have a balance. Given these circumstances, I feel I should not owe anything. It is not my fault that the company changed its cancellation policy or that the person at the club did not do the proper follow-up. I asked the manager to resolve this situation, but she and the company refuse to do so. I am now receiving phone calls regarding this. However, I refuse to pay -- it is the principle.

My credit score could be compromised. Spent hours trying to resolve this.

The Golds Gym's in Kentucky closed down and all became urban fitness ran by Global Fitness I called about my account and they had no record of me.

Now 3 years later I get a collections letter from some company called Maverick & Associates in Kentucky (which is not a registered business) trying to collect $1500 from me!!! This was the first i heard of anyone trying to contact me about the membership. I tried calling them back 3 days in a row and no one ever answered or called back. I had a friend call Global Fitness on my behalf and this is what she found out:

Maverick is a private collector that works out of her home. Urban fitness 'inherited' her from Golds Gym when they closed. Urban Fitness never got any of the past due account records/contracts they were all sent to Maverick. Maverick is not a registered business. Maverick was told by Urban Fitness not to worry about getting the money for the gym...she is to charge her collection fee only (per Diane at the Corporate Office) which is the cost of 1 year of membership = $515.00 this was told to Maverick in the email.

WELL yesterday Maverick called me and tried to charge the full amount. I said to check the email and then she got ******. She said she wouldn't take payments and needed payment up front or 5 post dated checks. I disagreed and called a friend in legal collections and found out some info.

#1. If no judgement is made I shouldn't be 'in collections' #2 GOLDS was supposed to send certified mail trying to collect the money before turning it over to anyone. I never receied any correspondance by phone or mail #3 If they sold the business to someone else (urban) they should've had them contact me for the balance due and offered me the chance to use the facilties if paid. Urban had no record of my account ever existing.

Right now I am so distressed b/c i go to school full time and only work part time and can't come up with $515.

I checked in the next month to see why my balance was an astronomical figure of $151.84. A representative, not the manager (since she was seemingly in her everyday business meetings), told me that my primary payment plan was invalid, since my card isnt going through in their system. Not only is Gold's Gym charging me $40.92/month, they're charging me these extra fees. For instance, I was paying with direct withdrawal from my credit card. Oddly, Paramount (the company that handles the fees) says that the card is a bad card. I tell them that it works everywhere else (gas stations, grocery stores, etc), but it just doesn't happen to go through at Gold's Gym. Hmmm.

It seems as if they're purposely not letting it go through so they can charge me the delinquency fees, late fees, and an ESA fee (whatever that is). Anyways, I ask the representative if I can cancel my account because theres no way a high school student would pay that amount for a gym pass. She asks, Why would you do that? Theres an abundance of reasons not to ever go to that gym ever again! But instead, I just say that Im moving to California. She says that I would have to relocate to an area that doesnt have a Golds Gym within 25 miles proximity. Well I told her before that I was going to California, but she said to check out the area to make sure there wasnt a Gym.

Shouldnt a representative know that there arent any Golds Gyms in California? Additionally, she said that since I was on a 2-YEAR contract, instead of the agreed month-to-month plan, I would have to take extraneous steps to cancel my account. After dealing with the cancellation policy (proof of residency, 30-day written notice, and a $100 cancellation fee), I ask her why my balance shows $151.84 for 2 months. She unsurprisingly doesnt know why. By the way, I was supposedly enrolled in the basic program without a personal trainer or any other luxuries.

With that said, how does a payment increase from the original $20 to $40.92? How does 2 months add up to $151.84? Ill tell you how- Golds Gym siphons peoples money through means otherwise called false advertising. I advise new members to not become members at all, but if they must to look through the contract instead of blindly signing it. Also, bring a electronic recorder to actually record what the manager says, so that in case he/she lies, you have proof of what he/she said earlier.

As a high school student going to college in the Fall, it is extremely economically damaging for Paramount to add cheap-shot fees. I understand if my credit card doesn't go through, but they should have at least called me to confirm that it wasn't not going through, instead of adding 3 months of deliquency fees, late fees and other fees onto my already over-burdened balance. Furthermore, Paramount (probably an affiliate of Gold's Gym), without any consent, increased my monthly balance from the agreed upon $20 to $40.92.

I have been an excellent memeber - always paid on time and I feel I am being blocked on purpose as there is absolutely no way to reach this club. When I left atlanta the club was on a real downward turn but I liked the travel pass benefits so wanted to remain a golds memeber. I have spent hours trying to find a way to reach anyone. I am contacting American express and will be disputing furture charges as the company has left me no choice. This is utterly frustrating. I tried to make a complaint to GOLDs corp but the online form does not work and there is no contact info at all - YOU CANNOT REACH ANYONE or get any address to try and manage the situation.

I continue to accure 49.00/month charges for services I am not using nor can I use. I want this resolved. Someone needs to contact me and their contact methods need to be fixed. I am on a month to month agreement and have th eablity to cancel with 30 days notice but I am being blocked from being able to do so or as I earlier wished to change my memebership type - again this treatment or lack there of has changed my mind about the company in particular this gym.

This is how it works. When you go to the gym to cancel your membership, they give you a form with a phone number on it to call. The reason they do this is that they don't have the guts to tell you that you cannot cancel in person or by phone! They require you to put your request in writing to ABC Financial! Then they require a 30 day notice on cancellation. This gets them two months of dues on every person who cancels their membership! They truly have figured out how to scam you legally! I plan on doing all that I can to expose these scam artists. ABC Financial and Gold's Gym...co-conspirators!

A minimum of two months of dues

After having an excellent customer service experience and having a blast at the gym taking classes and working out in a comfortable environment, I encouraged my boyfriend to sign up. We used a different recruiter who was also VERY courteous and helpful, and got him an excellent deal. This time, we asked questions. We WERE told that he was signing up for an 18 month contract, which made us a little wary because it is such a long period of time. HOWEVER, we were told that we could cancel that contract at anytime for $100 per person, which we thought was very reasonable, so he signed, and we had a blast at the gym together.

Now, when going to cancel a contract with a customer service-friendly company, we thought we would be offered free stuff in order to get us to stay, and even if we weren't offered that, we expected something along the lines of, "Sorry that you are leaving us, hopefully you will consider us in the future." Well, we went to the front desk and spoke with someone about canceling our contracts. He looked up our names, and said we hadn't been with the gym long, so he didn't know if we would be able to cancel, but he would get a manger to make sure. The manager of the Sartell branch was possibly one of the rudest women that I have ever spoken too. Clearly, customer service is not a priority when a customer wants to cancel. I explained to her that we were more than willing to pay the cancellation fees right then and there in cash. She said no, no one can cancel without being dead or permanently disabled. ...SAY WHAT? I told her that we were told that we could cancel at any time without needing to disclose any drastic circumstance.

She then informed me that the fine print in my contract says exactly what she told me, that we could not cancel. I -emphasized- that we were TOLD when we signed up that we could cancel at ANY TIME, and that is why we signed up. She didn't seem to care that we were signed up under false pretenses. I then tried for her sympathy, telling her that I am a college student and was in a car accident, and I could NOT pay the monthly membership charges because I just didn't have the money. I was shocked when she told me, "Well, then your bill will be submitted to a Collections Agency and you will be forced to pay us." I couldn't believe it! All customer service had gone out the window! Not to mention she was making these statements and I was forced to explain myself right at the front entrance, where people and employees were witness to this. She didn't bother to have me come to her office, sit down and calmly explain the situation. She was immediately rude and lacked any and all courtesy that I had grown to expect from Gold's Gym.

Never trust your recruiter! I believe it is illegal to tell someone what is in a contract, have them sign it, and then the contract is something completely different. We are currently contacting people higher up in the company, and if this is not resolved smoothly, I will never again join a Gold's Gym, and I will make sure no one I know will ever make that mistake either. I intend to take legal action should they insist on keeping me signed. Good luck to everyone duped by this company!

My mail is not being forwarded to me, I am living in my parents' house, and therefore my name is not on the utility bill, nor do we have a lease agreement. I am currently employed as a private nanny, and recieve private checks. Thus I have no check stubb. When I explained my situation to the employee, I was informed that there was no other way for me to prove my relocation (they don't accept bank statements). When I replied that I needed to cancel, or I would have to pay for the next two years until the contract expired, she listed off (again) what proof of relocation they accepted, and said there was nothing else I could do.

I asked to be transferred to a supervisor. I was informed that she was in a meeting, and was likely to be so all day. I asked if there was anyone I could speak to, in person, who was in some kind of management position. The answer was no, they were all in meetings. When I asked if they would be available tomorrow, and at what time, the answer was no. They offered to transfer me to the voicemail of the supervisor, although when she will listen to it and respond is beyond me, since apparently she is in meetings during all business hours. I left the message, but I would be shocked if my call were returned. Needless to say, the customer service was terrible, their business practices were poor and unethical, and I would never recommend them.

There is a $100 cancellation fee, I have been billed for the past two months (over $50), and if I request a copy of my contract, it is an additional $10. Not to mention the $100 start-up fee.

When I got back this month and returned to the gym - I was told by corporate that I owed $174. because my membership expired 6 months ago. The manager no longer works there and I tried to explain my situation with military deployments. They didn't care and told me that irregardless of me freezing the accounts while I was gone - that my membership still expired and now I owe them $174.

It's clear to me that corporate has no clue how to deal with their customers and that they are blaming me for allowing my membership to expire. Now, they just want MORE money from me - nevermind that I sacrificed myself for the American dream everyday while deployed in support of OEF for 10 months. As a result - I have terminated my membership at Golds and have bad-mouthed this corporation to anyone and everyone in the military that will listen to my story!

I have recently been choosen to be the one for harrasement in the gym by the now manager Rich. He says they are trying to change the image of the gym and make it look like it is not full of beauty gueens and body builder(hello its golds GYM). Therefore covering his butt,kind of!! Says in trying to enforce the rules.....of what his personal issues......EVERY GYM ALLOWS sports bras as long as you are not hanging out,,,which I was not.

I felt singled out, there is not a posting or rule shown to me. How can they just change policy? Fix the AC, the website sells short sports bras....with GOLDS gym on the chest..>>HELLO Anyway, I felt as though after paying many years of money and making many friend I was not longer wanted in the gym. So I was forced to stop payment and pay a fee to the bank to keep them from charging my account.

I feel that Golds Gym uses this cancellation tactic to create barriers to cancellation. My BANK doesn't even require certified letters to do business. There are other ways to verify a person over the phone such as membership number, social security number, adress, and phone number. I am hardly concerned that an individual trying to disrupt my life would call and cancel my membership without my approval. However I am concerned that practices like these used by golds gym are to boost their revenue at the cost of the consumer.

The end of January rollls by and no return phone call. I called in February 3 more times and again no reply. Tarin finally returned my phone call on March 3rd 2008. She stated that effective immediately she would cancel my account and refund me the money for January and February. I was billed for March and did not receive any monies back. I finally notified the General Manager Mark who advised that he was sorry and they just swithced to electronic payment methods and my accounts fell through the cracks. In April I went to the gym to speak with him and he advised me that he WOULD NOT refund me the money.

This was after I asked for a meeting with him, Tarin, Natalie, my husband and my son. During that meeting Nataile admitted she lied about cancelling the account. Tarin also lied about not saying she would refund me the money. They offered 1/2 payment for April and 1/2 of December. They said they absolutely would not honor Tarin's claim to refund me the money for january and february. We are talking about 1,100 a month.

When I also tried to explain that the reason for me suspending the account was due to me not working and I could not afford the payments at that time but wanted to resume when I or my husband gained employment. All that said was sorry we cannot do that.

This results in severe consequences for people with respiratory problems. I have been forced to cancel my membership.

Just recently (May,'08), my husband went there after picking up our daughter from school. He dropped her and our son off at the daycare and went to work out. In the course of an hour, my daughter was threatened her life, spit on, and hit & kicked by another child. I was at work at the time when she called me crying so hard that I could hardly understand her. She told me that the boy also pushed my son.

From the gym's standpoint, they saw NOTHING. Nothing from the camera that is pointing at the play area or from the employees that were working there at the time. No one called my husband or anyone else to help with the situation occuring in the room. When my husband finished working out, he came in to he find my daughter defending herself from being attacked by the child. He then went outside to get someone to help. MY HUSBAND WENT AND GOT SOMEONE.

Well, the next day I called and asked to speak to the manager. Kyle asked me to come in and talk to him the following day. He said that he would talk to everyone involved and try to resolve what happened. When I came in, I found him talking to Miranda from the daycare about the day before. At this point he still didn't know anything and proceeded to tell me that he would investigate further. Unless I mis-understood him, he led me to believe that the child was not allowed in the gym for the time being and that when he was allowed back in and he repeats this behavior, his parents' membership would then be revoked. No apology was offered my child that day.

A week had gone by and no one contacted me to tell me anything. So, I called and asked to speak to Kyle. He got on the phone and said that the child was not suspended and that he (the child) had apologized to the employees in the daycare. I said to Kyle that that was fine and dandy for the employees, but what about my daughter? Is he or the parents going to apologize to her? He said that was up to the parents. I told him that I would like a meeting set up between myself and the parents and their child. He said that he would call the parents and set it. Still at this point, no apology.

For all those things to happen to my child w/out an adult to intervene as soon as possible, had to have taken quite some time. I told him that his employees would cover their A**(and mind you, I used this word twice and only in the same context) before telling him they didn't do what they were supposed to do. He asked why would they have to do that? Furthermore, he would believe his employees over a child any time. Is he that naive to think that? I got upset and after telling him to call me as soon as the meeting was set up, I hung up.

I noticed later on in the day that there had been a call to both my home and cell phones w/out messages left on the machine or voicemail. I called and asked to speak to Kyle again and was told that he was with a customer. I asked the employee to have his manager call me back - no call back.

The next day, I called again and this time he got on the phone. He said that he was told by the person above him, that the meeting was inappropriate and that if I had any questions, to call Marlene at the Sparks location. Inappropriate?!?! Was it appropriate that this child was able to do this to mine? He gave her information about what's happened so far, he told me. I bet. I went on to say that all I was looking for was an apology from the child & his parents and the gym. Kyle had tried to tell me that he had done so when I came in a week ago. He didn't - I think because in doing so would mean an admission of guilt on the part of the gym. He quickly told me that HE should get an apology from ME because of my language. Like I said before, I used it twice and in the same context. I didn't use any other profanity other than that word because I was getting frustrated, and it wasn't directed to anyone directly.

Customer service is very lacking in this company. Very rude! On top of it all, he started lying about what was said and trying to tell me that I was only remembering what I wanted. I immediately called Marlene, who by all accounts was lacking more so in the customer service department. From the start, she was rude and had no compassion. She asked me if my daughter went to the hospital or if she had any bruises. I asked her did my daughter need to have gotten to that point? She said that, kids will be kids and that she had opened so many daycares in her lifetime that qualifies her to be an expert. She also said that she has 3 kids of her own (boy do I feel sorry for them!). I told her that I wouldn't want her to watch my children, to which she retorted she wouldn't want to watch them anyways because I'm the type of parent that screams fowl every time my children get hurt. She knows nothing about me!

I know how things can happen: at school, my daughter has gotten hurt from falling off the playground equipment or accidentally getting tripped or pushed. Yes, I get that. But, what I don't get is a child intentionally causing harm to another child. What is it about that that's so hard to understand? She kept telling me she didn't understand why I was making such a big deal about this. HUH?!?! I told her I wanted an apology! Sarcastically, she said she's sorry. I told her that was forced, so she went and got an employee to witness her apologize again. She repeated the apology with the same sincerity as before. I told her that I hope her kids never have to go through anything as awful as this and hung up.

Lastly, I called the Reno location again to speak to Ali (the salesperson who signed us up). I was put on hold for quite a few minutes, so I hung up and called again. This time, I asked for him directly. Denny kept acting like he couldn't understand me and eventually hung up. I called back again and asked him why he hung up on me? He said that he couldn't understand me and that I hung up on HIM. Yeah, sure. He finally got Ali. I asked him if I had signed up on a contract. He said yes w/out looking at the contract. I asked him when did I sign up, he put me on hold for over 10mins (I know for sure because my phone has a timer on it). The funny part is, when he got back on the phone, he told me that he had been working out and that he was just about to leave. He wants me to come in and talk to him on Monday. It took him over 10mins to come up w/ that conclusion?

Needless to say, they continue to charge my card. Took an additional 6 months for them to stop charging my card, essentially stealing 400+ dollars. I placed countless phone calls, emails, and struggled to find the address to the corporate office. The weirdest part, the exact same thing happened to my co-worker at the downtown Austin location. I seriously think they are trained in this type of behavior. It is no longer reasonable to believe that all these complaints are coincidences. My advice, stay very far away. The gyms are nothing special and you can find comparable alternatives without the headaches.

400$ my fault for not reading the fine print (I was lied to) & 400$ for them failing to stop billing after I submitted a written request 1 yr after my membership was created. 800 total.

But, the real problem began, when after 3 months, I was very disillusioned about the lack of results and attempted to cancel my contract giving them 30 days notice. Ha ! Yes, I should have read the very fine print better, but you have to believe me when I say that I asked every question in the book about coverage, cancellations, time limits, etc. So, I have been left with making monthly payments for this place, and haven't used it since January 2008.

I have called somebody who knows next to nothing, and sounds like franchisee, and I've written to an address that answers with generic statements not even related to my subject. The contract ends in November, and I already have my letter ready to send in October, before I call them to advise what I'm doing first. This is the poorest example of a business I have ever encountered. It has soured me completely with regard to gyms.

I was confused, he said we had to pay until January 2010. I got furious and tried to be calm, I explained the women never told us this and noted we were moving and he said that was what she was referring to is if we move we can change it which is poppycot because she told me before I said anything about moving that we could cancel at any time. I just called the corporate office who told me I have to pay until 2010 unless I move atleast 50 miles away so either I coem up with some false documents of moving or im stuck. Her response to me when I said I am having to pay $45 a month for a gym I never go to is they can not make me pay but there will be consequences like bad credit and such.

After I called Andy and provided him my credit card number I said to Andy, so my card will be processed for $112 and Andy even stated again, that yes it will be processed for that amount before he hung up. The very next day, April 18th, I looked through the paper work from the previous day and noticed the slip read $1112. So I immediately called Andy that day and he didnt answer so I left a message and told him I thought he was pulling a payment of $112 and it appeared there was an extra number 1 written on the slip. I also mentioned to him that I was a single mother of 3, and I couldnt afford for $1112 dollars to be pulled out of my account by accident and that we needed to clear up the miss representation as soon as possible. Later that night around 9pm, Andy called me back and assured me he would get it reversed and apologized for the misunderstanding and would get the $1112 credited to my card immediately and to terminate my contract as well. Two days later, on April 20th, I went on-line and noticed that a payment of $2373.55 had been charged to my credit card by Golds gym. Not only was it not the correct amount of $112 and not the $1112.00 that was incorrect, but it was double the amount.

After realizing this, I immediately called Andy again at Golds Gym, and left him yet another message, and advised him of now the second problem. Andy did call me back that day, and apologized saying he made a mistake and ran a payment through twice by accident?. He assured me not to worry and would have it reversed?. Monday and Tuesday went by, and the credit to my card of $2373.55 had not been corrected. After leaving several messages that went un-returned to Andy, my frustration led me to finally call management teams at Golds gym, where I was connected to Dave Soon in member services on March 26th, 6 days after I was told it would be corrected. I met with Dave at Golds, providing bank statements showing all overdraft fees. Dave assured me he would get right on it. On March 27th, Dave assured me again via phone that all was taken care of, and he was waiting for Golds finance department to cut a check so I can pick it up on March 28th?.

On March 28th, I called at the end of the day and Dave apologized and said that everyone who is able to cut a check has already left for the day but not to worry he will get me a check on Monday March 31st. Come Monday everything that Dave had told me the week before has changed and that this has been escaladed to Ryan Wilson the VP of Golds gym. At this point, after several weeks of frustration, I called Golds Gym again and got in touch with Ryan Wilson, VP. On April 1st, I met with Ryan to try and get all of it resolved and all credit charges, and overdraft fees either covered or help in getting them reversed through Golds Gym error. After going through all the details with Ryan, he said he would have the $2373.55 reversed that day, but he would like Dave Soon, member services rep to try and work it out with US Bank to get the over draft fees reversed. I agreed to this, assuming Golds would be able to have US Bank reverse the fees because of their error. From April 2nd through April 14th, I could not get it resolved, almost 2 weeks.

During this time, I was not able to contact US Bank representative, branch manager Bryan, nor Dave Soon at Golds Gym. After finally contacting them, both said they had left message with each other, but neither had returned phone calls during the 12 day period. Finally, after talking with Bryan at US Bank, I contacted Dave Soon again at Golds and advised him that US Bank would not cover the over draft fees due to the error by Golds Gym. On April 15th,Dave told me to get a sign statement from US Bank, and that he would have a check cut for me? to cover the overdraft fees?. Agreeing, and after doing the legwork and running around again to provide the necessary statement to Golds Gym, Dave contacted me via phone, and said he and Bryan had talked and Golds was now only willing to cut me a check for $50 and that I would have to work out the remaining amount needing reversed with US Bank. After speaking with Bryan at US Bank, he had advised me that Dave Soon with Golds gym had told him that I had called and requested Golds to pull a payment in the amount of $2373.55.

First of all why would I authorized a payment for service that I would not be using as well as authorizing an amount in which I know I do not have sufficient funds in my account to cover. Now it appears that Golds gym goes the extra mile to not state the facts in order to get out of their responsibility of covering their mistake. In the end, what was suppose to be $112 a month charge in which was incorrectly placed at $1112.00, and then doubled to $2373.55, cost me a total of $527.00 in overdraft fees. So being a single mother of three daughters, $527 dollars ends up being a lot of money to me and my family.

Im writing this letter to you, so you can possibly help provide me some answers as to why folks at Golds Gym makes simple mistakes, but will not cover their mistakes when glaringly it is their fault. Im not sure how many times this has happened in the past with Golds Gym making costly mistakes, but I dont see how or why this becomes the customers problem. Id like this letter to help me find a solution to help me recover my overdraft fees, and also shed some light on what kind of business operation Golds Gym is providing today.

well it affected me economically because it caused checks to bounce at $37.50 for each transaction as well as overdraft fees of $35 totalling the amount of $527.00

I contacted the owner (A.J. is the manager, apparently) and he took up for her! He said my daughter using my card was like shoplifting from Wal-Mart. That's ridiculous, as we have a FAMILY membership, and she is FAMILY! Even at that, she was fine with paying when she found out it wasnt okay. No matter what, nothing excuses being rude to your customers like that, nothing. Its just poor business. I have also been told by another employee there that A.J. has had several complaints against her about being rude. But the owner was determined to take her side, over the side of the paying customer.

What ever happened to the customer is always right? I asked for a refund of my remaining balance, and the owner told me they do not refund prepaid accounts. I think that is just wrong, no matter what the paper says that I signed. When I no longer want to go there because of the way the employees are allowed to treat customers, I think I should be entitled to a refund. I failed to mention, that this same employee was rude to me, personally, a couple of years ago. I just let it go at the time thinking maybe she had a bad day. What a mistake that was. DONT BUY A MEMBERSHIP TO GOLD'S GYM Amarillo Texas, if you enjoy being treated respectfully by a business you are supporting with your money!

I believe my refund would be approximately $190-200. So, that's money I am out. But I will never hesitate to let every single person I come into contact with about the service there, and that's alot of people. If I can keep just one from going there, then I will feel compensated.

She is out for a while with her shoulder. Just wants her money back for their misrepresentation. The owner refuses. According to the State of GA, someone receiving $ for services like that should be a certified personal trainer and licensed, the young guy was not. Isn't Gold's Gym breaking the law? Yes. I've called the corp office but there is really nothing they can do they say. I've made this complaint and will get a letter from her doctor. Obviously, next step is to get an attorney.

I was told that the supervisor, Ms. Pate, is the only person who can decide whether to grant a refund or not. I left a message for Ms. Pate on 4/3/08 asking her to please call me either at my home number or my work number but I have not heard from her to date. I just want to recover the money owed to me.

I have been drafted almost $1,680.00 for services that I terminated 42 months ago. I need this money back in my account ASAP, please.

Gym membership not renewable at contract rate. May not be able to renew.

He insured me that all DVD movies are cartoon movies and are G rated. He told me that all the cable channels played at the kids center are cartoon channels. I insisted that not all cartoons are suitable for the young children where my 7 years old daughter is the oldest one every time she is in there. My youngest one is 4 years old is not the youngest one there. His response was that they have to satisfy 14 years old children as well.

Not only these response where outrageously absurd but where not true. Today, 3/24/08 my wife went to the gym and found Scooby-Doo & Scooby-Doo 2 Monsters Unleashed which are PG rated movies!

I am also outraged that this manager after I complained to him did not verify my statements and did not remove any movies not rated G?.

I found about this when my 7 years old daughter woke up from nightmares and complained about the monsters she saw in Scooby Doo movie.

Gold's Gym is refusing to pay $350 which they owe for terminating the contract early because we moved out of state and cannot use their service.

Being interested she filled out her application; she was told to put the address of the friend she was staying with. She used her Washington Driver's license as she lives in Washington and owns a home there. They assured her that there was a Gold's Gym in her home town. She paid the entire amount of the 2 year membership as she was offered a 10% discount to do so. Upon return to her home town in Washington she found that there was no Gold's Gym associated with the Gym she joined and there had not be Gold's Gym there for many years. So she was taken advantage of by the rep. of Gold's Gym and they are not willing to do anything except keep her money...which is actually stealing from her. They simply do not care.

We contacted Customer Service. She had to call them and give them permission to talk with me regarding this matter. When I called back, they screened my name and phone number on their call i.d., and would not take my call. Finally I called on another phone and they picked up immediately...so much for Customer Service.

Of course the manager at the Gym says he would never lie to sell a membership or take advantage of a Senior Citizen... that is exactly what he did

I signed up again for another three years, and made sure the pricing was in-order. As I sat down with the salesman and reviewed the contract. I asked him about the checkbox that says "This agreement is NON-RENEWABLE if this box is checked." The salesman had not checked it. When I questioned him about it, he said, We leave it that way, that is how we do it here. When I asked if it would auto-renew if we left it blank, he would not answer, claiming he did not know. I insisted that we check the box. He acted like it was voiding the contract, but when I said I would not sign without doing so, he did put a line haphazardly through the box. I should also mention that he did indeed fill in a rate for a yearly renewal at almost three-times the cost of a normal membership. Strange he filled this in, if he was not sure if contracts did renew that way.

The entire section reads: Following the initial membership term your membership agreement will automatically continue on a month-to-month basis at a monthly rate of $___ for EFT Contracts. The monthly rate may be increased up to 10% per year after the initial membership term. PIF Members may renew at the rate of $___ per person per year. This agreement is NON-RENEWABLE if this box is checked.

What concerns me is that they do not let you know that it is a renewable contract, they even outright lie to avoid the fact.

Case Study: We got a call from our next-door neighbor this week. She found out that her credit-card that she rarely uses has been billed nearly $800 (eight-hundred) dollars for the past 8 months for Golds Gym personal trainer/training sessions. She had signed up for a one-year contract. She had never received a statement or a bill stating that this was occurring. She only was made aware, when she checked her credit-card balance. When she called to ask for a refund, they completely refused. They said they will give her 8 months of training sessions, but absolutely no money back. They also said that a phone call was not good enough to cancel, and they need written cancellation, and if she does not get it to them in the next week, she will be billed for a 9th month.

From the research I have done, it seems Certified Mail is the best approach, but you will still have to fight it. Can you say, Small claims court, here I come. I should also mention that during the year of her contract the personal trainer simply stopped showing up, and she was without a trainer for two months. She had to approach the management before they would give her an extension of the contract, for the time she was not supplied with the services.

In Summary, I like the local Golds facilities. They are not above average by any means, but they are sufficient for my usage. I hate the policies and the deception in the sales staff. 1) Check to see if the box that says This agreement is NON-RENEWABLE if this box is checked. 2) Cross out the lines that contain auto-renewal rates. 3) Pay with a credit-card you want to get rid of, and cancel it immediately afterward. or Go somewhere else.

10 months into our contract we were moving so we paid out the rest of the year so that we would be current when the contract closed. Five months later we received a letter from a collection agency stating that we owed Gold's Gym over $800. We never used the service after the 1 year period. I spoke with the General Manager of the gym explaining that the salesman told me the contract would end at the end of the year and that we never used the service after that year, and his reply was sorry you signed the contract and it's the legal agreement. You'll have to pay it. I realize that it's my responsibility to read the contract prior to signing. I knew that I was in between a rock and a hard space. I was hoping for some goodwill on Gold's Gym's part. It's sad that a company would rather trick a customer into buying and drain them as much as possible before discarding them rather than gain the loyalty of a customer ensuring repeat business.

The consequence of this action results in over $800 worth of fees. Almost 1 year's worth of membership dues for 5 months of a contract that I thought had been completed. We were going to take my son to Disneyland, however, now I have to talk to him about the cruelty of businesses and how you can never trust a man with a pen and paper.

They just keep taking my money, and I have no recourse. I feel helpless with a limited income.

No one will help me with this, and everyone is extremely rude and can't speak English. This usually doesn't bother me- but when I am spending $40 a month, and all I want to know is how to cancel it when it is time--they don't even know what I am talking about. I feel as though their policies should be illegal and would love to start a class action or something. The money they are making for poor service is NOT okay with me!

I have a loss of $40 a month when I was told I could cancel at any time, plus random fees charges.

They offered to freeze my membership for an additional monthly fee until I'm older (that doesn't really help me now). If I'm 16 and old enough to enter a contract with them, I wonder if my 12 year old brother signed a contract would it be legal, too, to continue forcing him to pay? Seems like unfair business practice to enter a contract with a minor. BTW: They don't do background checks to see if these old naked guys are sex offenders or pedeophiles. It just seems wrong!

They are withdrawing money from my bank account every month, about $30, and the first fee of $100.

I called that number and spoke to a gal named Paula who said that the reason I had extra charges was because when Gold's tried to take the money out of the account it didn't go through the first time and a fee was assessed. A $20 fee! I told her that was ridiculous. She responded that I most likely did not have money in my account, when I had over $1,800. She told me to fax in copies of my bank statement proving that money was in the account on that day with all of my banking information. I did not feel comfortable faxing in all of that personal information to a fax machine that she later told me was not even close to where her office was and it was not a secure location! I called my bank and informed them of why that fee was assessed and the bank said that they would fax in verification that the money was there. I also asked Gold's Gym what other underhanded fees there were going to be added to my membership every month and she informed me that they charge a towel fee. Yes, a towel fee. I guess too many people walk off with their towels and now they have the right to charge every member a $15 - 20 whenever they feel like it. She said mostly just once a year but sometimes more if more towels are needed. Isn't this something that should be included in our MEMBERSHIPS! I am not one to steal or cheat, but if I am paying for those flipping towels, I'm taking 'em.

We will see how this turns out with the money, but I have a feeling that this slow draining of my money is just the beginning.

Each year if you do not renew on the exact day of expiration the customer loses many days of membership and in many cases, months. I had renewed before I caught this one year and now I have to go to the same gym to renew and go on the exact day or the day before my membership expires.

They referred me to some financial service in Arkansas, with girls saying they CAN'T cancel my membership. After extreme pressure they said they would cancel it with a signed letter from my oncologist. But they did not accept it when it was faxed. We will try again. Now I need to have a lawyer. My oncologist at SCCA is appalled that a gym would treat a member in this way. I AM A VERY SICK PERSON. I do NOT need the pain and grief that Gold's Gym is causing me.

I replied to her--stated the above and requested a refund. A month later the draft was taken again; now it's $30. I've emailed the lady again, and the corporate office through their website. I emailed my bank and am waiting to hear from them. I will be following up with another certified letter to Gold's Gym.

I've lost $30 directly from unauthorized and unlawful withdraws from my account. The cost of this next certified letter is approximately $6 and have used my personal time for the last 3 months trying to get this stopped.

Well today we had an appointment with Cade to renew our membership for 2008. The very first thing we were told (after we got there) was that he wanted to see our original contract from 2005 or he couldn't give us the $19.99 per month. We were a little confused as during our last renew we didn't have to bring in our 2005 contracts. My husband, who is a very good record keeper, informed Cade that we did have my contract but his was misplaced (long story). Cade then proceeded to tell us that he couldn't give us the $19.99 price but could give us the special discount. I asked if they had copies of the original contract and was told no. I then stated well can't you look up how long we have been members and how much we paid and was told yes, but still needed the contract. At this point I think we were so fed up with being repeatedly told, well I can give you the special, that I asked if I could speak to the manager. Cade informed me he was the manager. I then asked if there was someone I could talk to at corporate that could help rectify the situation, and I kid you not, the response I received was, "That would be VP of marketing, but good luck in getting touch with him." It was at that point we got up, said forget it and left. I don't know what is going on down there at this gym but they have definetly burned this bridge. We were loyal, up front paying customers for 3 years and this is how they treat us. I guess the reason I am informing folks of our situation is so others can learn from it and be prepared. A company or location that doesn't keep good customer records/relations, especially in the gym business, is not a place I would recommend.

My bank account is now negative, and Christmas is in 3 weeks.

I did not and do not remember that there is a clause in the contract that states that they can continue to debit your account whether or not you have been using the services until they receive a 60-day written notice. After the 1st debit, I stopped payment on the $39.99. I had not used their services in over one year. Also, when I tried to give them the 60-day notice that they stipulated so that they could get more of your money no matter what, they made it VERY difficult to get the notice out to them. You cannot do it online and you cannot go to the gym where you signed and simply cancel. I suppose that this contract is legal because I signed it; however, it is a highly unethical business practice. I will argue that they didn't do what they said they would do. I just closed my checking account after the payment was stopped on the $39.99 because they were now running through a debit for $39.99 plus a $25.00 late fee that they have now tacked on to the $39.99 since payment was stopped. That way they can get around a stop payment. This is ridiculous. I belonged to a gym for 3 yrs in another town where I lived and when I left, the account was closed with a smile and a thank you and I never heard another thing from them. Am I better off to just give them the money and tell everyone far and wide of their unethical practices? It doesn't seem fair that they should be able to perpetrate this kind of scam without some kind of recourse.

So I look further and find out that you need to give the billing company Conexion, more than 30 days notice.

I find out I am leaving in the middle of the month, so what the hell am I supposed to do.

Needless to say, I am charged $50 dollars to cancel and for the month of November and I am already out of the state.

I will never use Golds Gym again they rip you off with hidden fees and rush you into signing the contract.

Oh, and the billing company Conexion, they are highly picky about proof of your new address, something with your name just wont work.

However, when I looked at the contract, I noticed that in the area where it showed the recurring fees and terms (extended fees) it appeared they were charging us for 13 months. The so-called manager could only ramble on about proration. She could only tell me that that's how the computer figures it.

The contract clearly stated that the first EFT draft was to occur on 2/10/07, however, it occured on 1/10/07. Since day one we have had trouble with this gym.

We finally gave in and took it to the Ford house for diagnosing & repair. It turns out thet the problem was a cable that had been damage during the Transmission service. This is a $42 cable that the Goodyear store attempted to repair (I have the dammaged up cable in my possession) and it is the root of the problem and why we were getting the Check Charging System message. However since this cable was shorted it also damaged the Alternator and it had to be replaced too. So I had to spend in excess of $1000.00 to fix damage done during the time my car was at Goodyear.

One told me I could send a letter and my membership will be cancel immediately. Other one told me my membership would be cancelled in 90 days, and so on. A dozen sides of the story. I sent in at least 10 cancellation letter that were misteriously lost. I sent a certified, signature upon receiving letter and they had no choice but to admit that they had received the letter and cancelled my membership.

But they did not stop charging my account. I was being randomly charged between $90-$146. I eventually had to change my account number to stop them from charging me.

When replacing tire I was informed that due to tread they could only credit part of cost and would charge me $90 (I paid $150 each new) I called Goodyear and she offered me a deal of about $85 I told her that after all the tires I had bought from them over the years I expected better (this was the first claim I ever had) at that point she got a VERY snippy attitude and told me take it or leave it, I told her I would never buy Goodyear again, she said fine I could pay over $90 for the replacement tire since I felt that way.

I didn't have a choice couldn't drive with defective tire (am praying for the other 3 and the replacement) my next letter will be to the CEO of Goodyear. The manager of the Goodyear shop said that other customers had been treated better with less of a claim than mine and that he thought it was because I am a woman. In this day and age I would expect better!!!!

One blew out on freeway and almost caused us an accident. A piece of the tire went into our bedroom window and we had to buy a new window. Now a rvdealership just pointed out to us another tire has 2 bubbles in it. Again they have perfectly good tread left on them. We are going to replace them tomorrow. WE are NOT going to buy Good Year brand tires!!!

Good Year should be shot for selling them as trailer tires. The rv people who put them on there must be in cahoots with Good Year and get a huge discount and they should also be shot. I would not recommend their trailer tires to anyone. I think if I find a consumers place to complain like the attorney general or whoever I shall send them a copy of this letter to.

Then I was told I could send someone to the gym to cancel for me. When I asked how on earth this made any sense, I was told that sending someone for me would, in fact ,be inappropriate, and that it was just a suggestion. Some suggestion. Some help. Some gym.

It was easier for me to transfer funds to purchase a home, and to cancel insurance, both of which I did by fax, than to cancel a stupid gym membership. Oh, I was also told that the manager was too busy to be bothered with my issue.

I have asked if they even have a janitor and the front desk personel couldn't even say yes or not for sure. They thought one had been fired and didn't know if anyone else was hired to replace them or not. I personally have NOT seen a cleaning person there in the last 6 months in the day or night. The carpet in the locker room is also getting constantly soaked from water and dryed out with a fan on the floor. There is mildew/mold spores I'm sure all over the place there. I have complained to them numerous times to no avail. It always falls on deaf ears and I'm tired of this.

Replacement has cost close to $600.

In this particular gym, the recumbent bikes in the women's workout room smelled of stale urine. Ugh!!!! After so many problems with the manager and some of the staff, I canceled my membership and requested refund of the remaining two months. I never received a refund and never considered the numerous, valid reasons why I had to cancel earlier. They are just money-grabbers!!! Customer service is an alien word to this Club. I have been a member of one other single health club for over 20 years; never have I been treated so badly at any facility until I joined Gold's Gym.

We were told that they would be happy to offer the company membership, then I learned they went to each individual employee and had them sign a 1-year contract. One of my employees did not have a credit card to give them so the gym representative told him that he would not be obligated until he gave them a card number. The employee did not give them a card number and has never been to the gym but now they are threatening him with a collection agency.

They constantly charge dues against the employees' credit cards and apply my company check to future dates. What was intended to be a nice thing for my employees has turned into a nightmare for us all. My employees, needless to say, are not happy about this. I asked if I could get my employees out of the agreement and the manager responded, "There is no way in hell they are getting out of a year contract".

Total monetary amount Gold's Gym says we owe is $297.00.

This has taken up much of my time. I simply want to cancel my membership, and prevent them from deducting money from my account.

I went through a lot of stress getting this resolved, but since I WROTE DOWN in the contract that I could get a full refund and terminate at any time before the date the guy gave me, I got this resolved. Otherwise I wouldn't have. These people are like a concrete wall. If you have a similar experience, Please: file your complaint with the BBB, AND your state's Attorney General's Office. They need all the complaints they can get before they can help everyone on a larger scale.

My bank account is always at a negative because of them hitting it all the time.