BJJ gym fraud?

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F=MMA

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I signed up for a year at a gym that a guy from my previous gym started. When i first started training everything was great, he had a few high level friends there to teach and a black belt coming in once a week. I got a horrible rib injury and didn't train there for 7 months. Once I came back...everyone had left. Myself and two new students paid to just come in and have open mat, the gym owner would show a couple times a week with his 2 kids while me and the other students just rolled. There was no more instruction, no classes being taught, nothing. I decided to suck it up and finish out my contract, and have since found a better place to train.
Today I get a charge for yet another month, and I'm pissed. My guess is that this charge is an extension, since I had him stop my payments for one month while i was injured (not all 7 because i'm stupid). However, the whole situation is total BS anyway because there is no school, just a building with a mat. If this isn't fraud I don't know what is. I was going to let things go but this last charge is too much to just lay down and take. I'm going to dispute the charge with the credit card company, but now I want to take action. Do I have a case?
 
from all of the gyms i have been to, the company that does the finances for the gym requires a 1 month notice to cancel the gym membership. basically if you decide to cancel you can't cancel the current month but the next month. so like in your case you pay for another month. its some shady bullshit. fuck them.
 
droutFamineSwrd said:
from all of the gyms i have been to, the company that does the finances for the gym requires a 1 month notice to cancel the gym membership. basically if you decide to cancel you can't cancel the current month but the next month. so like in your case you pay for another month. its some shady bullshit. fuck them.
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Ask your cell phone company to cancel during the month your in and see what they say. Most gyms won't let you out of contract with out a fee. So its not to much to ask to cancel before a month starts to avoid getting charged
 
just train already, quit trying to make it sound like you were the glue that held that gym together :p
 
Cancel your card and get a new card number so that they can't charge you again.
 
Apparently the guy "got into trouble and is unavailable" but someone close to him is working on shutting down the billing system he uses (there isn't a billing company listed on the card charges), so this should all go away.


I had only trained there a few times before having to stop, so I'm not saying i was the "glue" or anything ridiculous like that. It's just incredibly low imo that he would pursue this contract after the gym falls apart. Literally no classes or instruction of any kind.

If you aren't in an area that has well established places to train, consider demanding that a clause be included in your contract that allows you to cancel if the instructors change/leave etc. What a waste of money this has been.
 
F=MMA said:
Apparently the guy "got into trouble and is unavailable" but someone close to him is working on shutting down the billing system he uses (there isn't a billing company listed on the card charges), so this should all go away.


I had only trained there a few times before having to stop, so I'm not saying i was the "glue" or anything ridiculous like that. It's just incredibly low imo that he would pursue this contract after the gym falls apart. Literally no classes or instruction of any kind.

If you aren't in an area that has well established places to train, consider demanding that a clause be included in your contract that allows you to cancel if the instructors change/leave etc. What a waste of money this has been.
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You can go to your bank a put a stop payment on that account if you are concerned about it for the future.
 
I've been stung before, double check with bank that it can't happen again. I'm glad I pay per session.
 
F=MMA said:
I signed up for a year at a gym that a guy from my previous gym started. When i first started training everything was great, he had a few high level friends there to teach and a black belt coming in once a week. I got a horrible rib injury and didn't train there for 7 months. Once I came back...everyone had left. Myself and two new students paid to just come in and have open mat, the gym owner would show a couple times a week with his 2 kids while me and the other students just rolled. There was no more instruction, no classes being taught, nothing. I decided to suck it up and finish out my contract, and have since found a better place to train.
Today I get a charge for yet another month, and I'm pissed. My guess is that this charge is an extension, since I had him stop my payments for one month while i was injured (not all 7 because i'm stupid). However, the whole situation is total BS anyway because there is no school, just a building with a mat. If this isn't fraud I don't know what is. I was going to let things go but this last charge is too much to just lay down and take. I'm going to dispute the charge with the credit card company, but now I want to take action. Do I have a case?
Click to expand...

Not to be a dick, but have you discussed this with your instructor/school owner? He hasn't provided you with the service you signed up for from what you're saying. You should tell him how you feel and let him know he's fucking up. If he's smart he'll appreciate it and make it up to you, then you can leave.
 
Completely ridiculous, you have every right to be outraged, TS. Your contract should have been cancelled the minute the instructor left. You were paying for BJJ instruction, not for the use of mat space. Why you even finished contract, I have no idea. What was your monthly fee, if you don't mind mine asking?
 
F=MMA said:
I signed up for a year at a gym that a guy from my previous gym started. When i first started training everything was great, he had a few high level friends there to teach and a black belt coming in once a week. I got a horrible rib injury and didn't train there for 7 months. Once I came back...everyone had left. Myself and two new students paid to just come in and have open mat, the gym owner would show a couple times a week with his 2 kids while me and the other students just rolled. There was no more instruction, no classes being taught, nothing. I decided to suck it up and finish out my contract, and have since found a better place to train.
Today I get a charge for yet another month, and I'm pissed. My guess is that this charge is an extension, since I had him stop my payments for one month while i was injured (not all 7 because i'm stupid). However, the whole situation is total BS anyway because there is no school, just a building with a mat. If this isn't fraud I don't know what is. I was going to let things go but this last charge is too much to just lay down and take. I'm going to dispute the charge with the credit card company, but now I want to take action. Do I have a case?
Click to expand...

You should dispute the last payment with your credit card if you have the 12 month contract.

As far as fraud, and your case. You payed for a service that you were not using for 6 months. It didn't matter if the training was wonderful or terrible, you were still willfully paying, but not utilizing the service by your choice. When you returned to training, the environment was different, but you continued to train anyway. Your post never says anything about trying to be released from your contract or discussion about the changes with the owner, so I will assume they did not happen. I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know the legal standing. But you payed thru a contract without trying to stop payments, completely away of the gym changes that you now call fraud. I would say, morally you have no case, because you became fully aware of what you were paying for when you came back from injury, and then continued to pay for it.
 
I know most fitness club memberships are in no way obligated to suspend an account due to an injury. You are paying for access, which you have whether you use it or not. If you signed up for a 12-month paid membership, they have a right to take 12 payments in the contract.

As for your case, you really need to check the contract, preferably with an attorney. I would cancel the card they have been charging prior to pursuing this any further.
 
droutFamineSwrd said:
from all of the gyms i have been to, the company that does the finances for the gym requires a 1 month notice to cancel the gym membership. basically if you decide to cancel you can't cancel the current month but the next month. so like in your case you pay for another month. its some shady bullshit. fuck them.
Click to expand...

that's not shady at all. its based on well established contract law. For a month to month contract you need to give 30 days notice to cancel.

Now if you already told him to cancel at the end of the contract it will depend on the contract terms.

Have you (OP) spoken to the gym owner about this? If you speak to him you'll prob get a lot more done than speaking with us.
 
F=MMA said:
Apparently the guy "got into trouble and is unavailable" but someone close to him is working on shutting down the billing system he uses (there isn't a billing company listed on the card charges), so this should all go away.


I had only trained there a few times before having to stop, so I'm not saying i was the "glue" or anything ridiculous like that. It's just incredibly low imo that he would pursue this contract after the gym falls apart. Literally no classes or instruction of any kind.

If you aren't in an area that has well established places to train, consider demanding that a clause be included in your contract that allows you to cancel if the instructors change/leave etc. What a waste of money this has been.
Click to expand...

You don't need that clause. What you need to do is speak to whomever is billing you for the contract and say that the services you contracted before are no longer offered so you want your contract canceled.

Its that simple. But if you forget, or are lazy, or are injured for several months and don't say anything til after you've paid - well, that's on you.
 
Jdonw said:
You should dispute the last payment with your credit card if you have the 12 month contract.

As far as fraud, and your case. You payed for a service that you were not using for 6 months. It didn't matter if the training was wonderful or terrible, you were still willfully paying, but not utilizing the service by your choice. When you returned to training, the environment was different, but you continued to train anyway. Your post never says anything about trying to be released from your contract or discussion about the changes with the owner, so I will assume they did not happen. I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know the legal standing. But you payed thru a contract without trying to stop payments, completely away of the gym changes that you now call fraud. I would say, morally you have no case, because you became fully aware of what you were paying for when you came back from injury, and then continued to pay for it.
Click to expand...

Right, and I agree. The issue was that this was a guy I had trained with a bit before, and we considered each other good partners etc. He did have a divorce that threw things a bit too. In general I felt bad for him and didnt want to abandon ship if things might actually improve. I realize 100% it was my own fault for paying while I was injured. I did ask for payments to be stopped for the final two months of injury time, and only got one month though. Myself and the other two guys that would roll together asked about him getting someone in there to teach and he always had something to say that was encouraging. Once I realized things weren't changing and the gym was likely going to close I only had a month left so decided to just cut my losses and move on. This extra charge is what pissed me off and made me want to take some kind of action. One of the other guys left too and the way that was handled made it even more firm in my mind that we had been conned, and i fully regret being the nice guy and giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Anyway, it sounds as if all should get cleared up now (and the gym is closing I think). Live and learn! Thanks for all the input folks.
 
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