what to do in a shitty gym situation?

onelyfe

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I have been going to this gym called L.A. Boxing in Fullerton, CA for about a couple of months now. I originally signed a 1 yr contract for 50 bucks per month.

Everything seemed cool until 3 weeks ago the gym suddenly closed down without any prior warning. The only way I knew they were closing down was because I saw a note on the door that they are changing locations and it would be about 2 weeks until they got things going again. The only problem is that it has been about three weeks already and they haven't opened up anywhere. I tried calling over five times and left several messages, no answer or call back. I tried emailing, no response either.

And the worst part is that they are STILL charging my account for 50 bucks a month even though the gym isn
 
Cancel the standing order or whatever you guys call it!
 
i read somewhere that if you do that, they can charge you a late fee since you're still under contract?

i don't know...
 
50 a month isnt bad, i get charged 100 a month to train in a place with little to no equipment that is smaller than my living room. but i would stop payment on them
 
I assume they are charging your credit card every month? If so, call the credit card issuer and explain the situation. They should deny future charges and may credit back any charges that hit after the gym shut down.

If your bank account is being auto-debited, call the bank and have them cease honoring any ACH debits from this gym. There will be some forms to fill out.

Think of its this way - the gym is STEALING from you if they continue to hit your account. Yes, you had a contract, but the gym breached that contract by going out of business. The main problem you will probably have is that it is likely that the gym sold your 1 year contract to a financing company and it's the financing company that is charging your account.

It could be a real pain in the ass, but be persistent.
 
That's a fucked up situation. Like he said ^^^, just call your bank/cc company and have them cancel the payments. I doubt they could actually get you for anything if they tried.
 
alright, thanks for the advice.

i just hope they can't get me for something that i'm overlooking since i signed that contract.
 
alright, thanks for the advice.

i just hope they can't get me for something that i'm overlooking since i signed that contract.

Well they're obviously not holding up their end of the fucking bargain!
 
first things first. try to get in contact with them to see whats going on with your contract.

i would try to get something in writing for a membership cancellation. then again... maybe im paranoid, but they do have you under contract. so be careful.
 
the LA boxing franchise has been having problems...but yeah tell your bank the situation, and avoid signing up for gyms that require contracts in the future.
 
Try and stop the payments by calling them and if that doesn't work then transfer your funds or drain your own account so they have no money to take.
 
First thing, read the paperwork they gave you when you signed the contract. It will state what you have to do to cancel, freeze, issue complaint, or stop payment. Follow their instructions to the letter. If you dont, then you give them the upper hand in collecting money owed, and the payment company is the professional in that dept. Usually the company collecting the money and the gym are two separate entities, so call or write both according to their instructions. If you lost the paperwork, usually you can contact your bank or cc company to get the phone number of the company collecting the money, and they have to provide you with signed copies of your contract within a certain time period. Most times you have to put your complaints in writing and keep paying until the matter is settled to avoid being turned over to a collection agency. Some times you will get your money back, and sometimes not, but the most it should take is 30 days to get it settled which is a small price to pay if you value your credit rating. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
 
holy shit.. thats bad, just cancel the direct debit or whatever you call it. They cant charge you for it because you are not getting the service you are paying for.
 
Try and stop the payments by calling them and if that doesn't work then transfer your funds or drain your own account so they have no money to take.

That's a really bad idea. His bank would likely charge him overdrafts for any payments that were attempted.

The way to fix this is to contact your bank or credit card company and tell them to deny the charges.

When/if your gym reopens, don't pay them anything until they credit you for the time that you were closed.
 
That's a really bad idea. His bank would likely charge him overdrafts for any payments that were attempted.

The way to fix this is to contact your bank or credit card company and tell them to deny the charges.

When/if your gym reopens, don't pay them anything until they credit you for the time that you were closed.

I assumed that it was a debit account where your not allowed overdraft, I've always known people to do this for their car insurance so that they can just stop payments if they want by transferring funds if something goes wrong and all that happens is that they terminate the contract from their end.
 
In most cases, the only thing you sign is the authorisation for the company to take money from your account every month, they may say a minimum of 12 months, but that's not a binding contract as far as I know. It's just how long they'll do this until they give you the chance to renew or cancel. If there is no gym, then they don't deserve a penny more of your money and they can't argue that you said you'd sign up for a year!

Cancel immediately!
 
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