[WormwoodDoll]

My fiance and I moved in mid-July and waited until August bills came around to cancel our gym membership (which we had for the 8 out of 12 months).

They sent us a notice saying we need to give 60 days notice for cancellation so we have to pay for August, September, AND October. I don't mind paying August, even though their records show we haven't been there since the beginning of July [before we moved] and we needed proof of address before we could cancel or it would of been done in July.

Our contract says nothing of a 60-day notice but I can't quite understand the exact wording of this portion:

"...or upon the buyer's change of permanent residence to a location more than 25 miles from the health club. In a cancellation under these cases, the health club may retain the portion of the total contract price representing the services used plus reimbursement for expenses incurred in an amount not to exceed 10% of the total contract price."

Does that mean they can make us pay the whole contract total PLUS 10% OR they can only charge us up to 10% of the total contract price?

So confusing but I definitely don't want to overlook this.

[stellarosa27]

Originally Posted by WormwoodDoll

"...or upon the buyer's change of permanent residence to a location more than 25 miles from the health club. In a cancellation under these cases, the health club may retain the portion of the total contract price representing the services used plus reimbursement for expenses incurred in an amount not to exceed 10% of the total contract price."

Ahem. So basically they keep what you've paid them already (that's the retain part) and they reserve the right to charge you for "expenses" (ie other months included in your contract) as long as it doesn't exceed 10% of your contract price.

So they're probably charging you 10% of the total price.

But if there's no 60 day notice in the contract, I'd try fighting it.

I hate chain gyms. NYSC did this to me. Grrr.

Although.....one of my co-workers had this issue with Gold's or Bally's. What she did was she got proof of address change from the month she moved, so in your case July (like if you have the lease that you signed for the new place, dated July that has your NEW address) - and she fought and fought and fought with them, and essentially got them to recognize retrospectively the change of address.

To make that simpler - she signed a lease in July. She had proof that she signed a lease in July. She got them to do the 60 days notice thing as far back as July (b/c she tried telling them and they said but we need proof) so she only had to pay for July and August.

Does that make sense?

If you fight with them, you can win.

[tkm256]

It sounds confusing because it's a really long sentence, but chop the middle part out: "In a cancellation under these cases, the health club may retain the portion of the total contract price...in an amount not to exceed 10% of the total contract price." What the portion represents is only put in there to say, "we can retain the portion even if you haven't used our gym for months."

So, they can only take 10% of the total contract price, not 110% of it. If there is no section of the contract that specifies 60 days notice, they can't hold you to it, even if they printed the policy elsewhere. I'm not a lawyer, but I know if you didn't sign for it, you're not liable for it.

At the very least, you can send proof of residence from July (a copy of your lease, a utility bill, anything) so you don't have to pay for October.

[WormwoodDoll]

Stella, are you pretty sure what's what it means?

I copied my contract, our July electric bill, and a mapquest image of how far it is from our new residence to their facilities to send to them via email with my complaint.

[kimminy]

I've heard of people buying a one way ticket somewhere where there isn't one of their fitness locations (Fitness World) and saying they were moving just to get out of their contract.
Not sure if it actually works or not though.
Good luck! I used to belong to a commercial gym but never again! I also had to pay to finish off my contract. It's the rec centre's gym from now on for me.

[stellarosa27]

That's what it sounds like it means. I know my co worker fought, using the same stuff you have, and she got out of it.