Complain about a product or service

Gold's Gym

Christina of Scotia, NY March 30, 2009

this is a follow up letter written about golds gym niskayuna ny. i did get the chance to speak with manager although she did think there were a few things i listed that were not correct, overall it was a good conversation. she did mention some things that i had concerns about and did clarify a few things for me. i did however notice how clean the machines are, machines have been fixed and it does take sometime for parts to come in she also stated that they did change my membership dues as of today it has not taken effect wich i was very appreciative.

the staff there is always kind and i never had complaints about the staff, i do not like confrontaion not that it would have gotten out of control but this website was a way to let out the frustration and concerns that i had, never realizing how far my letter had gone i figured other members would complain about the same things. in all fairness many people may not have taken the time to do a follow up letter and i am the type of person that will. i am happy to say that it has all worked out for the good, and please dont show the same movie for 3 days in a row.they need to get rid of that policy, and no juno has not played since...at least not on the days i go..

Angelea of Seattle, WA March 27, 2009

I used to be an employee of Golds Gym. Before I became an employee I was a member. Upon being hired I was told I get a free membership to all the Gold's gyms. Two months into the job ABC Financial continued to debit my checking account. I took it to management and they stopped debiting my account and paid back all the fees including the overdraft fees that were incurred by ABC Financial.

After two+ years of employment I no longer worked for Gold's and began going to school. I then got a membership that was 40/month. I paid this for one year when I noticed after the one year mark they RAISED my dues to 58! I was so upset, one because they said it was a ONE time fee but turned out that it was not and they continued to charge me 58+/month! So November, I went into the location where I had obtained my membership and cancelled. Or at least that was what I was told. But ABC Financial continued to take out 58+ in November and so I called ABC Financial and was told that I needed to FAX over a letter of cancellation. I faxed over the required documentation.

AGAIN I was charged for December and I called ABC Financial and was told they had not received my fax and fax it over again. I faxed it over again and went to my bank and asked what I could do to make them stop charging me. They suggested I changed my acoount number. I changed my back account number but they CONTINUED TO SEND ME A BILL FOR 58+ for January! I called ABC AGAIN and was informed that I needed to send in a CERTIFIED LETTER TO THE GYM AND ABC FINANCIAL! I refused to pay , I've CANCELLED 3 TIMES! IM NOT USING THE FACILITY AND THEY ARE CHARGING ME for Jan, Feb, and March!

In Febuary I guy named Micha called me and left me a voice message telling me I was on their cancellation list and if I would like to stay with Golds they would reduce my membership to 50/month! That was more than I had signed up for and more than I had agreed to pay for! I am so fed up. Its too late to send them a certified letter because now they have sent me to Vision Financial a collection agency! Who by the way has called me over and over at least 3 times a day on my business phone, isnt that illegal? I have requested them to not call this num ber that it is a business line and they still call!

I feel that they owe me the over payments they deducted from my bank account with out my authorization, I had only autorized them to take out 40/month but the charge me 63 for October, 58 for novemebr and 58 for Decemeber which I payed becasue they unlawfully took it ot of my bank account. They are charging me 234.20 for January, Febuary and March! I do not owe them anything, they owe me for the dates they charged me and stole it out of my bank account. DOES ANYBODY KNOW AN ATTOURNY? I DO WANT SOMEONE TO CONTACT ME ABOUT THIS!

Shawna of Fountain Valley, CA March 27, 2009

ABC Financial & Gold's Gym are not honoring membership cancelation requests. My husband has been attempting to cancel his membership for over 6 months. He has gone into the Gym, filled out cancelation paperwork, phoned, and then repeated the cycle several times. I have been reseaching complaints against both Gold's Gym & ABC Financial Services and there are countless complaints posted against these two companies for failure to honor cancelations, and unauthorized debits after the cancelation.

Each month we experiance a financial hardship due to the fact that we are charged a membership fee that we have canceled. We spend hours writing letters, and attempting to make contact with ABC Financial. Based on my research, I think that it is time to get a class action law suite opened up against both ABC Financial & Gold's Gym because they are stealing from their customers and getting away with it.

Bill of Austin, TX March 25, 2009

You can NEVER cancel your subscription and these people will hound you to death if you try. I had to go into the gym, jump through all kinds of hoops, have a major argument with the hapless manager and STILL they continue to debit my checking account. One would think you could just go into the gym, request a cancellation, return your access card and be done with it......but, oh noooooo. If you go to their 'corporate' web site, of course there is no way to cancel.

You DO NOT have access to all of the gyms in the country (I live in Austin and went to NYC and attempted to use a gym there......no way....some kind of BS about ownership issues - franchise confusion)....these people, like so many gyms, are just scammers who exist to bill you FOREVER, even after they go out of business......buyer beware.

Checking account continues to be billed. The only way out of it without being harrassed by collection agencies is to close your bank account....

Tiffany of Long Beach, CA March 23, 2009

The also raised my monthly rates, without notification. I do believe that is highly illegal. I authorized a certain amount to be deducted, they cannot start taking more without my consent. The manager, Jennifer M, was rude when I contacted her this morning about canceling the membership. I haven't used it but a few times in 5 years (been a member for 10), but have been paying faithfully every month. The staff is so inept, they had my address from 10 years in the system...I have moved twice since then and notified them each time and had the info updated, or so I thought. Needless to say, I have contacted my bank to let them know that Gold's is no longer authorized to deduct the from my account. Gold's position we will send you to collections it's 26 and they are acting like I ripped them off instead of the other way around.

Leah of Austin, TX March 20, 2009

When I joined for a 1 year membership I was with a friend. We both joined as well as bought personal training. She asked me if she could use my card for the personal training only. I said yes. 4 months later I start getting double billed. My friend stopped going (she paid cash once a month). I called them and they used my credit card to pay her monthly dues without my permission. Upon going directly to the gym they said there was nothing they could do. I infomred them that my credit card was cancelled due to fraud - I then paid MY membership in full.

Now it is almost a year later and I get a letter of collection in the mail - I call them and they tell me that I owe them 41 because my membership reinstated itself for the next year - no one called, no one told me upon signing that this would happen. They wouldn't even work with me. I only used the gym for the first 6 months due to a medical condition that I ended up having surgery to correct. I am not allowed to exercise for 6 to 8 months per my doctor and I am umemployed. They did not care - they only wanted my money.

Now I am afraid that they will continue to bill me for years to come after reading the previous notes about Gold's. I am writing a formal letter cancelling my membership and hope that it ends there. Also, no one every called me or wrote me to let me know that I even had a viable contract or that I owned money until it was 2 months later and it was a collection letter.

My credit might be affected and they have enough money. We all know that most people that join gyms never use the full membership. Isn't that enough for them. I feel it is very shady for any organization that has timely contracts to have automatic reinstatements of contract unless cancelled. Who can remember the exact date that the contract is going to reinstate itself.

Larry B. of Rockville, MD March 15, 2009

Signed up in an old gas station across from where Gold's was going to be built in 6/'06. Was told that 34.95 would be my forever rate because i was investing in the gyn as it was in Pase I by Chaz T. (who has since passed away!) Now as of 3.09, 37.95 is the membership although i was told mine would never go up. The parking decal I was given is no good, it is 1/.hr. to park there, the gym opened 10 months LATE and I have NOT seen anything to warrant an increase in membership dues. My contract is from '06 so I called TX and I am hoping they will be able to get me out of this new rate increase and any further ones! If they start playing games, I will quit and go back to my Community Center Gym for 15/month!

Lots of lies from square one about opening date, parking for free and rates never increaseing. I am there 5 days a week, retired at 53. I disseminate solid info. to young trainess for free, they NEED me!

Daniel of Van Nuys, CA March 15, 2009

I canceled my membership with Golds Gym back on September 16th, 2008. I went inside the gym and filled out the proper cancellation form along with a customer survey terminating my membership with them. I called the gym a week later and spoke to the Gym manager, confirming that they had received my cancellation form and was told that it would be entered into the system in the coming days.

During the next few months, Golds Gym continued debiting my checking account. I contacted the Gym manager and she said that it would stop after one month. The automatic debits continued despite me filing unauthorized transaction claims with my bank. Golds Gym corporate representatives have contacted me on two separate occasions claiming that I still owe them back membership dues, and that they have no record of me canceling my membership. I informed them that I had canceled my membership as of September and they said they would look into it and follow up with me later. Now they recently sent me an invoice stating that I owe them 79.40 in back-membership dues for not paying from 2/16/09 3/25/09 and that if I do not pay them that they will pass it along to a collections agency.

Gold's Gym has been constantly harassing me over the phone and sending me letters that I owe them money. They took money from my checking account without my permission and I had to get the bank to reimburse the amount taken through unauthorized transaction claims.

Jesse of Cedartown, GA March 12, 2009

i signed up for a pt and then cancelled it like it said on the contract but when i walked out the doors they throw my notice away and know i getting charged 2400.00 and when i went to talk to frank in cedartown ga he was rude and show me the door but before he did he told me to abide by the contract. need help

Joseph of Austin, TX March 9, 2009

I signed up for Golds Gym in Austin, TX in 2002. When I signed up, I told them that I was in the Air Force and do a lot of traveling. I was told that my membership would work at ANY Golds Gym in the world. I thought this was a great deal. After signing up, I moved to San Antonio. There I was able to use my membership. I then got stationed overseas for a couple of years. There was no Golds Gym where I was at, but decided to keep my membership because I knew I wanted to keep using it when I got back from overseas.

After coming back from overseas I got out of the military. I got a job working for the state where I travel to a different area of TX every week and home on the weekends. I went to Amarillo for a week and was told there that I did not have a membership. I showed them my keycard and was told that I was a coporate member and not a member of their franchise. I told them my membership allowed me to go to every Golds Gym. I was then informed that my membership only allowed me entry to Golds Gyms that are corporate owned and not independatly franchise owned.

After further research, all the Golds Gym in my region of work are frachise owned. So, now Im paying for a membership that I cant even use. The main selling point for me was I could use my membership at ANY Golds Gym in the world. I feel that I was lied to. I feel that Im wasting money. I dont get to use the Gym anymore. If I cancel, then I have to pay fees. But, I find a job that dosent require me to travel, Id have to pay all over again.

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