The Federal Trade Commission is suing LA Fitness and other gyms, claiming the companies make it too difficult to cancel memberships and other services.
The FTC is asking for a court order to prohibit the practices and to get refunds for consumers.
“The FTC’s complaint describes a scenario that too many Americans have experienced – a gym membership that seems impossible to cancel,” Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.LA
The agency said that the companies illegally charged “hundreds of millions of dollars in unwanted recurring fees,” The Associated Press reported
Fitness International LLC and Fitness & Sports Clubs, LLC are the operators of LA Fitness and other chains, including Esporta Fitness, City Sports Club and Club Studio.
There are more than 600 locations and 3.7 million members of those gyms across the country.
Members can pay a base cost of $30 to $299 a month, depending on the gym, the FTC said. Add-ons such as personal training memberships and towel service can be tacked onto the bill.
Typically, a person pays first and last month’s fees at signup in addition to a monthly fee and sometimes annual fees.
The FTC singles out LA Fitness, saying it "uses opaque and complicated methods to make it extremely difficult for consumers to cancel their memberships."
LA Fitness requires those who want to cancel to either visit the gym or send a cancellation notice by mail. First, however, they have to log onto the company’s website, print out a form. Then, when they visit the gym, they discover that they have to cancel with a specific employee and visit the gym during specific hours.
As for the mail-in option, frequently gym members were told that the mailed forms should be sent by certified or registered mail, which comes at an extra cost.
If a member tried to stop their membership by stopping charges, the FTC said they were often rebilled and typically under new account numbers, which violates the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.
Fitness International’s president of club operations, Jill Hill, called the allegations against the company “without merit” and that the company will win in court.
Hill said that the law the FTC cited “was designed to address only online retail transactions, does not require any specific method of cancellation, and has never before been applied to the health club industry," adding that LA Fitness “proactively launched” its online cancelation option 18 months before the “click to cancel rule” took effect.
With just a few clicks, members may cancel online — a step we voluntarily implemented well ahead of regulatory deadlines,” Hill said. She added that it provided members "with yet another simple way to cancel,” the AP reported.
To read the complaint, click here or see below.