ABC Financial - Gold's Gym

[Falcon1871]

Hello everyone,

ABC Financial is billing me for gym membership. I cancelled my account, and sent my last check and on the check I stated "By clearing this check, you agree to cancel my membership to Gold's Gym" and they cleared that check. I have the copy of the check.

But they still are sending me invoices saying that I owe money to them.

Here is my question: How can I sue them? They claim that I owe money, but they also cleared my check. The account hasn't been reported to the collection agency or to the credit reporting agencies.

Is there any legal grounds for a lawsuit?

Thank you in advance.

[TheRoadBack]

Hello everyone,

ABC Financial is billing me for gym membership. I cancelled my account, and sent my last check and on the check I stated "By clearing this check, you agree to cancel my membership to Gold's Gym" and they cleared that check. I have the copy of the check.

But they still are sending me invoices saying that I owe money to them.

Here is my question: How can I sue them? They claim that I owe money, but they also cleared my check. The account hasn't been reported to the collection agency or to the credit reporting agencies.

Is there any legal grounds for a lawsuit?

Thank you in advance.

if abc is not a ca then who are they?

[VeVe]

How can I sue them?

Can we please end that way of thinking?

You signed a contract with Gold's. Did you honor the contract, or try to end it early without a valid reason?

To cancel a Gold's membership, you need to do so in writing to the location that holds your membership. Did you do that (separately from the check)?

I can assure you that Gold's keeps excellent records. They will present you with your original contract if necessary, regardless of how old it was. If you transferred locations, your new location will have your contract as well.

[Falcon1871]

Hi TheRoadBack,

ABC is a billing service company working for Gold's.

Hi VeVe,

I signed a 15 month contract with Gold's, and after 15th month, it supposed to be cancelled. But they kept billing me. I tried to cancel it, I talked to them, but they kept telling me that I have to send them a certified letter. They kept taking monthly fee from my bank account after the contract term. I did send them the last check, and they send me another bill saying that I have to pay them two more months in order to cancel.

I didn't try to cancel it in the 3rd or 4th month. I tried to cancel after my term was up, but they didn't want to cancel it.

I hope this was a better explanation of my situation.

SO, my question is, how do I make them stop? This account hasn't been to collections or to my credit report. Do I have to wait until it goes to collections?

[VeVe]

Hi TheRoadBack,

I signed a 15 month contract with Gold's, and after 15th month, it supposed to be cancelled. But they kept billing me. I tried to cancel it, I talked to them, but they kept telling me that I have to send them a certified letter. They kept taking monthly fee from my bank account after the contract term. I did send them the last check, and they send me another bill saying that I have to pay them two more months in order to cancel.

I didn't try to cancel it in the 3rd or 4th month. I tried to cancel after my term was up, but they didn't want to cancel it.

I hope this was a better explanation of my situation.

SO, my question is, how do I make them stop? This account hasn't been to collections or to my credit report. Do I have to wait until it goes to collections?

You make them stop by sending them a certified letter. This is stated on the contract. You know this, so why haven't you done it?

Just because you signed a 15 month contract doesn't mean they were going to automatically cancel your contract and stop billing you, it simply meant you were no longer under any obligation to continue your membership after 15 months. You're now on a month-to-month contract until you notify them, in writing, that you want to cancel.

Send them a letter immediately. That's the only way to cancel with them. You can try to add in an effective date from the past (whenever you wanted to cancel), but no guarantee that will work.

Take care of it before it goes into collections, because if you don't, Gold's will send it to collections, and it will go on your credit reports.

[Big Time]

Never stop thinking like that, it's the only way to keep any part of Corporate America from walking all over you.

Even if the contract wasn't up, if their service sucked, they deserve nothing and any contract like that isn't as one sided as they want you to think it is.

Trying to scare you with "it will go on your credit report!" is the same type of manipulative tactics the collection industry uses and commands no respect from an honest consumer.

Right now, you probably have no real cause of action and don't really need one since they haven't hurt your credit report yet, but you still need to send them certified mail explaining to them that the contract is up and that you refuse to pay and that if they do send any amount to any CA who tries to collect anything or harms your credit rating, you will not hesitate to sue them both.

That's just the way you have to handle them because there is usually no consequence for them trying to extort just a little more money from people.

[VeVe]

Never stop thinking like that, it's the only way to keep any part of Corporate America from walking all over you.

Even if the contract wasn't up, if their service sucked, they deserve nothing and any contract like that isn't as one sided as they want you to think it is.

Trying to scare you with "it will go on your credit report!" is the same type of manipulative tactics the collection industry uses and commands no respect from an honest consumer.

Right now, you probably have no real cause of action and don't really need one since they haven't hurt your credit report yet, but you still need to send them certified mail explaining to them that the contract is up and that you refuse to pay and that if they do send any amount to any CA who tries to collect anything or harms your credit rating, you will not hesitate to sue them both.

That's just the way you have to handle them because there is usually no consequence for them trying to extort just a little more money from people.

I don't know what posts you're responding to, because your answer doesn't really apply to any one this page.

There is no collection agency involved, nobody has tried to "scare" him with reporting to the CRA's. The OP also never said anything about the service being poor. He is questioning why they're billing him after 15 months. The reason is because he never actually canceled, which he stated he knew he would have to do, and he knows how he needs to do it.

This is no different than a mobile phone contact. You're committed for two years, and then your contract goes to a month-to-month. They keep billing you after two years until you request your account be canceled. Would you be happy if they would just cancel your account automatically after the two years, rather than continue it on a monthly basis? Likely not.

[Big Time]

I disagree with your position that once a contact is signed, a company owns you and can do whatever they want. You're the one who wants the OP to worry about CA's and his credit report, which I also have a problem with. The OP has done nothing wrong.

I agreed that he still needs to send the CMRRR, but he need not worry about not having done so until now and he certinly doesn't have to pay them any extra since he quit using their services.

I understand their point of view, too. They probably have no way to know if he's been using the gym or how much and probably don't care, but it's the righteous attitude that some companies have that bugs me. They should appretiate their customers and be trying to win his business back, not trying to strongarm him into giving them his lunch money.

Comparing a gym membership to a cellphone being cut off is apples and oranges. I actually had a contract with Cingular that I cancelled early becasue ther service sucks, and was this close to taking them to court after they tried a couple of diffferent collection agaencies, so they backed off and the CA's no longer show on my Credit reports.

It also is no big deal if I went off on a couple of tangents to make my point, either, That's what these boards are for.

My way of hadling incompetant companies like them works, your way of surrendering just doesn't appeal to me.

[cjtx]

Gym memberships are one of the greatest scams there are. They make it difficult for customers to cancel even if their service sucks. I have no sympathy for those companies, since most of them take unfair advantage of uninformed consumers.

What gym do you own/work for Veve?

[VeVe]

I don't work for any gym. I work for a pharmaceutical company.

You guys are missing the key issue here - he never actually cancelled his membership, so of course they're going to keep billing him.

I've had a Gold's membership in the past, and when I sent them a letter requesting to cancel guess what happened? They cancelled it.

The OP has flat out said he knew he had to send a letter and he hasn't done that yet. Now, if he sends a letter and they don't cancel, that's an entirely different situation.

[Big Time]

He knows he didn't cancel but should have, and now understands why they kept billing him anyway.

The injustice here is that they may try to force him to pay them extra anyway by use of a CA that will hurt his credit rating, when they should just get a clue and drop the whole thing after he talked to them.

[ms6073]

Gym memberships are one of the greatest scams there are. They make it difficult for customers to cancel even if their service sucks.

That is because a 'gym membership' is not so much a membership as it is a retail installment contract that covers the term of service for the contract. Even facilities with no-contract month-to-month access agreements such as YMCA, 24-Hour Fitness or LA Fitness, still require written notification when a member opts to cancel his or her membership.

[kevin3344]

"By clearing this check, you agree to cancel my membership to Gold's Gym"

This won't be enough to cancel your membership. Most of the time these places just clear the checks and don't even read what's on it (except the amount of course!). You have to write them separately.

[Falcon1871]

Thank you for your replies.

When I first signed up with the gym, the person said if I want to cancel, all I have to do is let them know, and it will be cancelled, because my membership is a month-to-month membership.

When I went to the gym to cancel, the guy who signed me up gave me a phone number, and said I have to call them to cancel.

I called ABC and told them that I want to cancel. They didn't, because they said I signed up for 15 months. I said fine, and waited for 15 months to be over.

After 17 months, I called again to cancel, and they said I have to send them a certified letter explaining that I want to cancel. I told the lady to cancel over the phone, and she said I can't, because according to the contract that I signed, I have to send a certified letter to cancel.

So, basically, my phone call wasn't good enough for them to cancel!

In the mean time, they kept witdrawing money from my bank account. I stopped depositing money to my account, and now they can't withdraw anymore.

Later on, I received an invoice from ABC saying that because they can't withdraw money from my account, I have to pay them the monthly fee, plus the penalties.

This went for 2 or 3 months.

I sent them a letter, saying that I want to cancel, along with the remaining balance of the payment. I also wrote on the check, saying that "if the check is cleared, they aggree to cancel my membership."

The check is cleared, and *** here comes the best part *** according to the contract that I signed, I HAVE TO pay two more months in order for them to cancel my membership. If not, they will keep on billing me just like a regular customer!

Now, please advise, do I have to wait for them to send me to the collections in order to file a lawsuit against them?

Or can I just file the lawsuit? If I can, how?

[kevin3344]

according to the contract that I signed, I have to send a certified letter to cancel.

I know it's a pain, believe me, and they purposely make it difficult for you to cancel since they want to make more money off you. However, if you would have sent them a certified letter, CMRRR, you would have proof that you canceled and then you might have a case. Writing it on the check is just not enough IMO because the same department that cashes the check might not be the same one that processes cancellations.

Next, don't just stop depositing money to your account because that will cause problems with your bank. They still might put the charge through, you know how banks love fees. Tell the bank not to allow the electronic funds transfer from this company...costs about $10...it's like putting a stop on an outstanding check.

[VeVe]

Now, please advise, do I have to wait for them to send me to the collections in order to file a lawsuit against them?

Or can I just file the lawsuit? If I can, how?

Is that the bottom line here? You're just looking for a lawsuit?

Did you read the contract? Gold's has very little writing on theirs. VERY clearly, right on the front of their one page membership application/contract it says that you MUST cancel in writing, sent by certified mail. It's very simple. You said earlier in this thread that you know that, but you didn't do that.

You have no lawsuit. Send them a CMRR letter and get it over with. Done.