ComplaintsforFITLAB Fitness Club

• Initial Complaint

  01/17/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had a month to month membership at Fitlab Fitness. Usually the fitness club would take the monthly fee on the 5th of each month. The month of December was already paid. On December 27th I went to the gym to cancel my subscription and I paid an extra one month for cancelation fee on that date. I cancelled my membership because I now have a gym at home. The monthly fees stopped, so I was sure that the cancellation was done properly. I was looking at my yearly payments for the year 2023, and I realized that Fitlab Fitness started to charge me again every month, plus their yearly fees starting July 2023. On January 10th 2024 I called them, to ask for a refund, and they told me that my membership was never cancelled and that it was only paused for 5 months. They confirmed that I haven't gone to the gym since September 2022. So why would I reinstate the membership, or why would I only pause the membership, if I no longer needed a gym, since I have one at home. Obviously the person that did my cancellation made a mistake, but Fitlab refuse to refund me

  Business response

  01/17/2024

  Hi ******* is it safe to assume this complaint was sent before you and I connected? As we left it in our email conversation on 1/11/24, you found the outcome reasonable. I'd be confused if this complaint was posted after that conversation but I was just notified of it a moment ago. 

  Business response

  01/17/2024

  Hi ******* is it safe to assume this complaint was sent before you and I connected? As we left it in our email conversation on 1/11/24, you found the outcome reasonable. I'd be confused if this complaint was posted after that conversation but I was just notified of it a moment ago. 

• Initial Complaint

  12/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I joined the gym because they said it was open 24 hours but it actually opens at 6am every day. I need a gym that is open at 5am because of my work schedule. I asked that they cancel my membership because it says they are open 24 hours on their website but that is not true. When I expressed this to them they keep saying they are open 24 hours which since I tried the first 2 days I was a member was not true. Now they are putting me into the bill collectors hands!! Please help I would gladly go to that gym since it is 40 minutes closer to the gym I go to now but it is not open 24 hours!!! Thanks

  Business response

  12/13/2023

  Hello, we sorry and confused to see this complaint. Jose (regional manager) reached out to you the other day to discuss your account balance and when you brought up the 24 hour subject, rather than letting Jose explain how to activate the 24 hour access membership, you told him that you are going to complain on the BBB instead. 4 out of 5 of our locations are 24/7 gyms. Manchester is the only location that does not have 24 hour access. You were in Milford which does (if you activate it). I reviewed a series of text messages between you and Jose and after doing so was left in a very confused state given the fact that you decided to come here and make these statements rather than allow Jose to help you activate your 24/7 access. He's still willing to help you out if you can respond to him.

• Initial Complaint

  11/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Fitlab Milford engages in predatory practices that I believe to be fraud and anti-trust. They falsely explain their personal training program and mislead consumers. They populate the consumer's digital signature on a contract against their knowledge. This contract amounts for thousands of dollars for services not rendered. Timeline: Sept 2023 I decided I wanted to purchase six 30-minute personal training sessions which amounted to $270. My trainer explained I can buy these sessions and if I am happy with them, I can purchase more. She added my training sessions to the calendar and slid an electronic pen pad to me. I asked what am I signing and she stated it was simply an acknowledgement of the 6 sessions I am purchasing to authorize the one-time $270 payment. Since this was an acknowledgment, I just scribbled circles. I was not explained or shown any documentation. After 5 sessions, I decided I did not want to continue. 10/5/23: I tell my trainer I need to cancel training. She puts my account on freeze so I can pick it back up again when I’m ready. I figured it was only one last session, no big deal. Go ahead and freeze it. 10/12/23: My bank account is charged $270 unknown to me. No services were rendered. 10/14/23: I instruct my personal trainer of the mistake and to please refund me. She said yes, she will take care of it. 11/3/23: No response and no refund. I call the manager and he told me “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you’re not going to get your money back.” He instructed me to email their customer support ([email protected]) but I still won’t get my money back. 11/7/23: I get a response outlining that I will have to pay $3,105 to end my personal training contract. Come to find out, when I signed what was explained to be simply an acknowledgment, they populated my signature on a contract (attached). In order to cancel the monthly $270 charge, I need to pay them $3,105. This is without any services rendered and totally unknown to me.

  Business response

  11/08/2023

  ********, and I had a very productive conversation on the phone a moment ago and cleared all of this up. It came down to a miscommunication at the time of signing up. I do believe she is content with the outcome and we're all able to move forward. She of course can say otherwise if this is not true but I do not believe that will be the case. 

  Customer response

  11/08/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

  I spoke on the phone with a representative of Fitlab and after our discussion, I believe this issue may have been a one-time mistake related to a miscommunication. Fitlab has remediated the situation.

  To ensure this does not happen to someone else, I recommended Fitlab to print the contract for the consumer. This will ensure the consumer knows what they are signing and provides full transparency.
  
  Sincerely,
  ******** ******

• Initial Complaint

  05/03/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been a member of Golds gym since 1991. We used to have contracts which I had participated in. The owner got rid of the Golds Gym monicker and labeled it FitLab, not sure of the year. I have not signed a contract in the last 25 years, it was always pay as you go. In the last year, my bank was recently purchased by another bank and because of this I got a new debit card which FitLab could not access. They contacted me via e-mail and text messages. I responded to them and told them I no longer wanted the membership. Fast forward 4 months and I started receiving phone calls from a collection agency as well as receiving phone calls from said company. I called FitLab and explained the situation to them and they said it was out of their hands, that they had already turned it over to collections. I actually have not even been to the gym in over a year and a half and here they are charging me for use that I haven't used. Please explain to me how I can be charged for a contract which hasn't been renewed in over 20 years? Thank-you for your service, I will be awaiting your response. Sincerely, ***** *******

  Business response

  05/04/2023

  Hi *****, I'm looking over your agreement and it states in large bold print that to cancel your membership you would need to provide a written cancelation form or letter. I thought about uploading your agreements but I'm not sure if the information on them can be viewed by the public. I would be happy to send them to you if you'd like. Our newer agreements state that you can do this via email which is what would have suggested had you contacted us at the club when this issue came up (prior to going to collections). You mentioned that you replied to a text that you received from the billing company. Those are "noreply" messages so it makes sense that they would not have received the response on that. If you sent an email, I would like to review who and where you sent it if you could forward that to me. Once an agreement is 120 days past due, the system automatically will submit the account to the collection agency. Prior to sending the account to collections, I can see that the billing company attempted to contact you more than 60 times. If any one of those calls were answered or returned, this all could have been avoided. But the question you asked in your submission was how you could be paying for an account you haven't used or renewed in years. Our agreements are no different than any other gyms agreements. After the initial 12 months are up (which for you was many years ago) the agreement becomes "open". This means it can be canceled any time with 30-day notice via written/email. Without the written/email notice, the account will remain open and you will be billed monthly. It has nothing to do with your visits. Now if you'd like to work with me directly to resolve this feel free to email me at *********@fitlab.bz. 

• Initial Complaint

  08/23/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been a member of this gym since 2017 despite desperately trying to NOT be a member. FitLab is probably the worst managed, most scummy establishment in the northeast. As anyone can see from the large number of recent complaints here, they like to rip off their customers. Customer service is almost non-existent, they're only in it for a quick dollar. The incompetent ownership clearly has no idea that the way you build a profitable business is to build a loyal customer base. This complaint is about billing, as are the 14 other complaints on the BBB website (see a trend?) Every other complaint has been disputed or explained away by FitLab because they think people are too stupid to see what is really going on. I've talked to multiple former members in person who have told me that they've received the same run-around when it comes to cancelling their membership. They make it next to impossible to cancel. This gym deserves a class-action lawsuit, and they just might get one. ;)

  Business response

  09/07/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/08/24) */ We're a little confused at the claim that Mr ******** has been trying to cancel since 2017. We have an email from 2/13/2020 where we were confirming his request to Freeze his account while he was away at school. It even explained to him when the freeze was coming to an end so he would not be surprised when his account started to be charged again. He also checked into the club 38 times between 1/5/2018 - 12/22/2019. As outlined in the agreement Mr ******** signed on 12/11/2017, cancel requests are to be submitted in writing (or email). Once the request is received, the 30 day notice goes into effect. This means any payments due in the next 30 days of the written request are deducted before the cancel can occur. The first written cancel request we see from Mr ******** was on 7/20/2021. This would typically mean that the payment which was due on 8/11/2021 would be his last, but since the 7/11/2021 payment was already delinquent when he made his formal request, his account is now two months past due preventing it from being able to close out. The cancel process is very simple for those who follow it. You send an email, pay the final payment due in the next 30 days, and the up-to-date account closes 30 days after. This process was not followed, therefore Mr ******** experienced issues that are still ongoing due to the delinquency.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩