ComplaintsforAnytime Fitness Salem

• Initial Complaint

  11/22/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My husband and I signed up for a gym membership on a whim with Anytime Fitness as they are in our neighborhood and it was convenient for us, and our neighbors suggested them. When we signed up with *****, he was goofing off with us talking about how he and his wife work out and everything and we were just filling out the paperwork not really realizing how the process worked since we never had joined a gym before. Soon after we started going, I started experiencing issues and pain from going to the gym, so we backed out and pretty much stopped going (All the while, receiving constant, almost to the point of harassment, texts of the staff asking how things were going, etc. I would respond that we weren't even going if they had checked the account and would like to cancel our membership to which they would always redirect the conversation with some excuse. I eventually blocked all the numbers in my phone that I received texts from). I thought my husband had cancelled but found out we are still having payments deducted from our account. I sent an email on the website and the owner, called me. I thought things would be different this time since our situation is innocent and unintentional and after explaining my situation (and even crying on the phone because of all I'm going through - medical issues where I have to do rehab from a different facility and having to pay over $4,000+ for that) - I even stated I could get a doctor's note about it and his only response was that all he could do was freeze our account (so that we still have to pay the money to "buyout our contract" - $200!!! but acted like he was doing us a favor). Yes, I understand we signed paperwork HOWEVER it should have been better explained to us and I could not foresee the physical ailments that would happen that would hold me back from going to the gym (that may have even started with going there, honestly). I've never dealt with such terrible customer service.

  

  Business response

  11/24/2021

  *****,The person you spoke to is our Personal Training Regional Manager, not the owner; just wanted to point that out.All of our staff go through extensive training before they are allowed to talk to customers about the facility or sell a membership. This certainly includes how to convey all pertinent information regarding term (i.e., contract or agreement) lengths and cost. I have unequivocal confidence that this information was presented during your sign-up process by the employee you mentioned. We have never received a single complaint about a similar issue concerning this individual. As noted in your email to our facility, you mentioned “We did know ... if we cancelled early, there would be a fee” and yet now you claim you did not know you were signing a contract. I cannot foresee a situation where an employee would talk about a 50% buy-out cost to cancel without already having explained the term length, i.e., contract length.Our staff are instructed to reach out to members on an ongoing basis, unlike other gyms who would rather their members not show up. The fact you mention staff members were “checking to see how we were doing/liking the service” sounds good to me. We always contact members to see if there is anything we can do to help them with their goals or if there is anything we can do to improve the services we offer. It is unfortunate that you found this follow-up overbearing.Our records indicate you were contacted on average 1.3 times per month, or a total of 10 times in 13 months. I would hardly consider this “harassment”. Please keep in mind, all messages sent via email or text offer the option to opt-out. There would be no need to “block numbers''. If a member doesn’t want to be contacted, usually they simply opt out by following the simple directions in the message, i.e., replying with the word “Stop” as mentioned in every text that is sent for instance, then the automated system takes care of the request.Further records indicate you froze your account for the months of December 2020 and January 2021, the reason you wrote on the form was “Recovery from plantar fasciitis”. The membership began billing again in February as you requested, over the next couple of months, we reached out to ask how things were going. In a text conversation dated April 22, 2021, we reached out to see how you were. You informed us that you were still dealing with the plantar fasciitis, after which we immediately offered to assist you with workouts and exercises that could help alleviate some of your discomfort. I believe you responded with “No, I work with orthopaedic surgeons”. Throughout the next several months you received three additional text messages to see how you were feeling, also offering our assistance, if needed, or if you had any questions or concerns, there was no response by you or mention of needing to cancel the contract you signed. On November 22, 2021, we received your email wishing to cancel your agreement. In your email, you make reference to seeing a chiropractor three times a week, over the course of three months with your out-of-pocket fee reaching over $4,000 dollars. The ONLY time you ever mentioned a scoliosis issue to our staff was in your ******** review FYI. In none of our communications did you mention getting a doctor’s note about a medical issue. We, in fact, do offer a no-fee medical cancellation with a note from a physician (not a chiropractor). Keep in mind, we usually don’t offer medical cancellations for plantar fasciitis because we can replicate most, if not all exercises/stretches that are performed at a physical therapy office at a substantially lower cost. Most gyms do not have reduced-cost cancellation policies, they charge the full remainder of a contract to close an account early. As a courtesy to our members, when looking to close a contract early, we will discount the remaining member obligation 50%. As with all fitness centers, we offer access to our facility with a membership, we do not bill based on usage. This is the same as any contract, e.g., a cell phone contract, a cable contract, a car loan, etc. If you are not “using” these products, the contract does not simply go away. We fulfill our obligations under the contract by offering our gym facilities available upon demand, 24/7/365.

  Customer response

  11/29/2021

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. They always want to CORRECT a customer and try to defend their business instead of hearing out a customer and their side. Anyone who works in customer service is taught the lovely quote of “the customer is always right” (which is NOT obviously true, but meaning that you should try to act like you understand and help them in order to keep their business. I really question that any of these guys have ever worked in customer service with the way we have been treated by them.  I was told by ***** with the Self-Esteem brand which apparently owns/contracts out Anytime Fitness that ****** ********** IS the manager AND owner. They MAY want to clear that up with them instead of consistently telling me I am wrong. Second, yes - harassment when we never SIGNED UP for any text messages and when you don’t receive any response, obviously don’t keep trying. We didn’t respond because I had already explained my situation about being in pain and that I couldn’t continue and  I had even called about it in the past but I guess you don’t have record of that, right?Regardless of how you feel your team is trained, ***** did not explain everything correctly, had issues between the iPad and having to switch to paper and back and forth and was inconsistent. Instead of being professional, wanted to make friends, tell us how he met his wife somewhere in Japan or somewhere overseas, and show he was the popular kid in the gym with everyone saying hi to him. I am disgusted with this facility, staff, and their morals. They are trying to win a losing battle in trying to compete with the new Golds Gym put in across the street. They CERTAINLY will not keep members when they treat them this way. You can tell by the way the responses are written as to how nasty they are to their customers. 

*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. ↩