Gym Memberships

I am writing this as a word of warning to people out there who have gym memberships. Be careful when it is time to end your membership! Trust me, no matter how much you work out now, you won't be a member of your gym forever and the time will come when you too will become frustrated when you part ways with your gym.

Right now, Caroline is currently at war with her gym (Fitness First) because she got billed twice on her credit card (among other things). As usual, the gym is making it difficult to get her money back.

As much as gyms exist as a place for you to work out, I think gyms count on you to become lazy and forget to work out. This is the reason you have to give your credit card / bank account details to them and pay by direct debit on a regular basis, and normally have to sign a 1-year contract. Rare is the gym that has a "pay as you go" payment plan (if they do, the rate is significantly higher than the regular rate).

Most gym members don't even use their membership for the full year. I should know. I used to go to my gym almost 5 days a week, so I knew who the regulars were. And I saw alot of people come and go too. Most people give up after 1 month, 2 months at most. So most customers end up paying for something that they don't even use. Now that's free money for the gym!

So, when trying to cancel your membership, always look at the fine print! When I had to cancel my Golds Gym membership a few years ago, I could not believe how hard it was. I ended up having to pay 3 extra months just to get them off my back. Apparently, I had to cancel the membership in writing. Of course, the person behind the counter in my gym didn't tell me about it when I told him that I wanted to cancel my membership. Imagine my surprise when I saw my account statement and still saw money being withdrawn from my account. When I complained to the gym, thats the only time I found out that I had to submit a letter to their accounts department. Apparently it was mentioned in the contract, not mentioned by the gym personnel. They blamed me for not having read my contract properly (ok, I admit, I did skim through the contract). By the time I sent the cancellation letter and they processed my request, 3 months had passed. Lesson learned, which is why I only try to enroll in gyms that have short-term plans (with no direct debit).

When its time to end your gym membership.... good luck!

La Vita e Bella!