Just received a phone call from a collection agency saying I owed Gold’s Gym several Months of Membership fees which I cancelled before I left Arizona. (I also hadn’t received any other contact from them). The thing that makes this so crazy is that my original contract with them was for 2 years which I paid in full at the time of the initial membership. When that contract ended, I paid cash on a month to month basis until I knew I was leaving, at which time I notified them, I haven’t been there for several months now.
The gentleman I spoke with who was representing Golds told me that I did not go through the official “paperwork process” and that I would have to pay the fees. I asked if he could confirm when the last time I walked into a Golds Gym was and he said: “Yes, I can, but there is a difference between using our services and having a membership with us. We don’t care if you use the gym, you owe us money.” Classic example of how NOT to treat your customers. I doubt he understands the idiocy of his comment.
I laughed at him, and then told him I would be happy to pay his silly little fees and in return would make a post here (which marks very high for search engines- Type in “Gold’s Gym Scam” to google in a few days) about how Gold’s likes to treat their customers. He answered “Go ahead, you wont be the first.” Wow…he was right apparently there are what seem like hundreds of similar posts about Gold’s scamming their own customers. How in the world do they expect to get return business? Looks like canceling a membership with them is just about impossible. Once you are in, you are really IN. Another thing I noticed is that they were starting to charge “up keep” fees twice a year. This is curious…if membership fees are not going towards “up keep” what are they going towards?
If you are considering joining a Gold’s Gym, absolutely positively think twice. I would recommend against it. There are enough alternatives out there to avoid dealing with them, I know I wont use them anymore.
Glad to know this….I was seriously considering our local Gold’s Gym. Will definately go to one of the other two in town now! Thanks for the head’s up! 🙂
My wife and I had similar issues when we cancelled our Bally’s membership before moving. After several months of phone calls, written correspondence, and reoccurring charges, I ended up having to get a new credit card number assigned to prevent getting charged for a membership we’d repeatedly cancelled. After that we started getting bills and collections notices. In the end we got to the right person and got the majority of the charges refunded, but it was still several months of headache getting it taken care of.
They pulled a similar trick on me where there was this "30 Day Free Membership", which in fact was a 2-year contract after the initial trial. It was impossible to cancel once the 30 days were up and they kept on charging my card. This went on for months. The contract has all this extremely fine print and once you sign it, you are locked in, even if they describe it to you otherwise. They are complete scammers.
Check out this link- 18 Pages of customers who say they have been ripped off by Golds:http://www.consumeraffairs.com/health_clubs/golds.htm
It’s amazing to me to see the blithe attitude so many businesses seem to have with respect to the damage that a single person can do by recounting their experience on a blog. I had a similarly frustrating experience with Clear Internet and wrote it up on my blog – it is still one of the highest traffic magnets for my site.
http://www.kimballlarsen.com/2010/09/13/clear-internet-a-review/
Is the pen still mightier than the sword?
I remember hearing about this a few years ago when I was looking for a Gym. Went with a locally owned gym and it was so awesome. I saw the owner EVERY time I was in. All the employees knew me by name, and were extremely helpful. I had to move and even though my contract was not up they were understanding and let me out of my contract. Go local if you can! The gym might be smaller, but the experience will be so much better.
I’m currently with Gold’s Gym, and unfortunately, I only read about these stories two months after I signed with them for 2 years. Scary… Anyone wanna start a class action lawsuit?
Thats the thing- They tell you its a 2 year contract, but its really a Lifetime Membership and they make it very hard to get out of. Also, the thing I dont get is if lets say you move and stop paying, they will block your membership so you cannot use the gym, yet they will continue to charge you every month. How in the world can any business continue to charge for services they are denying?
Both my brother and sister received collection calls after cancelling their memberships with Golds Gym. Neither of them owed any fees upon cancellation.
I worked for Golds Gym as a personal trainer for a few months. I quit after a brief employment period because they were not about helping people but only about taking their money.
I would definitely never recommend Golds Gym to anyone.
That’s pittiful! I always thought of Golds as the elite of gyms, now I see they are just another scam company!
DON’T SIGN ANYTHING with these people. Regardless of circumstances, these people will chase you for money, refuse to cancel your contract, (they just put it on a month to month basis) and they will drag the cancellation process out for as long as possible.
Gyms are known con artists unfortunately.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Gym-scams
I’m so ticked at how badly these guys ripped me off. I payed $60 for a month trial which included a "100% guarentee refund" Not only did they refuse to refund my $60, but 3 months later AFTER I cancelled my membership, I have received an email claiming that I owe Gold’s gym $150. I’m infuriated.
I’ve been tricked… Just came in today to cancel my membership because I have college in the fall, guess what, I apparently have a 1-year-contract! At no time was I explained i was signing a 1-year contract and the sales guy told me yea it was a monthly fees thing. He made me sign it quickly. Look, I understand it is our duty to read the contract, but when the sales guy tells you its a monthly charge and tells you to sign at the dotted line, come on, we’re humans and we’re not expecting people to lie and steal from us. They’re scamming us and lying to us. I googled "gold’s gym frauds" and was shocked to see thousands of similar stories! I’m calling the office in the morning. Please wish me luck. I don’t wanna pay +$300 for something I’m not using.
I have also had the same problem that everyone else has had with the Awatukee Arizona Gold’s. There has to be a solution to this problem. If you ask to have your auto-renew turned off at the end of your contract, they claim not to be able to do that until the last month. They changed the date of my withdrawal to make it impossible to end the contract on time, thereby collecting another $200.00. If anyone knows how to file a complaint against this company please let me know. Incidentally they have an F rating with the Better Business Bureau already.
Did you know you have the right to ask to take the contract home to read overnight. Any gym that won’t let you do this has something they don’t want you to read. Always get a signed copy of the agreement, changes are often made after you have signed and they know you don’t have a copy. If you cancel reg. mail is best and don’t lose your copy.
If they know you don’t have a copy of cancellation their copy will probably get tossed so you don’t have a leg to stand on and they just smile while they collect.
Fees: Initial Investment – the first fee which is around $100.00 is a money grab and bargaining tool. ie: I will waive this fee if you sign now. Then the card fee’s, in most cases you pay for your ID card and if you lose it you get charged again for a new one. Yearly maintenance fee’s, really what is this, you are already paying monthly fee’s. And the cancellation fee. Did you know if you pay for a membership in full and you need to cancel durng the period of your contract you are on the hook for the cancellation fee plus you will not get a refund for the balance. In some Provinces in Canada and US States there is a clause which requires a gym to give you a minimum of 30 days and no more than 90 days notice in writing to renew your membership. If this is not provided you can notify them in writing to cancel and demand a refund which by the way, if a gym does own you a refund they must do so within 15 days depending on where you live. So, do your research, always keep copies and never, ever trust that a sales rep is giving you the honest goods because they have monthly quota’s and of course commission.
Most people forget about a fee they pay upfront when signing up. The last monthly or bi-weekly payment. When giving your cancellation notice make sure this applies, after all it is the final payment right. Not necessarily. The Golds in Peterborough Ontalrio will tell you it gives you extra time after your cancellation date and after they have taken an extra months member fees from you. This is a very misleading fee and as I said most people forget about.
Well, I was just sitting here watching the news and Golds Gym is apparently selling memberships with fee kinesiology. The trainer is admitting on tv he is not qualified. Not sure where but I live in Peterborough, Ontario. Is it here??
I had the same problem. About One and half year after cancellation recevied call from collection agency that we didn’t follow the correct process. Unfortunately it took them 1.5 years to realize this. There was no communication from the Gym directly. Its a big rip off and scam.
Golds Gym TOTALLY sucks. Total ripoff. Their "auto renewal" policy means you pay them FOR life!! Their sales people have been known to CHANGE your contract after you sign. They double bill, force payments through your card without permission. TOTAL frauds.
Been dealing with Golds on cancelling our membership for two months now… still being charged even after we physically went in and did paperwork.. This is such a scam and their month to month policy changes as per who you speak to… I want to picket in front of the place….
I have had memberships with the Y, workout world, planet fitness, unfortunately i am constantly travelling and the gym closest to my current location is Gold’s…
I injured my shoulder and have been unable to go to the gym for 6 months, they say I cannot cancel unless I have PERMENANT DISABILITY. Even so they will assess a 99$ fee. The callousness with how they have handled the situation has been unreal. I will never ever ever use golds gym. The writer says think twice, no think once, never open a membership with golds gym, they are part of some giant operation and are complete scum bags.
GOLDS GYM IS THE WORST I have been trying to cancel with them since Jan 2012 they wouldnt accept my letter stating I didnt have an account after speaking with the manager he tells me the account is wrong I needed to cancel I tried again and was told again I didnt have an account now they send me to collection oh NOW THEY FOUND MY ACCOUNT, PSH I CANT WAIT UNTIL LA FITNESS PUTS THEM OUT OF BUSINESS IN LAUREL
Planet Fitness pulls the same crap, look it up.
I am having the same situation where they will not cancel my membership! I sent in all the paperwork to cancel, called them, left messages and they STILL will not cancel me…and they keep billing me. I will not pay this as i have all the records but how do you get them to stop and cancel me!?!? I even called their 3rd party billing company and they said i have to talk to the gym…and i told them i have, and they still want cancel me. They said they cant do anything about it until they hear from the gym to cancel you and stop billing me.
AND on top of it all they are not GOLD’s gym anymore, they changed their name!!! but they are still billing me as GOLD’s Gym…
if anyone can advise me here i would greatly appreciate it!
I just Got told I had a18 month contract instead of a 12 month. of course I signed a pin pad and got no paperwork my fault for that, lesson learned always get it in writing. Be extremely careful signing up for a personal trainer. I will never use a golds gym from now on any gym but golds
About 10 years ago I bought and paid for a membership in Gold’s Gym. As is many times the case after a few months I discontinued going to the gym. I did not owe the gym, in fact I hadn’t used up the year membership I had purchased. Ten years later I receive a call saying that I owed the gym, which has since gone out of business, $157. I said I wasn’t paying that I knew this was some kind of scam. The caller was very threatening. He said his company had bought up the contracts and he was representing them to get the money owed. It has been about four days and I haven’t heard from him again. If
I do i will take it to small claims court.
gold gym is more than a scum.
I also got screwed without any loving by them. I am moving to a state that doesn’t have any golds gyms there. I paid my membership in full for three years. I only used one year and am now moving. They won’t refund a penny of it but suggest I sell my membership but that will cost the buyer of my membership $100.00. Plus to cancle my trainer who is a month to month charge I have to give them 30 days notice, proof of moving and another $100.00 WHAT A RIP OFF. I WISH EVERYONE COULD HEED THIS MESSAGE.
Gold’s gym is the worst! Horrible service, and absolutely ridiculous cancellation policy. I was a loyal, paying customer and had to move to NYC for work. Unfortunately where I lived in NYC it would have taken me over an hour to get to the nearest Gold’s Gym in Brooklyn. They still wouldn’t cancel it, saying that you need to be "outside a 25 mile radius of a Gold’s Gym" to cancel. They said it didn’t matter if it takes you an hour to drive there and an hour to drive back. That’s "my problem" not theirs. Worst customer service ever. Hate this gym and will NEVER belong to another one. Ever.
They got me with this crap! I went in there one time because I was referred. They told me to refer at least 10 other people for 2 months free….and I owe them $600 or so odd dollars for it?! What?!
I joined Gold’s several months ago on a month to month basis paying twice the normal monthly rate so that I could cancel my membership. When I signed up, I was told that there was no joining fee – just my month to month fee. When you join, they explain the terms of the membership to you and then you sign this agreement that flashes up on a screen much like in a grocery or department store. And you sign in good faith. Suddenly 4 months later there was an additional $39.00 charge to my credit card from Gold’s Gym. I went by the gym to find out what this is all about and I’m told it is a "renewal fee" that you agree to when you join. Well now isn’t that sneaky. I never agreed to that nor was I told that verbally but was told that it was in the contract which I signed (but very conveniently was never given a copy of. So this only proves what a dishonest and sleazy organization this is. BUYER BEWARE – GOLD’S GYM PREYS ON INNOCENT PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE WHAT THEY ARE TOLD (or NOT told!) How sad for them that they can’t be honest and run and honest organization like everyone else. It will soon catch up with them.
SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME. GOLDS IS THE WORST GYM IN THE WORLD.
I EVEN FOLLOWED THE PROCEDURE THE MANAGER TOLD ME TO DO, AND STILL GOT CHRAGED
I have been trying for 4 months to cancel. I thought it was just me. I have been on-line to try twice. Gone into the store three times. Filled out the form in the store. I was told I would have two more payments according to the contract. Understood. Now a month and a half later there are three more extra withdrawals to my account. I called corporate, the transfer failed and my call was disconnected. It doesn’t work. The website doesn’t work. Calling the store manager doesn’t work. Filling out the forms doesn’t work. I feel like I’m in a vicious whirlpool of hell. Gold’s Gym is ridiculous and corporate is a joke.
I just received a call from golds gym saying I owe months of payments as well when I had received a call from the gym months ago and I had cancelled. They are saying I signed a year contract when however that is not what I said I wanted at the time, and that my cancelation wasn’t on file. I’m blown away. I hope more people are aware of this. And now I fell stuck and their is nothing I can do put pay them bullshit money when I had only gone to their gym for the first time the one time and intended it to be month by month,
Just got my Amex statement and low and behold, there it is again 4 charges from golds gym! I can’t believe it and I am livid. What do you have to do to get them to quit charging you? I am calling my credit card company and Golds one more time! Then I am filing a complaint with the better business bureau!
I signed up month to month . Was okaywith the 9.99 a month plus immediate on your first charge it is some 30 something more dollars here in Palm Desert, Ca Gold’s Gym. I gave them a pre paid card from Green Dot and it had enough for both fees. Well Green Dot dailysends ne an e mail with my balance and since I was out of the Country I ask my husband to go to the gym and that why haven’t they taken the money. They said it didn’t o thru and he told them we have and have had enough since I signed up and that niw I owe 2t dollars more and wd needed to speak to 1800 numbers. We spoke with billing office and they don’t want to fix this. I don’t know if the billing office put the wring numbef. They don’t want to work with so We told them that we were gonna cancel and the person said that we could’t unless we oaid 100 and somemore.
I actually used to work for their corporate office. I left because I did not agree with their business practices. Some of which I think are borderline illegal. Basically the contract you sign states that they can charge your account at any time through ACH or automatic draft with no notice for any amount due. There’s also a lot of cancellation stipulations. For example, if you want to cancel because you’re moving you have to be more than 25 miles from another gym location. If you have had surgery, you have to have a dr’s note on a letterhead showing the dr’s business. If you have military orders, they have to be within the next 60 days and your orders have to go past your contract end date. If you are out of contract, you have to give 30 days notice meaning you will be billed once more. So if you’re coming close to the end of your contract, I would suggest calling in to cancel 60 days before your contract ends. These are just bad business practices and after working there for a number of months I warn anyone who is considering starting their membership.
Had the same experience… this is a trap.. get away.. don’t join this scam..
I was a member, 15 YEARS AGO, to a local gym, Woman’s Super Fitness. I also had a 2 year contract and paid in full. The gym went out of business 2 years ago. All of a sudden in April 2013, I was getting billed from Gold’s Gym through auto bank payment. I didn’t catch it until October. To make a long story short, Gold’s told me my original contract to Woman’s specified my membership could be bought and sold anytime. Shorter story, I managed to get balance down to $44.04, which doesn’t seem like anything. But Gold’s Gym is legally stealing from me. I will not give in to "legal terrorists". DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW THIS MAY IMPACT MY GOOD CREDIT SCORE?
I went to golds gym after a year to cancel membership as I am moving out of the state. They absolutely refused to honor my request and became rude and irritated saying that I could not cancel unless after moving I sent them PROOF of my new address. I quickly stopped my bank from honoring any charges from Golds Gym.
They are absolutely the worse and the customer care reps are anything but caring. I used to be with fitness first which was a top notch place, and they knew about service and the gyms are much better. Why they sold out to such a horrible complany is beyond me. I will never ever be a member at Golds gym.. I will also make sure I pass it on to my family and friends to stay away from golds
My wife had a month to month contract with them and we moved. Called them to cancel and they told me we had to come down there. I said I was not driving 100 miles to cancel it. Finally they said to send them a certified lettter which I did then they called and said I had to pay them 40 some odd dollars for something we hadnt used in 6 months. I refused.Now they say they will continue to add fees monthly and report me to the credit companies. This is stupid. DONT JOIN THEM !!!
I just noticed Gold’s gym has been charging me every other Friday. When I signed up with them years ago, it was "forever $10 a month." When I noticed the change in billing and called they said they’d sent emails out notifying me of that, but she sees I didn’t have an email address on file. She told me there was nothing they could do. I asked to cancel account — I have to wait 30 more days. This is criminal activity — they should be help accountable, but you can hardly find anyone to take your call. There is no phone number on their website and when you try to email using their customer care via email, you are taken to a page that says "page not available." SCAM SCAM SCAM
this gym is a rip off i send my cancellation notice one month in advance they never reply and i finish to paying 200.00 dlls. please dont go to golds gym is a complete TRAGEDY.
Golds gym a.is only about money
I have never seen a company operate like this in broad daylight. I went into a Gold’s Gym about 5 years ago because I was given a free week pass or something of that nature. It seemed okay to start and everyone was polite, so I signed a contract for 2 years.
After I signed the contract, the service changed completely. The workers began sexually harassing me. One of them claimed that I looked like a stripper he had met the day before. Many comments to that effect.
I was given dubious medical advice that can only be defined as quackery. The worker wrote down my weight and my height and proceeded to tell me my life expectancy. He informed me that if I gained 3 pounds my life expectancy would increase by 5 years and made claims about how I should alter my diet. As a vegetarian, I was informed that I wasn’t getting enough protein. I was told that I my body fat was dangerously low without having a body fat scan or any other medical workup.
I thought little of it because I was told that I could can in the first month. That turned out to be a lie. When I called to ask how I could cancel, I was told that the only way the contract could be cancelled was if I moved out of state. The workers were coached with questions and read from a script. "Did you love 100,000 miles? Then the contract cannot be cancelled."
When I told the representatives why I never went to a single session and wanted to end my contract, I was told "people will say anything to get out of these contracts! Just go to another location then!" One worker told me to go back to the same location and "work it out" with the worker who sexually harassed me.
Five years later, I was given a court summon claiming that I owe the gym $2,600 for not going back to the gym.
We are currently experiencing the same nightmare.
I had the exact same experience with Workout World in Medford, Massachusetts. Except my contract was for training sessions. At one point I tried to cancel the contract: no way. And the headache of trying to establish how many sessions I’d used (they claimed I’d used more than I claimed) was so great I finally gave up. I did enter a complaint against Professional Services.com (the outfit that manages WOW training sessions) with Better Business Bureau. Fat lot of good that will do.
stay away from gold gym. so many bad business practices. I would never put my foot in that gym.
stay away from gold gym. so many bad business practices. I would never put my foot in that gym. very bad place.