HORSEPOWER & HEELS

I joined the Columbus, GA Gold's Gym in January of this year. Several friends attended, and I decided to give it a shot. At $50/month, Gold's is certainly not a drop in the bucket, so I was already hesistant about signing their contract. My fear? That I might actually land the driver's gig I have been working so hard to find, and need to move away.

The owner assured me that part of the contract stated that I'd be able to cancel should I move greater than 50 miles outside the area. All I had to do is provide written cancellation and 30 days notice. Great. Problem solved. So, I signed.

Well, as luck would have it, my life made a sudden, unexpected change, and although it wasn't for a driver's gig (darn it!), I ended up moving 4 hours north to Huntsville, AL in early May.
So, I called up cancellation to get the stats. They tell me that I need an official utility bill in my name to accompany the notice. Problem. I moved up and was renting a small place behind an aquiantance's shop. All the utilities were paid and addressed to my landlord, and were NOT in my name. I ask if a renters agreement would work. Nope. I ask if I can send my Bank statement. Nope again. So I end up installing a land phone line (Who actually uses those anymore, anyways?) and waiting for my first bill to send the whole package off.

That package went out at the end of June. With that, I assumed that my account would cease to be debited as of September as promised and thought nothing of it. That is, until I get a notice this month from my old bank that tells me I'm overdrawn by $200. That's impossible! But I soon learn that they had never cancelled my membership, and now I have been charged $200 + $120 in bank fees.

Annoyed, but still calm, I called Gold's again. They give me the number for cancellations again, and I leave a message explaining my situation and a callback number. Today, when I get back ahold of the Gold's CSR, I'm told that I would have to resubmit the paperwork. Ok, no problem.

I asked the CSR, "Can I fax it in this time so that we can make sure there are no more charges?"

She then proceeds to tell me that I would have to wait 30 days from the next debit (January) AND pay another $50 cancellation fee. That's another $100 for a service I haven't used since March, was cancelled in June, and was still billed $200+ after cancellation.

"That's the policy." she tells me.

"But it's YOUR mistake, one that has already caused me to incur an extra $200 in charges!" I argue, to absolutely no avail. I ask calmly to speak to a superior. She tells me she is the Cancellations manager. I ask to speak to HER manager, and she tells me there isn't anyone above her. No one? Really. Why do they always claim that there is no one above them? I highly doubt that's she's the CEO, CFO or any "O" and answering customer cancellation calls.

Talk about poor customer service! Anyone is authorized to take my money, but no one can do anything to make it stop? I resent my paperwork again today, along with a note promising to share my poor experience with my online community. I'm sure they chuckled.... I may be just one small person, but they should remember this story about Spirit Airlines and their crappy customer service. One person's Blog post resulted in a huge national backlash.

Gold's Gym is a pretty large chain, and I'm starting to hear many like stories in my talks with everyone that will listen. I may not be the most popular blogger out there, but I'll do my best to share my experience everywhere I go.

Comments are open for your stories.... Let's hear it!