Being deceived at Gold's gym , need advice , please .

[jaylivg]

Hi , i need a legal advice on this matter .

In mid February , my husband signed up for 8 sessions of personal training at Gold's gym . They made him sign on a pad at the front desk , they didn't give him any paperwork , just the credit card receipt for payment $320 , that's all .

And we just found out about a week ago when we got our bank statement that they had charged us for more sessions in March and April , while my husband didn't even use it , or even sign up for it . When we went to talk to the manager , the sales manager said he couldn't do anything , will have to wait for the general manager , then he gave us a copy and said well you signed for automatic withdrawals for the next 12 months . Which he never did !! He clearly mentioned to the trainer who signed him up he only wanted 8 sessions , which costs $40.00 .

Now the manager called us and said " well here is a good news you have 19 sessions still to use and the bad news is you're stuck for the next 12 months " He said that we're under contract , yeah , contract we never signed up for !!

We tried calling the corporate but nobody answer at the corporate office either .

Today i found out that they don't even offer 8 sessions / month package , they do have 6 sessions package that doesn't require any 12 months contract . I believe this was the one my husband signed up for , except his was 8 sessions . According to the trainer i talked with earlier he said this package doesn't require any 12 months contract . We tried to talk with the trainer that signed my husband up , but he quit , and the gym was unwilling to give any information on him .

So now we're stuck with having to pay $320 for the next 12 months , we can't afford this because we just relocated and we just lost 25k on selling our house and trying to save for downpayment for a house over here . Now we have to face this problem . We are very stressful right now and we're trying to file a complaint to BBB but doesn't seem like it's going to help with anything . Almost $4,000/year is a lot of money to pay when you don't have them , and i don't want them to ruin our credit either because we can't pay them .

Is there anything that i can do about this ? Do i have a case to get a lawyer for this ??
Thank you .

 

[Zigner]

Did the contract copy he received show that he signed up for monthly withdrawals, etc.?

 

[stealth2]

Most of these "deals" include you signing up for a longer term, which has to be cancelled if you choose not to go through with it. Why did your husband not get a copy of the contract he signed? 'Cause I'm going to bet that he signed up for a year, unless he cancelled w/in a certain period after signing.

Consider it a lesson learned.

 

[swalsh411]

There are two possibilities here. Either Gold's fraudulently took your money, or your husband signed something without reading it. I'm not saying the former is impossible, but the other is much more likely.

 

[jaylivg]

I guess he assumed since it's only 8 single sessions , but the guy never gave him any paper , just the receipt from the credit card for the payment . He clearly told the trainer he only signed for 8 sessions , not for the next 12 months . And also we know it's not packages because just today i got the information about training packages , none of them has 8 . They do have 6 sessions monhtly where you don't need to be under 12 months contract . And they do have another package that you have to be under contract for 12 months , which costs $350/month , so none of this applies to what they claimed my husband signed up for .

The thing too , we tried to contact the trainer that signed him up for this , but the gym refused to give us any information for it since he quit 3-4 weeks ago . I can't afford our credit being ruined they them , but i can't pay $320 a month for the next 12 months either .what do i do ?

 

[jaylivg]

Did the contract copy he received show that he signed up for monthly withdrawals, etc.?

they never did give him the contract copy .

 

[jaylivg]

Most of these "deals" include you signing up for a longer term, which has to be cancelled if you choose not to go through with it. Why did your husband not get a copy of the contract he signed? 'Cause I'm going to bet that he signed up for a year, unless he cancelled w/in a certain period after signing.

Consider it a lesson learned.

it wasn't much of a deal actually , because if you sign for a single session it costs $40.00 and he did pay for 8 single sessions for $320 . So that wasn't much of a deal at all . I understand if you sign for longer terms you usually don't need to pay as much , you usually get a discount , but if this was a longer term , which it wasn't , he wouldn't have to pay as much then . because of usually they have deals .. but this wasn't though .

They didn't even show him the paper while signing , he was just taken to the front desk to sign on a pad . Just like when u pay by credit card .

 

[Zigner]

they never did give him the contract copy .

Ok, so when you asked for a copy of the signed contract, what did it say?

 

[jaylivg]

Ok, so when you asked for a copy of the signed contract, what did it say?

It's said that my husband has 96 sessions of 8 sessions a month . For $320.00 per month . And can cancel it after 12 months .

But like i said he never seen this paper until it was given when we complained to them , he was never given the paper just signed on a pad like when u pay by card at the store . They could always made him signed on the pad but then changed the contract once he left since he was never given the paperwork . It's a possibility , right ?

 

[Zigner]

It's said that my husband has 96 sessions of 8 sessions a month . For $320.00 per month . And can cancel it after 12 months .

But like i said he never seen this paper until it was given when we complained to them , he was never given the paper just signed on a pad like when u pay by card at the store . They could always made him signed on the pad but then changed the contract once he left since he was never given the paperwork . It's a possibility , right ?

I suppose, but the way to prove a change like that was made would be to show his original, unaltered copy. At this point, all you have is the gym with an apparently valid & properly executed contract against a customer who now realizes they are stuck paying $320 per month for 12 months.

 

[ecmst12]

That's unlikely since it would be illegal, but he can certainly go there and ask to see the ORIGINAL signed contract, with his inked signature.

 

[jaylivg]

I suppose, but the way to prove a change like that was made would be to show his original, unaltered copy. At this point, all you have is the gym with an apparently valid & properly executed contract against a customer who now realizes they are stuck paying $320 per month for 12 months.

well if i had the original copy , then yeah we knew they made some changes , but they never gave us a copy at all .

So are u saying we can't do anything about this ? and just stuck with it ?

 

[Zigner]

well if i had the original copy , then yeah we knew they made some changes , but they never gave us a copy at all .

Going right along with that...your husband never ASKED for a copy of the contract he signed.

So are u saying we can't do anything about this ? and just stuck with it ?

Everything's negotiable...

 

[jaylivg]

That's unlikely since it would be illegal, but he can certainly go there and ask to see the ORIGINAL signed contract, with his inked signature.

they never made my husband signed with ink , instead they made him sign on a pad ( obviously u can't see the whole contract with signing on a pad )

 

[Zigner]

they never made my husband signed with ink , instead they made him sign on a pad ( obviously u can't see the whole contract with signing on a pad )

To be clear (for other responders) - OP is saying that her husband signed on an electronic signature capture pad.