7 ms·

Thank god for that. I made the mistake of joining a Goodlife gym in Canada many moons ago... The place was disgusting. Always crowded. Mould growing in the ba

Thank god for that. I made the mistake of joining a Goodlife gym in Canada many moons ago... The place was disgusting. Always crowded. Mould growing in the bathrooms. Stunk very badly, etc... So I stopped going regularly... and one day I was in the area I decided to stop in and cancel my membership. "Oh sorry, you'll need to make an appointment with management in order to cancel." "OK, is a manager in right now?" "Yes, the manager is in but I was told not to disturb her right now." "OK, well can you tell her a customer is waiting paitiently to cancel his account?" "No, sorry, I am not allowed to disturb her. You're going to need to make an appointment and come back." So I did that... And about 3 weeks later I went in at the agreed upon time to cancel my subscription and I was just sitting... waiting... for over 1 hour... Right beside a poor old lady that was trying to cancel her subscription as well!!! She was overly polite and was dealing with this overagressive meathead trying to keep her locked into the service... "I hate coming here... I never come... I never should have signed up... I just want to cancel..." "But do you have any friends that might want to take on your subscription? It's at a discounted rate and you might be able to help them out by transferring it over to them." "No, I do know know anyone who wants to come here." "Ok, let me go talk to my manager about this." And he left for like 20 minutes and came back and gave her the gears again. When my turn came... I just said "I'm moving to england and I don't know a single person here who might want to absorb my contract". It was a total lie... but it was the only answer that would get me out of there in under 10 minutes. Companies abusing politeness really are terrible to society.

swayvil 8y ago
The abuse of politeness appears to be the cornerstone of our society. My name is MEGACORP. I am a member of the polite society that contains us both. A polite person follows the rules with a smile. The rules say that I get to eat you.
- smsm42 8y ago
  Politeness is not a problem. You can be very polite and still insist on doing what you want. You just need to realize the person who's selling you crap is not your friend and you don't owe them anything, and politely refuse to take it. Saying "no, I do not want this, thank you" is not impolite.
pandler 8y ago
> When my turn came... I just said "I'm moving to england and I don't know a single person here who might want to absorb my contract". I actually came here to say the same thing. I realized “I’m moving” was the best way to get results in these situations when I was actually moving out of the country for a bit. It’s like a magical incantation that immediately gets them to stop trying to upsell or retain you, no questions asked.
- joering2 8y ago
  Recent renewal contract for LA Fitness has this cover. If you moving away you have to provide some sort of a proof, like new lease contract, job letter etc so that they still will try to find the gym within 15 miles and move you over. I was told in LA Fitness you cannot cancel without any sort of proof if you want to use "moving away" as a reason.
  - flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
    >If you moving away you have to provide some sort of a proof, like new lease contract, job letter etc so that they still will try to find the gym within 15 miles and move you over. Just tell them you're moving to another continent then... or Antarctica!
    - thelastidiot 8y ago
      Strange you would have to suggest that. To me, it shows how some American people can't even imagine that living in another country (or even lying about it) would be taken seriously.
    - paxys 8y ago
      Or, like, don't sign a long term contract at all. It's pretty easy to find an affordable monthly gym which has all the basics pretty much everywhere.
  - VLM 8y ago
    images.google.com contains zillions of nice form letter rental contracts. Ditto job offer letters. Please keep in mind the difference between counterfeit vs fraudulent. Making your own currency is inherently illegal; making your own lease contract or job offer is not. Its very easy for the people/orgs named on a contract to sue for fraud if a counterfeit contract is attempted to be used, very difficult for an unrelated 3rd party. If you use google to make sure your counterparty or property do not exist, its very difficult for the contract counterparty to sue you, given they don't exist and there are no financial damages. Note that bank collateral or financial industry KYC verification or accounting revenue / SOX or insurance fraud is obviously not "unrelated". If you own a small company, which is cheap and you probably should, you can easily issue yourself a job offer in any location; wanna winter over in Antarctica? They almost intentionally are not trying very hard; they could trivially demand state ID card / drivers license from the new address. Obviously they just want a speed bump as a dark pattern of customer retention.
fragsworth 8y ago
The best thing to do is issue a chargeback. You tell the credit card company that you 1) tried to cancel, and they wouldn't do it; and 2) you did not get any service from them since you tried to cancel. They have to pay you back AND THEY GET CHARGED an additional $20-$30 that your credit card company takes from them as punishment. Please don't abuse chargebacks unless the merchant deserves it, though.
- joering2 8y ago
  Maybe in Canada but in USA you have companies like "ABC Financing" (real name) that process majority of membership for most of the gyms I ever visited, including LA Fitness, Golds Gym, Balleys Total Fitness. The way it works (cause I tried) is that you call (or in bank to dispute membership) and guess what? they made you wait on the line/ in the branch until they contact ABC customer support that knows exactly what membership you have when you have it etc. They were even able to fax over my photo (!!) to the banker to prove it wasn't a fraud. I was actually quite happy because I need that kind of chargeback service for my companies when anyone can call (and does) and usually says "my child ordered this". Unfortunately banks will only work this way with merchants pushing hundreds of millions of dollars in memberships, as I was told by a friend of mine who works for Bank of America. I don't know in Canada, but in USA most membership programs are continue to be a cancer on our society (despite the fact its easier to dispute transaction than it was years ago) and most banks will help in this bad behavior because they don't want too many disputes for credit card companies they underwrite and represent.
  - Rylinks 8y ago
    Will banks accept a faxed photograph to rebut a claim that the membership was cancelled?
- flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
  >The best thing to do is issue a chargeback. They had me sign over my direct withdrawal banking details the day I signed up. I regret doing that.
ybrah 8y ago
I had the same experience. I was straight up lied to by the salesmen. I talked about it to my bank, they were aware of the problem as it happens to a lot of people. BMO offered to open a new bank account, and move all my funds to it and close my account that goodlife tricked me into using. I was told that I could cancel any time after a free trial. It turns out I was lied to. I went to see the salesman again as it was on my way. Telling him that I switched my accounts made shut up and look defeated. Felt so good.
- flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
  >I had the same experience. I was straight up lied to by the salesmen. My appointment was for 2pm... when the rep showed up at 3pm... his first response was literally "oh hey... you're actually 30 minutes late for our 2:30pm appointment so I'm going to have to cancel.." I told him I had been waiting there since 2pm (and he had seen me waiting there since 2pm) and then he began to take my fraudulent cancellation data of my moving to another country.
thirdsun 8y ago
You seem like a patient person. That first visit should have ended with the cancellation or an unambiguous announcement of your intention to issue chargebacks for any future charges by said gym as far as I'm concerned. There's no way I'd be relying on a manager's schedule to cancel their services.
- flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
  I'm not that patient... That first visit ended with my berating the staffer for being useless and working for a shitty company. I was not proud of that moment, but what I said was not untrue. They really had me in their grips... if I just stopped paying without formally ending the contract with the agreed upon "cancellation appointment" (that I apparently agreed to in the original contract) then they would have dinged my credit score for not paying my bills on time essentially.
raverbashing 8y ago
Yeah, this is the sleaziest tricks by gyms, especially in Canada/US No thanks, no bank details. I'll pay by cash, every month. I don't care if I'm paying "double" because that "half price" is accounting for crap like this.
- flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
  >I don't care if I'm paying "double" because that "half price" is accounting for crap like this. That's exactly how they got me iirc. I could have paid a few dollars more per month to be pay as you go... but I was "gonna do this" and I was going to "stick to my gym habits" and keep at this for years so why not sign my life away??? Lesson learned. I now happily badmouth Goodlife Fitness whenever I get a chance like this.
aphextron 8y ago
Gyms are a whole other level of insanity for unwanted charges. Planet Fitness's entire business model is essentially counting on people to forget they entered their checking account number, and missing the bill. They wont even allow you to sign up with a credit card.
- jrnichols 8y ago
  > They wont even allow you to sign up with a credit card. This has not been true for years now. I have a Planet Fitness account happily billed to my credit card right now. I actually go 2 times a week, though, and the one time that I did have to cancel it, the process was painless and quick.
aczerepinski 8y ago
I'd probably call the police. That's what they would presumably do if a customer was repeatedly trying to sneak in without an account, so it doesn't feel like overkill to me.

swayvil 8y ago

The abuse of politeness appears to be the cornerstone of our society. My name is MEGACORP. I am a member of the polite society that contains us both. A polite person follows the rules with a smile. The rules say that I get to eat you.

smsm42 8y ago
Politeness is not a problem. You can be very polite and still insist on doing what you want. You just need to realize the person who's selling you crap is not your friend and you don't owe them anything, and politely refuse to take it. Saying "no, I do not want this, thank you" is not impolite.

pandler 8y ago

> When my turn came... I just said "I'm moving to england and I don't know a single person here who might want to absorb my contract". I actually came here to say the same thing. I realized “I’m moving” was the best way to get results in these situations when I was actually moving out of the country for a bit. It’s like a magical incantation that immediately gets them to stop trying to upsell or retain you, no questions asked.

joering2 8y ago
Recent renewal contract for LA Fitness has this cover. If you moving away you have to provide some sort of a proof, like new lease contract, job letter etc so that they still will try to find the gym within 15 miles and move you over. I was told in LA Fitness you cannot cancel without any sort of proof if you want to use "moving away" as a reason.
- flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
  >If you moving away you have to provide some sort of a proof, like new lease contract, job letter etc so that they still will try to find the gym within 15 miles and move you over. Just tell them you're moving to another continent then... or Antarctica!
  - thelastidiot 8y ago
    Strange you would have to suggest that. To me, it shows how some American people can't even imagine that living in another country (or even lying about it) would be taken seriously.
  - paxys 8y ago
    Or, like, don't sign a long term contract at all. It's pretty easy to find an affordable monthly gym which has all the basics pretty much everywhere.
- VLM 8y ago
  images.google.com contains zillions of nice form letter rental contracts. Ditto job offer letters. Please keep in mind the difference between counterfeit vs fraudulent. Making your own currency is inherently illegal; making your own lease contract or job offer is not. Its very easy for the people/orgs named on a contract to sue for fraud if a counterfeit contract is attempted to be used, very difficult for an unrelated 3rd party. If you use google to make sure your counterparty or property do not exist, its very difficult for the contract counterparty to sue you, given they don't exist and there are no financial damages. Note that bank collateral or financial industry KYC verification or accounting revenue / SOX or insurance fraud is obviously not "unrelated". If you own a small company, which is cheap and you probably should, you can easily issue yourself a job offer in any location; wanna winter over in Antarctica? They almost intentionally are not trying very hard; they could trivially demand state ID card / drivers license from the new address. Obviously they just want a speed bump as a dark pattern of customer retention.

fragsworth 8y ago

The best thing to do is issue a chargeback. You tell the credit card company that you 1) tried to cancel, and they wouldn't do it; and 2) you did not get any service from them since you tried to cancel. They have to pay you back AND THEY GET CHARGED an additional $20-$30 that your credit card company takes from them as punishment. Please don't abuse chargebacks unless the merchant deserves it, though.

joering2 8y ago
Maybe in Canada but in USA you have companies like "ABC Financing" (real name) that process majority of membership for most of the gyms I ever visited, including LA Fitness, Golds Gym, Balleys Total Fitness. The way it works (cause I tried) is that you call (or in bank to dispute membership) and guess what? they made you wait on the line/ in the branch until they contact ABC customer support that knows exactly what membership you have when you have it etc. They were even able to fax over my photo (!!) to the banker to prove it wasn't a fraud. I was actually quite happy because I need that kind of chargeback service for my companies when anyone can call (and does) and usually says "my child ordered this". Unfortunately banks will only work this way with merchants pushing hundreds of millions of dollars in memberships, as I was told by a friend of mine who works for Bank of America. I don't know in Canada, but in USA most membership programs are continue to be a cancer on our society (despite the fact its easier to dispute transaction than it was years ago) and most banks will help in this bad behavior because they don't want too many disputes for credit card companies they underwrite and represent.
- Rylinks 8y ago
  Will banks accept a faxed photograph to rebut a claim that the membership was cancelled?
flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
>The best thing to do is issue a chargeback. They had me sign over my direct withdrawal banking details the day I signed up. I regret doing that.

ybrah 8y ago

I had the same experience. I was straight up lied to by the salesmen. I talked about it to my bank, they were aware of the problem as it happens to a lot of people. BMO offered to open a new bank account, and move all my funds to it and close my account that goodlife tricked me into using. I was told that I could cancel any time after a free trial. It turns out I was lied to. I went to see the salesman again as it was on my way. Telling him that I switched my accounts made shut up and look defeated. Felt so good.

flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
>I had the same experience. I was straight up lied to by the salesmen. My appointment was for 2pm... when the rep showed up at 3pm... his first response was literally "oh hey... you're actually 30 minutes late for our 2:30pm appointment so I'm going to have to cancel.." I told him I had been waiting there since 2pm (and he had seen me waiting there since 2pm) and then he began to take my fraudulent cancellation data of my moving to another country.

thirdsun 8y ago

You seem like a patient person. That first visit should have ended with the cancellation or an unambiguous announcement of your intention to issue chargebacks for any future charges by said gym as far as I'm concerned. There's no way I'd be relying on a manager's schedule to cancel their services.

flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
I'm not that patient... That first visit ended with my berating the staffer for being useless and working for a shitty company. I was not proud of that moment, but what I said was not untrue. They really had me in their grips... if I just stopped paying without formally ending the contract with the agreed upon "cancellation appointment" (that I apparently agreed to in the original contract) then they would have dinged my credit score for not paying my bills on time essentially.

raverbashing 8y ago

Yeah, this is the sleaziest tricks by gyms, especially in Canada/US No thanks, no bank details. I'll pay by cash, every month. I don't care if I'm paying "double" because that "half price" is accounting for crap like this.

flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
>I don't care if I'm paying "double" because that "half price" is accounting for crap like this. That's exactly how they got me iirc. I could have paid a few dollars more per month to be pay as you go... but I was "gonna do this" and I was going to "stick to my gym habits" and keep at this for years so why not sign my life away??? Lesson learned. I now happily badmouth Goodlife Fitness whenever I get a chance like this.

aphextron 8y ago

Gyms are a whole other level of insanity for unwanted charges. Planet Fitness's entire business model is essentially counting on people to forget they entered their checking account number, and missing the bill. They wont even allow you to sign up with a credit card.

jrnichols 8y ago
> They wont even allow you to sign up with a credit card. This has not been true for years now. I have a Planet Fitness account happily billed to my credit card right now. I actually go 2 times a week, though, and the one time that I did have to cancel it, the process was painless and quick.

aczerepinski 8y ago

I'd probably call the police. That's what they would presumably do if a customer was repeatedly trying to sneak in without an account, so it doesn't feel like overkill to me.