refund-am I being unreasonable?

[dakcp2001]

I just cancelled my gym membership. When I joined they charged me a prorated monthly fee, and an "annual rate gurantee" fee. The bill cycle goes from the 17 of the month to the 17 of the month. I cancelled on the 20 of the month, so they had JUST charged me for this whole month. I think I should get a prorated refund for this month, and they said they "don't do that". But I cannot use the gym for the rest of the month either, since they already ended my membership. I dont think it is fair, I paid for this month, either they need to refund me or let me use the facility they are not willing to budge. ( I dont really even want to use the place, I have a new one I joined, but it is the POINT that they took my money for the whole month and wont let me. I want a refundf!)

Am I being unreasonable?

 

[DisneyWisher]

I think you are being reasonable. You should have been told that if you cancel once the new month has started that you will lose that month, actually they shouldn't activate the cancellation until the month has ended. But we all know how gyms can be. Sorry.

 

[brios86]

I do not think that you are being unreasonable given that you paid for the full month and now that you canceled they are not letting you use the services you ALREADY paid for! I am also about to cancel my gym membership so I guess I can expect similar treatment.

 

[fac]

just my $0.02
I suspected they may have a policy that you have to give a month's notice if you do cancell, hence may be the reason they do not do a refund if they charged you on the 17th.

However, I will be angry too if I cannot use the gym for the month that I have paid BECAUSE they ended the membership. If this happens, I will expect a refund. Are you sure they do not allow you to use the gym?

 

[disneychrista]

Did you sign a contract? Did you fufill the minimum? Most memberships have something that they do not give partial month refunds. So you have to cancel just before or on the end of the month.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

What does your contract say about it?

 

[Floridagal23]

Any gym that I have worked with or belonged to usually has a policy with month to month memberships that you need to cancel before the start of the next billing cycle. Check your contract!

 

[cvjw]

Other places use this same refund policy. If you cancel before the end of your billing cycle, you are just out of luck. My son's rented trumpet was the same way, and an internet service charged us for almost a whole month after I canceled. I filed it under live and learn. Now, if I need to cancel something, I call before hand to figure out when to do it.

 

[dakcp2001]

I read the entire contract that I signed when I joined, and the one in which I cancelled. I have already fulfilled my year, in fact I have been a member for 2 years plus a few months. They do not address this issue on either form. The front desk people are all high school kids and clueless, and I have not had any of my messages returned. I left a written one for the manager and several on the gym voicemail. I also sent an email, and the response I got from corporate was that it is a franchise and that I need to speak with someone at the franchise. I told them I am not getting anywhere and they are going to have someone contact them on my behalf.

I think honestly my time is worth more than the aggravation, and it is really not a LOT of money, but its the point. I held up my end of the bargain and they have nothing in writing to back up their lack of giving me back my money.

I asked if I could just use the gym for the rest of the month that is paid for, and they said no, my membership was cancelled already. I have another gym I belong to now anyway, I just wanted some sort of reasonable attempt at a resolution that was fair. Now I am just ticked off.

I am reporting them to the BBB, and washing my hands of this. The reason I left is because when I first joined everything was nice and well kept, and now its all broken equiptment, and the locker room is filthy and unusuable. The bathrooms are GROSS. It is clear that the owners do not care at all.

 

[jplain]

If you were being charged by credit card, call your credit card company and initiate a charge-back for the prorated amount equal to the time you paid for but are not being allowed to use. If it was being taken directly out of your bank account, your can file a similar dispute with your bank.

I've filed charge-backs with my credit cards 4 or 5 times in the last 10 years, and they've always been decided in my favor.

Good luck!

 

[dfchelbay]

I just cancelled my gym membership. When I joined they charged me a prorated monthly fee, and an "annual rate gurantee" fee. The bill cycle goes from the 17 of the month to the 17 of the month. I cancelled on the 20 of the month, so they had JUST charged me for this whole month. I think I should get a prorated refund for this month, and they said they "don't do that". But I cannot use the gym for the rest of the month either, since they already ended my membership. I dont think it is fair, I paid for this month, either they need to refund me or let me use the facility they are not willing to budge. ( I dont really even want to use the place, I have a new one I joined, but it is the POINT that they took my money for the whole month and wont let me. I want a refundf!)

Am I being unreasonable?

Shouldn't you be able to use the gym until the 17th of next month...you DID pay for it. I'd use the gym.

 

[iggbees]

i hate to play devil's advocate, but if you knew that the billing was on the 17th of the month and you went to cancel on the 20th, why did you not expect that you would be charged for the month? i would have waited until the next month, prior to the 17th, to cancel my membership. i know that in october, my gym charges some kind of yearly membership fee. if i decided to cancel my membership, i would do it at the end of september, not in october, to avoid getting charged that fee. personally, i would chalk it up to a lessoned learned. i know that if that happened to me, i would probably just pay the fee and remember for next time that i had to make sure i knew the charging cycle dates for any other membership i had.

 

[dakcp2001]

Iggbees- I expected to be able to USE the gym until the end of the bill cycle, and then join the new gym then. They didnt tell me that until AFTER he cancelled me, so therefore it is only reasonable to refund me for the rest of the month.

This is not about the money, it is the point that it is not fair for them to have it both ways. Either let me use the gym for the days PAID FOR, or refund the money.

dfchelbay- I agree, they said no, they already took me out of the system! I would have been satisfied with that. I am also not happy that they are blowing me off.

JPLAIN- THANKS! I am going to dispute it on my CC why didn't I think of that? I am still filing with the BBB though.

 

[maxiesmom]

You need to ask yourself if making your point is going to be worth the boatload of aggravation you will be putting yourself thru.