My husband and I are decidedly not a rich couple, yet we still wanted the same workout opportunities and fitness plans available to others in the area. After joining a gym, we started to calculate the cost of our gym membership. As we totaled the cost of gas just to get to the gym each day, we realized that we had to find a way of escaping my gym membership. The rising cost of gas coupled with the already high price of the gym membership meant we had to discover a way to save on fees and fast.
The Cost of Our Decision
When signing up for the membership, we never thought to include the cost of gas. At a price of $70 for the both of us, Anytime Fitness seemed like a reasonable option. I had recently sold my car, so we funneled the savings into the gym membership. As we started to work out every day, we noticed something we had not expected: gas was costing more than the membership.
Since my car had been sold already, we were driving to the gym in my husband’s trucks. This ancient, cumbersome vehicle maxed out at 12 miles a gallon-on a good day. The six mile trek to the Anytime Fitness was costing us a gallon of gas a day. In our area of the Pacific Northwest, a gallon of gas costs about $4 a gallon. Every day we drove to the gym, we spent an extra four hours. For the first and only month of our membership, we went five times a week. This totaled $80 a month in gas and $70 on the cost of the gym membership. The $150 it set us back each month was too much for a lab technician and a college student, so we decided to find a way of escaping my membership.
The Solution
We could have just visited the gym less to save on gas, but it did not make sense to pay for a membership that we could not make use of. Scanning the ABC Financial/Anytime Fitness website, we became horrified at the fine print. According to the company, a membership can only be canceled if the individuals move more than 25 miles away. Stupidly, we had not read this fine print prior to getting the membership. When I had asked Anytime Fitness what the cancellation process was like, he said it was easily handled by ABC Financial.
I tried checking on-line forums to discover other users experience and was met with an array of complaints Consumers were upset-the company even required a month advance notice at the end of your completed contract to stop the fees. One brother was distraught because the company would not end the membership of his recently deceased brother.
The one way out was either to buy out the yearly membership or move to a place more than 25 miles away. Luckily for us, we were already in the process of getting jobs in Taiwan. Once our contract and wok permits went through, we called the gym to cancel. The first answer they told me was that I needed either my work permit or a combination of my lease and one-way plane ticket.
This sounded simple enough. I scanned my work permit, lease and one-way plane ticket and sent them into the company. When I called ABC Financial, (they handle the cancellations and finances of Anytime Fitness) the customer service rep told me that the work permit I sent in was not valid because it was in Chinese. Chinese? Is that not the point? How would I possibly get an English language work permit from a country that does not speak English?
Frustrated, I asked about my other documents. After the customer service representative told me they had not received them, I rushed home and checked my sent box-the forms were there. Resending all of the documents, I also sent them to a manager at the company.
Still No Answer
The company still was not responding to my messages. The representatives at customer service told me that each e-mail necessitated a five day wait period before it was read. Counting the days, I realized that this process of waiting to respond would place me closer to my next monthly payment. Unwilling to give up, I began calling them on all of my breaks and spending countless hours on hold.
Finally, I had had enough. With little else to lose, I made my last phone call to the company. In this final conversation, I asked what would happen if I changed my bank account number and declared bankruptcy. Flustered, the customer representative said that until bankruptcy was declared I would be still liable for fees. Calmly, I thanked her and hung up the phone. Was I willing to make good on my threat? With years spent abroad looming before me, the hit to my credit seemed all right if it meant I could defeat the company in this battle for fees.
Within two hours of that phone call-and far sooner than the five day wait period they told me-they conveniently found my documents and canceled my account. Was it because of my threat of bankruptcy? Or was the company just tired of my weeks of phone calls, petitions and e-mails? Whatever the case, my husband and I managed to find a way of escaping my gym membership with the company.
Understandably, we should have read all of the documents before going into the process. It is our fault for not reading the fine print and trusting what Anytime Fitness said about an easy cancellation procedure. After dealing with a constant stream of phone calls and stress, I am glad that we were able to escape from the grasp of ABC Financial/Anytime Fitness.
Today, my husband and I are going for a walk. Instead of gas and gym memberships, we are learning how to save on fees by going outdoors for a free work out. As for Taiwan? Well, if we choose to have a membership there, its $15 a month and there is never a contract. Why cannot American gyms be run like that?
Sources
Author’s own experience
ABC Financial forum via the Pissed Consumer
ABC Financial and Anytime Fitness websites
