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All American Fitness Complaint - I was scammed/tricked into signing up for 2 years - Fitness Club/Gym
Fitness Club/Gym - Complaint
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA -- On July 31, I went to the All American Fitness center located on NW Expressway in OKC to see about signing up for a short-term membership. I was enrolled at a beauty school at the time of the inquiry, and I knew I would be graduating within the next month, so I only wanted to sign up for a month at a time, if it was possible.
I spoke to a man that is the Asst. Manager at the facility. His initials are D.P. I explained to him how I was going to graduate soon, and that I didn't want to sign up long term with any gym right now, so I asked him, "Is there any way I can sign up for just a month at a time?"
"We'll hook you up," is what he said.
He took me on a tour of the facilities, showed me all of the equipment, the usual, and then he took me to the office to discuss prices. He asked me if I would be interested in getting a personal trainer.
I had just quit smoking in May, and I was rewarding myself by joining a gym. I always wanted to have a personal trainer to teach me how to properly execute moves, engage my muscles/core, help me with a nutrition plan, etc., so I figured, what the heck. Let's sign up for a trainer.
He told me the trainer for a period of six weeks would be around $375.00. I then asked him how much would that be with just one month of membership. He told me that my ONE MONTH would cost me $45 dollars. Considering the membership included aerobics, a sauna and access to a swimming pool and hot tub, I assumed that was a feasible price.
I then asked him, "Since the personal trainer is a little more than one month, if I decide I don't want to continue my membership after a month, I can still come to see the trainer for the additional two weeks without reupping my membership, right?"
He says yes. Now he does "crunch some numbers" for me at this time, and tells me how much it WOULD be if I decided to sign up for more than a month. I just nod and say, okay, whatever, but I make sure he knows I'm only interested in the month to month basis.
He NEVER tells me it's not possible to sign up for just a month at a time; he never tells me that in order to have a personal trainer, you HAVE To sign up for a long-term membership.
I was supposed to be at school at 11a.m. It was around 10:50, and I stressed my concern with Mr. D.P. that I would be late to school, so I asked if I could just come back in later to finalize the membership. He says, "This will only take a few more minutes."
He goes to get the contract, and while he's gone, he has me fill out another sheet that has my personal info on it.
About five minutes later, he returns, with the contract in hand. He sets it down, he shows me where to sign for the personal trainer. I sign it. He shows me where to sign for the ONE MONTH membership. He says, "and this is where you sign agreeing you want the one month for $45 dollars." I sign it.
He then has me sign the bottom, agreeing to authorize them to use my credit card to pay for my personal trainer and one month membership. The total was $422.15. I sign it.
He takes the contract, quickly tears off my copy, folds it a couple of times, and then places it in a huge white envelope. I'm in a huge hurry to not be late to school, and I'm giddy with excitement that I have just signed up for a personal trainer... so STUPID STUPID me flies outta there without going over my contract.
I go to the gym a total of three times. Twice to work with my trainer, and once to work out on the cardio equipment. Exactly seven days later, I receive a phone call from the gym.
"Hi, this is so-and-so with All American Fitness. I'm calling to see how you'd like to set up your payment plan for your gym membership."
WOAH.
"What payment plan? I already paid for my PT and my month's worth of membership with my credit card."
The caller goes on to say, "Well ma'am, it says here you signed up for 24 months."
?????????????
I run to get my contract, and as clear as day, on the front of my contract, there was a section that Mr. D.P. had filled out without my knowledge, where he "crunched the numbers" away from me and filled in 24-months worth of membership on my contract. He had to have filled it in before he brought the contract to me to sign.
I never noticed it when I signed the contract, because
1. I was in a huge hurry
2. I was excited and wasn't thinking I had been tricked
and
3. I didn't realize it at the time, but Mr. D.P. had his hand resting on the contract, conveniently over the area where he filled out the 24-month membership, as I signed it.
I told this person on the phone that this wasn't correct, that I wasn't paying for something that I never intended on getting, and that I would be at All American tomorrow at 10a.m. to get this sorted out.
I get to the gym the next morning, and I tell a lady at the front desk my name, and I say, "I was tricked into signing up for 2 years worth of membership here, and I want to talk to Mr. D.P. RIGHT NOW."
I stayed extremely calm, I didn't lose my cool, and she goes to a back office to get him.
About ten minutes later, she resurfaces, without Mr. D.P.
"Mr. P wanted me to tell you that the matter is out of his hands, and that if you want to cancel, you have to contact home office, because your three day grace period is over."
Three day grace period??? What's that??? That's something else he never told me, or else I would have read my contract first thing!!!
So I say to her, "So he won't even come out and talk to me about it?"
She just shakes her head no.
Now if that isn't a sign of guilt, I don't know what is. If he's innocent, and I'm the one at fault, then why wouldn't this man just come out and try to clear things up with me?
So I ask for his manager.
"He is the manager."
"Then who do I need to talk to about what he did to me?"
She tells me to call home office. I call home office (from my school later that day) and ask for Ms. M.W. Ms. W. is in charge of cancellations. She hears me out, gets the idea of what has happened, and then tells me she'll look into it and call me right back. She never called me back.
The next morning, I call her again, go over with her again what happened to me, and then she asks me, "Did you sign the contract? Didn't you read it?"
Yeah, I read the contract, AFTER I found out I had been scammed. I admit to her that me not reading the contract was a HUGE mistake, because it's obvious I shouldn't have trusted anyone working for All American.
"Well, you signed a contract. It's a matter of 'he said, she said' now."
I try to explain to her that yes, I was naive and stupid for not going over the contract, but when you're a busy student and mother of four, in between studying, cooking, eating and sleeping, it doesn't occur to you to make sure you read a contract you THOUGHT was legit.
She just says, "Well, we get people like you trying to back out of their obligations all of the time. How do I know you're not lying, and even if he did trick you, you still signed the contract. Simple as that."
She says she's going to call the Asst. Manager and get his side of the story, and she'd call me back. Of course, when she calls back, she says Mr. D.P. (of course) said that I knew what I was signing, and that if I didn't know what I was signing, then why did I agree to the "ALL CLUBS" feature.
All clubs??? He told me all clubs was a feature he would add on because I didn't want tanning with my month's worth of membership. He NEVER SAID it was something I had to do if I was signing up long term. He never uttered the words, 24 months or 2 years. He knew I never intended on signing up for a long term membership!!!
She didn't give two flips that the Asst. Manager at the NW Expy facility is deliberatly scamming people. She just kept saying, "Well, you signed the contract. It's your problem now that you have to pay for it, and we won't drop it."
I informed Ms. W. that I would be contacting the Better Business Bureau, and that I would make sure the local news stations in OKC would hear about what happened to me.
"Are you threatening me??"
"If that's what you want to call it, sure."
I have not made a single payment to ABC Finance, the financial institution that handles money for All American. Since I never made a payment after they sent me snail mail, they took it upon themselves to take out a total of $67.76 from my Visa Card I used to pay for the original $422.15 I DID agree to.
I called my credit card, and it is impossible to stop them (ABC Finance) from taking the money out. They didn't even take out the $45 amount, because they knew if I had blocked their payments (which I did attempt to do with Visa) that they could go around it by taking out a larger amount.
I am making it my personal mission to make sure that people looking into a gym in Oklahoma City, or anywhere in Oklahoma DO NOT sign up with All American Fitness. If you do, MAKE SURE YOU READ YOUR CONTRACT!!!! I admit my fault at not doing so, but it's disgusting that someone can take advantage of someone's naivety, and trick them into something that can wreck their financial standing. I refuse to go back to the gym, even though I am technically paying for a membership, unwillingly, through my credit card. I don't want to have anything to do with such a shoddy business.
I consider this an extremely difficult lesson learned. A day doesn't go by that I'm not stressed out with the thought of what has happened, and the thought of the debt I now have due to them.
Please, if you've had the same type thing happen to you with this gym, post it here for everyone to read. Word of mouth is either your best friend or WORST enemy.
I spoke to a man that is the Asst. Manager at the facility. His initials are D.P. I explained to him how I was going to graduate soon, and that I didn't want to sign up long term with any gym right now, so I asked him, "Is there any way I can sign up for just a month at a time?"
"We'll hook you up," is what he said.
He took me on a tour of the facilities, showed me all of the equipment, the usual, and then he took me to the office to discuss prices. He asked me if I would be interested in getting a personal trainer.
I had just quit smoking in May, and I was rewarding myself by joining a gym. I always wanted to have a personal trainer to teach me how to properly execute moves, engage my muscles/core, help me with a nutrition plan, etc., so I figured, what the heck. Let's sign up for a trainer.
He told me the trainer for a period of six weeks would be around $375.00. I then asked him how much would that be with just one month of membership. He told me that my ONE MONTH would cost me $45 dollars. Considering the membership included aerobics, a sauna and access to a swimming pool and hot tub, I assumed that was a feasible price.
I then asked him, "Since the personal trainer is a little more than one month, if I decide I don't want to continue my membership after a month, I can still come to see the trainer for the additional two weeks without reupping my membership, right?"
He says yes. Now he does "crunch some numbers" for me at this time, and tells me how much it WOULD be if I decided to sign up for more than a month. I just nod and say, okay, whatever, but I make sure he knows I'm only interested in the month to month basis.
He NEVER tells me it's not possible to sign up for just a month at a time; he never tells me that in order to have a personal trainer, you HAVE To sign up for a long-term membership.
I was supposed to be at school at 11a.m. It was around 10:50, and I stressed my concern with Mr. D.P. that I would be late to school, so I asked if I could just come back in later to finalize the membership. He says, "This will only take a few more minutes."
He goes to get the contract, and while he's gone, he has me fill out another sheet that has my personal info on it.
About five minutes later, he returns, with the contract in hand. He sets it down, he shows me where to sign for the personal trainer. I sign it. He shows me where to sign for the ONE MONTH membership. He says, "and this is where you sign agreeing you want the one month for $45 dollars." I sign it.
He then has me sign the bottom, agreeing to authorize them to use my credit card to pay for my personal trainer and one month membership. The total was $422.15. I sign it.
He takes the contract, quickly tears off my copy, folds it a couple of times, and then places it in a huge white envelope. I'm in a huge hurry to not be late to school, and I'm giddy with excitement that I have just signed up for a personal trainer... so STUPID STUPID me flies outta there without going over my contract.
I go to the gym a total of three times. Twice to work with my trainer, and once to work out on the cardio equipment. Exactly seven days later, I receive a phone call from the gym.
"Hi, this is so-and-so with All American Fitness. I'm calling to see how you'd like to set up your payment plan for your gym membership."
WOAH.
"What payment plan? I already paid for my PT and my month's worth of membership with my credit card."
The caller goes on to say, "Well ma'am, it says here you signed up for 24 months."
?????????????
I run to get my contract, and as clear as day, on the front of my contract, there was a section that Mr. D.P. had filled out without my knowledge, where he "crunched the numbers" away from me and filled in 24-months worth of membership on my contract. He had to have filled it in before he brought the contract to me to sign.
I never noticed it when I signed the contract, because
1. I was in a huge hurry
2. I was excited and wasn't thinking I had been tricked
and
3. I didn't realize it at the time, but Mr. D.P. had his hand resting on the contract, conveniently over the area where he filled out the 24-month membership, as I signed it.
I told this person on the phone that this wasn't correct, that I wasn't paying for something that I never intended on getting, and that I would be at All American tomorrow at 10a.m. to get this sorted out.
I get to the gym the next morning, and I tell a lady at the front desk my name, and I say, "I was tricked into signing up for 2 years worth of membership here, and I want to talk to Mr. D.P. RIGHT NOW."
I stayed extremely calm, I didn't lose my cool, and she goes to a back office to get him.
About ten minutes later, she resurfaces, without Mr. D.P.
"Mr. P wanted me to tell you that the matter is out of his hands, and that if you want to cancel, you have to contact home office, because your three day grace period is over."
Three day grace period??? What's that??? That's something else he never told me, or else I would have read my contract first thing!!!
So I say to her, "So he won't even come out and talk to me about it?"
She just shakes her head no.
Now if that isn't a sign of guilt, I don't know what is. If he's innocent, and I'm the one at fault, then why wouldn't this man just come out and try to clear things up with me?
So I ask for his manager.
"He is the manager."
"Then who do I need to talk to about what he did to me?"
She tells me to call home office. I call home office (from my school later that day) and ask for Ms. M.W. Ms. W. is in charge of cancellations. She hears me out, gets the idea of what has happened, and then tells me she'll look into it and call me right back. She never called me back.
The next morning, I call her again, go over with her again what happened to me, and then she asks me, "Did you sign the contract? Didn't you read it?"
Yeah, I read the contract, AFTER I found out I had been scammed. I admit to her that me not reading the contract was a HUGE mistake, because it's obvious I shouldn't have trusted anyone working for All American.
"Well, you signed a contract. It's a matter of 'he said, she said' now."
I try to explain to her that yes, I was naive and stupid for not going over the contract, but when you're a busy student and mother of four, in between studying, cooking, eating and sleeping, it doesn't occur to you to make sure you read a contract you THOUGHT was legit.
She just says, "Well, we get people like you trying to back out of their obligations all of the time. How do I know you're not lying, and even if he did trick you, you still signed the contract. Simple as that."
She says she's going to call the Asst. Manager and get his side of the story, and she'd call me back. Of course, when she calls back, she says Mr. D.P. (of course) said that I knew what I was signing, and that if I didn't know what I was signing, then why did I agree to the "ALL CLUBS" feature.
All clubs??? He told me all clubs was a feature he would add on because I didn't want tanning with my month's worth of membership. He NEVER SAID it was something I had to do if I was signing up long term. He never uttered the words, 24 months or 2 years. He knew I never intended on signing up for a long term membership!!!
She didn't give two flips that the Asst. Manager at the NW Expy facility is deliberatly scamming people. She just kept saying, "Well, you signed the contract. It's your problem now that you have to pay for it, and we won't drop it."
I informed Ms. W. that I would be contacting the Better Business Bureau, and that I would make sure the local news stations in OKC would hear about what happened to me.
"Are you threatening me??"
"If that's what you want to call it, sure."
I have not made a single payment to ABC Finance, the financial institution that handles money for All American. Since I never made a payment after they sent me snail mail, they took it upon themselves to take out a total of $67.76 from my Visa Card I used to pay for the original $422.15 I DID agree to.
I called my credit card, and it is impossible to stop them (ABC Finance) from taking the money out. They didn't even take out the $45 amount, because they knew if I had blocked their payments (which I did attempt to do with Visa) that they could go around it by taking out a larger amount.
I am making it my personal mission to make sure that people looking into a gym in Oklahoma City, or anywhere in Oklahoma DO NOT sign up with All American Fitness. If you do, MAKE SURE YOU READ YOUR CONTRACT!!!! I admit my fault at not doing so, but it's disgusting that someone can take advantage of someone's naivety, and trick them into something that can wreck their financial standing. I refuse to go back to the gym, even though I am technically paying for a membership, unwillingly, through my credit card. I don't want to have anything to do with such a shoddy business.
I consider this an extremely difficult lesson learned. A day doesn't go by that I'm not stressed out with the thought of what has happened, and the thought of the debt I now have due to them.
Please, if you've had the same type thing happen to you with this gym, post it here for everyone to read. Word of mouth is either your best friend or WORST enemy.
Comments:
Posted by Skye on 2007-10-08:
How were you tricked?? Did you even bother to read what you were signing??
The sales rep is only interested in commission. They will say anything to get you to sign, that's why its so important to read every piece of documentation. Everyone is always in a rush, and thats what they hope for.
The sales rep is only interested in commission. They will say anything to get you to sign, that's why its so important to read every piece of documentation. Everyone is always in a rush, and thats what they hope for.
Posted by HappyJoyBear on 2007-10-08:
You need to read any contract entirely before signing it. Anyone tries to rush you into a contract, walk away. He does not have any (psyche) power over you. Get up and leave…
When you got home, you should immediately read over the contract terms closely and cancel the gym membership without any penalty.
Most gyms’ membership comes with cooling-off period (few days). You can legally opt out a contract without financial and/or legal penalty.
It is also a FTC consumer protection law.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/products/pro03.shtm
It is an expensive lesson to learn…
When you got home, you should immediately read over the contract terms closely and cancel the gym membership without any penalty.
Most gyms’ membership comes with cooling-off period (few days). You can legally opt out a contract without financial and/or legal penalty.
It is also a FTC consumer protection law.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/products/pro03.shtm
It is an expensive lesson to learn…
Posted by bargod on 2007-10-08:
Have you tried canceling the visa card to stop further withdrawls? Not sure if it's possible but may be worth a try. Also follow up with the news station thing. Alot of them have a troubleshooter line and they love storys like this. Don't give up.
Posted by HappyJoyBear on 2007-10-08:
Bad idea. She signed a legal binding contract. If she does not pay, they could sue her for the remaining (unused) amount of the contract. He credit score will also be ruined.
Posted by Principissa on 2007-10-08:
I agree with Happy, if she changes her information or refuses to pay, they will come after her. She signed the contract stating she understood all the terms and conditions. If she was that uncomfortable she should have left immediately.
Posted by Skye on 2007-10-08:
She also has 3 days to cancel. She would of just had to send her cancellation in writing, certified mail, return receipt requested.
Why do people who do not read the contracts complain later that they were taken?? I just don't get it. We, as adults are responsible for our own actions and consequences.
Why do people who do not read the contracts complain later that they were taken?? I just don't get it. We, as adults are responsible for our own actions and consequences.
Posted by CrazyRedHead on 2007-10-08:
Between being a busy mother of 6 kids, a full time job, being a student and in between studying, cooking, eating and sleeping, I still read my gym contract and knew what I was getting myself into, and now I have successfully canceled my membership.
Posted by bargod on 2007-10-09:
Wow. people on here sure arn't positive. They just like to crap all over everyone who makes a mistake.
Posted by Lidman on 2007-10-09:
bargod, welcome to the group. But they say its positive unless I said it then it's negative. But if we only had postive and no negative the light wouldn't come on when one turns on the switch.
Posted by bargod on 2007-10-09:
Noted. I just like to be helpful unless they deserve to be crapped on.
Posted by Lidman on 2007-10-09:
I agree but then who makes the judgement?
Posted by dianec on 2007-10-09:
I agree with everyone that said you should have read the contract, but it is such a shame that people cannot be trusted to tell the truth at many businesses. I feel your pain. The only thing to be gained out of the whole experience is that you learned a valuable lesson--unfortunately the hard way. Most people have had that happen to them at least once in their lives--that's how we learn. Passing the word, as you are, is the best revenge.
Posted by bargod on 2007-10-09:
I judge all. didn't you notice the last 3 letters in my name.LOL.
Dianec. you are right.Lesson learned I hope.
Dianec. you are right.Lesson learned I hope.
Posted by ScammedByAllAmericanFitness on 2007-10-10:
Yes, you are all right. I was a complete fool for not reading my contract over. I do believe I admitted that in my post, and called myself stupid for not doing so.
This is the first time I've ever signed up with a gym. I wasn't thinking about the possibility of this guy completely scamming me, and taking advantage of the fact that I was naive and in a hurry. The fact of the matter is, I posted this here to let those who MIGHT be considering signing up with All American, that this is the kind of behavior their MANAGEMENT is conducting: scamming members so they can profit. They don't care two flips about their members if they are willing to trick them just to make a buck.
By the way, I did try to block payments on my credit card, but of course, my credit card company told me it wasn't possible, so I had to contact ABC Financial, who is in charge of my payments through AAF now. So I contacted ABC, and I spoke to a very sweet girl that works there. I told her my story, and asked if they could please stop taking payments off of my card, and she kind of sighed and chuckled, then said, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, it's just astounding how many people just like you call and tell me the exact same story, having to do with All American. I wish I could warn all of you not to sign up before you ever even walk in the door."
That was coming from an employee of the company that takes payments for this gym.
So yeah, call me a fool for not reading over my contract. I know that. The point is, this company is purposefully taking advantage of people. Yes, it is a hard lesson learned.
This is the first time I've ever signed up with a gym. I wasn't thinking about the possibility of this guy completely scamming me, and taking advantage of the fact that I was naive and in a hurry. The fact of the matter is, I posted this here to let those who MIGHT be considering signing up with All American, that this is the kind of behavior their MANAGEMENT is conducting: scamming members so they can profit. They don't care two flips about their members if they are willing to trick them just to make a buck.
By the way, I did try to block payments on my credit card, but of course, my credit card company told me it wasn't possible, so I had to contact ABC Financial, who is in charge of my payments through AAF now. So I contacted ABC, and I spoke to a very sweet girl that works there. I told her my story, and asked if they could please stop taking payments off of my card, and she kind of sighed and chuckled, then said, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, it's just astounding how many people just like you call and tell me the exact same story, having to do with All American. I wish I could warn all of you not to sign up before you ever even walk in the door."
That was coming from an employee of the company that takes payments for this gym.
So yeah, call me a fool for not reading over my contract. I know that. The point is, this company is purposefully taking advantage of people. Yes, it is a hard lesson learned.
Posted by Stew.old on 2007-10-10:
ScammedByAllAmericanFitness -- You got to realize that most the people on here are perfect and never ever make mistakes but unfortunately I don't fall in that category so I am very grateful when people such as yourself take the time share your experiences and "lessons learned". I gotta be honest I learn far more from other's mistakes than I do from other's perfection.
ScammedByAllAmericanFitness -- Thanks for posting and good luck be with you!
ScammedByAllAmericanFitness -- Thanks for posting and good luck be with you!
Posted by UrFriendlyPirate on 2007-10-10:
Stew, you are wise, I nominate you for your 3rd star.
Posted by Lidman on 2007-10-10:
ScammedByAllAmericanFitness, I must admit I was scammed by Bally once and I even read the contract that I never signed until they crossed out the things I would not agree to, they still tried to scam me. However I could never agree with PirateWithParrot.
Good review and thanks for the information.
Good review and thanks for the information.
Posted by CrazyRedHead on 2007-10-10:
I actually learned from this site. I am a very pessimistic person and always seem to see the bad side of things. I have learned alot from this site and from some of my own experiences. I don't necessarily agree with Stew on his last comment, but he usually hits the nail on the head.
Posted by superbowl on 2007-10-10:
Stew, your wrong again. I admit when I'm wrong, I picked the Chargers to go to the SuperBowl weeks ago. Lid's admits he is wrong about never wanting to move back to California. DB is wrong when she says college football stinks. See we all admit were wrong about stuff.
Posted by Lidman on 2007-10-10:
CrazyRedHead, if you saw Stew in person you would know he almost never hits the nail on the head, most of the ting he hits his thumb, true!
Posted by CrazyRedHead on 2007-10-11:
I'm sure that Stew is a nice person regardless, anyways I have a lot of bandage and iodine.
Posted by Jaxs170 on 2007-12-28:
I am having a huge fight with another OKC gym regarding a cancellation. I would advise you read the Oklahoma Health Spa act and compare it's provisions against what is contained in your contract. Read both carefully and make sure they included all of the required provisions of the act because if they didn't you may be able to void the contract.
Posted by ScammedByAllAmericanFitness on 2008-01-29:
Thank you for posting that, Jaxs. I will go over that with a fine-toothed comb.
Just to let you guys/gals know, I have been working with ABC Financial, who completely understands that I was scammed. They have been nice enough to waive my "gym maintenance" fees for me, but as far as cancelling my contract, they can't do that unless I actually move or have a dr's note claiming I am unfit to workout. 9_9 I actually had TWO employees at ABC tell me they hear from people that were tricked by AAF attempting to cancel on a regular basis. Just wanted to touch base with you guys to let you know things still haven't been resolved. I actually had an employee at ABC encourage me to "fake" moving so I could cancel. Pretty sad.
Just to let you guys/gals know, I have been working with ABC Financial, who completely understands that I was scammed. They have been nice enough to waive my "gym maintenance" fees for me, but as far as cancelling my contract, they can't do that unless I actually move or have a dr's note claiming I am unfit to workout. 9_9 I actually had TWO employees at ABC tell me they hear from people that were tricked by AAF attempting to cancel on a regular basis. Just wanted to touch base with you guys to let you know things still haven't been resolved. I actually had an employee at ABC encourage me to "fake" moving so I could cancel. Pretty sad.
Posted by ScammedByAllAmericanFitness on 2008-09-09:
New update with great results!!
AAF actually attempted to take me to court to get the money they scammed out of me. I had a lawyer send their lawyer a letter showing that we were going to contest the action, and long story short, they decided to "cancel" my membership for me instead. I got out of having to pay them the balance, and they completely gave me a clean slate, because they KNEW they had no chance at winning.
My attorney was ready to battle it out with them and have them pay all of his attorney fees. Needless to say, this company makes its money by scamming people, taking them to court, and then collecting their money after people "no show" on their court appearance. They were betting on me NOT showing up or contesting it, and instead, when I fought back, they backed down.
My attorney told me that gyms like this are notorious for signing up people under false pretenses and bilking them out of money when the victim of the scam rolls over and gives up. He said that 9 times out of 10, of the person simply has a lawyer contest the matter, they will drop it.
So, the moral of the story is, IF you are unfortunate enough to get scammed by a gym, then DON'T ROLL OVER and give up!! Show them you are ready to do battle, and contest it. They are making their big bucks this way, and you as the consumer must fight back to keep them from winning!
AAF actually attempted to take me to court to get the money they scammed out of me. I had a lawyer send their lawyer a letter showing that we were going to contest the action, and long story short, they decided to "cancel" my membership for me instead. I got out of having to pay them the balance, and they completely gave me a clean slate, because they KNEW they had no chance at winning.
My attorney was ready to battle it out with them and have them pay all of his attorney fees. Needless to say, this company makes its money by scamming people, taking them to court, and then collecting their money after people "no show" on their court appearance. They were betting on me NOT showing up or contesting it, and instead, when I fought back, they backed down.
My attorney told me that gyms like this are notorious for signing up people under false pretenses and bilking them out of money when the victim of the scam rolls over and gives up. He said that 9 times out of 10, of the person simply has a lawyer contest the matter, they will drop it.
So, the moral of the story is, IF you are unfortunate enough to get scammed by a gym, then DON'T ROLL OVER and give up!! Show them you are ready to do battle, and contest it. They are making their big bucks this way, and you as the consumer must fight back to keep them from winning!
Posted by Bailey77 on 2008-09-16:
All American Fitness wronged me in a very similar way. My friend and I signed a joint contract, explaining to the manager that we intended to terminate the contract in July. She assured us we could cancel at any time for a 100 dollar fee, and so we signed. Come to find out, the 100 dollar cancellation she so loftily reassured us with is only applicable when the member moves 25 miles away from any All American Fitness center, aquires employment atleast 25 miles away from any All American Fitness, and proves both changes. Yes, I know I was naive, but I was nonetheless swindled via corrupt managing by a company who knows they can legally get away with it.
Posted by duchessboss on 2009-09-25:
I was also tricked by All American Fitness here in the Tulsa area. They advertised a year for 99. They don't tell you that it is only for three days a week and only limited to one location. Eventually I signed up for a three
yera committment which is going to cost me almost $400 a year. It has been one day since I signed up. Hopefully I can get out of it.
yera committment which is going to cost me almost $400 a year. It has been one day since I signed up. Hopefully I can get out of it.
Posted by Mike on 2011-06-11:
Look I used to work at a gym and guess what it was All America Fitness on NWE and the May Hefner location and we got this crap all of the time. Look I get that some clubs are liars and I understand that people are stupid and dont read things. But why is that any gyms fault? Here is the deal---the gym is selling you a membership. they even show you option of memberships to buy. Lets say you buy a 600 Membership for 2 years. So, you have now as an adult purchased a membership, now rather than you paying the 600 up front the gym lets you pay it out over 2 years. Well if you bought a car for $600 and the finance company gives you money--guess what if you dont drive the car after 3 months that is not the finance companies fault and they are due their money--just because you dont wish to attend--that os fine dont go--but you still owe the money for the membership you bought. And this bullshit, im hard to see....uh then you must be hard of thinking as well because what moron who cant see straight signs ANYTHING without some assistance. Look YOU bought the membership and agreed to pay it out over time. It is NOT any fitness place to say **** it they dont come---YOU agreed to buy said membership nd they were kind enough to let you pay it out.
Posted by thedementedbunny on 2011-07-08:
Same thing happened to me. I was in a rush as well to get an ad deal, they told me I had 5 min to get the deal and rushed me into signing after I said "well I can always cancel, right?" AND HE SAID YES! That was a bold face LIE! I didn't even get the deal cause it was a SCAM. Now I can't cancel and they are charging me $60/mo for a 24 MONTH CONTRACT...which I was told was a 12 mo contract.
Posted by Mike Chen on 2011-12-13:
You think you had it bad? at least you can still transfer your contract to someone.
I was tricked even worst. my first time joining a gym. I was living abroad in another country. I could barely read the language. I brought a friend along to help me translate. The gym sales employee was acting extremely nice, but with malicious intent in their hearts. They mislead me to believe I was signing up for paying by month to month. I told them that I didn't have a credit card. They said that it was okay. They said I had to pay the first and last month of the gym membership fees.
I thought to myself okay then the I'm paying for a minimum of two months. I went to the gym twice a week for a little less than two months. After that I stopped going.
On the 3rd month, the gym called me and ask me, "Why I haven't been to the gym?" I told them that I didn't want to go anymore, and then I ask if I decide to come back, "Do I just pay for another month?"
They told me, "Yes, you can come back anytime."
8 Months Later... The gym sent me a bill for 8 months of gym fees. They said I signed a contract for 10-months.
So I signed up for 10-month, but I was totally unaware, and none of the employees said anything about it. I was not even billed until the very end of my contract. It sucks because I can't read the contract and I was totally scammed.
I was tricked even worst. my first time joining a gym. I was living abroad in another country. I could barely read the language. I brought a friend along to help me translate. The gym sales employee was acting extremely nice, but with malicious intent in their hearts. They mislead me to believe I was signing up for paying by month to month. I told them that I didn't have a credit card. They said that it was okay. They said I had to pay the first and last month of the gym membership fees.
I thought to myself okay then the I'm paying for a minimum of two months. I went to the gym twice a week for a little less than two months. After that I stopped going.
On the 3rd month, the gym called me and ask me, "Why I haven't been to the gym?" I told them that I didn't want to go anymore, and then I ask if I decide to come back, "Do I just pay for another month?"
They told me, "Yes, you can come back anytime."
8 Months Later... The gym sent me a bill for 8 months of gym fees. They said I signed a contract for 10-months.
So I signed up for 10-month, but I was totally unaware, and none of the employees said anything about it. I was not even billed until the very end of my contract. It sucks because I can't read the contract and I was totally scammed.
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