Work Out World Complaint - Warning don't join WOW their cancellation policy is extortion

Complaint

Review by pongo on 2011-02-07

Please never join WOW. I joined my daughter a few years ago and when she moved away for college I put her membership on hold. When I realized she would no longer use it I sent a cancellation request via certified mail. They emailed me to say I could not cancel the membership while it is on hold and I had an outstanding balance that needed to be paid before I could cancel. My husband promptly paid the balance and we sent another certified letter requesting cancellation of the membership. We were under the assumption that the matter was resolved. A year later we received a collection letter from a law firm representing WOW stating we still owed 158.95 It was in my daughter's name and I feared her credit would be ruined!!! So my husband promptly called law firm and spoke to an attorney who is supposed to be collecting so called debt for WOW. He basically told my husband he had reviewed our account and knows it was paid along with 490 other accounts WOW is trying to collect on. He said their contracts are basically ironclad and almost impossible to cancel. He then recommended we lodge an official complaint with the prosecutor's office. It is pretty scary when the law firm in charge of collections for WOW tells you to lodge a complaint. To make matters worse I am now trying to cancel my son"s membership since he is away at college. I sent a cancellation request via certified mail and then received an email from them saying you can't cancel because the account is on hold and there is an outstanding balance. BLAH BLAH BLAH!!! How could there be a balance if I pay by automatic withdraw and never received a statement. It is dejavu all over again.