1. I am currently trying a solution as follows (excerpt from www.lectlaw.com/files/bul08.htm):

"Here is a simplified version of the things which must occur in order
to establish a case for fraud:

1. D makes a representation about a fact.
2. D knows that the representation is false, OR he makes it with
complete and reckless disregard of whether it is true or not.
3. D intends P to rely on D's misrepresentations.
4. P does rely on D's misrepresentations.
5. As a result of his reliance, P suffers harm for which there is a
legal remedy."

Now, P (plaintiff) is you. D (defendent) is your gym. Find out how your gym misrepresented to you that this contract would be easy to get out of. If you can't do this, you might be wasting your time (sorry!).

Next, via certified mail, send your complaint and demand to stop billing and/or refund your money (as applies to your situation). If they fail to honor your request, take your gym owner/manager to small claims court (I'm currently trying to recover $700!), based on the 5 points above. If you don't have a strong case using the 5 points above, you probably won't win--the burden is on you to prove THEY did something wrong. When the gyms start losing a ton of money due to refunds and lost "contractual" receipts, they'll find a more ethical financeer with whom to do business.

***Special note to the gym owners who defend this practice.
1. I own a veterinary clinic and a marketing business. If my people misrepresent our services or anything about our business, they're toast. You don't make promises to people and later deny what you said or mislead your clients in any way. Gyms are notorious for this false promise of "professional trainers" who are actually teenagers working their first job, "nutritionists" who can't tell the difference between a protein and animo acid, or--as this page demonstrates--slick salespeople who generate copious lies about how easy it is to get out of a contract. If you can't handle the billing and receiving necessary to run your business (I find it hard to believe that "thousands" join & cancel each month), then hire a bookkeeper or run a cash only business. You're the one who assumed the risk of business ownership, so handle it responsibly; otherwise, you justify the socialist agenda that everyone seems to be growing so fond of.

Here is my email correspondence to and from ASF International, start from the bottom and work your way up:

Samuel,

First of all, the sorry doesn't do anything at this point. Answer this, why in all the times I've actually spoken to anyone at ASF and in the original email you sent me did NO ONE, NOT EVEN YOU ever mention that a response was needed from Premier Martial Arts for a refund? Wouldn't you think that by me canceling WITHIN THE TERMS OF YOUR CONTRACT which states it must be canceled in 3 days, but that doesn't matter because it isn't like you all know how your company works anyway and for the fact that I canceled the VERY NEXT day from when I signed up, that I should NEVER HAVE BEEN CHARGED IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! So if I canceled the very next day, I should have never been charged for the first month, CORRECT??? Makes perfect sense to me, so I'm not sure why it doesn't make sense to anyone else. Does anyone there know how your own company processes work? Don't you think this is vital information to provide to a customer? Isn't that basic customer service? Why don't ya'll get your job training manuals out and learn how to do your job because CLEARLY no one there knows what on earth they are doing or how to correctly follow processes there. I just sent in my complaint to the BBB and posted all of of this horrible correspondence from ASF (YOU, AMANDA, ANDREA) on this website http://www.complaintsboard.com/bycompany/asf-international-a29347.html and now I'm going to take the rest of the day off from my job, just so I can find other websites and ways to let EVERYONE know how poor your practices and customer service is there!

Thank you for using the Better Business Bureau's Online Complaint System.
Your complaint has been assigned case #
Correspondence regarding this complaint will be emailed to :
Please print a copy of this for your records.

Filed on : April 6 2010

Filed by :
Gracie Castillo
Austin TX 78745

Filed against :
A S F International, Inc.
640 Plaza Dr Ste 300
Highlands Ranch CO 80129-2399


This case will be reviewed by a complaint specialist at the Better Business Bureau, and then forwarded to the business for their response. It is our policy to allow the business 30 working days to respond to your complaint. You will be notified when the business has responded.

What would you like to do next?
View the status of your complaint
Return to the BBB Homepage BBB Privacy Policy
The BBB that will handle your complaint is:
BBB of Denver / Boulder Colorado
(Denver, CO)
1020 Cherokee Street
Denver, CO 80204-4039
Phone: (303)758-2100
Fax: (303)577-8101
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.denver.bbb.org

You may wish to copy or print this information for further reference.
All correspondence about your complaint will come from and should be addressed to this BBB.


On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 12:54 PM, Samuel Lugo <[email protected]> wrote:

Dear Gracie,

First of all I am very sorry for what I am going to say Gracie. As of
today we have not received any response from Premier Martial Arts when we
tried to request a refund on your account. Therefore, unfortunately you will
have to follow up with them directly on your refund request. Their number is
512 447 5425.

Thanks,

Samuel Lugo
ASF International
Administrative Assistant
1-800-525-8967


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gracie Castillo <>
Date: Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 8:08 PM
Subject: Re: CONTRACT CANCELLATION AND POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE 3156051 - AGAIN
To: customerservice <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected]


Samuel,

Per your email on 3/26/10, you stated that you would put in a request for refund but that it might take up to 5 CALENDAR days. I just checked my bank account today, APRIL 5, 7:56 p.m. central time, which is 10 calendar days later, and my refund is still not in my account. I am frustrated all over again. I NEED my refund in my account ASAP. I don't know how much more I can stress that I want my money back and I want it back now. I have bills to pay, mouths to feed, a life to live and in my life, a hundred dollars goes a long way. I want my money back. If I have to begin emailing, calling, contacting ASF however I need to and as many times as I need to, trust me, I will. If I don't have my money back within TWO CALENDAR days, which mean it BETTER be in my account by 5pm APRIL 7, I will file complaints with the BBB, write as many negative reviewson every website I can find in Texas, Colorado, etc, etc. etc, and anyone and everyone else that will listen. I've wasted SO MUCH of my TIME on your company and the martial arts company that I regretfully signed up with initially. You both have been a nightmare.

Gracie Castillo


On Sat, Mar 27, 2010 at 12:47 PM, Gracie Castillo wrote:

Samuel,

Let me just start off by saying THANK YOU for your prompt response, apology and your willingness to help me out with my situation. I completely understand that you did not know about my cancellation until I called because it was PMA that dropped the ball on their end and did not cancel the account. My only issue with ASF came when I did what Andrea said I needed to do but failed to mention the 24 hour wait for a fax to be received and then that she had 10 days to respond to my issues, which is what Amanda told me when I called to follow up with Andrea. I just thought Amanda was rude and it was inconsiderate for Andrea to ignore my voicemails, avoid me, and not be clear about the process regarding my fax, credit, etc. But I sincerely appreciate your customer service.

Regards,
Gracie Castillo


On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 4:55 PM, customerservice <[email protected]> wrote:

Dear Gracie,

I am truly sorry for all this and the way you feel about our customer service Gracie. I have your fax and this emails. I will request a refund back to your card but please note that it takes up to 5 calendar days. The amount is 109.80 dollars. Again I do apologize for any inconvenience. Please note that we did not know about the cancellation on your account until yesterday that you called us.

Please call me at extension 322 for further questions or concerns.

Thanks,

Samuel Lugo
ASF International
Administrative Assistant
1-800-525-8967

-----Original Message-----
From: Gracie Castillo Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 1:57 PM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: CONTRACT CANCELLATION AND POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE


To whom it may concern,

I'm unsure who at this point can help me because Amanda and Andrea in the customer service department have sure been very unwilling to help or provide the least bit of customer service.

This is in regards to my CANCELLED account, # 3156051.

I will start from the beginning. On March 3, 2010, I signed my daughter up for a martial arts class at Premier Martial Arts here in Austin, TX. The very next day, March 4, 2010, I cancelled the contract in writing and personally delivered my cancellation letter to Mr. Doss, so called Master Instructor PMA. All he gave me in return was a check for $190 which was for the deposit and cost of martial arts equipment that I paid to PMA on March 3 when I signed my daughter up. I did my part and followed the ASF contract and provided a WRITTEN cancellation and instead of taking a chance of it not being received through the mail, personally hand delivered. So, come to March 25, 2010, I am astonished when I check my bank account to find that ASF has charged my credit card for the monthly fee. So I call ASF so called customer service, it should be more like, ASF - I'll do whatever I feel like doing today service...Anyway, I called and spoke to Andrea and told her my situation. She said that PMA had not sent in any cancellation notice and until she received that, she could not stop the charge. Andrea asked me if PMA had provided me with a receipt of cancellation and I told her that I did not receive anything but a check because Mr. Doss was VERY unwilling to even accept my cancellation and was very rude to me and it took me everything just to get him to refund my money from the deposit and equip costs, but I told him I wasn't leaving until he gave that to me. So I asked Andrea if I faxed those two pieces of proof, MY CANCELLATION LETTER, which references the refund I am owed for the monies I paid, and the copy of the check he had given me for my refund. She said those would work since he didn't give me any notice of cancellation and to fax them to her and she would get the account cancelled and reverse the payment that was charged to my card. I also mentioned to her that the charge could possibly cause my account to be overdrawn and she said that she would just need a statement from my bank to show that and ASF would refund those as well. So, since it is middle of a workday and I usually don't keep important paperwork with me at all times, I started making calls to Bank of America to get a copy of the check that I cashed from PMA, since my copy was at home and I tried to call PMA to get a cancellation notice. After getting message from PMA that his voicemail box was full for a couple hours, I was finally able to get through to him and made him send me a fax that he cancelled my account. Which I had to make him do TWICE because the first letter stated my account was cancelled effective 3/25/10, when it most certainly was not, it was cancelled on March 4, 2010. So he did indeed fax me another letter with the revisions I requested. So since I now had this proof of cancellation from Mr. Doss, I knew this would supersede what I was originally going to fax Andrea. I then faxed my cover letter with the letters, the first incorrect letter and the revised letter and a copy of my account page to Andrea. In my cover letter I asked her to call me or email me to confirm my fax and that my charge was reversed. Since it was approaching the end of the day, mind you I started dealing with this issue at about NOON central time and here I am calling to follow up with her at about 4:45pm central, all the while, I'm trying to work at my own job, while doing other peoples job that didn't do it right to begin with, and then Amanda at ASF answers. I proceed to tell her I was calling to follow up about a fax I had sent to Andrea about my cancelled account and charge that I needed reversed. So good ole Amanda looks up my account and proceeds to tell me that my fax does not show it's been "received" yet and they have up to 24 hours to receive a fax and then Andrea has up to 10 days to get back to me. Well first of all, why would I be calling back to follow up on my fax if I would have known these two little pieces of information that Andrea failed to mention. That's just it, I WOULDN'T BE FOLLOWING UP BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THE 24 HOUR WAIT PERIOD, FOLLOWED BY A 10 WAIT PERIOD. So, my issue is this, PMA failed to do their job and cancel my account, so I track down the necessary paperwork to show my account was cancelled and all I want is the charge reversed NOW. Andrea did NOT do her job by telling me I had to wait all these RIDICULOUS wait periods, she completely made it seem like I would just fax the paperwork in and it would be done that day. So I want my billing stopped, I want my charge reversed NOW, TODAY, if it has not already been done! I have already called Andrea 4 times and left her 4 messages today and she has NOT called me back. I will keep calling her and calling her and calling her and leaving voice mails until this has been resolved. I will email all of these email addresses over and over and you can block me, but I will find a way around it all. I want my charge reversed. I will file complaints with anyone and everyone that I have to to get this taken care of. This is has been the worse customer service I have ever experienced and I will make sure everyone knows to stay clear of PMA and ASF!

Someone please show me what good customer service is and resolve my issue.

Regards,

Gracie Castillo

Before signing a contract-I asked what the cancelation policy was in case I found myself not using their service. I was told by their rep that there was a $50.00 cxl fee. I thought that was fair and signed.
That's when the trouble began. After several months of paying for a service I did not use I finally called them and explained that I wanted to go ahead and pay the cancellation fee because I was not using their service. I was told that there was not such thing as a cancellation fee and that I would have to pay the balance. They kept withdrawing the monthly amount from my account. A few months later I lost my job. I called them back and explained that not only had I been given false information by their rep, I had not used their service, and I was now unemployed and that the account they had been withdrawing from was now closed. They seemed to understand and told me that they would see what they could do. I then started getting billed for their service (which I still had not used) through the mail. They were adding a $10.00 manual billing fee and two $29.oo return fee from the acct. I had already told them was closed and they had continued to try to bill through that acct. I finally in good faith went ahead and sent them a check for $50. wrote in the memo at the bottom that it was a cxl fee as discussed. A few days later I find out that they now placed me in a collection agency which I have tried several times to phone and hang up after several minutes of being on hold . This whole thing has become an unending nightmare and has caused me physical and emotional stress. After reading all the other complaints at least I now know that I am not crazy and that I was not the only one who has had to deal with these theives. I am thinking about bringing a civil suit against this company and after reading your complaints this really should be a class action suit. Thank for letting me vent my total frustration with this company and realize I am not alone.

SECRET TO CANCEL AND GET RID OF THESE CROOKS

Complaint Rating:
IN ORDER TO CANCEL YOU NEED TO FORWARD YOUR MAIL TO A FAMILY OR FRIENDS ADDRESS LOCATED OVER 25 MILES AND TELL THESE GUYS YOU MOVED AS PROOF PRESENT THE POSTAL SERVICE CONFIRMATION THAT YOU FORWARD MAIL TO THE NEW ADDRESS, THEN YOU CAN CHANGE ADDRESS BACK ALSO SOME CASES THEY WANT TWO PROOFS...

ASF International is a very unethical business. I have cancelled my membership at a local boxing club 4 times and they have continued to bill me with outrageous late fees of about 80% of my fees for the boxing club. After I lost my credit card and they were no longer able to bill my card, they sent me bills. When I wrote in about the cancellation and documented my cancellation, they claimed they could not honor my cancellation and would in fact keep billing me until I paid the late fees! The late fees were from services after I had already cancelled and for which I had never been initially billed, so how could they be late. This is a scam. When I called, I was treated in a very rude manner and when I asked to speak to a supervisor, I had the feeling I was speaking with a co-worker. I am not paying these bills and will go to small claims court if necessary. I hope it does not hurt my credit. Do you not ASF International