I canceled my membership at the 1001 Brannan St. Golds Gym in San Francisco in late November 2010 by 1st class mail giving thirty day notice since I moved away in January 2011. After tax day my accountant pointed out to me that they continued to charge me. A visit to the location a few weeks ago yielded nothing. The front desk clerk seem to not find any info about me in their system. So I sent a certified letter, with copy of my previous last year letter as well as copy of ID tag and got this horse manure email answer from a person named Cat Young, Gold's Gym Management, 101 Nellen Ave. Suite 250, Corte Madera, Ca. 94925:
"Gold’s Gym is in receipt of your certified cancellation letter mailed 5/23/11.
No prior cancellation letter had been received prior to this date.
You have been removed from the June debit & there will be no further debits.
Thank you"

To continue taking money out of my account via EFT despite that I canceled is theft! I will take them to small claims court and add all expenses, cost, etc to my refund! What a shyster operation they are!

When I signed up at Golds Gym, I was offered a long list of bonuses including towel service, tanning minutes, a lock, gear, etc. and a 2 month cancellation policy. This person who sold me the membership left the company a few months after I signed up, and after he left, I was having a hard time receiving towel service, never received any buddy passes or gear, etc. I spoke to management about this after they were questioning my deal, and management agreed to honour everything I was promised. Finally received towel service after this, but never received the rest that was outstanding. After 3 years with the gym, and thousands spent on personal training, etc, I was moving and needed to cancel. I sent in the cancellation form in the mail (stupid policy by the way...i should be able to call or email a cancellation), and was told it was 3 months that I had to pay. I told them i was promised 2 months and that they called me and had agreed to that prior. Well, in the end they would not do anything about it...and ended up charging me 4 MONTHS after cancellation. No one would deal with me, management was "out of the country in Lebanon", etc. Absolutely unreal. I will never deal with Golds again after this, and if there is a joint law suit to recoup money, I will send in all of my evidence and join the pack to sue them.
Steph

Below is Messages Back and Forth
Geis WEM6592‏

14/01/2011
Reply â–¼
Stephinie Geis
To [email protected]

Tess, this is the letter that I wrote to Gold's Gym 2 years ago about my contract, that Holly (I believe that was her name) said would be honoured. She held your position I believe then.
I cancelled with Jeff in September, meaning my last day should be November...3 months is December as Jeff says repeatedly in the emails I sent to you.
I really hate signing contracts, so the towel service, tanning and 2 month cancellation agreement were critical in getting me to sign on the spot without considering other gyms. I tried for a no month cancellation agreement, and we settled at 2 months in the end.
I have paid for years of membership and personal training, and tanning too.
When Jade left, everything I was promised went down the drain, this is why Gold's contacted me in February 2009 about it, and why I wrote this email to them.
This is why there are notes on my file or in the system about the towel service, and I would presume there is more if you look in the computers.
I really have invested a ton of time and energy into this, and I really hate that I have to. But I will fight for the things I was promised, because I did nothing wrong in any of this cancellation process.
Please refund the extra money taken out of my accounts, and let this process end.
Stephinie Geis

Thank you and have a nice day!
~Steph~


________________________________________
To: [email protected]
Subject: Geis WEM6592
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:56:48 -0700

Hi,
My name is Stephinie Geis, and my card number is WEM6592.
I am writing cause I know my personal training plan will come up for renewal this March, and I wanted to give you notice that I would not like to renew it. I will purchase individual sessions with Diana when I can go.

Also, I have had some problems with my towel service. I was told to come in contact with you to discuss it. See, a year ago Jade struck a deal with me to get me to sign up at Golds Gym that very day and not consider other gyms.

My deal was: 2 month cancellation with no penalty, 2 small golds gym workout t-shirts, mall rate, buddy passes, 1 week tanning plus $20 in tanning certificates, a lock, a Golds Pink Hoodie, and complementary towel service. The towel service was the clencher, cause it was actually something I would use. This would come to $24 biweekly.

I never ever received any of the following: buddy passes, t-shirts, $20 tanning gift certificates and the hoodie. And I have always had to fight for my towel service since Jade left, or when he wasn't around.
I wanted to know if this could be corrected. Since I spent almost $3000 at Gold's this year alone...if it could be put on my card that I do have the complementary towel service. It is the least that can be done, so that I do not need to fight for the towels when I go...especially since I never received anything else (other than the lock) from my original sign-up package.
Thank you for your time,
Sincerely,
~Steph~


Gold's Gym Cancellation‏
11 messages 0 unread Show all
13/01/2011
Reply â–¼
Tess Soriano
Add to contacts
To 'Stephinie Geis'
Hello Stephanie,

I am confused with your response, if I was not concern I wouldn’t even bothered answering you e-mails, but I patiently did. I believe in a customer-service sense, I have done my part.
Also, I did not accuse you of anything, I explained that there was no notice on the file, however I also explained that as you had it registered,
I would honour the receipt then perhaps I can do something to refund your money. At this point of time, I cannot do anything without documentation.
You are welcome to contact the Head Office by all means, that’s your prerogative. I will explain the same thing I already explained to you.

Thank you,
Tess

12/01/2011
Reply â–¼
Stephinie Geis
To [email protected]
Tess, 3 months was December 18th, so indicated by the email by Jeff. You accused me of not even providing a letter, so your email is interesting.
I will be contacting head office and forwarding them all of my information and the email about my contract which should be on your records from 2008.
It is truly unbelievable how you treat your members.

Thank you and have a nice day!
~Steph~

11/01/2011
Reply â–¼
Tess Soriano
Add to contacts
To 'Stephinie Geis'
Please refer back to my previous e-mail, if you can provide me proof, then I will do what is required.

Thank you.
Tess

11/01/2011
Reply â–¼
Tess Soriano
Add to contacts
To 'Stephinie Geis'
Hello Stephanie,

As per my e-mail below, your notice was received on October 10th, as per our documentation nothing indicates in your contract that they waived the 91 days to 60 days. Hence, as already mentioned cancellation was supposed to be January 17, 2011, however conceded to cancel before the date indicated, hence it is now cancelled. Everything is in your ASF notes.

Unfortunately, unless you provide me some proof other than what I have on file, there is nothing else I can do.

Thanks,
Tess

09/01/2011
Reply â–¼
Stephinie Geis
To [email protected]
Tess, I called Gold's gym, and no one has answered.
As you can note by Jeff's letter at the bottom dated OCTOBER 6, that he had received my letter before then about my cancellation.
This was indeed sent through registered mail.
Everything I have done is completely legal and in line with what I agreed to at the beginning of my contract.
I never received my buddy passes. I never received my shirts and vest either.
Now you are refusing me my 2 month termination agreement.
You are in violation of your own contract here, and it is unbelievable that you think you can do this.
3 months cancellation from when my letter was received is DECEMBER, the 2 months that I am supposed to have is NOVEMBER. January is completely illegal.
So once again, please PHONE me at 780-4**-**** and discuss when you will be SENDING ME BACK MY MONEY.
I would like to speak to a superior about this.
Stephinie Geis


Thank you and have a nice day!
~Steph~

09/01/2011
Reply â–¼
Stephinie Geis
To [email protected]
Tess, I have sent the letter and it was received several months ago.
Call me before Monday evening to speak to me about this.
Refer to the response below from Jeff stating that he had everything in a line to end my agreement by the 18th. You are in violation of your own contract here.
Stephinie Geis

Thank you and have a nice day!
~Steph~

09/01/2011
Reply â–¼
Tess Soriano
Add to contacts
To 'Stephinie Geis'
Hello Stephanie,

With the documentation I have, your non-renewal should still be until January 17, 2011.
To avoid paying the cancellation fee of $199.00 + tax. Hence, all the dues that was taken out
Is in proper order. Likewise, I don’t believe you have sent the registered letter which is mandatory,
However I conceded on your e-mail to avoid unsatisfactory complaints.

At this point of time, I can only cancel your agreement, no refunds will be made.

Thank you.
Tess

07/01/2011
Reply â–¼
Stephinie Geis
To [email protected]
Hello Tess,
I have been dealing with my cancellation at Gold's Gym for several months now. Jeff has been my main contact, but has not provided me with a solution. He has informed me that it is you that can make the decisions here.
When I signed up I negotiated a 2 month cancellation as part of my plan. This is why the 3 month cancellation is / was crossed out on my document. I wrote this on my appeal which should be on file as I was contacted about the promises that were made to me upon signing up, and I was told that everything I was promised would be fulfilled. This would be including the cancellation policy.
I do not know why someone has written at the bottom of my document, 3 months, as it was never discussed with me.
My Gold's Gym Membership then should have been terminated on November 18, not December 18.
Nothing has been done about this, and no one is contacting me about this.
I looked at my Visa yesterday, and I am STILL BEING CHARGED from Gold's, as money was taken out December 31 from my account.
I would like 3 payments returned to me, and for the automatic payment to be stopped for my account.
This is getting ridiculous, as I have called about this at least 5 times, and have emailed just as many times as well.
I expect that you will call me by Monday 10, at 780-485-7551 and make arrangements for the reimbursement of $66.15 to my credit card.
Otherwise I will be taking further action.
31 Dec 2010 HEALTH CLUB DUES 800-527-6898 MB 22.05
17 Dec 2010 HEALTH CLUB DUES 800-527-6898 MB 22.05
3 Dec 2010 HEALTH CLUB DUES 800-527-6898 MB 22.05
Sincerely,
Stephinie Geis
Member WEM6592
Thank you and have a nice day!
~Steph~

22/10/2010
Reply â–¼
Stephinie Geis
To [email protected]
I havn't heard back regarding my response yet. Did you find the ammendment letter?

Thank you and have a nice day!
~Steph~

06/10/2010
Reply â–¼
Stephinie Geis
To [email protected]
Hi Jeff,
Why was 91 days cancellation crossed off from the text then hand written in then again? It appears a mistake was made there cause the agreement Jade and I made was 2 months. This was also stated in the formal letter I had to submit after he left and the rest of his promises were not fullfilled. It was agreed upon at that point that all of Jade's promises on my committment would be honored even though he left them in a state. If you could check that, that would be great. I expect that this will be amended, as several aspects were never given to me (like buddy passes, gear, etc), and I had to write the appeal for towel service, etc.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.
Stephinie Geis

Thank you and have a nice day!
~Steph~

06/10/2010
Reply â–¼
[email protected]

Good morning Stephinie,

I have just faxed you over your membership agreement.
The handwritten part of the agreement states 91 days cancellation notice is required. You paid your last bi-weekly upon sign up therefore only have 6 remaining payments.
Your current cancellation date is set for December 18th, 2010.
If you have any questions feel free to reply to this e-mail or call the gym at 780-484-4653
Best of health.
Jeff

Golds Gym in market square Pittsburgh has horrible Customer Service. Not only did the sales representative lie and not cancel my membership and continued to charge my account for four months then they "froze" my membership and did not switch it over. So when I got another bill seven months later without a phone call or a letter, I got another person to sign up and "transfer" my membership but they won't transfer it over because I owe for November and December of 2010? That's ridiculous considering it has been over a year since I even visited the gym. The cancellation fee was $ 75.00 but I've already paid over a hundred dollars for a gym I haven't used and now they want another almost sixty dollars.

Been trying to terminate Golds Gym membership for 3 months followed directions on termination email said I did not follow through Went to Golds Gym in person will not let me terminate membership at site.

I signed a one year gym membership agreement back in April of 2009 with the Gold's Gym in Hollywood, Fl. I called to cancel the membership in the beginning of 2010 (early), they looked my name up in their system and they advised me that I signed for a year and I wasn’t able to cancel before the contract was up. At that time, they also advised me that I would no longer be billed after April of 2010. I understood as I signed a one year agreement and said no problem. Then, I was surprised when I noticed that I was billed for May and June of 2010 on my credit card. I called once again and was advised for the first time that it wouldn't be cancel automatically and that my membership is on "continuous" cycle until I informed them that I no longer wanted the membership. I expressed that I didn’t want the membership as I already signed up for LA Fitness and was told previously that I would no longer be billed once my year was up. I attempted to cancel the membership then and there. I was then informed that I would have to come in to sign cancellation papers and I wasn't able to do anything over the phone. At this point, I told them that I have been staying in West Palm Beach for the summer and that I had a hectic work and school schedule. They apologized and still insisted that I come in to the gym, they never specified that I had to come in on a certain day or time. So, I came into Gold's gym on 6/26/2010 at 12:30PM to find out that I wasn't able to simply cancel my membership. I was advised that I would have to come in and speak to the general manager between Monday-Friday 1-6 PM. I once again explained that I work between that time frame and was staying far away for the summer and that it would be impossible for me to come in between that time. They didn't offer any assistance, didn’t let me sign cancellation papers, and I feel as if they just want to keep billing me. The staff handed me the GM's business card with the name Ken Rothschild and wrote 1-6PM on it and told me that she wasn’t able to assist me and that I would have to speak with him directly. She then even told me that it would take an additional 30 days and I would also incur a cancellation fee. I am tired of being given the run around and would like to get my money back from May and June of 2010 as I did not use the membership and I was constantly misinformed by their sales staff. I am paying for two gyms simultaneously and the gym offers no assistance and refuses to let me cancel my membership! This whole thing is at a point where it’s getting ridiculous and as a person in the customer service industry, this is simply appalling!