Hey ontrack I have heard that gym memberships are no longer allowed to report accounts to collections, is this true?
Who did you hear it from? A gym membership huckster? Or did some particular gym in some particular state get nailed by an Attorney General? Gym memberships are so rife with fraud that a number of states have passed laws restricting some of their sales practices. Many gyms make their money on the New Years resolution crowd, signed up for a year on the fervor of the moment, with convenient monthly payments, but actually locked into a loan they can't cancel even under the allowed cancellation terms in the contract, despite oral and unprovable promises by some salesperson. They are pure profit, compared to the pesky customers who actually use the gym. But just because there is a law, doesn't mean they will follow it. "Oh, that's too bad, you just didn't submit your cancellation in the right way. We don't have any record that you gave it to our manager, and he is no longer with us. I'm sorry, but we can't refund anything, since you could have continued to use the membership, and it's not our fault you moved. But you could submit your request to this other address." As they take a few more months fees out of your bank account. You are playing on turf they know better than you. They know what they can get away with, what it isn't worth for most people to do anything about, and when to fold if its getting too hot.
reaon is ontrack i had two collection accounts, both paid, in my disputes with th cra i said they were not able to report gym memberships, within two weeks all three cra deleted both gym memberships. I live in florida and i guess they are not allowed to report to collections here. I heard this from a friend that had the same situation with a gym membership, there must be a law in florida, not allowing them to report here.
It's possible. Or maybe there was a settlement between the Florida AG and a number of gyms and health clubs. Were there violations by the gym of the gym's contract cancellation clauses involved? Where there misrepresentations by the seller, a failure to provide a copy of the contract, at signing, to allow cancellation within any state mandated or contractual cancellation window? Some states require gyms and healthclubs to post a bond, or they are not allowed to offer membership contracts exceeding some period. The NJ AG is going after some on this, since NJ requires a bond if contracts exceed 3 months. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/06/nj_health_clubs.html You could contact the Florida AG.
