My girlfriend had a exercise club membership and went out of town…one of the first things I did was call them and tell them she would be gone and not to charge me(we have direct withdrawl). A month pases and I get my bank statement and see the exercise club took $35 out anyway! I call them and say what’s the deal?..they say so sorry we’ll fix it. Next month same thing…I am now pissed…I call them and they start the we don’t know what happened are you sure it happened and offering several months free when she comes back. At this point I do not want anything to do with these guys anymore and tell them so…I cancel the account…another month passes and they do it AGAIN!
I go to my bank and change my account so it never will happen again but is there a way short of small claims court to get my money back?
I hate direct withdrawal.
Send a sternly but respectfully worded letter by registered mail to the club management and cc the corporate HQ. After 1 month and no reply, send a similar letter but this time state your intention to go to the BBB. Your biggest problem with going to court is that you lack evidence. How can you prove you called them to have the funds transfer stopped?
If they are a respectable business that is concerned about its public image, they should be anxious to correct any customer dissatisfaction on your part.
If customer dissatisfaction persists, call up the local news & go to the BBB.
The Better Business Bureau? Oooh, they’ll be shaking in their shoes. Not. Laughing is more like it.
Know one thing: The BBB is owned by merchants, funded by merchants and participation is completely voluntary. The BBB itself has been the subject of multiple class-actions suits in several states, charging it with failing to inform consumers of disreputable business practices of its members.
If you want action, contact your state Attorney General’s office. File a complaint there, they will then contact the gym and investigate. But don’t waste your time with the BBB.
See if your bank can do a chargeback. We had to do that when our old ISP charged us 4 months of service in 2 days! And we’d already switched providers.
Contact your bank. I had a similar problem. I told my bank what was going on and for about a $5 fee they removed the direct withdrawal authorization for that company.