My husband and I joined Spa Health Club more than 2 years ago. We signed a 2-year contract. We were told that the only way we could pay was with auto draft, where the money would come directly from our checking account each month.
Last year, my husband had to go to Missouri for training, as he is in the NC National Guard. He went to The Spa and requested that his account be frozen until he returned. The manager at the time told him that we would still be charged for the months that his account was frozen, but at the end of our 2-year contract, he would still be able to come in and use the gym for the amount of time he had frozen his account, free of charge.
I pulled the paperwork to find out that our contract was supposed to have run out in September of but our bank account was drafted again in October, November, and December. My husband went down to The Spa, which has changed its name to Peak Fitness, and told them he wanted a refund for those months. They told him he would have to contact ABC Financial, in Sherwood, Arizona.
He called ABC Financial and was told that because we agreed to the auto draft, our contract was set up to auto renew when the 2 years was up. He told the lady that at the time we signed up, auto draft was the only way TO pay, we were not made aware of auto renew at any time, and were also not contacted when the contract was about to expire. Additionally, when my husband was freezing his account, the manager at the time indicated that at the end of the 2 year period, we would not be charged for the additional amount of time that he would still be allowed to use the gym due to the account freeze. We took that to mean that when the contract ended, we would no longer be charged.
The lady my husband spoke to from ABC Financial told him he would have to submit a letter stating that we wanted our accounts closed, but it would not go into effect until 30 days after the date of the letter, so we would also be charged for January, too! I faxed and mailed the letter, and I will be going to the bank to stop payment on the auto draft.
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