In 2007 I signed a contract with Lady of America, a fitness franchise of a larger corporation (National Fitness Financial Services) located in Layton, Utah.
As with most fitness contracts, I agreed to have this company deduct $22 a month from my bank account automatically.
On 22 January I was sent a letter stating that the Lady of America franchise located at 4188 Merchants Plaza in Woodbridge, VA had closed as of 31 December and that I would "no longer be billed, nor will you be responsible for any charges past the club closure date". Well - you guess it - on 2 January they ripped $22 out of my bank account.
I called the corporate office who sent me the letter, and was told to contact Nancy (no last name given, who was the franchise owner) and get the refund from her. I was given 2 telephone numbers to call for this refund: 703-772-4878 and 703-361-2565. I called both numbers and guess what - both have either been changed or disconnected.
I know this is only $22, and so far (as of 5 February) they have not taken any more money out of my account, but it is still early in the month, so I do not trust them. I was assured by the corporate office in Layton, Utah that no further deductions would be made from my account. However, I am still out this money and have no confidence in them that the billing will stop (I have requested a letter of confirmation from them that this is the case, and they assured me they will send it, however, this has been a lot of hassle for something that is so simple and never should have happened to begin with.
Bottom line: do not trust Lady of America. Apparently they are franchises and the corporate office only has the ability to close franchises, not to reimburse customers for monies unlayfully ripped out of their accounts. How many other people have they ripped off for this small amount - it could be in the thousands, which would net this Nancy person quite a bit to leave town with (assuming this is the case since the numbers have been disconnected and no new number given).
Suzanne
Woodbridge, Virginia
U.S.A.
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