This is kind of a lengthy story but I hope everyone takes the time to read it. I was approached by Custom Built at Cardio Express Gym and ended up signing a contract for one year in March with the stipulation that if in a few months I was not satisfied there would be no problem in canceling the contract. WAS I WRONG! A few months went by and I told them I was not happy and felt like I was being jerked around because:
1) In these 5 months I had had 6 different trainers (that's not counting the trainers I was assigned that never even made it to my session.)
2) Weight and measurement monitoring, and personalized nutritional planning never materialized.
3) By Aug I had been charged for 56 sessions of which I had only received 37 because, contrary to what I was told when I signed the contract, there were never any trainers available. I would go weeks with no training. Trainers came and went as did their managers.
So, in August when I went to my training session only to find I was assigned yet another trainer I decided it was time to cancel my contract because I was not getting what I had signed for and what I was paying for.
I spoke to Judy Miller at the Headquarters Customer Service Dept. She was rude and unprofessional and although I explained to her I had paid for 19 sessions I had never received she said I needed to pay a $500 termination fee. She would not assist me in resolving this matter at all. I wrote a letter to Cardio Express Gym to let them know what was going on and they never even responded to my letter. Either they are oblivious to what is going on or they just don't care. Unfortunately Custom Built will eventually ruin them too.
I contacted my credit card company and they ended up crediting my acct and charged Custom Built back and on their advise I sent, certified mail, a letter stating I was cancelling my contract immediately and the 19 sessions they owed my at $40 a session should be enough to cover the termination fee.
Never heard anything back from them so I figured it was all resolved. NOT! In April (7 months later) I got a letter from their billing company stating I owed $3230!!! I sent them copies of all correspondence related to the cancellation of my contract and told them there must be a mistake and please look into it.
Never heard anything back to I figured that was resolved. NOT! September (5 months later) I received a letter from their billing company stating that I now owed $5165!! I called them only to be told, rudely again, that Custom Built gave them no notification that my contract was canceled and no, it was not their problem, but mine.
Obviously they have continued to charge $320 a month even though I have not used their services in over a year! How can they get away with this!
I call Corporate Customer Service one more time and was told, rudely again, that the contract was never terminated because there was a delinquent amount from the termination fee still outstanding. So at this point I just said let me pay this termination fee and get you guys out of my life and I was told I could no longer do that and I had to pay $5165.
I then asked to speak to her supervisor and was told I had to call back after 1pm. I did and left a voice message to call me. No response. I called two days later and left a voice mail. No response. I then e-mailed Judy Miller 4 days ago. No response. Is this anyway to run a Customer Service Dept?!
At this point I really don't know what to do. Maybe I should be contacting the Better Business Bureau or the Attorney General's office but I am not backing down. This is WRONG!
I just want everyone out there to BEWARE of Custom Built. Don't get caught up in their scam. I only wish I had known about this forum prior to signing that contract!
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