In Jan. Of 2011 I joined Lifetime Fitness and began paying my 100. Per month membership dues.
In March I called to freeze my membership per my membership agreement. I was treated rudely and was hung up on by a representative who insisted that I travel to the club. I had been diagnosed with a-fibrillation and had a bad knee and back and was bed-ridden. I could not travel to the club. She hung up on me when I told her it was impossible to come to the club. She said I had to come in and sign paper work in order to freeze my membership. I did not want to waste the enrollment fees I had invested. I just wanted to freeze my membership until I was healthy enough to exercise. I then wrote to the gentleman who enrolled me and he never replied.
In October my book-keeper pointed out that the monthly membership fees I thought were frozen had been paid all along. As I run a multi-million dollar international leasing company I did not notice the ACH drafts until then. I then emailed the club manager about my situation and never got a response. On November 30th of 2011 I got a call from a Business Manager named Nicole Monty. She promised she would get back to me with a solution. I told her I wanted a $600. Refund for fraudulent ACH charges made without my authorization when I had asked to freeze the membership.
Nicole Monty then called back and said she needed a "Doctor's Note". I had been under the care of 5 different doctors during this period. I reminded Nicole on several occasions that I simply wanted to freeze my membership. My medical condition should not have to be proven. Nevertheless I provided a letter from my cardiologist verifying my condition. That was 6 days ago. Today Nicole phoned me and told me that my membership had been canceled. She did not address my request for a refund.
I will be suing Lifetime for the fraudulent ACH payments. I have lodged a Better Business Bureau Complaint. Nicole Monty is a liar and a thief. Buyer Beware. It is my humble opinion, and I am one small voice that Lifetime Fitness is a Gang of Thieves. Caveat Emptor. Buyer Beware!
I want to conclude this complaint by stating that I have over 20 years of experience selling equipment into gyms all over the world. I have owned health clubs in Ireland and am very familiar with membership sales contracts. I have personally enrolled over 5,000 gym members since 1982 in a variety of professional gyms. I have trained gym staff in
ethical sales techniques and have interviewed, hired and managed hundreds of gym sales staff. I have designed some of the equipment in use in most gyms today. I know the owners of most gym chains around the country. Gyms are my life. This company, Lifetime Fitness, is nothing but a bunch of rip off artists. They have it down to a science. Caveat Emptor! Buyer Beware!
In closing, I believe this situation to be a class action law suit waiting to happen. My sister is a federal prosecutor and she believes that many other consumers have been badly ripped off by Life Time Fitness. I would welcome any legal support or advice. I plan to advertise for more Ripped Off Lifetime Members. I believe that there are millions of dollars in fraudulently collected fees being stolen by LifeTime every year from unsuspecting members. Don't take my word alone for it. This is the 22nd complaint filed on this site to date.
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