ULPT request getting out of a gym I owe $2000
Posted by AdministrativeWeb135@reddit | UnethicalLifeProTips | View on Reddit | 128 comments
Hey everyone,
A few years ago, I ran into some financial difficulties and tried to cancel my gym membership. Unfortunately, the gym wouldn't cancel it until I paid off a remaining balance of $100, which I just couldn't afford at the time.
I went back and forth with them over email, explaining that I needed a few months to come up with the money, but they refused to stop charging my account. As a result, my debt kept growing, and now it’s ballooned to $2000 — basically, all my savings.
At this point, should I just pay them off, or is there any legal way I can get out of this mess?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Left-Acanthisitta740@reddit
Go back to gym to ask for a settlement offer, because something is better than nothing. Careful though, it would be horrible if you slipped and fell due to their negligence...
IronNobody4332@reddit
Pretty sure most gyms would just cancel the membership and hold the account in arrears after a few months, especially if you stopped going.
I would simply just not pay it and never go there again.
PuzzleheadedTruck974@reddit
Would they not put the account in collections then? I had a six flags membership, for which i forgot to pay for the last month. It was like 20 something dollars, which they still sent to collections
Signal_Appeal4518@reddit
How did they do that? Six flags doesn’t ask for identification or social to sign up
PuzzleheadedTruck974@reddit
Idk, I am guessing DOB and name?
https://imgur.com/a/w46N21A
Signal_Appeal4518@reddit
That’s not enough to send someone into collections. At some point they acknowledged the debt and gave more information
IronNobody4332@reddit
I worked at a gym for 11 years.
Our facility would block access for non-payment after like a week. That being said, the membership would still be charged for two months from last payment.
Beyond that we treated it like a cancellation. People move and forget to do shit, etc.
After 6 months it would get written off and a note left on the account explaining what happened.
If your gym hasn’t done that yet and you’ve showed your intent to cancel, the only way the gym has any legs to stand on is if you signed a contract agreeing to those terms.
If you’re truly being hunted for it, request the original contract from the gym be provided to you. If they can’t produce it they have no basis to charge you that much.
shiromaikku@reddit
This should be top answer
Hot-Remote9937@reddit
No, the top answer should be for OP to quit being irresponsible and pay their debts.
shiromaikku@reddit
Gtfo of unethical life pro tips. Maybe you shouldn't have fucked the economy for everyone else, boomer/X'er.
Hot-Remote9937@reddit
Sounds like you're too poor and lazy to afford the gym
rainman_95@reddit
Sounds like you’re in the wrong sub.
Andrew8Everything@reddit
Damn what did I miss?
ChaosCrinkleToes@reddit
Right lol
shiromaikku@reddit
Not at all. Though despite paying, I haven't used the gym for a few months since I'm average 10km/day
D4v3izgr8@reddit
Sup boomer
juraf_graff@reddit
Sounds like your gym is run by reasonabke people. There are scumbag gyms that seem to only open to trap people and charge as long as possible.
My wife got the run around a couple years back and they had so many stipulations to canceling. The yearly membership even renewed after she made it clear she wanted to cancel and then "you're not allowed to cancel in the first 3 months of renewal". We almost brought them to court before they finally let us buy out the remaining balance and cancel.
CttCJim@reddit
Collections can't do shit. Never acknowledge the debt, and if they keep calling, threaten to report harassment to the police. The debt is too small to be worth them going to court even if they could.
PuzzleheadedTruck974@reddit
Idk mine showed up on my credit report and I am not sure if it could tank my score/ credit worthiness
CttCJim@reddit
Once it goes to collections, the damage is done. They can't do anything more, really. I had a mixup with an Amex that ended up in collections and yeah my credit sucked for a few years but it was already bad so that was no real loss. I ignored them, they sold my debt 3 times to other collectors, and it was finally written off.
RichardBottom@reddit
My town had a local video store that would send late fees to collections.
digitaldigdug@reddit
That's a good way to kill a business like that fast
OfficerGeorgeGreene@reddit
The library in my city sent my account to collections. Apparently I owed them $18, no one from the library ever contacted me about it.
bluecheetos@reddit
Local hospital has been billing me twice monthly for four years over $12.80 that I refuse to pay.
icecoldyerr@reddit
They can send debts to collections but debts like this and what you mentioned dont impact your credit i believe.
CACoastalRealtor@reddit
Golds will take you to collections
devilnods@reddit
Ditto to this, I had that experience a few years ago
processmonkey@reddit
May not be as expensive as you think.
TheGuyMain@reddit
What stops people from using q credit card to pay the $100 initially and just deal with the $100 credit card debt?
Fuzzy-Ad-8192@reddit
Pay what you owe.
AdministrativeWeb135@reddit (OP)
Strongly feels like extortion when:
I can’t afford to pay the fee to cancel my membership, so the gym keeps charging me until I can pay it. But because they keep adding more charges, it becomes harder and harder for me to pay off the debt and cancel the membership, making it almost impossible to get out of this situation.
mattrogina@reddit
It’s likely what was described in the contract you signed. They may eventually decide to sue you and you will likely be in the hook for it. I’d suggest calling them up and asking to figure out a settlement of payment plan and get them to agree that once you do that, they will cancel the membership. And if you renege on the deal or payment plan, they will sue you.
juraf_graff@reddit
Highly highly highly doubt they'll waste time/money going to court. What they provide doesn't cost any extra per person so they're not technically in the hole for this and I guarantee OP is not the only one being extorted.
Worst case, they'll send this to collections and write it off on their taxes.
OuttHouseMouse@reddit
Bahahahahhahahahahhaha
Yea dont pay it. Never go there again.
Gyms do this, i get my bank to dispute anything they try to charge if they wont cancel. That gym can suck a fat one.
AdministrativeWeb135@reddit (OP)
I’ve done that but now I’m getting letters, texts, emails constantly telling me how much I owe them
cmcewen@reddit
Don’t respond to anything.
Totally ignore it
trevor3431@reddit
Tell them to stop contacting you and ignore it. When it goes to collections dispute it with the credit bureaus. Normally the people who run gyms aren’t the smartest and won’t respond to the dispute and it will be removed from your credit report.
rahvan@reddit
They have absolutely no legal leg to stand on and what they’re doing is borderline harassment at this point.
If you’re okay with never attending their gym again, just don’t pay anything, and send any letters you get from them straight to the trash. They cannot do anything to you.
aeon_son@reddit
Switch your address to somewhere in California on their site. In CA, there’s a law that says you MUST be able to cancel membership online. So it might let you cancel online after.
BiggusDickus-@reddit
Tell them to piss off. They cannot refuse to cancel a membership because you owe money. That's ridiculous.
Gsogso123@reddit
That’s wild, I can’t fathom that’s legal, is it a small mom and pop type gym or a chain?
AdministrativeWeb135@reddit (OP)
piece of shit chain gym
TheRiskiestClicker@reddit
Send them a cease and desist letter
shiromaikku@reddit
Name and shame. I don't want to ever join that gym.
Bantum14@reddit
If you signed a contract or anything along those lines don't be surprised if you get sent to collections. Exact scenario happened to me
ZJC2000@reddit
Ignore it. If you're looking for a car loan or mortgage,, the bank will not care about a gym if everything else is in order.
Vast-Investigator-46@reddit
May want to look into unlawful debt collection practices. May be something there to turn the tables.
traveler19395@reddit
Yeah, /u/AdministrativeWeb135 there are laws about how they are allowed to contact you after you say no calls, and you can get penalty money out of them if they violate those laws. Go down this path.
Mrtowelie69@reddit
Yeah ignore em. Fuck em.
OuttHouseMouse@reddit
Lol yea they are just threatening you. Itll stop eventually. You dont owe them dick. Dont fall for it
Turgid_Sojourner@reddit
Is that the gym where somebody spilled shampoo by the sink in the shower and cause you to fall and hurt yourself? I'm not sure if this is right but I feel very unethical.
Door_Vegetable@reddit
Gonna have to read your contract, I know a certain gym here in Australia would cancel your membership for free if you didn’t live close enough to one of their chains.
boomerbmr@reddit
Yeah man I had crunch fitness try to come after me after I canceled my membership, saying it had to be in person or something. Honestly a lot of chain gyms do this predatory shit.
They had debt collectors calling me for a good while too. I told them I didn’t owe them anything, and good luck trying to get it on my credit report because I would dispute it. Basically every time the debt collection agency called from a new number I politely told them to go fuck themselves and blocked the number.
Eventually the calls stopped and it still isn’t on my credit report.
Sun_Bro96@reddit
I had that from a gym that used a similar billing system as crunch. I had my bank block them as a vendor. Got some nasty grams but that was it.
770 credit score rn btw.
RyanComenzoElFuego@reddit
They tried the same bullshit with me for ten dollars. Ten fucking dollars
gordo32@reddit
Get a doctor's note stating that you can no longer go to the gym under doctors recommendation. They have to allow you to cancel at that point.
This is from personal experience
agnesbsquare@reddit
Came to say this - my gym had this policy
lemmaaz@reddit
If the don’t have your ssn just ignore it and move on. They can’t collect
9Firebirds@reddit
I'm assuming someone already suggested change your debit card or account number? I may have had to do this once to get out of a membership... Then mark all mail return to sender as if you had moved....
pglggrg@reddit
So, I cancelled my credit card for one of my gyms. Strangely, one payment did go thru despite it being cancelled for more than a week. But after that, they came calling and emailing lol. Your usual "pay before it gets sent to collections". Happened for a few months, then stopped.
Now, i only owed them like $3-400 for my contract and is why i pulled this. Maybe it wasnt worth their time to come after me, and maybe 2k like OP owes could be.
Suspiciously_Ugly@reddit
lol it's not unethical to refuse to pay that imo, that's insane
mcboogle@reddit
Just don't pay it. I know it sounds scary, but they can't do anything to you. Just cancel whatever card/bank account it's linked to. Block the calls and emails, and throw away the letters. They are just trying to bully you into thinking they'll do something. They will eventually just charge it off. Some states allow them to report it to a credit agency, that's about it.
mattrogina@reddit
They could technically take OP to civ court. Would they? Probably not, but it’s always a possibility.
Jthundercleese@reddit
Maybe to small claims, but it's a chain. Given OP's documented attempt to cancel, I doubt they'd be able to get anything more than the original $100, if that. Paying a lawyer to show up for that would be a massive waste.
welmanshirezeo@reddit
If they take him to small claims, whats the worst case scenario? OP just as to pay it. Seems like not paying it and waiting it out is a pretty good option.
mattrogina@reddit
I don’t know if small claims can levy any additional penalties like interest etc. I don’t recall seeing any instances where that happened. They do, however, require the losing party to pay legal fees. I agree that it’s likely fine to just ignore it and see if they escalate. I personally doubt they will, but some corporations might. And they could be waiting for the amount owed to be larger than small claims to bring it to civil court.
Jthundercleese@reddit
Yeah there's really no point in paying any of it at all.
mattrogina@reddit
Small claims has a cut off. It’s different in every state but that is generally $5,000 for businesses. It’s entirely plausible that they are waiting for it to reach above that to take them to civil court. If they actually take them to court, it will come down to the contract OP signed. Contracts are legally binding and if the verbiage corresponds to what they are doing, it’s almost certain the courts would rule in favor of the business to award the entire amount, plus damages and lawyers fees. Even in small claims it would likely award the entire amount if the contract supports said charges.
That being said,Ike I said originally, it’s very unlikely a business is going to take the time to do so.
We don’t have to like the law - and for good reason as many contracts are pretty fucked I’ll and almost l of them are very pro-business- but that doesn’t change the fact that it is legally enforceable. OP reached out to legal subs as well and they essentially told him the same thing. It sucks but it’s entirely plausible that they could sue him.
glemits@reddit
Close the bank account.
AdministrativeWeb135@reddit (OP)
The bank is closed, but they still have all my details and will probably keep charging me until I die
glemits@reddit
How can you have an active account at a bank that went out of business?
Difficult-Mobile902@reddit
They mean they gym is totaling up a “bill” in OPs name. It isn’t coming out of a bank account, but OP is concerned that it could go to collections and end up on a credit report, since the gym has all of OPs identifying information
Difficult-Mobile902@reddit
the moment you tried to cancel and were refused due to an unpaid bill, the membership should have ceased right there. They could still try to collect the $100 you owed, but banning someone from a gym and then continuing to charge them a membership is almost certainly not legal.
What they basically did is try to charge you to cancel your membership, and then imply that since you couldn’t afford to pay to cancel it, that you are agreeing to continue to pay for a service that you I already informed them that you could not afford. I really can’t see that as being legal.
I would call them and explain that you will pay the $100, only if they drop those additional charges. Otherwise you will contact a lawyer and report them to the BBB.
Mermaidoysters@reddit
It would be worth it to have an attorney send them a letter. It used to cost $150 a round 10 years ago. Find a free consult & hire for a letter.
thatoneblackguy17@reddit
The worst they can do is submit your account to collections. If that happens, it is highly likely that the collections agency will take a payment that is significantly less than what the gym is asking for.
But if that doesn't happen, just don't pay. Live your life.
pacmanfan247@reddit
What’s the gym? If it’s 24 hour fitness, they are notorious for adding charges. They have a bad reputation of putting things to legal collections, both personal training and memberships. But other gyms, I have not seen or heard of this. Source: I worked for 24 hour fitness for 7 years.
prty1999@reddit
Depends on whether or not you care about your credit. If you don’t care about your credit, don’t pay them; don’t acknowledge the debt; and it will eventually be eligible to fall off your report.
However, if your credit is not currently fucked, you should care and should get this dealt with. Assuming you have not used the gym services since you requested cancellation, I’d write them a strongly worded letter (bonus points to have your lawyer do it). Detail the “illegal” charges post cancellation request of your monthly membership and reference the illegal collection activities. State that once a bill comes out without billing errors (should be $100 plus any late fees and interest allowed for by the contract), you’ll settle the account.
Joyage2021@reddit
This is why you sign up for gyms using a privacy.com card or something like that, and give all fake information.
JakethePandas@reddit
Make sure to keep doing chargebacks every month. It will cost the gym money and you shouldn't be paying for a service that you don't use / they refuse to cancel.
MajorAcer@reddit
Don’t you only get a certain number of chargebacks though?
toxicatedscientist@reddit
Depends on the bank and the frequency of disputes, and also how successful you are. If the bank rules in your favor they're not going to let you get screwed if somebody else tries it again. I think it's more like red challenge flags in football
Charles07v@reddit
After the first chargeback, it's unlikely they'll try to charge you again.
BoBoBellBingo@reddit
It all depends on whether they send to collections- if they don’t cancel your card, don’t go back and move on. If they do send you to collections they will often offer a discount to settle
DementedGreenSkies@reddit
I called my bank and cancelled my card (yes that might be excessive amd annoying but it works) Then blocked all the gyms numbers amd never went there again. Worked for me 💪
Eggoat123@reddit
I work for a very high end gym chain as upper management. I have members that owe us years worth of memberships. We can go as far as calling and emailing, which maybe we do if we’re not busy with other work, once a year. You’re fine, just ignore their calls. It counts as a loss against budget end of the year and gets written off with a billion other things.
Eggoat123@reddit
I work for a very high end gym chain as upper management. I have members that owe us years worth of memberships. We can go as far as calling and emailing, which maybe we do if we’re not busy with other work, once a year. You’re fine, just ignore their calls. It counts as a loss against budget end of the year and gets written off with a billion other things.
TheHip41@reddit
Just ignore them and never pay it
Conscious-Advantage8@reddit
If any of these letters are from ABC financial just know they’re meant to scare you. They literally have no actual power or ability to do anything but “blacklist” you from any other gyms they are the financial company for (and to get off that list you still don’t have to pay. The employee who has the authority at the new gym calls them to get you off the list. You usually just have to give a bank account. Cuz your bank account will auto update but debit cards won’t) Even then you never have to pay the full amount. I worked for a gym that used to use them for years, years including in a position that worked directly with them and could just have them waive someone’s fees entirely. You never give the gym your social. Soooo the dues are not going to actually hurt your credit or anything like that.
processmonkey@reddit
Hire a lawyer.
AdministrativeWeb135@reddit (OP)
Sounds like my options are spend $2000 on a lawyer or $2000 relieving the debt
Hillthrin@reddit
I don't know a ULPT but if there is a cancellation policy and you followed it, they should not be able to keep running up the tab. You could check with your state or file a complaint at consumerfinance.gov If that doesn't work, you could wait to see if they send it to collections and negotiate something lower if you want the debt gone. You also have the right to request that they do not contact you by phone and only regular mail. This all assumes your in the US but it sounds like you are due to the lack of consumer protections.
JarlFlammen@reddit
Meanwhile the gym owner is like
“ULPT request: how do I get this sucker to pay me $2000 he doesn’t really owe me, for not using my service”
MinivanPops@reddit
Spend $500 for the biggest asshole lawyer you can find, to call and threaten the ever loving shit out of them. Send letters, etc and make them realize you're going to sue them for breach, etc. When the gyms lawyer sees this, they'll tell the gym owner the truth: it ain't worth the squeeze, and the owner should move on.
Or truly unethical: find a reason to accuse them of sexual or racist misconduct. Send THAT letter around.
TN_REDDIT@reddit
Move.
Borrow an address from someone that lives out of the area. See if they'll work up a lease agreement or something for you
Ask gym what they require when you move (drivers license, utility bill, bank statement, phone bill, etc), then work on getting those.
zzzorba@reddit
Have someone tell them you died. I doubt a gym is going to request proof or go after an estate.
TN_REDDIT@reddit
I'm guessing they would ask for a death certificate. Gyms have lawyers draft those contracts, they're typically very difficult to get out of.
TN_REDDIT@reddit
I'm guessing they would ask for a death certificate. Gyms have lawyers draft those contracts, they're typically very difficult to get out of.
Party_Head9521@reddit
Just tell them you moved over 50 miles away from the gym. Have a utility bill available.
FinanciallySecure9@reddit
Get a job at the gym. Get into their membership system. Cancel your membership and delete all charges. Change all of your contact information to Donald trumps or Elon musks info.
Quit the job.
Funny_Proposal_1339@reddit
Give a compliant in BBB - better Business bureau
OldPersonality8495@reddit
Gym employee here- what billing company does the gym use? You can ask them for an itemized invoice of what you owe. 90% of it will be late and service fees that can be waived easily.
Omega_Boost24@reddit
How is that possible and legal that 100 become 2,000? What's the deal? What's the rate you agreed on? Don't need OP to answers, he's got other troubles rather than explaining things to me, but please someone explains. In Europe there's laws about rates, and making a simple math seems like the amount needed in interests is unlawful
AdministrativeWeb135@reddit (OP)
I signed up for a month to month contract.
Let’s say month 1 I couldn’t pay the fee, so I’m in debt $100. I try to cancel but they say I can’t until I pay the fee.
Month 2 they charge me my membership fee (inclu dishonour) now I owe them $200.
Month 3 I owe them $300.
It’s not a set number of months so this will go on forever.
Obviously if I couldn't pay $100 at month 1, I’ll never afford $200 at month 2, and so on.
Omega_Boost24@reddit
Hope you get out of it.
You could even ask a friend to go there and produce a death certificate on the interweb to them (this is r/UnethicalLifeProTips, after all
I did this, impersonating my brother, and it worked. Producing a real death certificate is quite easy
AdministrativeWeb135@reddit (OP)
This was the first real tip on this thread hahaha
Jthundercleese@reddit
The real answer is they can go fuck themselves. You have documentation or at least can testify that you attempted to cancel a month to month membership.
They're not going to waste the money and time to take you to court, because they're never getting more than the original $100.
I would be surprised if they sell your debt to a collections agency. And if they do, you tell them that you don't owe that money because you canceled your membership nearly 2 years ago. And if they say that anything is going to be reported on your credit score, just dispute it.
In your dispute all you need to say is that you made multiple attempts to cancel your month to month membership and the business flatly, verbally refused to cancel it.
You'll be fine. It would be insane to just fork over 2k because of some phone calls.
traveler19395@reddit
Do you have a copy of the contract? Read it over with a fine toothbrush comb and see if you think they’ve violated any of it. Even still, just because something is in a co tract doesn’t make it legal
Hot-Win2571@reddit
But you have $2000 in savings. It sounds as if you've been able to save $100 a month.
AdministrativeWeb135@reddit (OP)
3 months ago I graduated uni and landed my first real job.
My salary went from 40k to 102k overnight, so yeah I have 2 grand in savings but it quite literally happened over night.
Gsogso123@reddit
Someone suggested maybe OP signed up for a multi year contract. That would make some sense
sonbub@reddit
Did you sign a contract when you got your membership? Ask to see it.
em-ay-tee@reddit
Auslegal gave you great advice. Don’t do anything stupid until the OG debt is settled.
filtersweep@reddit
There are a million ways to become ‘injured’ in a gym— especially in areas with no cameras, like locker rooms. Be careful out there.
Loads of predatory collection agencies that run health clubs exist— it is tragic and exploitative
Ratfor@reddit
Make them cancel your membership.
It's really not that hard. Tell them plainly that either they cancel it, or you make them cancel it.
Start small.
Get three or four dozen donuts. Hand them out. Tell people about your experience with managment.
If that fails, just walk around unplugging stuff.
If that fails, grab a laptop, or if you're really into it, a full desktop PC. Find a corner, preferably where you're very visible. Plug your stuff in, put up a sign that says "This place sucks". Just sit there and game or watch movies all day.
It's a lot easier to annoy them into canceling your membership than to go through their bullshit to cancel it.
AdministrativeWeb135@reddit (OP)
Can’t get into the gym because my account is arrears
Single-Philosophy-81@reddit
Fuck that. Don't pay them.
Latter_Razzmatazz844@reddit
I few years ago I bought an expensive bed for which I had to place a downpayment. Things transpired in such a way that I flat-out refused to pay the remainder, which was still 90% of the total. They kept calling and mailing me which grew tiresome. Eventually I told them on the phone “Fine, I’ll pay right now” which I never did, but I never heard from them again!
toothcweam@reddit
Find where they're mopping, hope theres no wet floor sign, and Woops!
ShartingOnTheRegular@reddit
.....just don't pay?
KangoLemon@reddit
Can of gas, match, BOOM!!! 💥
bamfmcnabb@reddit
I canceled my debt card they had on file pretty sure I still can’t go back to the fittest of planets
RefreshingOatmeal@reddit
Tell them you've moved if you call them
frozenplasma@reddit
If they're still charging you, you still have a valid membership. Sounds like it's time to go be the most obnoxious gym goer in the world. Once it starts costing them money, they'll want to make you go away.
chinesedebt@reddit
Par for the course for gyms. The horror stories I've read on here...
DrEdRichtofen@reddit
You have a very serious case of MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics.
Your doctor says it’s very dangerous to the public to be at the gym.
Routine_Neat5265@reddit
Hi a lot of my knowledge is UK based so take it with a grain of salt.
I'm trying to avoid doxxing myself but I spent some time with the government in a sort of relevant field to what's happened to you.
If you made it clear that you were having trouble over here companies have a legal requirement to assist in mutiple ways.
My unethical advice if you will would be that they likely have no remit to collect that amount.
I'd cut all contact with them, block their number email etc.
If you've asked them to cancel and they've refused then it's them at this point, it's likely they could get you on the hook for the first couple of months but it seems insane that they could ask you to pay all that.
Most gyms over here do something similar but everyone ignores them and they go away after a month or so.
emzirek@reddit
Don't worry about this... they can't get blood out of a turnip, now can they..?
Ingam0us@reddit
I‘m probably not an expert on laws in your area, but this sounds rather wild.
Sure, they can refuse to just cancel your balance, but they can‘t refuse to cancel your subscription, if you terminate the contract before the next renewal.
If you had 20months left on the contract, they are correct to do what they did though.
In this case you can only never go there again, but if they have your address and other data, this might not even really help you