Review by Fiona Becchio on 23rd October, 2006

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Why does LA Fitness have to rip me off?’ Gym contracts are the only contracts that don’t seem to have a 24 hour cooling off period. I haven’t used your facilities; I voiced my reasons for hesitating in joining, why was I manipulated into joining on the spot? Are your facilities and services that bad that you can only make money by ripping of new members? I checked out this gym, as I was in the area at the time, and thought it might be great after work as it is only a 5 minute walk from Maidstone Station. The staff at LA Fitness assured me the station was a short walk away. I checked out the facilities and found they were ok. I told the salesman I would need to check the train timetables before committing as I wasn’t aware of what trains I could catch, from Maidstone, back to Borough Green where I live. The sales person advised me that I risked being charged a £75 joining fee if I didn’t join on the spot. I told the salesperson that I would call and join the very next day once I had checked the train fares and times, but he re-iterated that this wouldn’t guarantee the waiver of the joining fee. Stupid me joined on a monthly membership - on the spot, I checked the train timetable the next day and found there were only three trains I could catch (per hour) to get me home from the gym – at a cost of an additional £30 per month to my train fare. I rang the gym straight away (less than 24 hours) after joining and, of course, was told I would need to give one months notice before I could cancel my one month membership. This is regardless of the fact that I had never used the facilities, had voiced my concerns at the time of joining and had tried to cancel within 24 hours. When I asked ‘Why do I have to give one months notice’? And ‘Could they please reconsider as I hadn’t even used the gym’ and ‘I couldn’t see how processing my application, the day before, could have cost them £75’. I was told to write to management. I will be sending this letter tomorrow asking ‘Why does LA Fitness have to rip me off?’ Gym contracts are the only contracts that don’t seem to have a 24 hour cooling off period. I haven’t used your facilities; I voiced my reasons for hesitating in joining, why was I manipulated into joining on the spot? Are your facilities and services that inadequate that you can only make money by ripping of new members? If Management treat me fairly upon receipt of this letter, then of course, I will forget the current inconvenience and retract my accusations.

Date visited: 23 Oct 06