Okay, so I was convinced. After reading Chris's blog
Gym Rant today, I decided to cave and do my ranting. (By the way, Chris your comments aren't working!)
So where do I even begin?
I had been a member of Anytime Fitness-Roseville for 18 months. For the most part, I was getting what I paid for. During peak times you usually had to deal with small annoyances like dirty bathrooms and/or broken equipment. They got a new manager and those things started to lighten up even more. Well, then I needed to sign a new contract because my 18 months were up. Here is where I went from a somewhat satisfied customer to an angry customer.
When I approached the manager, I told her that I wanted to sign my boyfriend up along with me. I told her that he would be going to the Anytime Fitness in Rogers (45-55 min away) and asked her if it was possible or if we should sign up there. She told me that I could sign both of us up at Roseville and that Andy would be $25. She told me that I would just need his credit card info, address, and all that. I got the credit card info from Andy and went in to sign up on January 8th (this date will become important).
I was suprised when I went into her office and she had two contracts laid out but figured maybe Andy's was just an addendum to mine (I was under the assumption that he was supposed to go onto my contract). Anyways, she filled mine out, charging me for a 39.00 fee for the access card that I had already paid when I became a new member. I asked her about it and she said that they moved over to a "deposit" system and that I would get it back when I was done with my contract. I said, "ok", still confused and went on. She never gave me another access card so this whole process was confusing to me. Technically, I should have either not been charged this fee or I should have received another access card. We will discuss my debate over this with her later...
Anyways, so then she says "okay well you can just go...I will fill Andy's contract out later". I left all of Andy's information with her and left. It wasn't until after I left that it dawned on me that Andy would probably need a copy of his contract. And he would probably want to know how much he was charged. I told him I would get this from her the next week (as I had class the next day).
Andy checked his account that weekend and discovered that Anytime Fitness had charged him the same amount that they charged me. This was wrong on mulitple levels. First, he should have been charged $25.00 plus the extra admin fees which would still come under the amount I was charged. Second, if they charged him the same amount as me thinking that they were charging him full rates, then I was charged a rate that would coincide with a brand new member. I would think as an existing member I wouldn't be charged the extra fees. What is the point of an existing member staying with the club then?
Anyways, that weekend we went to Rogers Anytime to work out. The manager there was really friendly and told us that we really should be signed under his club because between the two of us we would be there more. I transferred my membership but Andy's was still pending. (She had told me that she would call Anytime-Rogers to activate his access card but never did so). Another thing that the manager at Rogers told us was that she lied to us about the fact that our insurance would still credit other Anytime locations. That is not true. If you go to an Anytime Fitness that is not your own, it does not count towards your insurance rebate. The manager at Rogers told us to get Andy's contract and transfer him over.
Anyways, so I went back to Roseville to get a copy of Andy's contract. I brought it home to Andy and he immediately realized that his signature had been forged. She had actually signed his contract! I had wondered how she was going to start a new membership without him actually being there...and now I figured out what she had in mind. Not only that, but she had signed the date as 1/9/09. The day that Andy's brother died and also not the day that I was in Anytime Fitness.
Andy was pretty peeved. He decided that he just wanted to go on to my contract. He called up the Rogers Manager and asked him how he should go about that. The Rogers Manager told him that he needed to cancel his contract at Roseville and start new at Rogers. So, Andy sent me back in to talk to Roseville.
The manager at Roseville told me that I should just have Andy transfer to Rogers and deal with it there. I told Andy this and he decided to call Corporate. Corporate told him that they would get in touch with the owners of Anytime Roseville and have them call Andy. Instead of the owners calling Andy, the manager called him. She told him that I had signed his contract and that I was in there on the 9th! This part really boils my skin. I mean if you are going to lie, why did she have to lie about that date?! This caused Andy to call me in the middle of the day to question whether I was lying or whether she was. Obviously he sided with me but still needed my validation. Anyways, the whole thing just furiates me because she lied about a date that is very sensitive. I wasn't at Andy's side until late that night because I had to deal with class matters (it was the first weekend of class and I needed to discuss the matter with the teacher). I was not at the gym and DEFINETLY not forging his signature!!
Anyways, she eventually cancelled his contract. But the fact of the matter is that she continued to lie to him through the whole thing. That and she told me that she couldn't deal with my mischarge of the access card thing because I had transferred. And she tried to tell me that she gave me an access card when she clearly didn't. Actually, she almost didn't give me one for Andy and I had to ask for it before I left. She told me that the deposit was only for members of their club and that I would not get it back even if I turned my access card in to her. So basically you have to leave their club at the end of your contract or you lose money.
Anyways, I will still use the Anytime Roseville location because they are close to my work. BUT...I refuse to give them my money. My money will reside with Anytime Rogers, at least for the next 18 months. Then I may be leaving Anytime Fitness entirely.
