FTC Sues LA Fitness Over Membership Cancellation Barriers

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LA Fitness in Coral Springs. {Google Maps}

The Federal Trade Commission has sued the operators of LA Fitness, alleging they made it excessively difficult for consumers to cancel gym memberships and related services that continued indefinitely unless terminated.

“The FTC’s complaint describes a scenario that too many Americans have experienced – a gym membership that seems impossible to cancel,” said Christopher Mufarrige, director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Tens of thousands of LA Fitness customers reported difficulties – cancellation was often restricted to specific times or required speaking to specific managers who were often not present or available. The FTC will not hesitate to act on behalf of consumers when it believes companies are stifling consumers’ ability to choose which recurring charges they want to keep.”

California-based Fitness International, LLC and Fitness & Sports Clubs, LLC operate LA Fitness and other chains, including Esporta Fitness, City Sports Club, and Club Studio, with more than 600 locations and over 3.7 million members nationwide. Memberships range from $30 to $299 a month, plus fees for add-on services such as towel service and personal training.

The complaint alleges LA Fitness used “opaque and complicated methods” to cancel memberships. Consumers were required to either visit a gym or send cancellation notices by mail. Burdensome credential requirements hindered online logins, while in-person cancellations were restricted to one employee during limited hours. Mailed cancellations often required certified or registered mail, adding costs.

The FTC said the company also failed to disclose that add-on services could be canceled separately, and trained staff to reject escalated requests and deny cancellations by phone or email. Consumers who stopped payments often found themselves re-billed under new account numbers, according to the agency.

The FTC alleges the practices violate the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, seeks to stop the alleged conduct and secure refunds for consumers.

Jill Hill, President of Club Operations at Fitness International, LLC, responded to the suit.

“We are disappointed that the FTC has chosen to pursue this complaint. The allegations are without merit, and the statute the FTC relies upon – the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), enacted almost 15 years ago – was designed to address only online retail transactions, does not require any specific method of cancellation, and has never before been applied to the health club industry. We remain confident that we will prevail in court.

According to Hill, most of our memberships, and all of our personal training memberships, are purchased in person at our club locations. Even so, 18 months before the FTC’s new ‘Click-to-Cancel’ rule was scheduled to take effect, we proactively launched an online cancellation option for all members, regardless of how they originally signed up.

With just a few clicks, members may cancel online – a step we voluntarily implemented well ahead of regulatory deadlines. Although a federal court of appeals recently invalidated the FTC’s ‘Click-to-Cancel’ rule, we have chosen to keep our online cancellation program in place to provide members with yet another simple way to cancel. Members also have always had the option to cancel in person at any club, or by mail, and those who wish to do so can and do cancel in such fashion, according to her statement.

L.A. Fitness in Coral Springs is located at 2633 N University Dr.

The Commission voted 3-0 to authorize the case. It will be decided in court.

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Sharon Aron Baron

Editor of Talk Media and writer for Coral Springs Talk. CST was created in 2012 to provide News, Views, and Entertainment for the residents of Coral Springs and the rest of South Florida.