WOW! Work Out World

Complaint: [redacted]
I am...

rejecting this response because:There were no fees waived on my account. In fact I was charged a ten dollar fee in August. You have not responded to my concerns appropriately. I do not feel comfortable using this facility as a woman and that should concern any reasonable business owner.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

To whom it may concern:
[redacted] a...

contract with WOW and initialed the following paragraph in her contract:
'I understand this Agreement cannot be cancelled for a minimum of 12 payments, except as specifically provided for in this Agreement.
After that time, I understand this Agreement becomes a monthly contract cancelled upon my written request by certified mail received 30 days prior to my next billing date. Verbal or telephone cancellations are not valid. In no case shall monthly payments be retroactively refunded. 
All cancellations should be addressed to WOW! Fitness, 99 Shield Street, West Hartford, CT 06110'
[redacted] did not request her Membership be cancelled by Certified Letter, her Membership is still Active. 
[redacted] must pay her outstanding balance of $237.43 and then immediately send a Certified Letter to the West Hartford Gym requesting her membership be cancelled. She must include her name, address and phone number to verify her account with our records. She will be responsible for the dues in the month in which she cancels plus the following month, during which she may use all services included in her membership.
Thank you,
George

Maureen,
 
This Complaint was first filed on 4/11/14 and your instructions to me were as follows:
 
 '
UI', Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: #e3f2f5;">There is nothing for you to do on this complaint right now"   
That's why we didn't respond.
Our response to this re-submittal as we communicated to Ms Torres is:
There was much billing confusion involving more than one contract and it was resolved.
I also just received a letter on the same complaint stating we did not respond on the 4/11/14 submittal. I thought we agreed to communicate by e-mail not wasting the paper and postage since we respond by e-mail.
Please confirm,
Regards,
George

To whom it may concern:
Again we have a complaint from a member that did not read the contract signed and initialed by him. We train our associates diligently on this requirement since it is a common problem of people not reading what they signed nor listening to our...

explanations.
It is also why we have the requirement of a mutually signed Certified Letter.
I answered multiple e-mails from this member and he called our manager and I spoke to him and his instructions was to send in a Certified Letter and to contact me. 
[redacted] e-mailed me with a 'threat' to go to the Revdex.com and I sent him the below message that I had previously sent and that is my answer to him today.
Thank you for your assistance,
George
[redacted],
You signed a contract stating the requirement of a Certified Letter. The requirements are also on our Website in the Cancellation Instructions. We do not accept any other cancellation methods because our Certified Letter requirements require signatures from both of us protecting both from future problems.
You must pay your outstanding balance and send in a Certified Letter to prevent further billing.
George

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:   I was timely in notifying WOW! of my udpated debti card information.  I could not have been any timelier since I notified WOW! the day I activated the card!  My old debit card expired on Sept 1, 2016; my NEW card arrived in the mail on Aug. 25, 2016. I notified WOW! and updated my billing infor on Aug. 26.
Because the window between being issued my new debit card and the date of your billing was 6 days, and due to the fact that I could NTO control when my new debit card would be issued to me, there was NO WAY for me to avoid incurring a late fee on both mine and my fiance's memberships.
I made a good faith efort to update my billing information with WOW!  I am offende by the fact that WOW! will not waive the servie/late fee and instead insists on ripping me off over something I could not control:  the date my card was issued.  AGAIN I am being PENALIZED becuase y card did not arrive 30 DAYS before billing!
Had I not updated my billing information with WOW! I would not be disputing this charge; however; I did everything in my power to avoid paying the service fee by notifying WOW! in the timelist manner possible...the day after I received the card in the mail I brought it to the Cromwell WOW!, handed to a young man who I watched fill out two forms to update my billing information.  Quite franlkly, WOW! is taking advantage of me.  There was NOTHING I could have done to meet WOW!'s antiquated billing requirements.  I made the best effort I could to update my billing information in a timely fashion and now I am being penalized for that which was out of my control!  WOW! should understand my predicament and make a good faith effort by waiving the service fee charged to both mine and my fiance's member numbers!
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Ms. [redacted] signed  a...

contract with us as follows:
'I understand this Agreement cannot be cancelled for a minimum of 12 payments, except as specifically provided for in this Agreement.
After that time, I understand this Agreement becomes a monthly contract cancellable upon my written request by certified mail received 30 days prior to my next billing date. Verbal or telephone cancellations are not valid. In no case shall monthly payments be retroactively refunded. 
All cancellations should be addressed to WOW! Fitness, [redacted]
This paragraph is also explained to new members who have to initial it in addition to signing their contract.
The telephone response to Ms [redacted] from our people is standard and that is to send in a Certified Letter to the WOW she joined at and as usual, terminating members do not want to respond to their contractual agreement despite the fact that it is protection for the member and WOW because a Certified Letter must be signed by both.
Ms [redacted] must send in a Certified Letter requesting termination of her membership as she contractually agreed and her membership will be cancelled 30 days later. 
Thank you,
[redacted], COO of WOW

This is our policy clearly communicated on our contracts. This is the kind of problem that our requirement of Certified Letters to terminate memberships was implemented to avoid. We told [redacted] to bring in his Certified Letter Receipt when we could find no record of the letter and he has not done that. We do not refund money without proof of termination as required on the Contract that was signed by [redacted]. If he brings in his receipt, we will accommodate his request.
Thank you,
[redacted]

[redacted] signed his contract, all the information appropriate to his complaint is right on the first page. He is responsible for the Enhancement Fee.
Thank you,
George

The timely submittal of credit cards is the responsibility of the member. Our members are aware of their responsibility when they join.
Thank you,
George

Tell us why here..
.On 3/10/16, [redacted] came into our 
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WOW
facility in Middletown for a fitness assessment. This is a service offered to all of our WOWmembers. At the conclusion of this session, we offered [redacted] the option
to continue working with a personal trainer from the Training Company, a separate Company that provides Personal Training (PT) Services to our members.
He indicated he wanted some guidance but he didn't think he could afford their service.  [redacted] also indicated he didn't want a contract with the PT Company. In an attempt to help him get started, the PT Company agreed 
to a minimal coaching program where he meets with a trainer once per month.
 
They 
waived the $49 start up fee, waived the early termination fee (which would enable him to cancel at any point, as long as his account was paid up to date), and charged him far below the regular per session rate.
[redacted] contacted 
PT
 on 4/19/16, requesting to cancel. At this time his April payment of $30 was nine days past due. [redacted] then brought this matter to upper managementof PT.Theycontacted him. He was told they would honor the agreement and as a courtesy waive the 30 day written notice to cancel policy. However, their policy is not to cancel delinquent accounts until they're brought current. He was told since he requested to cancel nine days after his April payment was due,  all future payments would be cancelled without penalty but his April payment still needed to be paid per his agreement. In conclusion, several exceptions to policies and procedures were made in an attempt to help [redacted] get started with their service and it is [redacted] responsibility to comply with the terms both parties agreed to.

Due to the mis-communication,  the account referenced by [redacted] has been cancelled without a Certified Letter and we have waived $41.28 to clear the account. We thank [redacted] for his patience and bringing it to our attention,
Thank...

you,
George

Reviewing the payment history of  Ms. [redacted] she did not have sufficient funds for her April and May Dues and paid the $41.28, 2 months dues at $10.64 each and penalties of $20 on 5/30/15. Her card was not in time for the June dues so  Ms [redacted] was again short of funds and neither the...

dues nor the penalty were paid for June leaving a Balance due of $20.64, $10.64 for the month including tax plus a $10 penalty fee. Ms [redacted] signed a membership contract and initialed the requirement of Annual Enhancement Fees. There were not sufficient funds to pay for her 2 Enhancement Fees in October that she signed for. 
Her Balance is:
         $20.64 for her June payment
          78.00 for 2 Enhancement Fees not paid
            4.95 for taxes on the fees
          10.00 for penalty of decined credit card
      $113.59
We would appreciate Ms [redacted] paying the appropriate balance of $113.59 to clear up her debt.
Sincerely,
George

To whom it may concern:
[redacted] signed a contract informing her of our cancellation policies for mutual protection. In addition, [redacted] initialed a specific paragraph of her contract that our Associates explain and ask for the joining member to...

initial. 
The Cancellation Instructions below are on our Website and state the requirements that [redacted] signed for. We received her letter on the 6th of April that requires the dues for April including the Maintenance Fee plus the dues for May to be paid.
Thank you,
George K[redacted]
COO of WOW Fitness
CANCELLATION INSTRUCTIONS 
Please read the following instructions to cancel your membership with WOW! Work Out World. If you
have any questions regarding your anniversary date, or any other questions or concerns, please contact
our Member Services Department at [email protected].
We cannot accept phone, fax, e-mail, or in person cancellation requests.
If your 12 month contract is up:
You may cancel your membership by sending a certified letter to the gym location in which you initially
joined stating your intent to cancel. Please include your name, address and phone number to verify your
account with our records. You are responsible for the dues in the month in which you cancel plus the
following month, during which you may use all services included in your membership.
If you are within your 12 month contract:
You may cancel your membership at this time if you have relocated your permanent residence 25 miles
or more away from any WOW! Work Out World locations or with a doctor’s note indicating you are not
able to participate in a workout program due to a medical condition. Should you meet these criteria, you
may cancel your membership by mailing the documentation to the club location where you initially
joined via certified mail. You are responsible for the dues in the month in which you cancel plus the
following month, during which you may use all services included in your membership.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why do I have to pay for an additional month when I cancel?
As stated in your original membership agreement, you are responsible for the dues in the month in
which you cancel plus the following month. We work with an outside billing agency that requires 30
days for any changes to your membership to be applied. You may continue to use the club during this
final month.

Dear Ms Shea,
 
There are 2 memberships involving Ms Amith, Malaika and [redacted]. Each  had an outstanding balance as of 3/20/14 of $186.39. We nor our Debt Collection Agency have any record of a payment being made on either membership. We terminated both memberships on...

3/20/14.
 
Ms Amith must show us documentation of any payment made. She is welcome to come into the Cromwell or Middletown gyms to show us the payment documentation or e-mail or mail it to the gym.
 
Thank you,
 
George
COO of WOW

We will freeze her account for the month of January. Next pmt will be for February, 2015. Member was called and we explained our billing procedure and offered to freeze her January dues. Member agreed and was very thankful for the call.
Best regards,
George

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Does this letter have to be notarized? Also I am not a woman, I am a man. Referring to me as she/her is inappropriate and unprofessional. It's evident that you pulled up the wrong account or you are being blatantly disrespectful.Mr. [redacted]

I have been a long term member.
I am generally okay with the overall club. Not the cleanest place, but low cost of membership compared to many health club options.
My issues are around the financial issues and trying to get extra fees out of customers.
I had fraud on my credit card and needed to update my credit card for the monthly automatic billing. I contacted the club and was told I had to make the change in person.
Went to the club and made the changes to my credit card with the new credit card number. Even though this was done before the next payment was due, they did not process in their system and charged a late fee. They acknowledged that I had given them the new credit card in time before the payment was due. However, they claim it takes up to a month to process the new credit card in their system (which anywhere else is an immediate transaction).
Even though they acknowledged the issue was on their side, the owner insisted that I owed them a late charge.
I don't care about the amount, but found them to be very unethical. They thought that getting a late charge that was not owed was more important than being ethical with a long time customer, even when they were at fault. Very poor business ethics

This member signed up for a special promotion of three people for the price of one. Each new member completed a contract, signed it and their contracts spell out that only the primary member is responsible for the monthly dues but each new member is responsible for an Enhancement Fee on each...

contract.George K[redacted]
COO of WOW

Review: I spoke with the manager at the facility about a monthly charge regarding one of my accounts that I asked to be removed/canceled last year. They still have been charging me monthly for the service I didn't use at all since I thought it was canceled. I called them and they told me to hold on and they will get back to me. They never did. They told me they would have to find the letter, but its been already 2 months and still no reply. I would like to get this figured out as soon as possible and get my money back for the services I didn't useDesired Settlement: Get my money back for the yearly pay I had to pay for the services I never used

Business

Response:

This is the kind of problem that our requirement of Certified Letters to terminate memberships was implemented to avoid. We told [redacted] to bring in his Certified Letter Receipt when we could find no record of the letter and he has not done that. We do not refund money without proof of termination as required on the Contract that was signed by [redacted] If he brings in his receipt, we will accommodate his request.

Review: In august of 2013 I signed up for service at Wow fitness in Middletown, CT. When I signed up for service I asked if there was a contract, the girl who helped me said no that it was month to month. I used the gym but always found that it was pretty gross. It always smells, is musty and the machines are never cleaned. After starting a new job I started to go even less because it wasn't easy for me to get to. I decided it was a waste to keep the membership and decided I should cancel. I called and the first person I spoke with didn't even offer to look up my account or give me any detailed information, she only asked if it had been a year or not. I proceeded to explain that I was advised it was month to month. After arguing she reluctantly got a supervisor. I advised the supervisor of the same information and advised that I had been told the membership was month to month. He then told me it was a "month to month contract". Laughing to myself I asked him if he had a month to month rental agreement at his apartment if this was the same as a lease. The employees need a lesson on contractual language to avoid providing misleading information. Also the cancelation policy leaves something to be desired. A certified letter to cancel a gym membership??Desired Settlement: To cancel my membership!!!!!

Business

Response:

Here is our response to [redacted]