Business Blog
Cancelling a gym (or other) membership shouldn’t be a heavy lift: what businesses can learn from the FTC’s case against LA Fitness
It’s a common trope that joining a gym is easy, going to the gym is hard, and cancelling a gym membership is often…well, not easy. According to the FTC’s recent case against the operators of LA Fitness, “not easy” is an understatement for consumers seeking to cancel their LA Fitness memberships or related services.
Fitness International, LLC and Fitness & Sports Clubs, LLC operate LA Fitness and other gym chains with more than 600 locations and 3.7 million members nationwide. The FTC alleges that LA Fitness employs a variety of unlawful tactics that make it difficult for consumers to cancel recurring membership and other payments ranging from $30 to $299 a month or more.
According to the complaint, these practices cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars in unwanted fees. To start, LA Fitness has required cancellations be done in person or by mail. For in-person cancellations, LA Fitness designated only one employee at a gym’s location to process cancellations (even though multiple employees can initiate memberships). This has effectively restricted cancellations to whenever that person is available at the gym — often, during hours when consumers are typically at work. The FTC alleges that consumers who try to cancel via mail face similar challenges. LA Fitness has instructed consumers to print and mail a hard-to-find cancellation form. Although consumers have been able to cancel by mail without the form, LA Fitness doesn’t disclose which details must be included in the cancellation notice. LA Fitness also instructs consumers to send cancellation requests via registered or certified mail. The FTC alleges that LA Fitness reinforces these unlawful practices by training staff to reject escalated requests and deny any cancellation requests that come via phone or email.
You’ll want to read the complaint for all the details, but the FTC argues that LA Fitness’s practices have violated the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) in numerous ways.
The takeaway for businesses is clear: While going to the gym is good for your health (and having a recurring source of revenue may be great for your business’s bottom line), making people jump through hoops to cancel services is bad business (and unlawful).
Consumers should be able to choose which recurring charges they want to keep. If your business offers a membership-based service, make sure to:
- Tell consumers what they’re signing up for (a monthly fee, annual fee, or add-on?)
- Explain how consumers can cancel recurring charges
- Provide a simple way for consumers to stop recurring charges