Anytime Fitness review: screwed me out of money after contract was complete 18

Anytime Fitness is horrible. It's a big money-sucking trap. I haven't used their facilities for months yet I have been giving them my money the whole time because each time I've tried to suspend or cancel, they give me another line of crap related to the almighty contract.

That contract is filled with fine-print legalese. That's how they get you. It's a big rip-off. And they defend themselves with more "well as your contract said" crap. The thing is, all of this is not adequately explained to you (at least it wasn't to me) at the time you join. I was stupid and just signed the contract without sitting there to read the huge wall of tiny print that would explain how I was about to be screwed.

I cannot stress it enough. If you are reading this and want to stay in shape, don't join Anytime Fitness. Find a better place that lets you pay month to month.

Actually if you did submit a letter from your doctor you also have a copy of it. The contract is not full fine print leagalese. I think if the manager there or owner did not work with you then their is an issue, but I am sure they told you what the contract was for, month to month, 6 months 12 months whatever. If you did sign it then you can have the account frozen and used at a later time. Also I would think if they were customer oriented they would negotiate a buy out. There are much worse gyms out there that are shady, Anytime Fitness as a whole looks to be a really good fitness club compared to MANY others.

"You can freeze you account so you dont lose your time" ABC is the billing company and they have that option.

You should contact the corporate office and see if they can help. But you have to reasonable as well. Just my thought. I have been burned by gyms over my lifetime.

Anytime Fitness one of the worst corporate jokes in American Business. Their corporate office is filled with unhelpful idiots who could care less about the members. Save yourself the hassle and don't join this prison.

...and if you're thinking of opening a franchise, you might look elsewhere. They are going under like crazy.

I do not agree with the person above..I do not think the staff workers are unhelpful idiots...if they are its only at that location..dont group every worker in with them! And also dont group every anytime fitness in with the one you signed up at! Anytime fitness is a FRANCHISE! duhhhh! so they are all different!

The member Agreement is only 1 sheet and contains no fine print. In addition, members are able to log into the ABC Billing website, maintain, freeze, and make changes to their own accounts.

Anytime Fitness is a TOP Rated Franchise and is consistently receiving national Awards with 1, 000+ in the US, Canada & Australia!

The original poster even states that her states Attorney general agrees that the Anytime Fitness is at no fault!

The 'money trap' is simple... over 1/3d of Americans are obese... WORK OUT :) @ Anytime Fitness... ANYTIME!

We LOVE Anytime Fitness!

QUOTE from: Complaint should be removed. "The original poster even states that her states Attorney general agrees that the Anytime Fitness is at no fault!"

The original poster never said the AG agreed with ATF. Only that ATF contacted the AG and "told them this was my fault since I should have checked my bank account." Someone not checking their bank account does not give the right to ABC to continue to take out money after the agreement is up.

I am still in the process of dealing with a similar issue and hope this helps anyone who is having an issue with getting billed by ABC Financial after the agreement has expired.
(Assuming that a similarly worded agreement form was used.)

I had an attorney review the copy of my Anytime Fitness membership dated 1/19/07. He informed me that no where on the agreement does it state that it will automatically renew. It clearly states that the membership and all financial obligations/payments expire on 1/19/09. There is a renewal program options which is listed but it is not an automatic agreement to renew. The renewal option clearly states that "you may retain use of all privileges by renewing on or before 1/19/09". Since I did not renew my membership agreement by 1/19/09 per the renewal options the membership agreement dated 1/19/07 became null and void as of 1/19/09. This also means that any funds transferred out of my checking account by ABC Financial after 1/19/09 was done so without my written permission.

They have done the exact same thing to me. My contract expired 5 September 2009 and Anytime is trying to get me to pay for another month, even after my contract has expired.

I satisfied my contractual obligation, yet am being charged for yet another month. I am so furious about this. I refuse to be bullied. The first poster was correct; the corporate office is full of worthless, unhelpful and discourteous staff. I am taking my matter to the BBB, local news paper and Craigslist. Let's get this viral!

Just a follow up.

After sending letters to my local ATF, ABC Financial and the ATF corporate office my local ATF contacted me to tell me they would take care of my account. I asked for and received a letter stating my account with ABC Financial and the collection agency has been taken care of. About 2 days later the calls from the collection agency stopped. I am going to have my credit reports run to see if the collection agency claim is on it. If so I will forward the letter to the 3 credit agencies showing that the account has been taken care of.

My experience with the local ATF was great when I did use the club. It is just unfortunate that the billing company they use (ABC Financial) has some less than ethical practices.

ATF is a joke. I put a stop pay on my bank account and I think everyone should do the same. They may think it's easy for someone who works full time to drive all the way to the facility and hand them a written notice of cancellation (on a contract that is already up!) But guess what ATF? It's not as easy for everyone to do that. My friend was a member at one of the ATFs by her house which isn't far from mine and they told her she could simply FAX a notice of cancellation to the facility and they would take care of it. When I called my ATF facility they told me they don't have a fax machine and weren't associated with the ATF facility my friend goes to...REALLY? You're a FRANCHISE! You're all associated with each other! Since I work in the law field and have for 6 years now I believe I know a little bit about contracts and once a contract is up it is up...unless what I signed really wasn't a contract? If it was a contract then why is it up and I'm still paying on your stupid gym that I don't even go to? Good luck to everyone who is a member because you will have issues when you don't want to pay any more...my advice is either put a stop pay on ATF from deducting from your bank account or reap the consequences. P.S. ATF will tell you it's a 30 DAY cancellation notice but it's really a 60 DAY or 90 DAY. They want their money and they will get it however they can.

I listen to everyone grip about the entire contents of this posting and it's a very sad day to see all of this negative feedback. I currently am one sided as I do work as an Area Manager for some Anytime Fitness Clubs. Most all states have a law that puts a cap on "agreement length" when it comes to fitness clubs which is very fair. Normally the length is not to exceed 24 months. This is why Anytime Fitness and most other clubs have the "auto-renew" option which you initial. If you did not then the account would terminate or you would have to resign up and be put into the system again (legally) and charged sign up fee's. This is all avoided with a simple initial where is says "auto-renew." We do this for the members not for us. Sure some people don't come but you go past your Anytime Fitness and see how many people go in and out in a 24 hour period. Those are the people changing their lives and understanding the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Those are the members I am specially trying to help. The members that don't come in or even want to change and just joined the gym because they want to say they joined a gym will get the fine print. That's how it works. It's very fair. We take your money to allow you access to our club and the services we offer. Remember fine print is always the "back up" plan. We always prefer to business and help our members out. I have had members that worked out and even were unemployed and came to me asking me to cancel. I suspended their billing for 3 months and told them it would be comp if they continued to workout 3 times a week. We are people just like you. We hear excuses everyday on why you don't have time or how life gets in the way. That's bs and you need to stop feeding yourself that and start making changes. Use your membership and make a change. I don't think that $1 a day is hurting your pocket and if it is then chances are you should be cutting back on something making you unhealthy!

Benzy- man, you just rubbed me the wrong way. What a way to try to shame someone for being unhealthy! Personally, I joined Anytime Fitness to change my life and body. Unfortunately, I am really shy about my body and have a hard time working out with an audience. After going through 3 workout partners to help drag me in to the gym I finally gave up and decided to run. By myself, without an audience. That's just how I like it. I waited for my contract to lapse and just move on with my life. After being charged an extra two months for a double membership I was angry and I'm trying to cancel. Is that ok with you? Or am I just making excuses? Puh-lease. I just don't appreciate the fact that I stuck out paying a year to fulfil a membership that I don't use...because after all I SIGNED IT. Grudgingly, I paid. Am I not entitled to my hard earned dollar to try and close an account that should by all means have been fulfilled? - Anyway, I just had to comment because your attitude reminded me of "THAT GUY" in the gym that worked there. When I did haul my butt there and saw him in the windows I'd turn right around and go home to my own elliptical. I couldn't believe this was what a company wanted as the greeting face to new customers. Don't get me wrong, the other man and two ladies who I encountered there were quite lovely and encouraging to me.

Anytime Fitness recently opened in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. The managers are a young couple whom are of Russian decent (I actually don't believe their even legally entitled to reside in Canada). Regardless, the gym hasnt really picked up but there seems to be many Russian members (probably becasue they only advertised in the local Russian papers). Afew weeks back I had a horrible incident when 2 Russian members walked up to me in the aerobics room and took 2 pieces of equipment I was clearly using. When I explained that I was using them, one replied in a heavy accent "I'm in the middle of a personal training session". I was shocked and alittle affraid. I continued to workout and 2 minutes later he again took equipment from right under my hands. At this point I stood up and explained that he could ask if I was done. The 2 Russian men then started shouting verbal slurs targeted at women and death threats in Russian. At this point I frooze as I actually understand Russian. I ran out of the room and hurried home. The next morning I reported the incident to the managers whom where TOTALLY on my side and shocked (at least did a good job of acting shocked). They explained that they could cancel their memeberships and will speak to them and "yell at them" and make sure they apologize and so fourth. I was affraid of having their memberships cancelled as I quickly realized whom I was dealing with. The managers also explained that I could cancel my membership and the cancellation fee would be waived. Afew days later the whole story changed, the managers have since told me "we believe you guys are friends and where sharing the equiptment", "these guys don't swear, they don't know swear words" and "if your so affraid why do you continue to come here? They are scarey guys, who knows what they might do". Although everytime I entered the gym after the incident I either came with my fiancee, my brother or my dad whom stood outside "just in case". Fast forward to today, the managers insist they deserve a cancellation fee from me and when I phone to speak to them they have their trainers answering the main line addressing they are away when they are clearly in their offices (I tested as I stood across the streets to prove they are lying). So plain and simple... this club is horrible (other locations are probably great) just sad that these guys are presenting a huge company and killing the name.

Anytime Fitness IS THE WORST GYM IN CENTERVILLE OHIO AERA.

The above story about Anytime Fitness in Vaughan is completely fabricated.. The woman that wrote the story extorted money from the owners after threatening to sue them.. She worked for a legal firm and knew how to take advantage of the situation..I have been a member for close to 2 years and this is a super club with fantastic owners and staff..Only good things to say about this location and I love working out ther. I go at least 5 times a week and everybody is always friendly. and helpful.

I am having the same problem right now. July 04, 2017...My 2 year contract was up in April 2017. I decided not to renew it, so I could go to a better gym. Here it is July 2017 and I am still being billed for a membership that ran it's course in April. I am being told by the owner that since my membership expired back in April and I didn't resign a new contract, I can't use the facilities, but yet I am still being charged (3 months now) for a gym I can't even get into, because I refuse to sign another contract with them, yet they refuse to stop billing me. HOW CAN A COMPANY BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE TO DO BUSINESS THIS WAY. I am a disabled veteran and their ripping me off.