Events & Adventures review: Membership contract

I have Autism and Events and Adventures took advantage of my disability.

Below is the letter of explanation sent to them stating the reason I wanted to cancel. They have since sent this to a debt collector.

"Claim #[protected]

To Whom It May Concern:

On January 24, 2023, I spoke via phone to Jennifer Woods from EVENTS & ADVENTURES, which states on it’s website that it is “a social club for singles that plans dozens of casual and active events every month including world travel”. I have a difficult time meeting people because I have Autism and I thought this would be a good way to make friends. Jennifer Woods told me that calendar of was packed with exciting and fun events.

When I told my mom about this program, she told me to make sure I could cancel the membership at any time. I asked Jennifer Woods if I could cancel the membership and she said yes, I could cancel at any time. It sounded perfect and I got so excited about taking this huge step for myself. I was finally going to be able to meet people of my own age and make friends. I signed up while on the phone with her. She sent me the contract via email. After I reviewed the contract, I still understood that I could cancel the contract at any time with no further obligations.

I went forward and charged $400 on my Bank of America credit card which I thought was towards the membership fee. The remainder of the payments would be spread out over 18 months, coming to $135.28 per month, which I thought was okay because it fit into my budget. I am a driver for a truck repair company.

After the membership agreement was signed, I saw the list of events scheduled, and I was really disappointed. There were only a few events that looked remotely interesting to me but I decided to give them a shot. Maybe I would be surprised.

I attended 3 events and I was very disappointed with them all. I was dissatisfied with the program and I decided to cancel the membership. I followed on the instructions on the agreement on how to cancel:

1. I emailed Jennifer Woods that I wanted to cancel my membership and she responded that I could cancel but I still had to pay off the remainder of the “initiation amount”, which was $2075 (the original amount was $2475 but I paid $400 on my Bank of America credit card). I didn’t understand. How could that be when I specifically asked if I could cancel anytime and was told yes? I was very confused and had to ask my mom to help me understand.

My mom read the contract a few times and explained to me that this agreement was written different than other contract she has seen before. And that I should not feel bad because it was misleading. It says If you cancel your membership, you no longer need to pay your monthly dues, which I understood was $135.28. But the agreement is deceptive and it seems the dues were only $30, and the rest of the monthly payment was made up of the initiation amount, which was $2475. This did not make sense to me and still doesn’t. How could I be told I could cancel the membership, but still owe over $2,000? The Jennifer Woods did not explain how the cancellation policy worked, that if I cancelled the membership I could stop paying, but still owe $2,000. I feel like I was tricked. I feel like Jennifer Woods knew I was not aware of how this worked and led me to believe I would not have to pay.

2. I mailed a cancellation letter on March 6, 2023 to Events & Adventures at PO Box 14299, Mesa, AZ. I sent the letter with delivery confirmation. I tracked the letter: it arrived to the mailbox on March 16 and shows it was picked up by Events & Adventures on March 22.

Attached are supporting documents supporting my explanation. If you need more information please contact me. My phone number is [protected].

Thank you in advance for your help.

Sincerely,

Griffin Schlosser"