So I signed up with Anytime Fitness in Elgin quite a while ago, and let me say that it was by far one of the biggest mistakes of my life. When I signed up with this gym they told me that I would be signed up for a 16 month membership and that after that 16 month membership my door key would cease to work and that the payments would stop, the only way to gain re-entry to the gym was to stop by and sign another contract. They also stated that they would send texts every so often to inform you of your expiring membership.
Well when I got my new job I noticed that we had a free gym so I decided that I wanted to cancel my membership with AF but didn't want to pay the early cancellation fee. So I decided to just be patient and wait out the rest of the 16 month contract, but it never ended. I thought it was a bit odd considering the fact that it had been over 16 months yet I was still being charged.
So I decided to head down there and just cancel it. I went down there on the weekends (Saturday and Sunday) but no one was ever there, so I assumed that this franchise must have weekends off. So I came in on my days off (Tuesday and Wednesday) but yet again, no one was there. I continued doing this for around 2 months every chance I got. I then resorted to calling them, but no one ever answered. I left voicemails, no responses. I even had my mother contacting them on my behalf thinking two people calling stands a better chance than one person, still no luck. But finally, someone answered for her, and all they did for her was CONFIRM with her that my membership had been COMPLETED, but I had to come in to sign paperwork to make it official. Guess what, I came in on my days off to sign, and no one was there. I caved and went to the Bastrop, TX Franchise and a TON of staff were present. I begged them to help me cancel my subscription but they couldn't do anything for me, they told me I had to cancel at my home franchise. So then I went to the bank, and as a last resort, placed a stop charge on them where they couldn't STEAL any more money from me.
Here's the best part, now they have turned me over to collections and they claim I owe them over $200 in services, stop charges, and various other costs.
I would recommend that you avoid this franchise like the PLAGUE unless you enjoy getting scammed and stolen from. Absolutely horrendous staff, the gym is OKAY at best, but good luck actually getting out of your "contract" when the staff is literally absent 24/7. I think it is truly sad when the only way to get into contact with a place like this is when you ask the collections agency to TELL them to contact you, and in the same day, they do. If they had contacted me this expediently to begin with, this could have all been avoided.
Long story short, do NOT sign with this location, go somewhere where the staff actually shows up. read more