After meeting Anthony, the gym owner, at a Riverton Fun Days event in August, my wife and I decided to check out HitFit in Riverton. We ended up visiting the gym about a week later where Anthony gave us the tour, had my wife and I do a body analysis scan and signed us up for a "free trial period".
During the initial dog-and-pony show, Anthony flipped thru several web pages on his computer and then an iPad, explaining the "benefits" to the different programs the gym offers. Through it all, Anthony insured us that HitFit didn't require members to sign up for contracts and that even their more expensive programs could be cancelled at any time. That being said, not ONCE, did Anthony produce an actual document explaining program benefits, associated costs or contract of any kind for us to sign.
We were adamant with Anthony about not wanting to sign up for a contract as we are an older couple and were unsure that a high impact workout would be a good fit for us. After repeated assurances from Anthony that we would not be required to sign a contract, Anthony proceeded to collect our IDs and put our information in his computer system and then asked us to sign a simple signature screen on an tablet screen indicating that we were registering to access the gym under the trial program.
He told us that after the trial period ended the membership would roll over to a monthly fee of $89/person. We ended up registering for the gym and purchasing gloves and heart monitors from him for a grand total of $335.00 at sign up and were excited to experience the gym. We ended up visiting the gym a half dozen times over August and September before calling it quits.
Unfortunately, due to arthritic joint issues and chronic back pain, the gym was a poor fit for us. We apologized and explained to Jimmy the trainer (great guy by the way), that we just could not make use of the gym. He had us fill out a cancellation form and we assumed that would be the end of the story.
It is now obvious from reading other online reviews (Google) and complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau, that Anthony is knowingly singing people up for annual contracts while explicitly denying to customers that they are singing contracts when they give their information to him at registration.
The day after we cancelled, Anthony called and stated that we could not cancel the "contract" without incurring a cancellation penalty and an additional 30 days of gym fees. When I reminded him that we absolutely did not have a contract and were insistent on that being the case when we joined his gym, he denied that conversation and said that the gym's "financial department" would be contacting us with the contract and terms for cancellation.
In the meantime HitFit charged our credit card following cancellation for full membership fees of $180.00 PLUS an additional $45.00 with no explanation for the additional costs. When we contacted Anthony, he again pointed to "the finance company" that supposedly handles HitFits bogus contracts. They insisted that in order to cancel the contract an affidavit of physical disability had to be provided by my physician!
Well, my physician's office immediately provided the required affidavit directly to HitFit and their "finance company". End of story, right?
Nope! The next month, HitFit charged us again, this time for nearly $300!!!
We are handing the matter over to our attorney.
Also, reporting predatory business conduct to the Better Business Bureau is always a good idea. read more