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ASF International , World Gym Dishonest and Unfair Business Practices, Taking advantage of consumers Highlands Ranch Colorado
I signed up to a World Gym on 1/3/2007 and signed a contract for a year. The total cost was $600. I gave a down payment of $100. I was told by Robert who is the manager at the gym that the office that takes care of the payments does not accept cash. So, I was told to purchase a debit card from the local currency exchange. That is exactly what I did. I put $500 on that card. I provided all the necessary information to ASF International and asked them to draft the entire amount of $500 at once.
For some odd reason, my account was setup to draft monthly payments, and it turns out that they had problems doing that. I kept receiving slips from them that they could not draft my monthly payment which got me very angry and I was calling everyday to try ro resolve this issue and it was never resolved. The card was good, it had an expiration date of 3/2008.
Finally, I called them to say that I don't have the nerves to keep calling everyday to try to resolve the issue, so I decided to cancel my account. I was told to fill out the appropriate paoerwork on their website and to mail it in along with copies of the contract, receipts and any money that I owe them for previous months. (I knew I didn't owe them anything, up to this point because they were drafting payments from my card).
So, I mailed in all of the paperwork and the money order for the months of March and April.
I called a week later to find out if they have received it, it turns out that they did not receive neither the cancellation paperwork nor the money order. At that point I was told by ASF International customer service representatives to email the cancellation paperwork and to attach copies of contracts, receipts, etc. I did just that.
As far as the money order was concerned, I had to call my local bank to find out what happened. It turned out that the money order was cashed on April 24, 2007. I called ASF International once again to let them know that the money order was cashed, they checked and confirmed it. They stated that I must wait about 10 days for the cancellation paperwork to be processed.
In the meantime, I was still receiving statements of payments that needed to be made, including for the month of May, which just started. On 5/7/2007, I received a letter from ASF International stating that my cancellation was denied because the reasons that I stated in the application did not match the terms and conditions in the Retail Sales Contract.
The reason that I gave for the cancellation was that there were problems drafting the payments and I had to call everyday to try to get the problem resolved and it never was. I called ASF International on 5/7/2007 in regards to the letter that I received about the cancellation, I told them that for one, I do not have a job right now so they can forget about any future payments, and two, I recently just visited the doctor and received a ststement that I'm not allowed to take part in such activities as working out at the gym.
To add to all of this as someone stated that the 800 number is a bogus number because you wait for about 30 minutes before somebody ANSWERS THE PHONE. Also in the letter they say that they are very sympathetc, that is a bunch of crap. I would love to hear from anybody else who has had problems with ASF International. So far I noticed 10 complaints.
It would probably help if everyone filed a complaint with their Attorney General and Better Business Bureau, which is what I did. This company needs to be out of business for all the innocent lives that they have ruined financially!!!
Kathy
Norridge, Illinois
U.S.A.
8 Updates & Rebuttals
rj1011
USABBB update
#9Consumer Comment
Mon, December 12, 2011
ASF International is a shady business, they even have a "F" rating at the BBB, http://www.bbb.org/denver/business-r...-ranch-co-2105
Riley Epson
Chicago,Illinois,
U.S.A.
How to Cancel ASF Memberships
#9Consumer Suggestion
Wed, March 04, 2009
ASF International is well known for their deceptive and ethically questionable billing practices. Normally, I would recommend simply trying over and over again to speak to someone at the company that would be willing to help you. Unfortunately, ASF gets paid based upon the number of people it PREVENTS from cancelling.
Here are the steps I took to get my membership cancelled. Please keep in mind, these steps were only taken because I felt that the information I was provided when I signed up, and the information that ASF provided me with did not match up. When I originally signed up, I was told that one way I could cancell my account would be to provide a 30 day notice and pay the $50 cancellation fee. This was obviously not what ASF said, so the following steps were taken.
1) Write in requesting to cancell your account. You could also call in, but if you email or fax you will atleast have some documentation.
-ASF will undoubtedly direct you to their website to download their cancellation "request" form
Immediately switch over whatever kind of billing you have on file to manual invoicing. This will prevent ASF from taking further payments directly from your bank account/credit card, but this will also incur a $5-10 manual billing fee. Your call if you want to do this.
2) Draft a "lease" agreement for a property owned by friends or family that are located more than 25 miles from one of their gym's locations.
-Example lease agreements can be found online, and you can just fill in the blanks where needed.
Because ASF requires 2 forms of proof that you have moved (something that is unheard of in any other industry btw) you have a couple of options for the second proof. The second form that I found easiest to provide was a bank statement that was addressed to a location more than 25 miles from a gym. I was lucky as I had relatives that lived in another state, so I just used their address. Even if your gym (and your bank) are located in state X, you can still go to the bank and request that they change your address of record to a location in state Y.
After an account statement has been generated, you can couple that with the lease document and those will count as valid proof of residency.
It is a shame that ASF continues to do business in this manner, as it creates a situation where otherwise honest people need to resort to deception to escape these unethical contract.
Obviously, the best way to avoid these kind of situations is to stay away from gyms that use ASF international. I would highly recommend that you speak with a club owner when looking at potential gyms and ask them who they use to do their billing. Also, as much as I hate having to really dig deep into these contracts, make sure that you review the terms and conditions for cancellation and that it matches what the sales rep is telling you.
So, in summations.
1) Draft a lease agreement that says you are moving (and paying rent) to a location outside of their service area
2) Have you bank change the address of record and get a statement showing your new address.
Good luck
Cinthia
Bayamon,Central America,
Puerto Rico
i have the same problem
#9REBUTTAL Individual responds
Sat, February 07, 2009
they make me pay for three years a contract of one.
Gwendolyn
Palatine,Illinois,
U.S.A.
Wolrd Gym / ASF Int'l, fraud, scam
#9Consumer Comment
Fri, April 18, 2008
These people are ruthless.
I was lied to by the World Gym Palatine, IL location (manager Al Ruiz). He told me to cancel my contract was $50 and that I could cancel anytime. Come to find out I have to die, be injured or move.... In speaking w/ASF to cancel (they handle World Gym's billing and cancellations only), I got nowhere. I pleaded, I yelled, I threatened a lawsuit and media attention and got nowhere. They finally told me to go back to Al Ruiz and he can call them to authorize my early termination of the contract.... I did this.. and Al Ruiz was disrespectful, patronizing and rude to say the least (we had a verbal confrontation). I contacted their corp office in Chicago (on Montrose) twice and go nowhere and also contacted World Gym's corp headquarters in NH... No response as of yet. I finally however reported World Gym to the Village of Palatine (the gym was disgusting and not sanitized).
I am currently looking into a possible lawsuit, trying to find someone to represent me. I honestly think this (refusal for Al Ruiz to even discuss this w/me like a human being) was based on discrimination (i'm caucasian) and leaving out this pertinent information of the strict cancellation policy from me is FRAUDULANT and MISREPRESENTATION (Al Ruiz didn't care and told me to do whatever I wanted). I know I signed the contract BUT like I said, the above is crucial information that was purposely left out is grounds for FRAUD and MISREPRESENTATION.
I'm cancelling my credit card that my payments are being taken from. :) These people are scammers and liars and karma will have it's way one day and they ain't getting no more of my money! I am filing a complaint with everyone and anyone re: this company. Good luck to all who have had problems w/them. I hope they are resolved (peacefully).
Chris
Highlands Ranch,Colorado,
U.S.A.
"Your" ridiculous
#9UPDATE Employee
Tue, February 05, 2008
Hello Your,
My information is provided at the end of my rebuttal. Kathy mentions in her complaint that she called us. She has our number, my name and title; what else can I give her?
Your
Shawtown,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Funny that ASF still has no resolution
#9Consumer Comment
Wed, November 14, 2007
Why is it that some CSR from ASF international will post here but they cannot provide a resolution or contact information on what the right process is to follow. Talk is truly cheap.
Chris
Highlands Ranch,Colorado,
U.S.A.
ASF International, World Gym
#9UPDATE Employee
Thu, September 13, 2007
The problem with this site is that it puts the companies people are complaining about at a huge disadvantage. The complaining parties are not required to give their complete name and therfore, the company has no way to research the complaint and give an accurate account of how the events truly unfolded.
However, I can comment on one of Kathy's (from Norridge, Il) comments regarding ASF International. She states that she checked with the Attorney General and Better Business Bureau and found that ASF International is filing bankruptcy. There couldn't be a less true statement. ASF International has been doing business for 35 years and is stronger than ever. Also, we are a member of the Better Business Bureau and are in good standing with them. So, based on that, can you really put much stock in Kathy's complaint when she blatently lies about ASF International's business status? I would imagine the rest of what she states in her "Ripoff Report" is full of inaccurate information as well.
Chris Peterson
Customer Relations Manager
ASF International
Kathy
Norridge,Illinois,
U.S.A.
ASF International (World Gym) Scams
#9Author of original report
Mon, July 09, 2007
I forawarded this case to the Better Business Bereau, Attorney General's Office and a private employer and it turns out that this firm is filing bancruptcy, so everyone can release a sound of relief.