Gold's Gym Deceiving Membership Renewal Practices
I had heard this from other people, but I didn't pay much attention to the matter. Of course, I just fell victim to it myself.
When I signed up for a new memebrship in 2012, I asked for a 12-month contract. I also asked that the contract not be automatically renewed. I was told that, regardless, I was eleigible for a free six-month extension.
As planned, I stop using the gym shortly after my 12-month contract was up. But to my surprise, Gold's Gym began billing me after the 18-month period was up (12 + 6 free months). I only realized tha just nowt.
When I called to dispute the issue, I was told that i signed for automatic renewal. Really? What about my specific request to the salesperson at contract signing? Did he trick me knowing that i was not going to sit around and read the fine print? Who reads the fine print anyway?
To my knowledge, I am not the first one to fall victim to such a practce. It is clearly a deceiving practice. You get unexpectedley charged month-to-month and then it takes 30 days to cancel. In the meantime, the club pockets the money.