Complaint Review: Washington Sports Club

I'm reporting them because they made cancelling my membership a nightmare.

A month before I wanted to cancel, I stopped by the front desk.  I said that I was moving soon and asked if I needed to give them advance noticed that I was cancelling.  The person I spoke with said, "no."  According to him, I just needed to call the manager when I wanted my membership to end.

I followed his instructions.  However, that manager (Staci Cook) sang a different tune.  She said that I had to wait 30 days to cancel.  She also refused to give any weight to my earlier conversation with WSC staff.  Six months later, WSC is still trying to collect for an extra month.  They have called and e-mailed me numerous times, sent debt collectors after me, and threatened to ruin my credit over this.

I tried contacting coroporate to fix the situation, but that didn't go anywhere.  One person said that the earlier conversation didn't count because it "wasn't documented"  A second person that it didn't count because "only the contract matters."  A third person (Staci) said that neither or these positions is correct - instead, I just didn't talk to the right WSC employee (her) that day.

This is all extremely troubling.  First, WSC can't get its story straight.  Second, it's ridiculous to expect members to be able to depend on the word of only some staff members (especially when you don't tell them who they are).  Third, some of WSC's positions are internally inconsistent.  Fourth, it's hard to believe that this is how they treat a member of more than 3 years who may have joined a different location but for his terrible experience here.

UPDATE: after reading some other reviews, I think that Staci Cook is to blame for many of this location's problems.  She completely disregards what her staff tells people.  For example, if you ask someone a question about your membership and receive an answer that's different than the one she would have give, she's say it's "unforunatel that you misunderstand."  Instead, she should: (1) honor what her tells people; or (2) instruct her staff not to tell people anything.