Complaint Review: Golds Gym / ABC Financial - Woodland Hills California

I was a member of Gold's Gym Northridge, CA which was recently bought by a new private ownership. I cancelled my membership in Sept 2008 within the center and called to follow-up my cancellation with the manager who said it was approved and submitted to their headquarters. Months after I kept getting charged my monthly bill regardless of cancelling; I contacted Golds Gym's and they said it was a mistake and that it would be taken care of. After 4 months of being automatically debited to my checking account I told my bank to stop all payments to Golds Gym and to list the past charges as unauthorized transactions.

In March 2009, I received a letter from Allstate Financial, the company in charge of maintaining member services and membership dues for Golds Gym. The letter claimed that I owed over $200 in back-membership dues and that it would be referred to a collections agency if not paid in 90 days. I immediately emailed and called Allstate Financial and explained that I had cancelled my membership previously. They claimed that there was no record of me ever having cancelled and that I would have to get a copy of my cancellation from the gym. After contacting the gym, I was told that the manager I had cancelled and spoke with had quit months prior. I immediately contacted Allstate Financial and was told by their account representative that I would have to fill out a second cancellation form to supplement the first one which was missing. The Golds Gym employee then referred me to the Woodland Hills, CA location where I explained my ongoing dilemma and was told by their manager to fill out a second cancellation form which they would fax to Allstate Financial. After completing the form, the manager signed-off in my presence and told me that  they would have the form submitted immediately. I then contacted Allstate Financial and told them that they would be receiving my second cancellation to have on record and to wipe the balance off of my account.

I thought this was the end of the cancellation problems but recently on July 17th, 2010 I received a letter from a collections agency claiming that I owed $458.25 which was referred from "Woodland Hills Athletic Club" formerly Gold's Gym - Woodland Hills, CA. I went to the gym and spoke to their manager who told me that she could not help me and that I would have to contact Allstate Financial to dispute the charges. I contacted the Allstate Financial and spoke to their account rep who pulled up my original membership account and notes posted to my account. He explained to me that they had attempted numerous times in the past to contact Gold's Gym - Northridge, CA and Gold's Gym - Woodland Hills, CA to no avail. After telling him my cancellation problems, he said that he would speak to his supervisor but told me that they would not be able to drop all of the accrued charges and interest on my balance because I did not have any copies of my cancellation. I explained to him that Gold's Gym on both occasions did not give me a copy of my cancellation as it was a single form which needed to be turned in and kept on file. As of now, Allstate Financial has not contacted me back regarding the status of my balance or about the referral of the balance to a collections agency