Complaint Review: LA Fitness - Philadelphia Pennsylvania

My daughter joined LaFitness for personal training as she was a high school and collegiate athlete. Personal training sessions were purchased and used, but when she was away at school her membership would be placed on hold. On breaks and during summer the membership would be renwed. We were told that her membership would be valid at any LAFitness but found that was a lie. We were told any unused purchased training sessions would be held and carried over. Did not happen. Upon college graduation this past summer my daughter returned to train with her personal trainer that she had trained with for several years during breaks from school. We explained clearly that my daughter wanted to use any unused training sessions,  take her membership off hold, and purchase more training sessions for the summer. We explained that she would leave in mid-August to attend law school and that she only wanted to train over the summer. We were told that all of that could be accomodated. We paid for a month of training sessions and a membership fee and my daughter signed with  her finger on a box that they placed in front of her. I expected that in a month I would pay again for more sessions covering from June to July and then I would pay from July to August a final payment as we had done in the past.

Shortly after my daughter leaves for law school I cancelled her membership online and I notice that I was charged on my credit card by La Fitness. I called and inquired about the charge and no one was available to explain. My husband walked into LaFitness to assure that my daughter's membership was cancelled and was handed a contract and told we have to pay for a year of training sessions. The management was rude and showed no concern when the situation was explained to him. Patrick S told my husband we could pay 50%  of the total to buy out of the contract. I then made an appointment to speak with the two young men who we made the agreement with. They both knew who I was and who my daughter was as she had trained all summer there. They were friendly and assured me they understood completely  and remembered that my daughter was going to law school. They said that I could cancel the "contract" by sending proof of relocation and that they checked that there were no LaFitness gyms in the area my daughter was attending law school. They instructed me to send her school address, her school ID # and her LAFitness membership # and gave me the mailing address of corporate headquarters.

I went home and typed the letter and it was mailed that day. Three months later and I am still incurring a monthly charge from LaFitness. I went again to speak with Patrick S about this and he informs me that the information I sent did not cancel the payments because it does not meet the requirements. He claims he can do nothing to fix the situation and does not feel responsible for his employees misinformation. Conveniently, two of the three people involved with the personal training no longer work at this LAFitness. I asked Patrick S to call corporate headquarters and fix the problem and he said he cannot call. Patrick S. , is he really operations manager? He knows nothing , can do nothing, can only look at computer screen and tell me what I already know. Later when my daughter calls he tells her she can provide proof of her address via utility bill, or lease. I now have to return with copy of lease which he attaches to her account online. He tells me the charges will be removed in two business days. This is 3 months after the problem arose.  I am waiting to see if I've been lied to once again by LaFitness. Horrible, stressful experience with this gym. After dealing with other fitness companies and never having an issue, I believe this company should be investigated to find out the frequency with which people are being lied to.