Complaint Review: Mademoiselle Spa - St. Catharines Ontario

If I thought that i could bring two children to be babysat in a gym for $4, i would grab it. that's way lower than the y and other facilities. Having said that, if the first manager did not honour your contract, then get the one that DID agree to make an update note on your contract. All this is is a little confusion. I am sure that you have made mistakes before too, no? rather than be passive aggressive, why not make the grand gesture and assist them in making the correction? might take all of 5 minutes. and when it comes to cancelling your membership, you could have a. dropped off your resignation in person; b. given it to someone who would be in the area for dropping off; c. popped it in the mail or d. sent it by post office courier, or e. sent it the next day or so, when the fax machine was up and running. Now wasn't that easy? No, I don't work for Mademoiselle spa; i have no connection with them whatsoever. There is a time and a place to bash a firm, and a time to use common sense.

Premier Fitness has a lot of experience pushing the envelope of the law and intimidating former members into paying additional dues that are not justified. Threats include: 1) You are bounded by a signed contract, therefore your fault for not reading the fine print; 2) Threatening to destroy your credit, your reputation to your employer, garnish your wages from Revenue Canada; etc.; 3) Having a collection agency, specifically Michelle Smit of Stephen Walter's law office hound you incessantly, sending burly men to pound on your front doors and finally 4) Threatening to take you to court; Do not give in - make your stand, know the law. They are counting on greater than 95% of such false claims against cancelled or lapsed memberships to either cave under the above listed threats or former patrons just not wanting to deal with the stress. Do not give in. It's laughable when we read triumphant blogs of former members having 'reasoned' with Premier Fitness and settled on a reduced amount! Ridiculous - that's not a win, that's giving in and emboldens Premier Fitness to continue this unlawful practice. Here's how to use the law to protect yourselves and if you believe you have been unfairly treated and victimized by this unscrupulous scam artists operating as a fitness club: 1) Signed contracts, automatic renewals: No matter what the contract says, the club cannot renew your membership automatically. It must provide a renewal notice at least 30 days before your contract ends, and it must give you the chance to refuse renewal. Check out Ministry of Government and Consumer Services Bureau at 416 326 8800 or toll-free 1800 889 9768 www.ontario.ca/consumerprotection or Info.MGS2ontario.ca. Premier Fitness has consistently use that ploy of accumulating four months of so-called 'late-fees' and issuing a late payment notice even though you're contract ended or cancelled or whatever -- this will not hold up in court. You pay for services used and if you have not used the club after your membership ended or cancelled your contract, why are you paying? They have magnetic club access membership cards, and their system which contains evidence against themselves to prove you have not used the club since your membership ended. There's a consumer law for that too. Fight - make your stand. Write to the Registrar, Consumer Protection Branch at 5775 Yonge Street, Suite 1500, Toronto, Ontario M7A 2E5 and make your case and request they investigate Premier Fitness. 2) Threatening to destroy your credit rating: First, this is almost always an empty threat but if they do carry it out, this is how you protect yourself: request a free credit report by the two credit reporting companies in Canada: Equifax Canada Inc. (www.equifax.ca) and Trans Union of Canada. View your credit information - chances are Premier Fitness has not made a report against you or made a dent to your credit rating to damage your credit. Take pre-emptive measures. This Consumer Credit Report Update Form comes with your free credit report. Complete and return it by letting these two agencies know that should a false claim/report be made by Premier Fitness/Stephen Walters Professional Corporation - that this "false claim is in dispute". This will be for the record for all other credit grantors to see. 3) Incessant collections calls and letters from Michelle Smit - the collection agency 'Stephen Walter's Law Office' hired by Premier Fitness: Collection agencies are governed by Collection Agencies Act. So they are regulated in the times they can call; they are not allowed to pay you a visit to your home; they must properly identify themselves, the client they represent and the amount owed (that is not the case with this agency); and they cannot call you before they send you a letter. Do not bother returning Michelle Smit's call and try to negotiate. There is no reasoning, or negotiating with them all collections agencies want is to earn their commissions typically 10%. Therefore, the more they collect the more commissions they make. You will be wasting your time. Instead, call her back and tell her that all communication from this date onward must be in writing and must be via registered mail and that you will not entertain any further communication over the phone. Put that request in writing back to Stephen Walter's Law Corporation via registered mail also and copy Premier Fitness' head office in Mississauga, Ontario. If they break any of the Collection Agencies Act's rules, write to Consumer Protection Branch of the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (above #1). Check out Collection Agencies Act and its regulations. Also, report Stephen Walter for the conduct of his practice (since his name is used for collections) to the Law Society of Upper Canada: www.lsuc.on.ca/public/. 4) Threatening to take you to court: Please let them know that you 'eagerly await a court date'. First of all, Michelle Smit and/or Stephen Walter's collection agency is paid a commission of approx. 10% of whatever they can successfully scam. To take you to court for any amounts less than $1000, they have to pay court fees and other associated fees that can total >$1000+ and with no assurances they can win against you (therefore recover these costs) especially if you have facts on your side and demonstrate you have been a victim of unfair and unlawful business practices. Go to court (it will be small claims court), represent yourself you don't even need a lawyer. You should be aware that Premier Fitness has a lot of legal experience of pushing the envelope of the law even challenging the court's interpretation of the law. Even when you win a ruling, they will appeal, contest the ruling and you'll wait a long time before you see any refund or monies from them, they are masters at knowing how to delay payments. It will be both a moral victory and also a removal of that potential threat of damage to your credit rating a hot button they push consistently. Just google Premier Fitness Issues or other search strings and you'll read countless horror stories out there about this professional scam artist disguised as a fitness club. In the event the ruling goes against you, you can simply employ the same tactics to give Premier Fitness a taste of their own medicine, but know the law, get legal advice to know how much you, in turn can push the envelope. Can you imagine if greater than 50% of all the former members they attempt to scam take these actions - what will happen? This scam by Premier Fitness will no longer be sustainable. In the meantime, protect yourselves by ensuring everything is in writing; read all the consumer protection laws readily available on the web by the Ontario government and finally, our advice which we've used successfully -- fight, use the law to protect yourselves. If you are right -- why cave-in? Why am I writing this? I am simply hoping. Hoping that my experience and posts will help others go through a little less painfully what I went through. Knowing that if enough members understand better their rights and the law, they will know they cannot be scammed. That Premier Fitness stop their unfair and unlawful business practices. That no one should get hurt, live in fear nor stress out over a business founded by a man John Cardillo with a criminal record who managed to have that criminal record expunged. And finally, hoping that members do not give in, because each additional monthly fee Premier Fitness successfully extorts from you, know that you are paying for Mr. Cardillo's extravagant lifestyle of nice estate homes and exotic cars. http://www.thespec.com/printArticle/263154 Henke, Toronto Ontario