Billing

My one year membership ended in March of 2005 with the Gold Gym in Richmond, Va. This is the Harvie St. location in the "Fan District". After my year obligation ended I was continually billed for another entire year. I ended up paying another $419.88 and never stepped foot inside the gym. I spoke with the Conexion company that handles all the billing and collections for Gold's and they were of no help and blamed all fault on Gold's policies. But when I speak with Gold's they claim ignorance and refer me to Conexion. So, apparently neither company realized that payment was being recieved for someone who was not using the gym. (And they track how often you use the facility every time you scan upon entrance.) But they sure didn't mind depositing my monthly payments for an extra year. Very displeased with service concerning billing!

Gold's Gym and Conexion make a great combo if you are looking to get ripped in the gym and ripped off monetarily.

I was working in Seattle for Amazon.com at the time, for a summer internship, so I wanted to work out at a Gym and signed up at Gold's Gym downtown, which was nice enough, until it came time to cancel. At first, they said I was on a one-year contract, so I spent a lot of time recovering my original conract to disprove this and terminate without penalty. I then met, after many failed attempts, with their accounts manager, Erica, who told me my account was finally cancelled. This was in August. Then I discovered in December that I was still being billed! I wrote, called, and faxed them but got no reply, so I simply cancelled the debit card number they were billing. Very, very, shady

I had the misfortune to be a Gold's member prior to major surgery. As I was out on medical leave and unable to do much, Gold's was happily ripping me off for the regular monthoy fee, even after telling me it was taken care of prior to the surgery. I was going to be on hold followed by a 10.00 monthly fee, but that did not happen. For close to two years now they have been charging me 29.99 a month. I call, FAX, e-mail, it does not matter. It is easy to join, but just try to put your membership on hold or quit..I figure they have made hundreds of dollars on me (as they have on the fellow in the article above). There does not seem to be anyway to correct the problem. The gym says it is up to the financial people and the financial people are unable to make a decision or trake care of a problem, let alone do simple holds, at least they told me it would be simple. I do not know how they can continue to get away with it.

Most of the Complaints about Gold's Gym come from members who simply do not read their contracts and/or get convenient memory. I see alot of complainers that write about putting their membership on hold. There simply is no such thing. A member may freeze if he/she follows the clear and simple rules. A member such as myself simply pays $10.00 in most cases and signs one of their Freeze Forms. In the more modern Golds Gyms, you might be able to email the authorization but as a member we continue to have our credit card(s) debited each month and when you come back to the gym you get your months that you did not use back, but the burden is ALWAYS on you as it is in the REAL WORLD, as opposed to fantasy land!

It seems that many of the people who write nasty complaints and go to the BBB are not effectively understanding the real source of the problem. When you sign up at Gold's Gym, nearly anywhere in the world, you are usally signing up for a 1 or 2 year term contract! Remember that if you buy a month to month agreement, it will be priced nearly double or more so the vast majority of people benefit from having Gold's Gym finance their term-contracts. Month to month arrangements are put forth mostly by declining gyms that are unable to get people to commit to their own health program. At Gold's Gym, it is the ONLY gym in the world, that a MEMBER can transfer into or out of any Gold's to any other Gold's in the world and simply pay $35.00 to do so. Thus the commitment is to yourself! Cancelling a term contract can only happen by paying the ENTIRE SUM in full and then received a letter of closure from Gold's. If someone wants to fight this, they are somewhat like Don Quixote, jousting at Windmills. Use this ENERGY to work out and improve your health and fitness and longevity. If you are not seeking to improve, go to LA Fitness or Ballys or 24 Hour where people walk aimlessly around without goals. Its time people start taking responsibility for our own actions in life. Its alot like leasing a car. You can park it in the garage, but you still have to pay for it, so make sure to use your Gold's membership and inquire about transferring. If you have any problems whatsoever, the Senior Management at Gold's are probably the single highest caliber business professionals that have ever been in this industry and they have the infrastructure to help you, but first speak to the General Manager of the Gold's Gym and use email as a tool as well. Unlike corporate establishments, Golds usually has an owner involved in each gym. Keep up the positive outlook or change your m.o. Those who exude postive energy live longer and better! Peace Out...

I faxed my cancellation to my local Gold's in Merrifield VA (right next to one of their corporate offices, no less) in October. (Remember, you can't call to cancel, that'd be too easy for the customer). On my fax I requested that I be contacted to confirm my request to cancel was fulfilled. Surprise surprise, no call back from the monkeys working there. Guess what? It's now December and I receive a bill at my door! I KNEW that my original request was going to be ignored. Shame on me for trusting Gold's.