CALIFORNIA – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced August 20 that it sued LA Fitness and other gyms for making it difficult for consumers to cancel memberships and services that automatically renewed.
The agency seeks a court order to stop the practices and refund affected consumers.
“Tens of thousands of LA Fitness customers reported difficulties – cancellation was often restricted to specific times or required speaking to specific managers who were often not present or available,” said Bureau of Consumer Protection director Christopher Mufarrige.
He added that the FTC will act when companies hinder consumers’ ability to control recurring charges.
Memberships from $30 to $299 a month
California-based Fitness International and Fitness & Sports Clubs operate LA Fitness, Esporta, City Sports Club, and Club Studio, with 600+ locations and 3.7 million members nationwide.
Memberships range from $30 to $299 a month, with optional add-ons like towel service.
Members pay the first and last months upfront, followed by monthly dues and annual fees. Personal training memberships have initial fixed terms, then recurring monthly fees.
Difficult cancellation process
The FTC says LA Fitness uses confusing methods that make canceling memberships very difficult.
Members must cancel in person or by mail. To start, they log in online and print a cancellation form, but LA Fitness requires the original email, key tag number, and first five digits of a payment method to reset credentials.
Even after completing this, cancellations in person remain restricted to one specific employee, despite multiple staff being authorized to enroll members. This often limits cancellations to work hours, even though most gyms operate up to 19 hours daily.
Mail cancellations are also complicated. While the website directs members to print a form, the company does not clearly inform them they can submit a simple written notice or specify the required information.
Cancellations must be sent via certified or registered mail, adding extra costs.
LA Fitness also fails to clearly inform consumers that add-on services can be canceled individually. Almost any employee can process these cancellations, but this is not disclosed.
Consumers who stop payments rebilled under new account numbers
Instead of simplifying cancellations, LA Fitness trained staff to reject escalated requests and insist on in-person or mailed cancellations. Consumers who stop payments are often rebilled under new account numbers, a practice the FTC says violates the FTC Act and ROSCA.
The Commission unanimously voted 3-0 to file the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
The FTC files complaints when it believes defendants are violating or about to violate the law and the case serves the public interest; the court will decide.
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