Hi there,
Please bear with me as I tell you the facts. I promise I will keep it short and to the point.
1. I joined (signed a contract with) a small gym (privately owned) in August 2004. I paid the 'non-refundable' fee as well as the fee for the first month i.e. August 2004. It is important to mention that the owner promised me to cancel the contract if I were to move out of state(I mentioned this to him in the begining).
2. I paid the fee for Sept 2004 as well. Since I was going on a vacation in Oct 2004, I informed this to the owner and he agreed to not charge me for the month of Oct 2004.
3. I didn't like the way the owner of the gym treated me and so I asked the owner of the gym to give me a copy of my contract so I can understand the terms and go ahead and cancel my contract if I were to move out of state. He gave me a run around to give me my contract copy but never gave it to me. He did give me a phone # to call to cancel my contract though!
4. I called up the phone number and was informed that the gym I joined was run by this company (EFC). I requested them to fax me a copy of my contract. It took them 2 weeks to do that!
5. I told them that I wanted to cancel my contract because I felt cheated by the gym and didn't want to go back there. I was told that there were two ways to get out of the contract which bound me for a year!
a) to have some physical illness
b) if I were to move somewhere
6) since I was already on treatment for a bad back with my Chiro, I went to him and asked him to write me a note prohibiting me from any physical training. He did that and I mailed that note to EFC. I did this in Oct 2004.
7) I received a "Collection Notice" (for Oct and Nov 04) from EFC saying that in order to cancel the contract I had to have a disability (for a certain # of months) per the terms of the contract.
8) Luckily, during the same time, my job required me to move out of the state and I faxed them my new address with some letters (for address verification). I did this in Dec 2004.
9) I received a "Second Collection Notice" in Dec 2004, stating that if I were to inform them of a change of address, I had to fill out a form (attached with the Collection Notice) and give the company a 2 months notice!! This is also per the terms of the contract.
I feel like duped by the owner of the gym. Could anyone advice me of my options here? The company wants to pay $5000 and change to cancel the contract (this is the fee for the entire one year!).
Thanks and I really appreciate your advice.
AH
Please bear with me as I tell you the facts. I promise I will keep it short and to the point.
1. I joined (signed a contract with) a small gym (privately owned) in August 2004. I paid the 'non-refundable' fee as well as the fee for the first month i.e. August 2004. It is important to mention that the owner promised me to cancel the contract if I were to move out of state(I mentioned this to him in the begining).
2. I paid the fee for Sept 2004 as well. Since I was going on a vacation in Oct 2004, I informed this to the owner and he agreed to not charge me for the month of Oct 2004.
3. I didn't like the way the owner of the gym treated me and so I asked the owner of the gym to give me a copy of my contract so I can understand the terms and go ahead and cancel my contract if I were to move out of state. He gave me a run around to give me my contract copy but never gave it to me. He did give me a phone # to call to cancel my contract though!
4. I called up the phone number and was informed that the gym I joined was run by this company (EFC). I requested them to fax me a copy of my contract. It took them 2 weeks to do that!
5. I told them that I wanted to cancel my contract because I felt cheated by the gym and didn't want to go back there. I was told that there were two ways to get out of the contract which bound me for a year!
a) to have some physical illness
b) if I were to move somewhere
6) since I was already on treatment for a bad back with my Chiro, I went to him and asked him to write me a note prohibiting me from any physical training. He did that and I mailed that note to EFC. I did this in Oct 2004.
7) I received a "Collection Notice" (for Oct and Nov 04) from EFC saying that in order to cancel the contract I had to have a disability (for a certain # of months) per the terms of the contract.
8) Luckily, during the same time, my job required me to move out of the state and I faxed them my new address with some letters (for address verification). I did this in Dec 2004.
9) I received a "Second Collection Notice" in Dec 2004, stating that if I were to inform them of a change of address, I had to fill out a form (attached with the Collection Notice) and give the company a 2 months notice!! This is also per the terms of the contract.
I feel like duped by the owner of the gym. Could anyone advice me of my options here? The company wants to pay $5000 and change to cancel the contract (this is the fee for the entire one year!).
Thanks and I really appreciate your advice.
AH