Help! Unable to cancel Golds Gym Membership!

Ok here's an update. I found the owners personal email address and emailed him the details of the situation. Keep in mind that every review that I could find mentioning him states that he screws over his customers and is a d*ck in general. I wasn't expecting much, so I advised him that I was also CC'ing the BBB and Office of the Attorney General. Within 4 hours I had a response stating that my account had been cancelled. Hopefully that is the case and this screwed up situation can be behind me. Thanks everyone and I'll be back here if anything happens.

Ok here's an update. I found the owners personal email address and emailed him the details of the situation. Keep in mind that every review that I could find mentioning him states that he screws over his customers and is a d*ck in general. I wasn't expecting much, so I advised him that I was also CC'ing the BBB and Office of the Attorney General. Within 4 hours I had a response stating that my account had been cancelled. Hopefully that is the case and this screwed up situation can be behind me. Thanks everyone and I'll be back here if anything happens.

Called the gym yesterday and they confirmed that my account shows cancelled...

Throw a brick through the window with a cancellation note on it every night until they cancel it?

Do you have this required procedure in writing? If so, and if you've fulfilled it and you have proof (signed receipt from USPS showing it was delivered and received), then you've done what you were supposed to do.

If they refuse to comply, then your next is to step is to file a complaint with your state's attorney general [ca.gov]. Gold's Gym has had plenty of complaints against them with your state's attorney's general and has already been forced to comply with the law regarding contract disputes. They don't want a piece of the attorney general. I can all but guarantee this will solve your problem in a hurry.

Your example is a sad and frustrating problem that happens all too often with contract gyms where they continue to draft someone's checking account after they've tried to cancel their membership.

Moving forward, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER sign a contract with a gym. Gyms that require contracts are not gyms - they are contract houses. They often sign up members, then sell their paper to a finance company for pennies on the dollar. The finance company, then, becomes the company that is actually doing the billing/drafting. The gyms don't care one bit if you ever work out. Why should they care about you? You're bound by law, now, to pay them for the remainder of the contract. As soon as you sign your name to the contract, they know they don't have any competition for the remainder of that contract. So, the free market incentive to serve you as a customer in order to earn your business disappears. As a matter of fact, they'd rather you not work out because if every person that had a contract with them worked out, there wouldn't be any room for anyone to move in the gym.

Also, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let any company automatically draft your checking account. Instead, pay either by using your credit union's online bill pay service or by cash or by credit card. But, never give a company access to your checking account.

Instead, only workout at a gym where you can pay month-to-month. These gyms actually care about serving you as a customer because they know that if they don't, you'll quit coming and quit paying. They don't handcuff you to a contract to get your business, they have to actually earn your business each and every month.

We've got at least 8 different gyms in this area (7 national chains plus 1 local chain) and they all require contracts. However, all of them, including Gold's Gym, operate on a month-to-month basis. All require one month's notice in writing for cancellation, though some (e.g. LA Fitness) will accept cancellations via email or phone at their discretion. I agree with your overall analysis of how these places operate, but good luck finding a gym that operates without a contract.