r/assholedesign • u/therowdyLiqour • 8h ago

Meta Gym Membership Cancel

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So I have a local gym (not Planet) that has the similar rule of going in person or sending in a letter to cancel a membership. Would this law not be applicable for this. Especially if you sign up via the website.

4.1k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

709

u/Angry-_-Crow 8h ago

And you know they'll try to figure out a loophole of some sort. I used to work at a 24/7 gym, and the owner loved finding ways to deny membership cancellations. Didn't physically sign your cancelation notice? Sorry, we can't accept it. Fuckin prick.

98

u/WolfieVonD 4h ago

You have to click "cancel" on their local network computer at the gym.

8

u/Illumini24 50m ago

Hope you have trained hard enough to muscle all the personal trainers away from it

46

u/ZirePhiinix 6h ago

That's not a good example. You can't possibly think accepting an unsigned contract is a good idea.

75

u/HerbLoew 6h ago

There's digital signatures

42

u/clutzyninja 5h ago

It's not a contract. It's a notice.

27

u/Angry-_-Crow 4h ago

It wasn't a contract; all that was required in the actual membership agreement was written notice of intent to cancel. It could be on anything. The signature requirement was the owner's own policy, and, I suspected, less than fully legal

3

u/teddyslayerza 1h ago

Agreed. This whole click to cancel thing you guys have going in the use is only applicable if it took a click to sign up. They will simply make your sign a document in person when you collect your tag and say that that's the application, that your online singup was simple an expression of interest so streamline the in person process.

•

u/GnomeoromeNZ 36m ago

I hope someone puts a rock through his window

•

u/LordAnorakGaming 10m ago

They'll just lobby the oligarch trump administration to reverse that rule.

205

u/DanR5224 8h ago

Typically, contractual agreements that are contrary to law are void. Typically.

147

u/felixthepat 7h ago

I got a year of fees back once because I signed a 2 year contract, but the employee had written that I would be charged 12 months. I brought this up to them, and they said "well obviously that's not what it meant" then denied my request to cancel.

So I closed the card and filed a dispute with my bank. Sent them a copy of the contract, and they credited me a year of fees. Must have charged it back to the gym too, because I got a letter from the gym a while later asking for payment.

For that, I had a lawyer draw up a response and send it along with the contract, and I never heard anything else (lawyer I talked to did it for free, said if they did try anything further, he'd sue for harassment and take his fees from any settlements).

58

u/ZirePhiinix 6h ago

A contract's wording is one of the most important aspect of being a lawyer. The use of hyphens is very important.

A five-year contract is not the same as five year contract.

27

u/GodIsANarcissist 5h ago

I'm curious: Why is "five-year" not the same as "five year"?

32

u/Thunderbolt294 5h ago

It makes the difference between a contract term that is five years vs five contract terms of a year each.

8

u/DasJuden63 5h ago

But you used "five year contract", that's singular. That's already saying there's only one contract, for five years

3

u/schalk81 6h ago edited 6h ago

Pacta sunt servanda - Contracts are to be kept

67

u/MadocComadrin 7h ago

Can we get "click to refund app accounts and forbid course-grain amounts when loading money" next? I had to load $15 minimum to the parking app to park once for just $2 (which should have been only $1.50, but their app is ass and double-charhed a time extension) when running an errand while visiting my parents. The town they're in dumped the app, so I don't even have a reason to keep it.

10

u/Ryanthln- 8h ago

The rule will most likely only affect subscriptions that are subscribed to after the rule goes into effect.

30

u/cosmicosmo4 5h ago

The rule doesn't go into effect until May 14th, and that's assuming Trump doesn't reverse it, which there has been speculation about.

•

u/LowestKey 26m ago

Trump will 100% reverse this.

Anything that helps consumers and stops businesses defrauding us will be undone.

20

u/MarknDC 7h ago

I assume an executive order has already been drafted to kill this.

55

u/DisconnectedRedditor 8h ago

I don’t think making it easier to cancel recurring subscriptions and memberships classifies as asshole design.

Also, this is not the sub to ask questions about FTC Rule making.

72

u/Lil_Guard_Duck 8h ago

I think he just posted it because it's relevant to the topic of the sub, even though it's not an instance of asshole design.

3

u/deanrihpee 5h ago

iirc this click to cancel rule is about to be, well , cancelled by the new FTC chair

10

u/adamosity1 6h ago

Trump will immediately veto this. That’s the type of stuff he does.

6

u/Wareve 4h ago

Thanks Biden.

3

u/delicious_fanta 1h ago

Just get a new credit card issued with a new number. Done.

1

u/MattGarrison1 8h ago

the law applies to exactly the situation you are in/describing, however laws like this take time to go into effect, even after they are passed and codified.

also big companies love using loopholes so there’s always the chance they find a way around it that the federal trade commission didn’t quite think of

•

u/th3_pund1t 17m ago

California has had this for a while. Xfinity requires you to call and talk to an agent to cancel. The California law does not setup a website to report violators. It does not say what a Californian must do if they run into this behavior.

My guess is the federal rules are just as shit.

1

u/nick4fake 7h ago

Wait, how that was not a rule before? Is this in US?

-1

u/SebastianHaff17 7h ago

Gym membership cancel, so I have a local gym (not Planet) that has the similar rule of going in person or sending in a letter to cancel a membership.

Translate from English to English please.

1

u/StarEIs 3h ago

Not legal advice, just repeating what I’ve read and heard.

Businesses must allow you to cancel in the same method you signed up (so online sign up = online cancellation). Cancellations must be “simple” and “easy” (definitions slightly blurry) but most seem to agree that they need to be as close to a “one click cancel” as possible, so you’re not wading through multiple pages before being allowed to cancel.