Consumer Affairs Warns Those Joining Gyms

Parking lots at local gyms are full as people join or get back to the gym to start their New Year's resolutions. "Once the new year comes in, it's jam packed," says Meredith Orland, as she worked out in Columbia.

The state Department of Consumer Affairs has some advice for anyone thinking about joining a gym so they can lose weight, not their money. It got hundreds of complaints last year about gyms that closed.

"The most common complaint is when a gym actually closes and goes out of business and you have a lot of consumers who have long-term contracts that they've paid up front and they want their money back for all the months that they're not going to get service," says Maria Audas, spokesperson for Consumer Affairs.

She says before you join a gym, you need to make sure it's licensed by the Department of Consumer Affairs and that the gym has a surety bond. The bond is how members can get their money back if the gym goes out of business.

Orland says she didn't check for either before she joined. She joined a national gym with several locations in Columbia, so she's not worried it will close. "I probably think people are more concerned about themselves than the gym, you know, what's going on with it, so they probably don't think about stuff like that," she says.

But Audas says it's important for people to check for those things before they join. It's also important to read the fine print of the membership contract, she says.

"You want to make sure that you know everything that is included and not included," she says. "In a lot of cases, things like child care or special aerobics classes or different parts of the gym may be additional. They may require extra fees. That would be stated in your contract."

She says you should also look for automatic renewals in the contract. "And that might go under terms like 'until I cancel' or 'continuous payment', or it may just say an 'automatic renewal clause'. And what that does is just carry over your existing contract terms into another contract at the end of it, just rolls it over, and it doesn't really give you that option to cancel at the end of a contract," she says.

Some people might like the convenience of automatic renewal, but members need to be aware of it so they can decide whether they want it.

If your gym does close its doors, Audas says file a complaint with Consumer Affairs to get your money back. If you were on a month-to-month contract, do not continue to make payments for services not rendered.

But if the gym did not have a surety bond, "Unfortunately, in that situation, we can't do anything about it," Audas says. "That's why we encourage consumers: we're doing our best on our end; you do your best on your end. Make sure they're licensed and bonded."