Fitness International, the operator of LA Fitness and other gym chains, said Wednesday (Aug. 20) that it will defend its practices in court after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued the company and alleged that it makes it “exceedingly difficult” to cancel memberships.
The FTC said in a Wednesday press release that its complaint alleges that Fitness International violated the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) through a variety of practices that make gym memberships seem “impossible to cancel.”
The regulator said these practices include requiring consumers who want to cancel a membership to do so in person or by mail, telling consumers who try to cancel in person that they can do so with only one specific employee, restricting cancellation hours to times when consumers are typically at work, failing to tell consumers what information to include in a written request for cancellation, and requiring mailed requests to be sent via certified or registered mail.
In its lawsuit, the FTC seeks a court order prohibiting the allegedly unfair practices and money back for consumers who were harmed by these difficulties, according to the release.
Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Christopher Mufarrige said in the release that “tens of thousands of LA Fitness customers reported difficulties.”
“The FTC will not hesitate to act on behalf of consumers when it believes companies are stifling consumers’ ability to choose which recurring charges they want to keep,” Muffarrige said.
Fitness International responded to the FTC’s complaint with a statement in which its president of club operations, Jill Hill, said that the allegations are “without merit” and that ROSCA was designed to address only online transactions and does not require a specific method of cancellation.
Hill also said in the statement that the company offers members the option to cancel not only in person or by mail, but also online. The company launched an online cancellation option ahead of the FTC’s planned “Click-to-Cancel” rule and continued offering that option after a federal court of appeals invalidated the rule, Hill said.
“Our company works diligently to comply with all health club state laws regarding membership cancellations and to offer at a minimum every cancellation method specifically required by each state,” Hill said in the statement.
It was reported in July that a federal court blocked the Click-to-Cancel rule for subscription services because it found that the FTC failed to adhere to proper procedures under the FTC Act when making the rule.
Earlier, in May, the FTC voted to delay enforcement of the rule to give companies more time to prepare.