Balance Sheets Flabby, Crunch Gym Files For Bankruptcy
Crunch gym filed for bankruptcy last week. Guess that strategy of signing up your members for long contracts, then making it really hard to cancel a membership and continuing to debit people's bank accounts even after they were supposed to be canceled and generally being total jerks about any member that tried to stop giving them money, even if they moved away or the gym itself closed down...yeah guess that didn't work out.
Crunch Bankruptcy Shows the Limits of Pole Dancing [Bloomberg] (Photo: nick farnhill)
Post a comment
Comments:
"...yeah guess that didn't work out."
No, not so much.
Now lets see how long people continue to be debited after they go under. Should start a Consumerist pool.
Time to change those bank account numbers.
I signed up at a different chain...for the first two weeks of 1 hour sessions (6 scheduled) all they did was try to sell me powders and drinks. I just wanted to get on a machine and learn how to lose weight.
After filing for a refund the gym in question harassed us for months afterwards despite being asked to leave us alone.
From what I can see it isn't the only gym brand to act like that, apparently including the one in the article.
This is why you need to put charges like these on a credit card (at least AMEX or VISA). As long as you are in the right the charges will be removed, pending response from the merchant. With debit you have to chase after them, but with credit you just file with your card company and you get your money back - and it's on the vendor to prove that you owe them the money.
I have been to a gym where they just tried to bill me even after I canceled. I find gyms to be some of the worst offenders when it comes to bogus billing practices.
I go to Crunch and love it. If people join a gym and then don't use it, it's not the gym's fault. Crunch has great instructors and classes and helpful staff. I can't say nearly as much for where I used to go - 24 Hour Fatness. Yes, it was $19 a month... you definitely do get what you pay for in this instance.
I'm in the middle of this right this moment with Gold's Gym. The company they outsource the payment processing too managed to mess up my account the entire time I had it. Finally around the 20th month I got fed up, paid off the remaining balance, mailed a certified letter (which came back signed for) to cancel. I did all this in Oct. last year, was supposed to be canceled end of February this year, I just got a call on Monday stating my account is in collections. Best part is? They never give their names out only first initial and a supervisor is never available to speak with.
Of course I don't have the return receipt from the certified mail (duh!) as it was 7 months ago and it came back as received. My word against their word....yay.
@bones11:
Didn't you use a check or some other method of proving your payment? Most banks keep a record of that when the check is cashed, it is often viewable online, in which you can print it, or you can get it from the bank for a small fee. Doing the "pay off" should be proof enough. The collections agency needs to be able to prove your debt. Simply tell them you canceled within the appropriate period of time and paid it off. Tell the collections agency to contact Gold's Gym about selling them an invalid debt.
Based on my experience (I was a member some years ago for a single year), compensation of sales people was based on signing up new members, not on getting members whose year was over to re-up.
I had some issue with the environment (blasting rap music, among other things) that I tried to discuss with my original salesman (who was still working there). He said to write the main office which I did (twice). The response from the president's assistant was so inane and full of grammer and spelling mistakes that I walked. (The could have bought a lot of new CD's for the money my renewal would have brought.)
Bad company. Bad management. Bye.
I've always found public pools with weight rooms to be a better value than any "gym". Unless your intent is to "bulk up", a basic weight room has all you need - a few Nautilus-style weight/pulley systems, maybe a few barbells, a stationary bike and/or treadmill, not to mention the pool and a chance to swim and/or cool off afterward.
Of course, if your intent is to be "seen" and look fashionable, rather than (or in addition to) getting fit, then feel free to stay with "gyms".
@ChalmersDrusus: I donno about that. Fitness comes from within, not from which spangly decorations or juice bars they have on-site.
I'm glad that you're happy with Crunch, but there's much to be said about finding a good workout partner, developing a hard, varied routine and sticking to it. And watching what you eat, of course (processed foods = Satan).
People join gyms with the intent of getting fit again, but more often than not they end up having a ton of money debited from their checking account and nothing to show for it.
A Powerhouse gym is opening up in my condo building, and they have an office just outside signing people up. I was standing on my balcony when an out-of-shape male in his forties came out of the double doors. He's carrying a stack of papers and walks over to a minivan. He puts the papers in the passenger seat, grabs a smoke and calls someone on his cellphone.
As he's pacing the empty parking lot - clad in workout togs, white crew socks and tennis shoes - I imagine he's congratulating himself on starting a regimen to get healthy again. Yet, I don't see him spending more than a few months at the gym before he loses interest.
"It's too far to drive, I gotta pick up the kids at soccer practice, it's March Madness!" It's so much easier to find excuses not to exercise than it is to get off your ass and get fit.
It's even easier to get fit without spending money on powders, drinks, and pills. Watch what you eat, exercise regularly, quit cigs. Buy a bike. Look for used weight equipment on Craigslist or in the paper.
Big surprise. In addition to the above reasons, really, who needs or wants to pay those high monthly fees for a gym based all on flash and fads? The goal of gyms like Crunch is to snag you with all this excitement, but they know that most people quickly lose interest and stop going to the gym. You definitely don't need a gym to get in and stay in great shape, in these times an overpriced gym membership is one of the first things to cut.