After placing his membership at LA Fitness on hold while he decided whether or not to cancel it, Jason took the plunge, hopping through the gym’s hoops by filling out a cancellation form. Jason stopped using the credit card that LA Fitness was auto-billing, then checked back several months later to see the gym had continued billing him the $10 frozen account fee.

He writes:

I was a member at LA Fitness for at least a year. I loved it and enjoyed the healthy benefits.

A while back I started getting serious about my spending and my money and cut out extra stuff.

One of the last things to go was my gym membership. I was overweight, but I noticed I was definitely losing it and the gym was helping.

I froze my account for a few months, but one day realized that I should outright cancel it. I followed the procedure and went online. I printed out my cancellation form and mailed it in.
My account was linked to a credit card that I don’t even use anymore. I just logged in to see my balance and make a payment and decided to see my recent activity. And I see LA FITNESS has been charging my card for the past few months. Thankfully it’s not the full amount, but the $10 “frozen account” fee. I’m entitled to at least $30 back, but I also know it is my responsibility to check up on this stuff.

Though convenient, automatic billing has a way of lulling you to sleep, causing the inattentive to pay bills without knowing. It’s a good idea to check out your statements monthly — if not more often online — for unintended charges.

What’s the worst you’ve been burned by an auto-biller?

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