Call Kurtis: Charged Hundreds Extra

MODESTO (CBS13) -- Personal training is a good way to whip yourself into shape, but it's not cheap.  So when a Modesto woman kept getting charged, even after her contract ran out, she called Kurtis Ming. 

   Ellen Dunn stays in shape on her home treadmill, but she's bent out of shape over Gold's Gym of Modesto.  Three months after her year long contract for personal training was up the gym started charging her again.  $140 a month was taken straight from her bank account.  She didn't realize it until $560 was gone.

   "We just want our money back," says Dunn

   Her bank helped her get one payment back.  Dunn went to the gym and asked the owner for the rest.

   "He said, 'Well look at the contract, you have to look at the contract,'" says Dunn.

   She did go home and look at her contract.  She found the contract does automatically renew charges for locker rental, tanning and child care services, but not personal training.  

     Marian Gentry had a similar issue with the Stockton Gold's Gym, which has the same owner as the Modesto location.  That gym took an extra $275 out of her bank account last spring. 

   "It wasn't my fault at all," Gentry told us.

   After we got involved she got her money back.

   Dunn pressed gold's for her refund.

   "He said that the money was gone, the money was tied up and could not be refunded," says Dunn.

   We brought the contract to McGeorge School of Law professor, Brian Slocum.  He doesn't think there's any question she should get a refund.

  "The contract's quite clear," Slocum tells us, "It's quite clear it's a one year contract and it expired after the one year." 

   We called Gold's Gym Corporate which said the problem was already in the process of being fixed.  They issued this statement:

Gold's Gym in Modesto makes resolving any and all member concerns a top priority. Our members' satisfaction should never be compromised.

When Mrs. Dunn informed us that monthly charges were improperly issued, we addressed the problem and began the process of issuing a refund through our accounting department.

The refund has since gone through. We can understand her concern over the charges and hope this has been resolved to her satisfaction. We welcome discussing it further with her.

Gold's Gym proudly serves the Modesto community and many others throughout the Northern California market. We are active in supporting the community and our members, and we appreciate their continued loyalty.

-Chris Liggera

Manager for Gold's Gyms of Northern California

   Gold's told us it's a 60-day process, but Dunn says she asked for the refund three months ago.  Either way she has now been promised a check for $420, which has her feeling pumped up.

   "A whole lot better, then I can make my car payment," says Dunn.

  If a business takes out unauthorized payments from your accounts, and they refuse you a refund you can always take them to small claims court.  We've followed one case in the past in which the consumer was awarded three times the amount taken from his account.