Call Kurtis: How Did I Get Transferred to a Different Gym?
A West Sacramento gym closed down. The memberships were transferred to a different gym, but when four members say they never got the message, it was time to call Kurtis.
When your gym closes down, can they transfer you to a different gym? It was written in their contracts that could happen, but we learned their contracts might not be enforceable.
Tim and Jenny Cook aren't necessarily gym rats.
"I couldn't tell you the last time I used the gym," says Tim, "She used it a lot more than I did."
So when their gym, 15th Street Fitness in West Sacramento, shut down in August, they say they only heard about it through the grapevine.
"They didn't send us anything or tell us anything," says Jenny.
Then in December a past-due bill showed up, saying their membership was transferred to Davis Swim and Fitness and they owed $165 for three months dues.
"We didn't sign up to go to a gym in a completely different city across the causeway," says Jenny.
Two friends of the Cooks, Santinia Pasquini and Danielle Stokes, were also surprised to get past-due notices. But Davis Swim and Fitness pointed to a section of their contract that says "The club may permanently close ... without any affect on this agreement ... if it transfers your membership to a comparable club within 10 miles."
But according to Google maps, it's 11.1 miles gym to gym. That's not how the new gym saw it.
Tim recalls bringing the issue up when he called the gym, "She said, 'Ha, gotcha! It's 9.6 miles as the crow flies," he says.
"The last time I checked, I do not fly to the gym," says Santinia.
The owner of the new gym, Tammy Hengel, says the members were emailed and mailed letters about the transfer. Our viewers say they never got a thing.
But then we took a look at the contract and found something that just might void it altogether. California law requires the exact wording of a paragraph to be included in health club contracts. It's regarding a five-day cancelation period. But the contracts the Cooks, Santinia and Danielle signed don't have that language.
"It's a small technicality," says Tammy.
But after we got involved, Tammy agreed to cancel our viewers' gym contracts and pull all members transferred out of collections.
"It will be a relief, but I hope that they don't do it to people in the future," says Jenny.
"We want to make sure that if there's anyone else out there that feels they were treated unfairly to give us a call and I will personally talk to them and call them back," says Tammy.
The state says if your health club closes ordinarily you are under no legal obligation to transfer to a different club.
