Call Kurtis: Why Can't We Cancel?
After retiring Andrea Romero keeps busy with her arts & crafts. Staying in shape is also a priority. Last summer she and her husband Michael signed a 2-year contract with 123 Fit on Folsom Boulevard in Sacramento.
"It was $29 a month, I thought 'Oh, we can afford this," says Andrea.
Unfortunately back problems crept up her in October. She says the gym told her she could cancel her contract with a doctor's note, but she had to go through their billing company ASF International. So Andrea's chiropractor wrote a note saying she needs to stop all physical activities because her disability is permanent.
"They wouldn't accept the chiropractor," says Andrea, "They said they sent a letter and then they wanted a medical doctor."
Her medical doctor wrote a note saying she should not use the gym for six months to a year. ASF International denied her request. The gym's contract only allows cancellations for permanent disability.
Then in January, the Romeros moved. Their contract allows cancelation if a move is at least 25 miles away from the gym. They sent proof they moved 35-miles away from Sacramento to Lincoln and each paid a $50 cancellation fee.
"We paid them everything they asked for," says Andrea.
But they both got billed for the next month. ASF International claimed Andrea still had an outstanding balance. And the company didn't cancel her husband Michael's account because they say they didn't have proof he moved too.
We got in touch with 123 Fit. Right away, they agreed the proof sent in, should be sufficient to prove Michael moved. They cancelled his membership.
And after we and the owner reviewed records from Andrea and their billing company we learned she did not owe anything. Her account was then closed too.
Now that 123 Fit is gone from their lives, Andrea can focus more on her arts and crafts.
"Oh, I think it's a blessing to be done with it," says Andrea.
If someone is hurt, the gym's owner says it's their policy to freeze your account for $5 a month. Since Andrea says she was never given that option, the gym is refunding her for the two months she was charged, but didn't use the gym. They are also returning the month of late fees, for a total adjustment of $99.
Some confusion happened after the gym told her to deal with their billing company directly. The owner told us if the Romeros had come back into the gym to cancel the contract this situation may have been resolved sooner.
Statement from 123 Fit:
Thank you for bringing the issue that Mrs. Romero was having with ASF to our attention last Friday. Unfortunately, prior to you contacting us neither the client nor ASF International has contacted us.
123 Fit has contracted ASF to service installment contracts for payment plans for clients who elect not to pay in full for their memberships. In the case of Mrs. Romero she was not happy with her interactions with ASF and had an unresolved issue.
Thanks to your investigation, we were able to uncover some gaps at ASF that we will investigate closely. While we have only had 2 business days to begin our investigation, it certainly appears that some improvements need to be made by ASF to serve our clients better.
In the case of Mrs. Romero, there were two breakdowns that occurred:
#1, Ms. Romero attempted to stop paying on her installment agreement based on a statement from her Chiropractor. Per the terms of the agreement, permanent disabilities are grounds for a termination of the contract balance. The documentation submitted did not indicate a permanent disability therefore a cancelation was not granted. Unfortunately Mrs. Romero stopped making payments prior to resolution of this issue, as a result late charges were assessed and payments were not in synch with the statement cycle from ASF.
#2, in February, unrelated to the disability, Mrs. Romero contacted ASF to notify of a move of more then 25 miles. From a contractual standpoint, providing proof of move to ASF should have met the conditions for the contract termination.
As of the time that this dispute was brought to our attention, ASF had not canceled out Mrs. Romero's account because of a dispute about the past due balance.
While our investigation is not complete it is clear that the correct documentation was provided and the final payment was received (but not cashed) by ASF on February 9th, 2011. We have directed ASF to waive the amount in question (which was the March 10 payment and a past due amount of $6 for a total of $42). Yesterday, March 8th the 123 Fit directed ASF to adjust the balance and cancel out both Mr. and Mrs. Romero's account.
As mentioned, there is an investigation that is ongoing on the specifics around the situation with the Romero's. ASF records all of the calls to its customer service and both ASF and 123 Fit will review those calls to determine the correct coaching required to improve the customer delivered from the customer service team at ASF.
While we cannot specifically conclude the dates and incidents of errors with ASF, we always regret when our clients needs are not met.
123 Fit offers our clients an "injury hold" that allows clients to suspend membership privileges during temporary disabilities or extended illness. While this is not something that Mrs. Romero pursued, it was an option that was available to her as a result of her injury. 123 Fit, as a courtesy, is going to refund the 2 months of payments to accommodate for the injury hold that she was eligible for. Additionally, at the conclusion of the investigation, we will ask ASF to waive one month of late fees. This will result in an adjustment of $99 that will be sent to the account address on file.
We thank you again for helping the club and the client resolve this issue. We feel this issue could have been resolved much sooner if the client would have brought the dispute to the attention of the club, instead of Call Kurtis, yet we are pleased to have a remedy to the situation.
Lastly, while we have not made any final decisions about ASF International, the review of the Romero situation will allow us to do a complete examination of their practices and customer service. Customer services, and the wellness of our clients, are the cornerstones of our existence. We need to make sure that our partners and vendors are capable of living up to our way of doing business.
In Good Health,
Matthew Weaver
123 Fit Sacramento
