Gold's Gym - Cranford, NJ
Written: Feb 22 '03 (Updated May 03 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: None
Cons: WARNING!!! DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER THIS GYM!!! FRAUDULENT BUSINESS PRACTICES!!!
The Bottom Line: Can you say "BREACH OF CONTRACT"? or "FRAUD"? I can't say it enough. Avoid this gym at all costs. I would give this gym zero stars if it were possible.
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| robotnut's Full Review: Gold's Gym |
IMPORTANT UPDATE!!! DO NOT CONSIDER JOINING THIS GYM. AFTER YOU SIGN A CONTRACT WITH THEM, THEY WILL CHANGE THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF YOUR CONTRACT WITHOUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE OR APPROVAL.
I had been a member of this gym for 2 years. A few months before my membership was about to expire, I get a phone call at home from "Erin" who reminded me that my membership was almost over but if I renew early, they have a special deal. She said I could get a 27 month restricted membership for $223. The restrictions were that I can't go on Mondays and Wednesdays. I thought it was a good deal so I told her to go ahead and sign me up for it. She told me the contract would be ready for me to sign in a couple of days. So a couple of days later I go to the front desk and ask for the contract to sign. I looked it over carefully to make sure all the terms were stated on the contract the way Erin described over the phone, which they were. So I signed the contract. Seems simple enough. You'd think that would be the end of that, right? I mean what could go wrong?
A month later, when I got my credit card statement, I noticed that an extra $200 was charged. I asked the girl at the front desk if she could explain it but she told me she couldn't help me, I would have to call in and ask to speak to Lisa or Theresa. So I call up the next day and I guess Lisa was unavailable so I ended up getting Theresa. Theresa explained that the person who initially offered me the restricted membership was not authorized to do so since they are no longer offering restricted memberships. She told me the extra $200 was to upgrade me to an unrestricted membership. She also said that someone was supposed to have called me to let me know, but I told her no one called me about it. I didn't like that they charged me an extra $200 without my approval, but I verbally agreed to it given the stipulation that my membership was now unrestricted. That should be that then, right? Wrong, it gets worse...
As soon as my new membership kicked in, I went to the gym thinking I had an unrestricted membership. And for the next 9 months I would go in on Mondays and Wednesdays and any other day whenever I felt like it, and no one ever said anything. But then one fateful Monday, I go in and give the lady at the front desk my membership #. I then proceed to start working out when they call me back to the front desk. And one of the co-owners of the gym, Dennis, tells me that I'm not supposed to be there and that he can't let me work out because I have a restricted membership. (Apparently, Theresa "forgot" to change my membership to unrestricted.) I tried to explain to the guy what had happened and how I was charged an extra $200 to upgrade to unrestricted membership but he says he doesn't know anything about that, he's just going by what's on my contract.
I then ask him to pull the copy of my contract out which he does and shows it to me. Practically all the terms of the contract that I originally signed was crossed out and changed (is this legal? I think not!). The $223 which was supposed to be the full total cost was changed to be only the 1st payment and an extra $200 was written in as the 2nd payment. Furthermore, they crossed out my 27 months and reduced it to 24 months. The guy points all these things out to me and says, "See? You signed it." (By the way, my laminated membership card clearly shows that my membership is good for 27 months.)
So then I said, "That's not what I signed. Somebody made all those changes after I signed it. I have the carbon copy of the contract and none of those changes are on my copy." I then asked him if Theresa still worked there and he says, "No, but you can try to find her if you want. I don't know where she is."
Basically, he was unwilling to even consider anything I had to say. All he would say was, "You can call your lawyer if you want, but this is what I have, so this is what I have to go by." And with that, he walked away and just left me standing there.
Trust me, this is one gym to avoid. If someone had told me something like this before I joined, I definitely would have avoided it. But you don't have to take my word for it. Look up this gym at the Better Business Bureau's website http://www.bbb.org. You'll see for yourself that there have been other complaints and THIS GYM WAS GIVEN AN UNSATISFACTORY RATING BY THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU.
P.S.: I had previously recommended this gym. But under the current circumstances, I have no choice but to change my rating. I sincerely apologize to anyone who may have joined this gym based on my previous recommendation. Please note that Gold's Gym is a franchise and each location is individually owned and operated. This review applies only to Gold's Gym in Cranford, NJ.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
robotnut
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Location: NJ
Reviews written: 30
Trusted by: 3 members
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