Future Fitness a/k/a Planet Fitness

3 Hovanian Blvd.

Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054

Type of Business: Health club

Issues: Sales Practices, contract issues, overcrowdiing of gym, unfair pricing

I totally sympathize with the woman who said she was pressured to join Future Fitness. I joined in 2004 and was told that I was getting an employee discount (not) and that if I left the gym without signing on, I risked not being accepted as a member as they had a cap on memberships (what a joke). They also said they didn't just take anybody (another joke).

Naturally, the contract I signed was totally one sided and unfair to the consumer. Here are some salient points:

1) no term was listed. This conveniently gets around the "3 year rule" for health club memberships in NJ. Therefore I was on the hook for the terms of the contract no matter how many years I would be there.

2) I had to give them 90 days' notice (let them steal from my bank account three months after I told them I wanted to quit) in order to cancel the contract. Again, who does that benefit?

3) I paid a ridiculous joining fee of $359 - non renewable. So ridiculous, they reduced that fee to $59 within 18 months of my joining, to all the new members. The manager has the nerve to say this is fair because the new members are paying $2 more a month than I am.

I think he needs to go back to school and take some more math classes.

4) Thanks in part to all these cheaper memberships, they signed on far more people than they can handle, and guess what? Damn...they all showed up. Therefore, don't expect convenient parking at rush times, lockers, or those promised visits to the nurse.

I recently had to wait two weeks to see the nurse for 15 minutes - this situation was not what was promised when I joined.

I filed a BBB complaint and they "answered" by skirting every point I brought up in my letter. The management at that place are rude and nasty, but are also first class street fighters. They will say or do anything to get their way with you. If you must join Future Fitness, know what you are getting into. Better yet, buy home exercise equipment and forget them.

Sincerely,

Julia Chase

Cherry Hill, NJ

(If you need my real name I will disclose it - but please do not print it. I don't want to have this come up on a Google search 20 years from now).