Complaint Submission - Lady of America is a scam

Complaint Submission - Lady of America is a scam

September 29, 2005

Lady of America

2354 N Federal Hwy

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33305 The Lady of America all-women gym located in Fort Lauderdale uses fraudulent advertising and pushy tactics to bind women into 3 year, iron-clad contracts on automatic bill-pay with auto renewal memberships. LOA Corporate will not support or assist in anyway. The gym is not worth a day of your money. Never having joined a gym before, I was fed a false agreement to do a month trial which was pre-paid by debit only to find I had been bound into a 3-year contract with auto renewal. Only visiting the LOA gym to "have a look", A trainer offered me a "deal" for a month trial with no obligation to further membership. I signed a contract which at the time and in my presence only illustrated the month payment. I was handed my receipt separately and the contract in an envelope

while encouraged to rush home to change for a Pilates class which was about to start. The woman that "signed me up" left the company after about a week 1/2 of my attendance. No one knew why. I attended the gym for the month and felt that the facilities were poor. The gym was a one room activity center with machines on top of class areas which was terrible for noise issues. Several of the machines were frequently out of service. The "trainers" doubled as reps bringing in new members. I had decided to try the month trial due to their low rates and the simple desire to attempt a regular fitness schedule; however, I was not completely sold on continuing with a membership. As the second month began, I had not notified anyone at the gym that I wished to start a contract, nor did I attend past the time I paid for. One week into this period, I noticed that LOA took a fee out of my account automatically. I called the gym to complain. I spoke with a trainer and explained my agreement and that I did not authorize anyone to remove funds from my account. The trainer said that if I decided to stay with the gym, I could come in on the 20th of each month and pay my fee in person. I agreed, pending on the membership decision which I had not made. Unfortunately, at this point I should have realized what was going on, but due to not being part of a gym before and a busy schedule, I did not think of the issue only assuming it was an error on the company's part. I did not attend the gym again. The next month began and LOA took another fee out of my account. This was the red flag for me and furious, I immediately contacted the gym. I was told the manager would contact me the next day. This did not occur. I called the gym a second time and got the

manager on the phone in which once my complaint was heard, an argument began which felt more like an attack. I was told to read my contract, contact Membership Services or a lawyer. I pulled the contract which I had not examined since the first day at the gym. The woman who had signed me up wrote in a 36 month commitment (with auto renewal which is a tiny box) AFTER I HAD SIGNED. I attempted to contact LOA's Membership Services which only resulted in speaking with mechanical, unreasonable drones who refused any names or the right to speak to a supervisor or chief officer. I was told there was nothing they could do, I signed the contract, I was bound to it. I was told if I cancelled my debit card they would send me to collections. My last attempt to speak to someone with reason was their "Consumer Contracts Policies" individual in another state. The woman, Barbara Dunn, asked me to fax her my contract. I did so and was then told that I was lazy for not have read the document in full before signing. She stated there was nothing she could do, that I was bound to it as she was. I did not buy this. I explained to Ms. Dunn that I did not agree to what was written on the contract and most importantly, what was written was not there when I signed. She told me to prove it. I asked her how as the gym will not communicate with me, Membership Services is like speaking to a wall and the woman who signed me up is gone. Barbara Dunn said that she would contact the gym and speak to the owner and try to work out a way out of the contract by having me pay a percentage. She stated she would call me back. Ms. Dunn did not

call. I phoned her again and she stated that she had spoken with the manager who was the owner's wife and that she would have the owner contact me and this was all she could do for me in her position. No one from the gym has contacted me at all since this conversation. As it stands and after much research, I have realized what a scam gyms can be. Unfortunately, I have experienced this first hand now and understand the point of the frightening contracts these massive corporations have their lawyers draw up. I have been mislead and scammed into something I did not or

would have ever agreed to. I am presently investigating my consumer rights. I have found numerous complaints about Lady of America from all over the United States which reflect very similar practices of binding women into contracts under false pretenses. These fraudulent practices also branch over into their franchise

agreements. Beware! Lady of America presents itself as a wellness center and is only out for financial gain! Any individuals who believe they have been scammed by LOA, have filed a lawsuit, or can offer substantial legal advice, please contact me:

Thank you. Click this link to e-mail the message author: Email User

Comment On This

wow the same thing happened to my fiance she only wanted to transfer to another gym with only two month more of contract and instead "she signed" a year contract and on top of that she had paid $25 to do the paper work wow we got to do something about this and this happened the la located, the old contract was ti 08/15/2010 that was for 3years and the other contract this criminals made her sign the transfer false agreement to do on 6/1/2010 so she paid for her last contract and those two months that the new contract has she has to may again because they are saying now that she owes that money if not they will send her to collection. so maybe we need to contact help me howard channel 7 and warn others about this we will back you up

15140 Sunset Drive

Miami, FL 33193-3228

(305) 387-5550

Comment On This

I am a member and really never go. To top things off my original location where I filled out this contract for 3-years, closed and reopened elsewhere. I since then have been trying to cancel my membership and no customer service # and no returned calls. But I will make sure that even if I don't get my money back for a new location they decided, not myself. The word is out on the street about the scam Lady of America is all about. Unprofessional and ethical to force members to relocate because they wanted to relocate. Ahhhhh. Never again will I ever open an account with them, even if it's free for 3-years. It's more than $ at this point.

Comment On This

Unfortunately, they can get away with it because "WE" allow them to fool us with their charm and believe every word they tell us. I was able to get out of this contract because I relocated and as per the stupid contract if you move and there is no facility within 25 miles you can send them a copy of your new driver license stating your new address and a copy of a utility bill or a copy of a bank statement showing your new home address. It took me 4 months to get out because they were giving me all types of excuses not to let me out. In fact, I even stopped paying for two months and than I ended up paying $40.00 each month I didn't pay as a penalty charge! Ridiculous!!! And finally, last month they decided to take pitty on me and told me I had to pay the $200.00 cancellation penalty fee and than my contract would be cancelled. And so I did just that. I learned a very valuable lesson out of all this mess and that is: NEVER sign anything without reading the fine print!

In addition, I stay as far away as possible from any lady of america facility! Lol... I have told and warned all of my family and friends about "LOA".

Lastly, I hope someone would stand up and shut them down but that will never happen because they have it all down packed & it's true their contract says it all so once you sign you're screwed. Literally! Signing a contract with LOA is like selling your soul to the devil! Lol... and to make matters worse ALL of their equipment is pre-historic and most of it doesn't even work, they never clean their exercising equipment and their aerobic & weight training

classes are basically a "step-class". There's no weights in weight training! Lol... I remember rushing to take their weight training class and when I got there it was simply a step class! What do you know! Go figure! This only happens in LOA gyms tho'.

Comment On This

I have been soooo scanned by Lady of America! ANd I am furious at the fact that they can actually get away with this! I am doing all the research I can to find a way out.

Comment On This

I too was lied to and misled! I was told I would be signing a month to month contract and that I could cancel or freeze my account with them when ever I wanted to. Well turns out I moved more than 20 miles away from the gym and when I tried to cancel they told me I had signed a 36 yr contract! They asked me to send proof of address by providing them with a copy of my driver's license and a utility bill or bank statement stating my new address. I couldn't believe my ears! I have never in my life felt so stupid! I made the mistake of trusting the reprensentative at the Miami Lakes Lady of america and now I am stuck with an unwanted contract. And since I cancelled my credit card where they were automatically deducting the payments, I am now being harrrased by a collection agency who threatens to take me to court and garnish their fees from my bank account. Can they acually get away with this? This is not right! There has to be some type of law to protect us. HElPPPP!!!!!

Comment On This

I walked in to the 152 street and 137 ave in Miami, Fl the sales agent that I spoke with did not speak English well. I speak spanish but not as well as she did. I believe I went the total of 5 times to the gym. I was not happy at all with gym. Then I find out I am pregnant and at high risk therefore goin got the gym is not a option. I want to cancel my membership and I get a call from a collection agency pretending to be an attorney's office. We argue back and forth about the collection and then he tells me that he wants to serve me with papers along with my boyfriendm, which has nothing to do with the contract. The sales rep had asked me for an emergency contact and I named him. On her own she decided to put on the contract, that he was my husband. I am not married to him, he was not present and he did not sign. Now, the sales rep painted a pretty picture with the down payment and monthly payment on a seperate piece of paper showing me a "slash" in price, but what was not mentioned when she transfer it to the contract was the 36 months. I know for a fact I would of never signed it for that long. I do not know what to do, however with the research I have done it seem like LOA is notorious for scamming consumers. HELP what can I do.

Comment On This

Lady of America is a big scam!!

I was led to believe I was signing a month-to-month contract in LOA Los Paseos, Puerto Rico. When I tried cancelling my membership I was referred to a collection agency and had to pay over $1,000 to save my credit.

Comment On This

To give you an update on my situation..I went back to the gym to speak to a manager about the 5 months not being debited from my account and the manager said that they would waive the late charges (I was billed for the 5 months that LOA did not debit my card) and I would just pay the past due amount and my account would be clear. Which I did and he said that he updated all of my information in the system and not to worry. 2 months later I see that they have not debited my account AGAIN and so I am referred to the collections agency AGAIN and they tell me that the manager did not have any authorization to correct my account and that I still owe the late charges and the money I paid was not applied to my account but instead just the late charges and that I am still accruing fees from late charges for the 5 months that they did not debit my card. Now they want me to pay the rest of my contract in order to settle the dispute and will not admit to their mistake or do anything to rectify it and are threatening to ruin my credit if I do not pay the amount in full.

There has to be some sort of consumer law that has been violated so that a class action suit can be filed!

Comment On This

I am having the same issue with LOA. I was set up on a direct pay system and when I went through a name change I went to my gym and gave them the new info with the new card and they told me everything was set up for direct pay again and that I did not need to worry. 5 months later I receive a letter in th email from a collection agency for LOA. I checked my bank statement and they never debited my account. I've been going to the gym every week for the last 5 months and NO ONE told me my account was past due. I never received a letter, nothing. I spoke to the collection agency because LOA corporate would not discuss anything with me saying it was against the law for two collections agency to work the same account and that they can speak to me after I talk to the collection agency. When I spoke to the agency they are saying LOA sent me 5 letters and I never received one of them and they show I am in a 3 year contract when the one I signed was for 1 year and I have completed that obligation. There has to be some sort of way to stop this scam.

Comment On This

LADY OF AMERICA IS BIG SCAM!! SOME ONE SHOULD REALLY HELP US I AM SUFFERING THE SAME WAY YOU DID..THERE IS NO ONE TO HELP..THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPT IS LIKE TALKING TO A WALL...IF THERE IS ANY ONE WHO CAN HELP PLEASE LET ME KNOW..

FRAUDULENT BUSINESS PRACTICE..