FTC Takes Legal Action Against LA Fitness Operators Over Challenging Gym Cancellation Practices

The Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. is taking legal action against the operators of LA Fitness, accusing them of making it “exceedingly difficult” for consumers to cancel gym memberships and other services they provide across the nation.

The FTC, in a complaint filed on Wednesday, accused Fitness International and its subsidiary Fitness & Sports Clubs of unlawfully imposing “hundreds of millions of dollars in unwanted recurring fees” due to complex cancellation procedures. The agency mentioned that tens of thousands have reported facing issues with these policies thus far.

“The FTC’s complaint describes a scenario that many Americans have endured – a gym membership that seems impossible to cancel,” remarked Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement.

Beyond LA Fitness, Fitness International, based in California, manages other brands such as Esporta Fitness, City Sports Club, and Club Studio, which collectively cover over 600 locations with more than 3.7 million members nationwide. The FTC highlighted two “unfair and unlawful” cancellation processes that these gyms have allegedly utilized for years: in-person cancellation or cancellation by mail.

Both methods require members to print a form from the gym’s website, necessitating a login with credentials that, according to the agency, some members don’t have or can’t recall. For those choosing in-person cancellation, there are limited hours and often challenges in finding a manager to handle the forms, while mailing the form incurs additional costs, as noted in the complaint.

“Each of these cancellation methods is opaque, complicated, and demanding – far from simple,” the FTC stated in the complaint. The complaint also claims the company fails to properly disclose cancellation options when memberships are initiated, and that consumers may be unknowingly enrolled in services with recurring fees without understanding there might be various cancellation prerequisites.

According to the FTC, Fitness International now offers website cancellations for subscriptions “with stand-alone agreements” – but the agency said the process “still imposes unnecessary burdens” on customers and claims that that option is buried online. It’s also still not possible to cancel memberships on the company’s mobile apps, the FTC added.

Fitness International did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment on Wednesday.

This isn’t the first time that federal regulators have accused gym operators – and other companies with subscription services – of making their cancellation processes too difficult for consumers.

Under the Biden administration, the FTC adopted a “click to cancel” rule, which would have made it easier for consumers to end unwanted subscriptions. But last month, days before that rule was poised to go into effect, a federal appeals court blocked the proposed changes.

In its litigation against Fitness International, the FTC says it’s seeking a court order prohibiting the allegedly unfair conduct and money back for consumers who were harmed by difficult cancellation processes.