I Signed up for a membership at Mademoiselle Fitness and Day Spa with my sister in November of 2006. I used my membership regularly and at first, really enjoyed going to the facility. Not long after my sister and I joined, My sister was approached by a personal trainer and was pretty much belittled and forced into agreeing to a contract, not only by the trainer, but by the manager of the gym as well. She did attend all of her training sessions and was still charged each time on her credit card. She had only signed up for 10 sessions and soon found out when she checked her Credit Card statements that she had been billed for more than 10 sessions. She contacted Corporate Office, and has not received a reimbursment for the money as of yet.
This happened around March of 2007, which is when I decided to stop going to this facility. My membership was still active until November of 2007, so when I returned to St. Catharines in September to attend Brock University for my final year, I decided to go into the gym and let them know I would not be renewing my membership. I spoke to one of the receptionists and explained I would not be returning after November, when my contract expired. She said that was fine, and said nothing more. I was not contacted by the gym at all and figured there was no problem, my contract was done.
It wasn't until December 2007 when I received my credit card statement that I realized they had been charging me bi-monthly after my contract was supposedly up. I was charged $15.37 twice for the month of december. I quickly called up my facility and spoke to the manager who told me that none of their contracts only one year in length and I was supposed to give them a 30 day notice and sign some cancellation papers in order to complete the termination process. If this was their policy, then why didn't the receptionist let me know about the procedure? As far as i was concerned I did not have to worry about anything, my membership would just end. I have been a member of numerous gyms throughout the region, and none of these facilities have required me to give a 30 day notice to cancel my membership.
Furthermore, I had paid for my membership in FULL when i signed up in 2006. They did have access to my credit card, and took full advantage of it when my membership "ended' in November 2007. I also decided to take it upon myself to do some research. I went to the mademoiselle website and found a page that listed frequently asked questions. Here's what I found:
Am I obligated to a long-term contract when I join a Premier Fitness or Mademoiselle club?
The longest membership we offer is for one year. There are shorter term plans, depending on what suits your needs. However, Premier and Mademoiselle are very flexible in customising a membership to each persons needs.
I thought it was kind of ironic seeing as the manager had told me that no membership they offer is shorter than one year... Clearly they don't know all of their facts. I contacted Corporate Office and left two voicemail messages expressing my concerns. I have yet to hear back from them as well. I am still going to fight this, Mademoiselle Fitness are a bunch of scammers and I will not give them one cent of their money, even if it is only $30.00. They have numerous law suits against them, there has to be a reason why there are so many disgruntled people. I wanted to write this report to warn all others who are considering joining this gym. Read your contract carefully, and don't let them walk all over you, because they are all very good at manipulation.
Lyndz
Fort Erie, Ontario
Canada
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