Premier Fitness review: being robbed 15

I read an article a few years a go that the Premier chain went broke because they basically were borrowing money to pay for equipment that they literally could not afford to pay for. I was hoping that they went broke because they operated terrible facilities and had a general lack of respect for clientèle as can be witnessed by looking at the previous comments. However I am surprised that John Cordello was the owner of the Regency (took over for Premier at Dixie Road and Dundas) because I agree with Smashed, I would stay away. Premier used improper merchant practices and furthermore used intimidation tactics on people who did not, in their mind, cancel their contracts properly. So, stay away from Regecy Fitness too, because if it has the same owner as Premier (on Dixie) than I would not trust it to operate properly at all.

I know this is an old saga and last comment was made in 2011. But I assure you, that this Premier Fitness chain still out there, trying to continue its dirty business under the name REGENCY FITNESS. I can tell you one thing, being a member of Premier fitness and working ones for John Cordello, I strongly advise all of you who will ever read my post DO NOT sign up for the Regency fitness as it branched out from Premier fitness. I went there 2 years ago when it just opened up, 20011 I think, and I asked one question when they wanted to give me a tour around the gym:" Who the owner of this gym?" I got the answer John Cordello, Premiere Fitness.
Guys, do your research, if you care about your money before you will give it to businesses you don't know. Just bc it looks all good and new, doesn't mean it will continue to look so. gain, do your research, see who owns the club and go from there.
Good luck.

My saga started about 3 years ago when I bought my son a one year membership for Christmas which I paid in full. A few months into the membership at the Kennedy and Ellesmere location, he stopped going so I had the membership transferred to me. They also extended the membership for 3 months. I eventually changed gyms and cancelled the membership altogether, in person and well in advance of the renewal date. I met with the gym manager to cancel the membership and received a copy of the document confirming cancellation. About six months later, I got a call from one of their bookkeepers to say I owned them money (3 months of installments). I disagreed and we had a heated argument on the phone. I finally got went into the gym, in person, unannounced, and met with the manager on duty. I demanded the he complete a second cancellation and got a copy of that document as well. This past Friday (June 2011), I once again got a call from their pathetic accounting staff claiming that I now owe them $18 dollars and if I didn't pay up, they would give it to collections. I asked her to send me a reconciliation of my account (she probably does even know what that means) and she basically told me that I had to prove that I didn't owe them money. I told her, actually it is the other way around. She needs to prove to me that I owe them money. To make a long story short, she told me to call their customer service line. The lady there was actually quite reasonable. And she said, that I don't owe any money. I then called the gym back and their bookkeeper hung up on me. I then phoned the gym manager, and chewed his ear off. The manager wanted me to come in with my papers - AGAIN. That would have been the third time I have been to the gym for the same thing. It is absolutely ridiculous. This is now pure harassment. It's not about the money, it's the principal of the matter. They may have a lot of people who don't pay their memberships, but I'm not one of them. They need to fork out some money to upgrade their accounting system and hire qualified staff to manage their accounts. The only way I would join that gym again is by paying cash and using a fictious name and address. They can't be trusted. If you do join them, keep all your receipts and make sure to cancel your membership in advance. Don't forget to get a signed copy of the cancellation notice back from the club manager. Good luck.

Please let me know what happened as well. I have the exact same problem, about 3 years ago joined prepaid on MasterCard for 1 full year. None of the equipment ever worked it was constantly broken so went in and cancelled. Now their collection agency is sending me letters saying I owe $900 for some reason and when I call Premier they say I have to speak to specific people who NEVER return my calls, or after a few weeks I call and am told they aren't with the company anymore. Now they won't help me as they say I have to deal with the collections agency so I plan on suing Premier over this as it's complete fraud.

I too am dealing with an issue with this company. They want me to pay $337.87 for a membership I never even had! I also received a letter stating they will send 'my account' to collections. My only mistake was emailing an employee who was offering our company a deal on a one year membership...it appears he went ahead and created a membership for me despite having any billing information, etc. I have been in contact with the manager of that gym who told me to not worry about it because there is no signed contract. She said that she put a note on my file to have the 'account' closed and that head office will send a letter in writing stating that my name has been removed from a non-exsistent account.

I would like to know the outcome of your letter also.

Patrick, was was the outcome of your letter? I am ffacing the same situation right now, and they have sent me to this collection agency, and have actally STOLE $1500 + from me for Personal Training and IPN, that was never delivered or offered to me even after countless attempts to get it. Would like to know if they helped you, or did you end up having to pay for something you never received?

I just became apparently another statistic. How is this allowed to keep happening. There business practices are criminal. Its like the mafia in gym shorts

The caution here is stay away everyone! This is not a good company to deal with (especially this particular location!)

Here is my letter to Premier Fitness Club:

Premier Fitness Clubs
5100 Dixie Rd, Mississauga
L4W 1C9

Dear Executive Vice President:

On March 23, 2011, I received a Final Notice dated March 11, 2011 from your company claiming that I owe your company $264. The Notice did not explain why and how I owe that amount of money.

As far as I can recall, around two and half years ago I signed one year service agreement with one of your clubs located at 3100 Dixie Rd, Mississauga and I fully paid the one year service charge on the spot. After one year I never sign or authorize to sign any service agreement with any of your clubs. I have not been to any of your clubs in the past one and half year.

When I called the number left on the Notice on March 23, 2011, I was told by the lady on the phone named Ashley that the case has been sent to a collection agency and I have to deal with them. She did not explain anything to me. I went to your head office locate
d at 5100 Dixie Rd, Mississauga on March 24, 2011 inquiring about the Notice and I was told that there is nothing to explain to me, I have to deal with the collection agency.
Here are the problems about your company:

1. The Final Notice is the only notice I received.
2. The case was sent to the collection agency before I received the notice.
3. No one wanted to explain or prove why I owe the money.
4. Intimidation tactic was used repeatedly in order to force me to pay the money
5. Poor customer service with regard to resolving the issue.
6. Never being informed about the Auto Renew clause in the contract.
7. Never being reminded of the renewal option after the one year membership expired.

I sincerely hope that you can stop the phone harassment from the collection agency, apologize for the mistake, withdraw the $264 claim which does not bear the merit, and cancel my membership contract if there is one.

I look forward to your immediate reply. You can contact me at my home telephone number at xxx-xxx-xxx

Just make sure that you keep your notice and the receipt of cancellation because that will be your saviour if they try to harrass you. It seems like my situation is finally settled because I have not heard from their lawyer in two weeks and she was calling frequently. Good luck to yu!

I just gave my notice and have a copy of the form. I gave at least 2 months notice. They don't have any of my account info. The membership was a gift from my mom who used her credit card and has since cancelled it. Wonder whats going to happen!

My wife and I had a membership at Premier (Dixie location), this location had rusty and sometimes damadged equiptment. We were promised the new and nice location down the road would open in about a month or two. In fact it was over half a year! Finally we went to the new location and were also dissapointed. The staff was very poor and walked around talking on cell phones instead of helping people. We also noticed that any maintenance issues that arose with equiptment were not dealt with. Needless to say we were dissapointed and when the year for our contract came up for renewal we cancelled. We never thought about it again and thankfully we had paid the entire year on my wife's credit card. She ended up cancelling the card and received a new one. And one year later Premier asked us about our account! It took them a year to discover they could not bill us any money!? So we said we cancelled it. They said they would get back to us...6 months later another call same thing. This went on for almost a year and a half. This included phone messages which we would call back and reiterate our comment. Then we get a call this summer saying they have brought it to a lawyer! This was a complete shock to us. They said we owed them around 1200! I am glad that I saw another person's e-mail that dealt with the same situation. I know they do not have a leg to stand on now.

Stay away from Premier Fitness! I joined another gym after and they were professional, had great facilities and were honest and fair in their customer service.

This company is terrible! I would tell anyone I know to avoid it like the plague!

Styles

The complaints sound just about spot on accurate. Years ago I was a member of Premier paying about $30/month. I ended my membership after a year. But Premier attempted twice to debit my account for $78 each time, and the only thing that saved me was a bank manager that spotted the illegal EFT attempt and stopped it both times. Premier still has me on their system as being $156 in arrears. Go figure.

i have the problem with them too.. the lady in the dixie office of premier fitness said the contract is for one year and unless i renew it, the same will not be renewed. However, it was renewed and amount got debited. I approached the office to cancel it immediately they said to retain it and if i decide to cancel it they will refund the full funds. The membership went on hold for 3 months, again the amount started getting debited from april i visited the office again and cancelled it the person said the full refund will be made.. that did not happed and the amount got debited again. I called the office no response. I have written e-mail to Yasmeen Mian and after listing to the conversation she said scan the cancellation form and she will refund the amount. After scanning the form, she says as there is a 30-day period no refund will be made... All sterio type answers and the response is just vague. I advice one and everyone never to take membership form premier fitness.

I have similar complaints about this place as everyone else here. When I signed up, they made me pay two weeks in advance. Similar to last months rent. When I cancelled my membership after the one year, I was supposed to have the last two weeks free, right? HA! First of all, I spoke to Janet over the phone to cancel and she said everything was fine and done. TWO MONTHS LATER, I was still being charged. So I call to speak to Janet, and she does not return my phone calls for WEEKS. Finally I call, and almost get a little nasty, and I get to speak to Janet. She admits that she remembers speaking to me, and said she did her part by submitting a cancellation request to head office on my behalf. She says she will investgiate and call me back. It has been a month and a half, and I have still not heard from her. Good news is, the billing stopped. But, I had to cancel my credit card. I called her today and of course she is unavailable, but will call me back. Yea right. Not holding my breath.

Moral of the story, make sure you read all contracts/fine print. No matter how long it takes.