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GoodLife Fitness

GoodLife Fitness review: unauthorized withdrawl from my bank account 18

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1:42 pm EDT
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I was told by Goodlife Fitness that I could get a trial membership for 5$. So I signed up for the trial membership, went twice, and did not go back. I thought that was it, I did not want a full membership. BUT three months later I noticed that goodlife fitness had withdrew twenty six dollars and some change out of my bank account. At no time did I ever give them permission to go near my bank account, and thought I was just signing up for a trial. When I confronted the manager I was told that I was in their system now so there was nothing he nor I could do about it except for me to buy my way out. The fee for cancelling the membership I didn't even know I signed up for was $99. I don't even know how they got all my banking information to do the automatic withdraw except that I paid for the trial with my bank card!

Goodlife Fitness is crooked and I wish i had never stepped foot in thier gym!

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Russell
Nov 19, 2008 12:59 pm EST

I too am experiencing unauthorized withdrawals from my bank account. My wife and I signed up through a corporate account and paid in full by check through the company we work with. Starting last month I had a withdrawal of $47 and $52 come out of my account from Goodlife. I asked the manager to rectify this and received an apology and a check for the $47 in the mail. I assumed the other $52 would be arriving soon after and called to find out it could be between 4 to 6 weeks... Yesterday, I checked my bank account to find out that they withdrew ANOTHER $52. Completely disgusted I called the manager again and was told she thought they fixed the problem... obviously not, I told my bank to put a stop payment on anything Goodlife costing me another $12.

This is an unacceptable practice and will be shopping around for another gym once this year is done.

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ericagabriel
Kanata, CA
Mar 11, 2009 1:54 pm EDT

Be careful when you put the stop payment on. They will charge you 25$ for that even if they were withdrawing unauthorized money. I hope the company crashes so no one else has to get ripped off by them.

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sakate
st. John's, CA
Sep 08, 2009 10:43 pm EDT

Goodlife fitness screwed me over as well. I signed up in Markham, Ontario and made it very clear that I could only sign up for 4 months as i would be leaving the city after that time. I wanted to know if this was not possible, i would take my business elsewhere. The Rep somehow persuaded me that it was okay, and that I was to see him when I wanted to cancel ( because he was not aloud to sign up anyone without a year contract). He also promised me 7 - one hour long personal training sessions ( there were 6 sessions in the package and he said hed throw in an extra), also said hed give me a tour of the facility that day. I signed up thinking that I was getting a good deal, i should have realized I was wrong when I left the gym without a tour as promised. I returned to schedule my training sessions and they were now 6 - half hour long sessions. He said he could not remeber giving me the 7th, and that they were now half hour sessions. I bit my lip, and continued to use the gym for 4 months until it came time to cancel. Because I had to wait for that particular rep to be working, I had to frquently waste time to pop in and see if he was on between my busy schedule. Eventually, I caught him on my lunch break from work and told him that I will be leaving in 2 weeks, and all of my payments should be complete (the most recent covering that week and the next week was covered by my 1st and last payment when i signed up). He stuttered and said, "oh wait, umm this is a middle of pay weeks so how bout u come back monday and cancel then", I was confused but came back monday, he wasnt there, tuesday, he wasnt there, i caught him that wednesday to cancel. - that week the payment came out early (monday) because it was a long weekend, this added a whole other un-needed week to my bill. The rep seemed confused again, as if he forgot why i was there. I had to remind him what he had told me the previous week about my payments and how my last payment was already paid, withdrawn 2 days earlier now. He said its not in his system, so he made me wait in line at the bank for 1 hour during my 30 minute lunch break to get an invoice of the transaction and prove it. We signed a contract canceling my membership stating my last payment was that monday, which was already paid. When I checked my bank account a few months later, specifically to confirm that no more goodlife payments were being withdrawn, I found that Goodlife continued taking payments out for a few weeks after that date. I contacted head office as I was not given a copy of my cancellation form, and they told me that the last payment matched the cancellation form that I had signed. I did not believe this at all and requested a copy of the form. The form was the same, but the dated were clearrrrrly overwritten, it was so obvious. The letters were darker, and you could see the original dates below. This had been changed after I had signed it, and not brought to my attention, I was disgusted by the responses at head office - they kept telling me that that was what I had signed and to prove it. Completely lost my business for life. DO NOT SIGN UP AT THIS GYM - THE ONLY WANT COMMISION DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE BS THEY FEED YOU ON YOUR FIRST DAY. Giving them your banking info is like giving a bum your credit card.

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understood
Ottawa, CA
Sep 09, 2009 12:43 am EDT

My concern would be with my bank more so than GoodLife (which is notoriously crooked). You should definitely contact your bank and complain.

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jdlawrence
London, CA
Nov 16, 2009 11:36 am EST

Here's one for youe. I tore the patella tendon, LCL and MCL in my knee June 7 2008, after surgery I put my membership on hold. I saw someone during the week of june 15 – 21; hold should have been in place until Dec. 15 (at least). The following month I noticed they were still taking payments out of my account. After making 2 more trips, to clear the situation they finally put it on hold but did not issue a refund. My girl friend saw someone in Dec. to extend hold so it should have been in place till June (at least). I again noticed that at that time they kept billing me. After again makin a trip (the 4th about this same issue including my girl friends) it was again place on hold but again no refund, plus this time they also accured an count billing me for the time they couldn't charge me for over $250. They did wavie that but really thats not the point, I shouldn't have been charged anyway. So on to July, same issue but this time is better I again accured at $250 account with them, plus no refund from the previous issues. Remember I tore my patella, LCL and MCL year minimum recovery. The way they decided to deal with my$336.95 refund was subtract the amount accured, not refund the $80 they cost me for July and give me 5 months free (which if your doing the math I had already paid for.
So to sum it up.
Refund for membership and bank fees expected for period between June 15 through Dec. 31
Any bank fees from Dec. through to June.
7 visits, in person to Goodlife clubs.
7 phone calls
countless explanations about issue
3 doctors notes
1 bank charge for banking records
$336.95 never refunded

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Jen Nichols
Calgary, CA
Nov 19, 2009 2:42 pm EST

I signed up at goodlife fitness, my membership term expired and I stayed on. In June 2009 I called to cancel my membership the manager at Deerfoot Meadows did tell me no problem your membership is canceled.
A few months later looking at my bank statement I realized I was still paying for the membership. I called back to cancel again the lady said in September it was canceled.
I decided to put a stop payment on my bank account just incase. Today I received a bill for $95.89 for an outstanding balance on an account I cancelled 2 times or so I was told.
Goodlife fitness took money from my account for months with out my permission I did not cancel my membership before the term expired but actually over a year later!

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fedup in ottawa
CA
Jun 14, 2010 8:06 pm EDT

fortunately, i check my banking statements monthly. however, a few months went by that i got lazy and when i finally checked them, i realized that an extra payment was being withdrawn every two weeks as well as my own. i questioned this and they said, "isn't s0-and-so your family member?" i didn't know this guy from Adam. NO i told them...NEVER HEARD OF HIM. well, "that's funny" i was told.(uh...no its not !) somehow when this guy joined up, they decided that i would pay for him. i'm sure he gave them his proper banking info., which somehow became mine...and he must have been enjoying going to the gym on my dime. anyway, it was finally cleared up, but can you imagine if i was the type of person who doesn't keep track of all their banking? so BEWARE...check your account for your automatic withdrawals ! make sure you're not paying for some one else as well. by the way...it totalled about $200 when i discovered the error.

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H. Naik
Toronto, CA
Jun 18, 2010 7:56 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have been a member of GoodLife since 2007. I did not join GoodLife because I wanted to join them. I joined only because I was with Bally's (which is very professional) for over 15 years and they were bought by GoodLife.

I went to the GoodLife at Sheppard Centre and they charged me an annual fee of $900 (including a one-time initiation fee of $100). Although I joined the club at Sheppard Centre, I went to the Bloor Park club since it was conveniant for me.

The following year I got my membership renewed at the Bloor Park club and they charged me an annual fee of $680. I sent an email to GoodLife asking them what their annual fees were for Corporate memberships and they said that they could not tell me. I had to go to the clubs and talk to one of the managers. This is cheating.

I paid the same amount in 2009 without any problems. It is time for me to renew my membership and the assistant manager at Bloor Park refuses to accept annual payment. She wants me to renew using pre-authorized payment. She says that she has worked for GoodLife for 10 years and this is the only payment option.

I called GoodLife at Manual life and they said that they accept annual credit card payment. However, they want to charge $100 extra. I am extremely annoyed. this is the most unprofessional gym that I have ever seen. I am against pre-autorized payments. I'll never recommend anybody to this gym.

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Lunacyevolution
St johns, CA
Jun 07, 2013 1:14 pm EDT

I went in for a week free trail I had won due to a friend signing my name up, at first it was great. Then a guy from the gym kept calling me, like casual calls to see how I was doing. This guy is NOT a trainer and would call basically to chat and then throw in a "how are you liking the gym?" at some point. I was beginning to be a little creeped out by this, was he hitting on me?!?!

So I get a call to do a free personal training session, just to see if perhaps I would be interested in getting a trainer which I would NOT be at their prices. I felt like it would be polite of me to go anyway so I did. I sat there through a heap of bs and the trainer was pushing me into signing up for training. "It's only a little over $3000 for 6 months, a year will be better if you want results but we can spread payments out"
So I agreed to look at the price list and decide from there, when I was introduced to this woman who basically tried to bully me into buying it. The two of them kept looking at each other oddly and kept saying things like "Oh if you want results you need more than 2 sessions a week and at least a year"
Nothing like making the chubby girl feel bad about her condition, they were playing on my need to be fit. I felt like I was backed into a corner.
I went back a few days later to work out and the trainer came up to me asking if I was still interested in joining sessions with her after I had told them already that I didn't think I could afford it.
I finally had to say straight out to her "NO I do not want the sessions, I cannot afford it at all right now."
The nerve of this woman to keep hassling me! She actually begged! "Oh please, I'm sure if we spread out the payments you can afford it" I'm barely affording the membership as it is.
I didn't want to even go back to be honest after that, they seem to not listen to a thing you say there.

I will admit the gym here is in good shape, the machines always work, the place is kept very clean, classes are fun, the staff (outside the pushy trainers) are generally very nice and helpful. After reading all this though Im a little concerned with giving them my banking information. They have already called me twice today to get the information, and I have a free trail until Monday. I doubt if they make a mistake they'll be so eager to get me on the phone that's for sure.

The St.Johns Newfoundland Goodlife gym is not so bad and nobody has told me they've had bad experiences there, so we shall see.

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Chris66
Sydney, AU
Oct 10, 2013 8:34 pm EDT

Goodlife is like a financial virus spreading and scamming people out of money around the world. At Goodlife Martin Place in Sydney Australia, I had been a loyal member for 5+ years. I cancelled my membership however they continued to charge my credit card for 6 months ($800). Although they admitted to the error, they refuse to pay a refund and hide behind a young lady on the front desk and their collections agency (Debit Success). Goodlife head office in Australia is this opaque, impenetrable fortress that is great at sucking people in and starting direct debits from credit card accounts, but is useless for anything and everything else.

Goodlife are nothing short of criminals and the more I now read online, the more it is evident their business model is very shady. They trade on ripping people off and then eventually wear people down so we write them off as a bad experience - in the meantime they book the revenue. I've never seen so much blatant theft and a complete disregard for customers. We need to warn people before more are innocently, and naively, suck into this financial scam!

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LizzieBor
Palm Springs, US
Oct 10, 2013 8:59 pm EDT

Crossfit is better

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S. Dougherty
Toronto, CA
Jul 09, 2014 7:18 pm EDT

I signed up for the tanning sessions for a few months. I then went in and cancelled my account last July 2013. I recently was checking my withdrawals and discovered that they have been withdrawing monies from my account for 1 year. I phoned and they said they had no record of me cancelling my account without taking any responsibility for this being their error. Apparently there is nothing that can be done unless I show them the cancellation form which I no longer have as I trusted that by going in and cancelling that all would be well. I have heard many stories of people being ripped off by Goodlife Fitness so I would advise everyone to consider other clubs as they are not to be trusted nor take any responsibility for their actions.

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Riley Dunkin
US
Sep 09, 2015 5:15 pm EDT

A bunch of scammers. Goodlife Fitness in Kelowna BC is no better. Pressured us to sign promising month to month with no cancellation fees, no initial fees and 30 days on them. Turns out they altered my contract AFTER I signed it putting me on 2 years and lied to my girlfriend making her sign for 2 years. Told the General Manager and District Manager and they don't care, lying to me saying the rep didn't offer us this deal DESPITE showing them both physical evidence that they are wrong. Shut off the bank account for no more automatic withdrawals. District Manager told me collections can come to my door to get the money. Yeah get money for an ILLEGAL BUSINESS! THIS IS WHY MUSCLE HEADS DON"T RUN COMPANIES!

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Riley Dunkin
US
Sep 09, 2015 5:18 pm EDT

Oh and did I say that we are protected under the consumer protection act? Told the GM this and he didn't even blink. What a sad piece of &@%@, hiding behind his pathetic contract.

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Brent Maclachlan
US
Nov 19, 2016 9:39 am EST

Good life fitness .have turned onto theifs tbat continue takikg after youre term is up ..no wonder they are doing well ..i can only hope the 10 dollar fitness clubs sink them ..i signed for a yr ..i made that clear ..2 yrs later 106 dollars a month has finally bounced and i realized they have taken thousands for amembership we thought was over ..they sent me a piece of mail stating my membership was in its last month ..unbelievable sneaky pos ..i have a membership at world gym for 9.99 a month for the last yr ..im so angry

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Joe B
CA
Jan 23, 2017 6:32 am EST

I just discovered today that GoodLife has been taking an additional $33.34 out of my bank account for the past 3 months. I pay a bi-weekly fee of $23.73. Needless to say this is concerning. Today (JAN 23) I went on the corp web site to launch my complaint. Let's see how long this takes to resolve.

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Carmen Colbourne
US
Aug 13, 2017 7:47 am EDT
Replying to comment of Joe B

Me too they took a hundred extra dollars last month

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ledi_05
CA
Mar 24, 2017 6:43 pm EDT

Cancelled my Goodlife membership back in November 2016. The cancellation form indicated the last date of membership and last payment be taken from my bank account on November 29. Everything was fine until today when I received a letter from a lawyer (!) on behalf of Goodlife asking me to pay the amount equal two monthly payments. Otherwise, my case will be transferred to collection agency.
I will stand up for myself and fight this creepy organization.

Given the number of unauthorized Goodlife charges going around that people share on the Internet, I wonder why no class action has ever been started against them.

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