ATTN: All members of GOLDS GYM KING OF PRUSSIA

[mcguirk]

I am posting this to draw attention to the fact that the owners of Gold's Gym in King of Prussia knew about the sale of the property for years, and did not bother to tell it's members until two days before closing. Now the memberships are being transferred to the Conshohocken location. The only other option is to cancel, but you must give 60 days notice and pay 60 days worth of dues. It is not fair that we must give 60 days notice, but the greedy owners only gave us TWO DAYS NOTICE! What is being done: I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and am trying to gain attention to this from Fox News. If you were a member of Gold's Gym King of Prussia when it closed please go to www.bbb.org and file a complaint. If enough complaints are submitted about Gold's Gym King of Prussia, then the Better Business Bureau will investigate. Do your part to help the members get their refunds!

[Leroy Brown]

Please send a complaint about the King of Prussia Gold's Gym. The behavior was unethical and cleary a bad business practice.

[Rocko]

Please send a letter about this poor use of the Gold's Gym Franchise name to the CEO David Schnavel, Gold's Gym, 125 E. John Carpenter FWY Suite 1300, Irving TX 75062. Maybe we can recover our money and Gold's can recover its reputation.

[Mike]

Does anyone know the owners names of the KOP Golds Gym???

[mcguirk]

Rocko- thank you for the information, I will be sending a letter to that address.

Mike- I am unsure of the current owner's names. I do, however, know the name of its current manager, Barton Brenner, [e-mail]

[mcguirk2021]

UPDATE: Gold's gym manager is still refusing to give refunds. He is hiding behind the legal right of a fitness facility to transfer memberships to a "comparable" facility less than ten miles from the original location. I am trying to find out whether or not there is any legality behind only giving members 2 days notice to cancel or make other arrangements. It is interesting that they need to get the members out of there within two days to close up the facility, when they have not even sold the land yet, and the land in which the gym resides on is not going to be zoned for building until September 2007. To add to the matter, someone, meaning either the owner of gold's gym, or the land developer, posted a sign stating that a muslim church will reside there until the township approved a new zoning code. This is an insult to muslims as it was used as a scare tactic, and there never was any plan to have a muslim church at that location. A side note, muslims to do not go to churches, they go to mosques. Gold's gym is digging itself an even bigger ethical hole with this one...

[arjay15]

I had a similar situation. I spoke with Barton Brenner and told him I didn't want to be a member of Conshohocken and he told me I couldn't cancel my membership at all because they provided me with a comparable gym... which is not comparable because it doesn't have a basketball court. Then he told me that i hadn't been to the KoP gym in a while as if it suggest that I was looking for a way out. I enjoyed my KoP memebership and used the gym how I wanted to... I travel a lot for work so for him to suggest anything was a complete insult.

I called the corporate facility of Gold's Gym and filed a complaint and also called my Bank to hold payment because of a business dispute.

I am seeking legal advice on the situation because this is completely bad business and shows no integrity on Gold's half.

[arjay15]

This is an article I found that may relate to our situation.

Attorney General's News Release
Sept. 22, 1998

Nixon reaches agreement with Gold's Gym in Kansas City to provide restitution for members of closed facility
Jefferson City, Mo.— Missourians who paid for membership to the now-defunct Gold's Gym in downtown Kansas City may be eligible for refunds under an agreement reached with Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon.

Under the agreement, signed Sept. 16 by Jackson County Circuit Judge John I. Moran, C&R Fitness Partners, Harlan S. Cole and Charles D. Rappe agree to pay restitution to eligible members of the Gold's Gym the defendants operated at 106 W. 11th St.

This agreement provides refunds to members of a facility they can no longer use and it also offers added protection for consumers against future closings or relocations, Nixon said.

The agreement stipulates that:

Consumers who signed a contract with Gold's Gym on or after April 3, 1997, will be refunded a pro rata amount of the contract.
Consumers who joined the gym on or after Jan. 1, 1998, on a month-to-month basis will be refunded the amount of the paid enrollment fee.
Consumers who signed a contract with the gym for any period of time, other than month to month, after Jan. 1, 1998, will be refunded the paid enrollment fee and a pro rata amount of the contract.
Any consumer, regardless of the date they signed a contract with the gym, will be refunded a pro rata amount of the contract.
Nixon said Gold's Gym has agreed to inform consumers when a facility may close, relocate or is under lease negotiations. The gym is also banned from practicing deceptive practices and must pay $1,000 to the state's Merchandising Practices Revolving Fund.

Consumers requesting refunds are encouraged to submit copies of their contract to the Attorney General's Office, Penntower Office Building, 3100 Broadway, Suite 609, Kansas City, MO 64111. Requests must be received by Nov. 15.

[Rocko]

Keep up the good work. This poor business decision should not be allowed to prevail. We were not offered a comparable gym. If there is no relief the next phase will be small claims court for a judge to decide. Mr McGuirk are you interested in getting together a group to make our case if it goes to that level. Thanks for your posting. Keep pressing on everyone. This is just plain wrong.

[mcguirk]

My friend had joined gold's in king of prussia before the place even opened. His cancellation request was received on 4/19, and he was billed again on May 1st. He asked barton why he was charged, and barton said that had they received his cancellation on April 1st, he could have avoided the charge. Another complaint has been sent to the better business bureau for that one.

I sent a follow up letter to the BBB yesterday asking them to look into the law about a health club being able to transfer memberships and if the health club is supposed to give sufficient notice.

I also noted in my letter that the Conshohocken facility is not comparable being that it does not have a basketball court or hockey rink.

I had cancelled my credit card that gold's used for billing, and was slapped with a $20 returned debit fee so watch out for that.

[Natalie]

I myself am also another one that has been completely screwed! I joined back in Dec 05'which was a one year membership. I had cancelled my membership in Dec 06' due to the fact that I was moving and no longer wanted to drive to this location. However they still charged me monthly. To find out later that the K of P location was closeing and I was then being charged by the Conshohocken location! I am to this day STILL getting charged for my membership and have left SEVERAL messages for this so called manager, Bart to return my call, yet he has not!

[DANNY at Fit Gym]

If would help any than please feel free to come to Fit Gym in Philadelphia @ 4415 chestnut st, 19104. Bring in your Gold's membership card and Ill give you a 1 month membership free to try our facility. Our trainers have ranked in the TOP 5 for personal training and our members get results. We even have members that compete on an international body building level. I am saddened by how Gold's is conducting itself in this matter but you do have the right to choose if you want to transfer or cancel your membership at the new location. We had a gym in Philly called "World's gym" and its been there for years then on Christmas eve in 2004 they posted a notice that they would close in 1 day. That is not how you reward your members.

[Liam Timoney]

I have been in contact with the BBB for over 3 months now and I am getting no where. I am filing based on the fact that the gym at Conshohocken is not a comparable facility since they do not have an idoor court or rink. If anyone has any luck getting out of their contract please let me know.

mcguirk wrote:

I am posting this to draw attention to the fact that the owners of Gold's Gym in King of Prussia knew about the sale of the property for years, and did not bother to tell it's members until two days before closing. Now the memberships are being transferred to the Conshohocken location. The only other option is to cancel, but you must give 60 days notice and pay 60 days worth of dues. It is not fair that we must give 60 days notice, but the greedy owners only gave us TWO DAYS NOTICE! What is being done: I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and am trying to gain attention to this from Fox News. If you were a member of Gold's Gym King of Prussia when it closed please go to www.bbb.org and file a complaint. If enough complaints are submitted about Gold's Gym King of Prussia, then the Better Business Bureau will investigate. Do your part to help the members get their refunds!

[Liam]

I am having the same issue. I have been in contact with the BBB for about 3 months now and I am interested in joining a class action suit again the gym also. I was cursed at and hung up on by the manager Bart Brenner and I have written letters to the corporate office and have recieved no response. I filed my greavance with the BBB based on the fact that it is not a comparable facility since it has no idoor basketball court or hockey rink. If anyone has any luck please let me know.

[Tom Norristown PA]

I guess Barton is up to his old tricks, I had a membership in KOP and had it transferred to someone else (which they required to do at the club) they continued to charge both of us for a year with no refund to me at all. Ill post his direct phone number if I can find it.

[Simba 548]

I was going to join Gold's Gym last year but was told that they had some shady business practices. Glad I did'nt. Maybe a class action suit might help all of you who have been screwed. Because you all CLEARLY were!

[Mark - K of P]

Don't waste your time with the BBB. They are a mediation agency that has no ability to bring Gold's to the table, if Gold's doesn't want to mediate the dispute they won't and will simply be not be a BBB member in good standing. In all likelihood they weren't a member of the BBB to begin with.
A better course would be to try to file a consumer complaint with the Pennsylvania State Attorney General's office. They typically have a little bit more leverage than the BBB (as seen by the Kansas example mentioned above).
http://www.attorneygeneral.gov
This process can oftentimes be slow, but probably a more useful expenditure of effort than the BBB.

[Rocko]

I think the next step is small claims court. The contract is two one sided and likely will not hold up with a reasonable judge.

[Mark - K of P]

How recently had you signed up with Gold's? I signed up in the fall and feel like they knew at the time that they accepted my membership that I would have to be transferred in order to complete it because they were going to be forced to close. Of course they didn't bother to tell me this when I signed up. This strikes me as fraudulent??

[Liam]

I signed up in November of 06. Apparently they knew for over a year that they might be closing but never told new memebers.