Gyms (And Other Businesses) Can No Longer Fuck You Over When It Comes To Canceling Your Membership/Subscription
Live look at the worst gym you've ever been to:
Every terrible gym is in absolute SHAMBLES right now. Seriously, I bet if we saw the balance sheet, I would guess 60% of their income is from uncanceled memberships of folks who haven't stepped foot in the gym in 2 years and/or dead people.
It's a hell of a revenue plan- charge people a "sign up fee", an "initiation fee", a "process and handling fee" and then make them ink for a year, which automatically renews unless you cancel it. The catch? You can't cancel it, ever! Doesn't matter if you move to another state, get drafted into the military, or die, your ass is still paying $12 a month to not go to the gym. You call them to cancel? They direct you go into the physical building to cancel. You go into the physical building and they tell you to call. They spin you around in circles until you're too frustrated and either have to cancel your credit card or resign yourself to the fact you will just be spending $12 a month until the sun explodes.
Every shitty gym is shitting their pants right now FOR SURE. When your entire business model revolves around not letting people get out of their membership and then that law is changed, you are in for a bad, BAD future balance sheet. I remember during COVID I was still getting charged by my gym, 24 Hour Fitness in the Flatiron district of NYC. I had to call my credit card company and do all that nonsense….and I eventually gave up after nothing worked. I payed $80/month for 6 months and the only reason it stopped was my gym literally closed. That's just $480 I'll never get back.
I'm not sure what other businesses are fucked but shout out to our government for passing the first law to protect consumers in a long time. Next up- make proportions at fast casual dining establishments big again!