Gym Chain's Controversial Tactic: Transferring Members to Other Facilities
Have you ever signed up for a gym membership, only to find out later that your gym is closing down and your membership has been transferred to another facility? This is the story of Zone Athletic Club, a gym chain that has been making headlines for its controversial practice of closing locations and transferring members to other gyms.
In Aurora, Colorado, members of the Zone Athletic Club at Southlands received an abrupt message that their gym was closing in two days. The notice stated that they were welcome to continue working out at a nearby YMCA, but many members were unaware that their memberships had been sold to the YMCA. If they wanted to cancel, they would have to provide at least 30 days' notice.
This is not the first time Zone Athletic Club has closed locations and transferred memberships. In March, the Fort Collins location was seized by the state government for unpaid taxes and suddenly shuttered. In that case, memberships were transferred to a Crunch Fitness, which is within the five-mile radius allowed by the contract.
The closure of Zone's final location at Southlands is the third such closure in the last year. Members have been informed that the gym is exercising a term in the fine print of their membership agreement that allows Zone to transfer their membership to any gym within five miles if the gym shuts its doors.
Chad Hoffman, a member who received the late notice, tried to contact Zone's payment provider to cancel his membership, but was told the 30-day notice provision in his contract was still valid. "They should have given us proper notice," he said. "They should have allowed us to cancel memberships."
Tiffany McEwan, another member, received the same notice about the closure. She and her husband had used the gym for years, but her son had just signed up the week before the announcement. The family did not want to continue to the YMCA because the hours were different from Zone's 24-hour access. "[Zone's] the gym I signed up for," she said. "That's the gym we go to because of their hours."
The story of Zone Athletic Club's sudden closures and membership transfers is not unique. Members of the Zone Athletic Club location in Cherry Creek were also notified of the gym's closure after months of being moved to different locations. Susan Patterson, a member who paid for her year-long membership in advance, said Zone's original gym in Cherry Creek was very nice, but members were notified that the gym would be temporarily moving for renovations.
The Colorado Consumer Protection Act includes a specific section on health clubs, which bans gyms from transferring memberships to other locations if those locations are beyond five miles away. However, Zone Athletic Club's practice of transferring memberships to nearby facilities is allowed under state law.
In a phone call, Zone's COO Brad Banker said these membership transfers are standard practice in the gym industry. "People in the gym industry do this all the time," he said. "We've bought and sold numerous membership bases."
Despite the controversy, Banker has been honoring members' requests to cancel their memberships without the 30-day notice and offering some refunds. He has also threatened a lawsuit over members' complaints posted on social media, calling them "keyboard princesses."
This story raises important questions about the rights of gym members and the practices of gym chains. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with Zone Athletic Club's approach to membership transfers? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
