She had a 2 year contract with the California Gym. It supposedly expired in April.
So, as she was not satisfied with it, she just let it expire and did not renew it.
Lo and behold, here comes another bill. The gym claims she signed an “automatic-renewal contract”. Funny they did not mention that, and to make matters worse, she does not have her copy of the contract.
They tell her they will sue her. She tells them she’s not paying, if they want to sue, do so then. They sue. The case comes up on Monday.
Has anyone heard/seen about this automatic-renewal clause? Has anyone had this experience?
What do you mean “claims”? Either she did or she didn’t. Even if your friend has no copy, then California Fitness must, or they won’t have any grounds to bill her. If they DO have a copy of a contract that your friend signed, it seems to me that she owes them some money. Silly her for not reading the fine print!
Even if she signed an automatic renew clause (which she should verify with their copy of the contract first), can’t she go in and cancel it now? Worst case she would have to pay for 1 month or so of the new term. I can’t see how they would sue for payment of FUTURE services that she doesn’t require.
Yes, it is very common to subscriptions or memberships. Magazines do it all the time.[/quote]
Yes, I know, but you actively choose it, it is done as a feature. extra service, for your convenience. My question, especifically, is has anyone seen this on their California Gym contract?
She says that there are other foreigners in the same pickle at her gym, so, I wanted to know if anyone here was told or offered this feature when they signed in, or did they read the fine print and found out by themselves.
Maoman, yes, silly her, but it is still a lousy thing to do. Really not kosher.
Adam, one month or so maybe, would be reasonable, but what they are asking is not.
I talked with a Taiwan lawyer colleague about this because in many legal systems there are additional protections given to consumers, who are generally not thought to be as “contract-savvy” as commercial businesses. The Taiwan Executive Yuan’s Consumer Protection Commission has a huge (1,000-page) collection of “model contracts” intended to fulfill a very wide range of possible situations – and there is a specific “gym membership” contract.
Article 17 of the Consumer Protection Act is relevant because it allows the government to put out model contracts and prohibited clauses:
[quote]Article 17
The competent authorities at the central government level may designate certain industries, and set forth by public notice the mandatory and prohibitory provisions of standard contracts to be used by them.
Articles for standard contracts of standard contracts in violation of the publicly posted standard contracts set forth in the preceding paragraph shall be null and void, and the validity of such contract shall be governed by the provisions of the preceding Article.
Competent authorities may at any time dispatch officials to audit standard contracts used by business operators .[/quote]
When my colleague looked into the standard gym membership contract, he found that among the prohibited clauses at No. 10 on the list was automatic renewal without prior notice. It is clear that for any extension both parties must sign.
So if a gym is trying this “automatic renewal” bit on consumers, it appears to be illegal.
[quote]When my colleague looked into the standard gym membership contract, he found that among the prohibited clauses at No. 10 on the list was automatic renewal without prior notice. It is clear that for any extension both parties must sign.
So if a gym is trying this “automatic renewal” bit on consumers, it appears to be illegal.[/quote]
I had a feeling that there must be something like this. Just told her to look into this bit and her reply was just to shake her head, sigh and say: that gym has a lot of weird stuff.
I am always wary of big monopolies.
Thank you so much on her behalf and any others in this pickle. (one more Forumosan I owe a beer/coffee)
Send me a PM with your contact details if you would like a copy of that document with the prohibited contract provisions for gym-membership contracts. I can email it to you or fax it over.
Thank you so much! 