4/06/2009

Good business?

So I go to the gym on Monday, one that I have been a member of for more than 2 1/2 years. I enter, the woman behind the counter swipes my card and returns it to me. As I turn to leave, she casually mentions that my payment did not go through last month. I have automatic debit set up at the gym, so I hand over my credit card and it is quickly determined my current card has a new expiration that the gym does not have on file. The woman behind the desk amends my account and charges me $70 to make my account current.

I say, "The monthly fee is $65, did it go up $5?" 

"No," she says, "The credit card company charges us when we put through a charge that comes back, so we charge you."

I sign the charge, go work out and on my way out of the gym, I stop at the counter and say to the same woman, "Is it in my contract that I have to pay the $5? Because, if it isn't I want a refund." She calls her supervisor and after a brief conversation, tells me it is in my contract that I must pay $15, but they are only charging me $5.

I say to her "I'd like to cancel my gym membership." She picks up the phone again and this time a membership specialist comes to the front desk. She looks up my account on the computer and asks me to verify my name and I do. She then takes a piece of paper out of the drawer and asks me to sign it which I do and informs me that my membership will be terminated at the end of April.

"Great" I say. And walked out of the gym and back to work.

2 comments:

Chris Janc said...

Good for you, my man. If more people reacted this way to crappy service, particularly in this economy, perhaps the way we are treated would improve. As one of the few that would rather go through the headache of switching a gym membership or canceling a credit card myself, I salute you.

Anonymous said...

Well, since the issue isn't really the large amount of money involved, you made one mistake here. First, be angry with the credit card company. Give them a call, and let them know that it was their own fault that there was a problem, and suggest that they refund the $5. If they don't want to do that, suggest that you want to cancel the card, and you want your renewal fee returned immediately. I love to complain when I think I've been screwed over, and not only is it fun mentally, I always get some sort of "gift" in return. The credit card company should not only wave the renewal fee, but there's a good chance they will pay for a year's membership to the gym for you as well. Of course, you should suggest that. One major lesson learned from sales and marketing is, it's always easier and cheaper to retain a customer than to secure a new one. I'm actually considering writing a book titled "Complaining Your Way to Success"!