I think a part time job at a moving company is a better idea. Then you get paid to pick things up and put them down.
Gyms hate this one life hack.
I got into the best shape of my entire life because I had a swampy 3 acre field that I had to mow with a push mower, an old house that needed repainting, and I didn’t have enough money to buy food. Dropped over 50 pounds that summer and all it took was being hungry and tired all the time.
The starving yourself diet! Works every time!
Nathan fielder?
anyone know why gyms can afford to be so sketchy with their cancellation process? it borderline sounds illegal, but since so many do this i can’t help but wonder why there isn’t any regulation around this sort of practice
Getting a lawyer is too expensive compared to praying for a in unused gym membership for a couple more months.
just go for walks and do calisthenics at home
This. And it helps to have a “workout buddy” to keep you consistent.
The only debt I’ve ever owned was a damn gym that wouldn’t cancel my membership when I moved. Absolutely the sketchiest places.
When I cancelled my gym I told them it was because I lost my job and couldn’t pay it. Idk if the guy just felt bad and actually cancelled it or if that is just a reason they actually take but I never heard from them again. One of my friends cancelled at the same gym and had a hell of a time getting them to stop billing her.
Never understood why people go to the gym, just buy your own weights. I can find 20 lb dumbbells at my local store for a cheap price of $12.99
I enjoyed orange theory for a year
Then when I canceled they informed me they get to bill me one more time.
I am never going back.
Does anyone know a workaround for the credit card account?
there is a gym near my place that has terrible reviews because of the cancellation process, i would love to have a “spoof” account that is closable on my end.
Be careful, in the US they can just rack up your debt and send it to collections.
Just went through this after doing the credit card thing. It was removed 30 days after my dispute since the gym didn’t submit any evidence.
Beat me to it!
Louis Rossman approves!
Privacy.com links to your bank account, and creates individual virtual credit cards that locks to the merchant upon use, or can be single use. You can put a limit based on: per transaction, per month, or cumulative total; you can also pause, or close the card any time.
More banks are beginning to offer virtual credit cards as well, but I don’t know how common they actually are.
Beware that some vendors do not accept privacy credit cards, and privacy may block some merchants that are known to generate a large number of declines (like shady porn subs, or onlyfans).
Also, some in person vendors will not accept a virtual card, and will require physically swiping a card in person. So, this would be more in a situation that the vendor offers online registration of some kind where swiping is not available.
(My auto insurance company had no problem just reading the card information off my phone, but my local car wash insisted they needed the card (but accepted if I registered online instead))
Edit: (this post is entirely from a USA perspective) but also be aware of terms of contract. you may still be liable for additional fees, even if you stop paying, if your contract term is not up, and you signed for a specific term, or have early cancellation fees. They can still legally collect on the contract, just they will have to seek payment by another method. Also, be aware of your state laws; some states limit contract terms, such as California:
“The duration of the contract may not exceed three years, and the contract may not require payments for longer than the term of the contract.5 That means that a four-year contract would be unlawful, and that a two-year contract requiring payments for longer than two years also would be unlawful. It also means that “lifetime contracts” are prohibited. The contract must state the length of the contract term in a size equal to at least 14-point type, above the place for your signature.6”
Source: https://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/legal_guides/w_10.shtml
I moved to Europe from the US. Forgot to cancel my gym membership before I went.
They demanded a handwritten letter, delivered in person by myself to cancel the membership. I wasn’t buying an international flight just for them, so I mailed them a letter and had to threaten to sue to get them to close it. Absolutely disgraceful.
My work rents office space off the owner of the downstairs gym in the building. Apparently we all have free memberships because the landlord is also a client of ours. Nobody has ever gone to the gym to workout lol
I tried joining a gym in 2019, I went every day for an hour and was making decent progress. Then covid happened, the gym closed, but they wouldn’t let me cancel unless I went in person.
So I stopped putting money on the greendot card I used for the membership. I got a few phone calls from them, and ignored them after the first.
I imagine sooner or later they will get wise to this and demand a bank account number, which could be defeated by opening a “gym account” that only has enough for one month’s membership.
I don’t understand signing up to a gym membership. I don’t go to the gym often but when I used to, I just go to one of those government ones that you pay per entry.
YMCA is affordable, easy to leave, fault friendly, and has a banging theme song.
pre-paying at a rate so diabolically good that they can never make you the same deal again
