Gyms Aren’t Making it Easy for People to Cancel Memberships

Canceling or freezing a gym membership pre-pandemic wasn’t easy, and now it’s even trickier.

Fawnia Soo Hoo, who used to work out almost every day at her local franchise-owned Crunch gym, was happy when the gym froze her membership in mid-March. Gyms across the country shut down abruptly once it became clear that the coronavirus was spreading through US communities, and Fawnia (a friend of mine who lives in Brooklyn, New York City) didn’t want to pay for something she couldn’t use. Then, when gyms were allowed to open with restrictions in early September, the usual $49 charge appeared on her credit card.

She began emailing addresses she found on Crunch’s corporate site, but got a message back noting that “our systems are frozen and our staff is minimal.” When her gym outpost opened, she called directly to cancel but was told she had to visit in person to do so. Frustrated, she did what many people do in situations like this — she angry-tweeted:… READ MORE @ Vox