In order to tell you the purpose of this blog, I must give you some background on the story behind it.
It started last year around June. I had promised myself when I got back from Ireland that I would join a gym again. I wanted to be able to exercise whenever I wanted and have the same freedoms from a gym like the one I had previously joined. I picked Court South, because it was new, different and seemed to be slightly closer to where I lived.
Wrong choice.
After being given a tour of their facilities, we discussed price. I was disappointed in their prices, but I liked their gym better, so I decided to just go with it. My salesperson handed me a piece of paper, explained the rules of the gym written on there and gave me a pen to sign. She told me I had approximately three days to opt out of the contract if I decided to.
Before leaving, I looked up at her and said, "By the way, did you mention a cancellation policy?"
She paused reluctantly. "I did." She said. "It's $250 (or something like that) to cancel."
"Okay." I said. "So...I can cancel for any reason, right?" I'm still not sure what prompted me to ask that question today, but it has turned out to be the most important question I could have possibly asked this lady.
"Yes." She said, staring straight into my eyes. "Oh, of course!"
"Well...$250 is a lot of money...what if I lose my job or something?"
"Oh, they'll work with you." She said with a nod. "They're really good about that."
I would soon come to find out just how "good" these people were. Not even two weeks later I was on a delivery (I delivered pizzas at the time) when I looked into my rear-view mirror and noticed an SUV charging in my direction. Before I knew it, we were exchanging insurance information, I was on my way to the hospital and stuck at home, in pain and without a car. Frustrated with my situation, I decided the best thing for me to do at that point was to cut back on expenses. What can I do without, I asked myself. The first thing that would obviously pop into my head was Court South. I was hurt and without a car, and it was about $50 a month out of my paycheck that I could not afford. I had thought back to my conversation with the saleswoman and immediately called them. I was redirected to their office.
I politely explained to them my situation and told them I would need to cancel and that I needed help making the cancellation fee. I figured this was what I needed to do after having talked to my salesperson.
The lady on the phone pulled up my information and told me, somewhat rudely, "Yeah, your contract doesn't say anything about you being able to cancel."
I paused. "Ex...cuse me?"
"The only way you can cancel is if you move more than thirty miles away."
I was shocked. "But...I was told I could cancel...for any reason, and that you guys would help me if I got in a bind."
"That's not what it says in your contract." She kept repeating this over and over. We fought back and forth for like ten minutes, with me trying to explain to her exactly what I was told. "We do not honor verbal contracts." She would tell me.
"Fine!" I was getting frustrated and decided to use a tactic that was virtually fool-proof. "I would like to talk to your manager!"
She scoffed at me. "There's no one else you can talk to. They will all tell you the same thing."
This couldn't be possible. There was no getting through to these people. Nothing was working. Here I was, trying to negotiate with them, a victim of a devastating car accident, and they would not budge. They simply treated me like I was a piece of property. I busted out into tears because of how utterly trapped and depressed I felt. The lady said nothing on the phone as I wept.
I felt helpless when I got off the phone. I had never had a situation like this before. It's always been my understanding that businesses look out for their customers, because they want them to continue to come back and tell others about the company. Being treated like scum in this way did not make any sense to me.
And it still doesn't to this day.
I ended up cancelling my debit card...if I hadn't, it would have eventually been overdrawn from withdrawals from Court South. I continued to receive threatening letters from them, even at work, threatening to garnish my wages. I felt harassed by this company.
Flash forward to one year later...
It started last year around June. I had promised myself when I got back from Ireland that I would join a gym again. I wanted to be able to exercise whenever I wanted and have the same freedoms from a gym like the one I had previously joined. I picked Court South, because it was new, different and seemed to be slightly closer to where I lived.
Wrong choice.
After being given a tour of their facilities, we discussed price. I was disappointed in their prices, but I liked their gym better, so I decided to just go with it. My salesperson handed me a piece of paper, explained the rules of the gym written on there and gave me a pen to sign. She told me I had approximately three days to opt out of the contract if I decided to.
Before leaving, I looked up at her and said, "By the way, did you mention a cancellation policy?"
She paused reluctantly. "I did." She said. "It's $250 (or something like that) to cancel."
"Okay." I said. "So...I can cancel for any reason, right?" I'm still not sure what prompted me to ask that question today, but it has turned out to be the most important question I could have possibly asked this lady.
"Yes." She said, staring straight into my eyes. "Oh, of course!"
"Well...$250 is a lot of money...what if I lose my job or something?"
"Oh, they'll work with you." She said with a nod. "They're really good about that."
I would soon come to find out just how "good" these people were. Not even two weeks later I was on a delivery (I delivered pizzas at the time) when I looked into my rear-view mirror and noticed an SUV charging in my direction. Before I knew it, we were exchanging insurance information, I was on my way to the hospital and stuck at home, in pain and without a car. Frustrated with my situation, I decided the best thing for me to do at that point was to cut back on expenses. What can I do without, I asked myself. The first thing that would obviously pop into my head was Court South. I was hurt and without a car, and it was about $50 a month out of my paycheck that I could not afford. I had thought back to my conversation with the saleswoman and immediately called them. I was redirected to their office.
I politely explained to them my situation and told them I would need to cancel and that I needed help making the cancellation fee. I figured this was what I needed to do after having talked to my salesperson.
The lady on the phone pulled up my information and told me, somewhat rudely, "Yeah, your contract doesn't say anything about you being able to cancel."
I paused. "Ex...cuse me?"
"The only way you can cancel is if you move more than thirty miles away."
I was shocked. "But...I was told I could cancel...for any reason, and that you guys would help me if I got in a bind."
"That's not what it says in your contract." She kept repeating this over and over. We fought back and forth for like ten minutes, with me trying to explain to her exactly what I was told. "We do not honor verbal contracts." She would tell me.
"Fine!" I was getting frustrated and decided to use a tactic that was virtually fool-proof. "I would like to talk to your manager!"
She scoffed at me. "There's no one else you can talk to. They will all tell you the same thing."
This couldn't be possible. There was no getting through to these people. Nothing was working. Here I was, trying to negotiate with them, a victim of a devastating car accident, and they would not budge. They simply treated me like I was a piece of property. I busted out into tears because of how utterly trapped and depressed I felt. The lady said nothing on the phone as I wept.
I felt helpless when I got off the phone. I had never had a situation like this before. It's always been my understanding that businesses look out for their customers, because they want them to continue to come back and tell others about the company. Being treated like scum in this way did not make any sense to me.
And it still doesn't to this day.
I ended up cancelling my debit card...if I hadn't, it would have eventually been overdrawn from withdrawals from Court South. I continued to receive threatening letters from them, even at work, threatening to garnish my wages. I felt harassed by this company.
Flash forward to one year later...
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