24 Hour Fitness Lawsuit Information

A 24 hour fitness lawsuit often centers on complaints the company continues to charge members for months after they have cancelled their memberships.

24 Hour Fitness Overview

This company is the largest privately owned chain in the world and ranks third behind Gold's Gym and Fitness First. It boasts 380 clubs with future plans to shoot for 1,000. 24-Hour Fitness has roughly 19,000 employees.

24-Hour Fitness started as a one-club operation in 1983 under the name 24 Hour Nautilus. Three partners started the firm, however only two continued. In 1994 24-Hour Nautilus joined with Family Fitness Centers and all of them were renamed 24-Hour Fitness.

Large enough to pack some influence, 24-Hour Fitness sponsored the 2004-2008 US Olympic teams and worked with NBC to create a reality show called The Biggest Loser. Things were pretty quiet on the 24 Hour Fitness lawsuit scene.

24-Hour Fitness lays claim to roughly 3 million members in 16 states and over 20 clubs in five Asian countries.

24 Hour Fitness Problems & Legal Issues

24-Hour Fitness problems appeared to center on the company charging up to two months extra when a member cancelled their contract. However there were apparently other difficulties behind the scenes as well, involving sexual harassment of employees.

Although seemingly a good place to work out (if it wasn't too crowded), consumers reportedly weren't always thrilled with the gyms they joined. Most indicated they found the facilities crowded and had to wait to start their workouts. But this wasn't a concern in a 24 Hour Fitness lawsuit.

Another concern was the lack of proper designated childcare rooms in some of the gyms, along with the age of the childcare attendant. In other locations it appeared the fitness routines were more about checking out the guys or gals than doing an actual workout. Some members felt that 24 Hour Fitness was not as family oriented as they once were.

Other consumers have had experiences with being charged various different rates for the same service. For instance $840 for 3 years and then $99 per year after that when others were getting $550 for 3 years and $20 yearly renewals. It's alleged the sales people at each gym have high pressure selling tactics to make a membership sale. This type of allegation could be used in a 24 Hour Fitness lawsuit.

24 Hour Fitness Lawsuits

In June of 2004 after 7 years of secret proceedings, a private arbitrator found that a former female employee of 24-Hour Fitness had been the victim of sexual harassment. The settlement was $2.4 million.

24-Hour Fitness took her employer to binding arbitration to settle the alleged harassment by 8 men she worked with over a 2-year period. The charges were against the 8 and included the company president for brushing off her repeated complaints of harassment. There were further allegations that they retaliated against her by demoting then firing her.

In 2005 a class action 24 Hour Fitness lawsuit was filed alleging the company engaged in illegal and deceptive billing practices. Reportedly the corporation charged a client who cancelled her membership an extra two months of fees and didn't refund the money for 4 unused personal training sessions.

This class action 24 Hour Fitness lawsuit was to seek relief for people in California only. There was another class action suit launched in 2006 - a nationwide class action, seeking relief on behalf of members in all the states in which 24-Hour Fitness does business.

The suit sought to have overcharging on memberships stopped, punitive damages and repayment to all members who had been charged for prepaid fitness sessions and for post-cancellation fees over a 4-year period.

Evidently the company insisted on 30-business days notice to stop withdrawals, however the plaintiff's cancellation took 63 days. The money the club made represented illegal profit taking and an unfair business practice.

Other allegations include 24-Hour Fitness's failure to use the statutory print size on their contracts. State laws indicate font sizes on contracts must be 14 points or higher.

In 2007 the courts approved a 24-Hour Fitness class action settlement for roughly $1.8 million - given to former and current monthly members for dues charged them after they cancelled their contracts.

The allegations were that 24-Hour Fitness' cancellation notice provision and collecting the nonrefundable last month's dues under contracts signed before 2006 violated California law.

The settlement allows members to choose their benefits - partial refunds, free personal training, membership upgrades, contract modifications or transferable 30 or 45-day Club Access Passes.

If you have been overcharged for your membership at 24-Hour Fitness, or faced other issues with regards to refunds for unused personal training sessions, consider contacting a lawyer. You may have grounds to file a 24 Hour Fitness lawsuit.




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