LA Fitness keeps billing me 3 months after cancellation - have proof of cancellation, what are my options?

I cancelled my LA Fitness membership in January by going to the gym in person and filling out their cancellation form. The employee gave me a stamped copy showing cancellation effective February 1st.

They charged me for February, March, and now April. That's $90 x 3 = $270 in unauthorized charges. I've called 6 times, emailed twice, and each time they say "we'll look into it" and nothing happens.

I disputed the charges with my credit card company but LA Fitness is fighting it saying I didn't properly cancel. I literally have their stamped form!

What can I do? Small claims? Report them somewhere? This is insane.

Classic gym scam. This happens ALL THE TIME with LA Fitness, Planet Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, etc. They make it deliberately hard to cancel and then keep charging you hoping you'll give up.

Keep fighting the credit card dispute. Send them the stamped cancellation form. CC companies usually side with cardholders on this stuff if you have documentation.

Consumer protection attorney here. What state are you in? This matters because some states have specific laws about gym membership cancellations.

Assuming you're in California (LA Fitness is big there), you have strong protections under California's Health Studio Services Contract Act. Key points:

• Gyms cannot require more than 30 days notice to cancel
• Cancellation is effective when you submit it in the required form
• Continuing to charge after valid cancellation is a violation

You can file a complaint with the California Attorney General's office and also pursue this in small claims for the unauthorized charges plus statutory damages.

I'm in New York actually. Does that change things?

And when you say "statutory damages" - what does that mean? Could I get more than just the $270 back?

New York has similar protections. Under NY General Business Law Section 623, health clubs must allow cancellation with reasonable notice and cannot continue billing after cancellation.

You can sue in small claims for:

1. The $270 in unauthorized charges
2. Potentially treble damages (3x) if this was willful/knowing misconduct
3. Filing fees and costs

So you could potentially recover up to $810 plus your $30 filing fee. Small claims limit in NY is $10,000 so you're well under.

Also file a complaint with the NY Attorney General's Consumer Frauds Bureau. They take gym membership complaints seriously and it creates a paper trail.

I had this exact same issue with Equinox last year. Here's what worked for me:

1. Sent a certified letter to their corporate office (not the gym location) with a copy of the cancellation form and a demand to stop billing immediately
2. Mentioned that I would file complaints with AG and BBB if not resolved in 10 days
3. CC'd my credit card company on the letter

They refunded everything within a week. The magic words were "Attorney General" and "formal complaint."

Update: I sent a certified letter to LA Fitness corporate in Irvine, CA. Attached a copy of my stamped cancellation form and stated that I would file complaints with the NY AG and pursue small claims if they don't refund all charges within 14 days.

Also explicitly mentioned NY General Business Law Section 623 (thanks for that reference!).

Fingers crossed this works. Will update when I hear back.

In the meantime, call your credit card and tell them to block any future charges from LA Fitness. You can request that even while the dispute is pending. That way they can't keep charging you while you fight this.

Final update: LA Fitness corporate called me 5 days after receiving my certified letter. They apologized and said there was an "administrative error" (yeah right).

They're refunding all three months ($270) and sent me a confirmation email that my membership is cancelled with no further charges.

I also got confirmation from my CC company that they're reversing the dispute fees.

The certified letter with legal citations was definitely the key. Thanks everyone!

Just want to say this thread saved me $450. Planet Fitness kept charging me for 5 months after I cancelled in person (they claimed I never cancelled). I sent them a certified letter basically copying the format from this thread - cited the cancellation confirmation I had, state consumer protection law, and threatened to file a complaint with the AG.

Got a full refund within 10 days and written confirmation of cancellation. These gym chains rely on people not knowing their rights and just accepting the charges. Stand your ground!