Gym chain bows to pressure over contract it was enforcing in the case of a pregnant woman who had fallen on hard times
Gym chain LA Fitness has been shamed into dropping the �360 contract it was enforcing in the case of a heavily pregnant woman who had fallen on hard times, thanks to pressure from Guardian readers who were willing to pay her bill.
Seven months pregnant Hannah, a reader from Billericay in Essex, had written to the newspaper in December 2011 after her husband lost his job, leaving the couple living on state benefits.
The couple, who were also about to move 12 miles away from their nearest gym, had been loyal LA Fitness members for seven years and asked the gym chain to reconsider the two-year verbal contract it had tied them in to. However, the gym insisted the couple pay the full 15 months left of the contract, which would cost them �780.
"Despite us sending LA Fitness a letter proving my husband has been let go from his job, his employer didn't use the word "redundant" in the letter, so LA Fitness will not accept it as a valid reason to terminate the contract," said Hannah. "I have been told that being pregnant entitles me only to temporarily freeze my membership. We do not drive but moving away does not apply, as we need to be 20 miles from the nearest gym to cancel. We just cannot pay."
To make matters worse for the couple, the house they were due to move into then fell through, leaving them facing homelessness.
The couple wrote to the Guardian's Consumer Champions' column for help but despite repeated arguments from the newspaper citing both legal and compassionate reasons that the couple's outstanding charges should be reviewed, the gym chain refused to budge. After six weeks it agreed to waive six months fees, a position that still left the couple unable to pay the remaining �360 .
However, on publication of the letter, dozens of outraged readers contacted the paper offering to pay the couples outstanding contract costs. The story then circulated on Twitter, causing even more outrage and more offers of money for the couple. Others were so outraged that they decided to cancel their own memberships with the gym chain.
"Just wrote to LA Fitness and ended my membership. DD [direct debit] cancelled. Let them sue us all," said one.
The Guardian contacted LA Fitness again and it has now agreed to waive all remaining charges for the couple.
"Having reviewed the case in question, we appreciate that this is a unique situation and that the couple are undoubtedly going through a very difficult and distressing time," it said in a statement. "We appreciate that their circumstances have changed dramatically since they first signed with us, and on this occasion we will waiver any further membership fees with immediate effect."
Hannah, who is due to give birth in two weeks, said she was "gobsmacked" by the support of those who had offered to pay the couple's contract costs for them and "ecstatic" that the gym chain had changed its mind. "We really needed some good news at the moment. You have no idea how grateful we are to you and all those people who wanted to support us. You have been a complete answer to our prayers."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jan/24/la-fitness-dropping-contract-pregnant-woman
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