Cancellation policies: Salespeople won’t always tell you this, but in most
states the law requires a three-day cooling-off period. In other words, if
you change your mind within three days, the club must refund your
money in full. If the club won’t, get your lawyer to shoot off a letter; that
should do the trick. Also, ask what happens if you quit three months after
joining. Some clubs will refund your money for any reason. But most will
offer a refund only if you move more than 25 miles from the club, if you
can prove that you have a medical condition that will prevent you from
exercising for several months, or if the club stops offering the services
promised in the contract (although many even have a way around this).272 Part VI: Conquering the Gym (Even at Home)
Four slimy sales tactics to recognize
Some clubs will try anything to rope you in. Be
prepared to combat these sales strategies:
Limited offers: “You must join right now,”
the salesperson may say, “or I can’t give
you this special deal. I’m really sorry, but the
sale ends today.” The truth is that if you
come back tomorrow, the club may offer
you an even better deal so that you don’t
walk out again. Suzanne’s gym seems to
have a membership “special” going on
every day of every month. If it’s not the
“Valentine’s Day Join-with-Your-Partner
Special” or the “March Madness Special,”
it’s the “April After-Taxes Special” or the
“May Get-Ready-for-Summer Special.”
What prospective members may not realize
is that these specials aren’t so special.
Month after the month, the offers are pretty
much the same.Creating fear or insecurity: The sales-
person may rattle off death statistics for
men your age who don’t exercise, or tell you
that women just a few years older than
you disintegrate from osteoporosis because
they don’t work out. The salesperson may
even tell perfectly healthy women that
they’re fat. This was a common practice at
a gym where Liz used to work as a train-
er. The salespeople would try to get the
trainers to test the body fat of prospectivemembers — and then inflate the numbers.
Liz, of course, refused to participate in this
scheme. Watch out: Some clubs try to make
you feel as if you can’t go on living one more
minute without a gym membership.
An answer for everything: If you say that
you have to ask your wife, the salesperson
may attack your manhood: “What’s the
matter? You need her to tell you what to do
about your health? Okay, here’s the phone.”
Then the sales associate sits there while
you make the call. If you say you can’t
afford the membership, the salesman may
say, “How can you not afford to invest in
your health?” Then he’ll whip out the con-
tract and keep inching it across the desk
toward you. Be prepared to walk out, even
as he tells you how insane you are for
doing so.The bait-and-switch: The newspaper ad
tells you one price, but when you go in, the
salesperson says, “Oh, that sale ended
yesterday, but I can give you this offer.”
Or, “You misunderstood the woman on the
phone — we can’t give you the first three
months free.” Always ask whom you’re
talking to so you can name names. Bring
the newspaper ad along so you can use it
for proof.