Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, STATE UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES NEWS: You Fit agrees to settle Florida’s deceptive practices suit, (Mar 16, 2016)
Organizations Mentioned:You Fit, LLC
By Michael Menzhuber, J.D., LL.M.
The Florida Attorney General has reached an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance with You Fit, LLC, relating to the company’s advertising and businesses practices, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced yesterday.
You Fit is a Broward-based company that operates health clubs across Florida and in several states. According to consumer complaints, the company: (1) advertised month-to-month memberships as requiring no commitment or no obligation; (2) did not disclose certain additional required commitments and fees until after members signed their contracts; and (3) in some cases, failed to acknowledge membership cancellations and continued to charge monthly fees after consumers attempted to cancel.
Pursuant to the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, You Fit must:
provide written notice of, and accurately and clearly disclose on its website, all conditions, procedures, requirements, fees, notices, policies and forms necessary for consumers to cancel memberships pursuant to the You Fit written cancellation policy;
provide all prospective customers with a copy of the Membership Agreement or Personal Training Agreement;
establish policies, and train employees on such policies, to fully disclose its cancellation procedures to prospective members before they are asked to sign an agreement;
refrain from advertising, promoting or marketing month-to-month memberships as being no commitment or no obligation unless they are truly without obligation or commitment, other than payment of the current month’s membership fee;
designate a general manager as the compliance representative at each gym location and its corporate headquarters; and
promptly cancel the Membership Agreement or Personal Training Agreement of any member who requests the cancellation in writing.
You Fit has agreed to refund all the fees collected after the date consumers cancelled their membership pursuant to You Fit’s cancellation policy and pay $65,000 for attorneys’ fees and costs of enforcement.
Companies: You Fit, LLC
News: StateUnfairTradePractices ConsumerProtection FloridaNews