Should You Receive a Coronavirus Quarantine Gym Membership Reimbursement?

If you purchased a gym membership that you are unable to use due to the coronavirus pandemic, you may be able to request a coronavirus refundor reimbursement from your gym.

Did You Pay for a Gym Membership Before Coronavirus Quarantine?

Even in normal times, Americans waste billions of dollars each year on gym memberships that they do not use. According to one study from 2019, approximately 82 million people in the U.S. spend more than $26 billion a year on gym memberships. More than 6% of these memberships go unused.

Under normal circumstances, it may be time consuming or difficult to get a gym to reimburse you for the cost of an unused membership. However, if you have not been able to use your membership due to the coronavirus outbreak, you may be entitled to a refund.

While some members have been unable to go to their gym due to the business being closed, many former gym goers may not feel safe going back to their work outs. Even with social distancing or masks, indoor gyms may feel like too much of a risk for some consumers.

As unused gym memberships may add up to hundreds of dollars a year for each member, recovering the cost of these fees may be important to you if you have been unable to go to the gym. Approximately 45% of gym members report spending $30 or less on their membership each month, with 55% spending more than $30.

Should You Receive a Coronavirus Quarantine Gym Membership Reimbursement?

Gyms are reacting to the coronavirus pandemic in many different ways. While some gyms have shut down entirely, others are still operating, but requiring members to wear masks or social distance. Depending on which gym you are a member of, you may have an easier or harder time pursuing a gym membership reimbursement.

Some gyms automatically notified members that their memberships would be paused or frozen for the duration of the pandemic. However, some consumers have reported that while their membership was initially frozen during the first period of quarantine in their state, the gym reactivated their membership after several weeks or months.

According to one woman who worked out at her New York City gym almost every day before the pandemic hit, her membership was frozen in mid-March 2020 when non-essential businesses were shut down by the state. However, after gyms were allowed to reopen after several months, she claims that her membership was restarted.

As she did not want to return to the gym due to the ongoing pandemic, she emailed the gym, but received a message stating that the company’s systems were frozen and that minimal staff were monitoring the emails.

She claims that she also attempted to call the gym, and was told that she would need to come in person if she wanted to cancel the membership. When she went in, she claims that she was given a form that stated she would need to pay a fee in order to cancel. This fee was eventually waived.

Are Any Gym Chains in the U.S. Offering Refunds?

Many gyms have offered to freeze consumers’ memberships for the duration of the pandemic, and no major gym chain is advertising refunds for people who don’t feel safe going to the gym. However, if calling and emailing your gym to request a refund doesn’t work, you may still have options available.

However, several gyms have declared bankruptcy due to the pandemic, making it unlikely that their members will be able to recover any reimbursement for their fees. These gyms include 24 Hour Fitness, Gold’s Gym, and Town Sports.

In order to protect consumers, some states are taking it upon themselves to stop gyms from charging membership fees to people who are unable to use the gym. According to a judge’s ruling in New York in early October, gyms in the state have been temporarily halted from charging dues, fines, or penalties to members who have submitted membership cancellation requests since March 16, 2020.

Have Any Coronavirus Gym Refund Lawsuits Been Filed?

Several gyms have been hit with recent lawsuits regarding membership fees that members claim were charged even when the gyms were closed. If you have been charged membership fees for a gym that was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, you may be eligible to speak with an experienced attorney about the next steps for pursuing reimbursement. Some victims may be able to file a gym membership reimbursement class action lawsuit against their gym.