24 Hour Fitness Class Action Filed over Renewal Fees

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24 Hour Fitness has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit claiming the fitness chain fraudulently enticed customers into purchasing supposed prepaid “lifetime memberships” in violation of various state contract and trade practices laws.

Plaintiffs Kevin O’Shea, Mark Vitcov, and Rod Morris filed the class action lawsuit on April 2 in California saying that they were lured into purchasing lifelong memberships by sales representatives who verbally represented the annual renewal rate would be locked in for a lifetime.

Specifically, O’Shea purchased membership with a lump-sum pre-payment of $700 in January 2008, under the guise that his annual renewal fee rate would be locked in at $49 which he paid up until January 2016 when the renewal fee was raised to $124.

Vitcov and Morris also allege similar deceptive experiences with the fitness chain, including the oral sales pitches and promises that 24 Hour Fitness would cap the Annual Renewal Fee at a lifetime rate.

“First, after convincing consumers to purchase a lifelong membership, 24 Hour Fitness’s Membership Counselors were instructed to tell potential members that they did not need to read the fine print on the written membership contracts because they were for ‘lifetime membership’ – as was verbally represented,” the lawsuit states.

According to the class action, for two decades, 24 Hour Fitness sales representatives have used “a uniform set of marketing tactics and aggressive sales pitches to induce consumers into purchasing ‘lifetime memberships’ to its gym, where they prepaid three years worth of membership fees and, in exchange, only had to pay nominal annual renewal fees for each year thereafter.”  The lawsuit claims that these annual renewal fees were supposed to remain constant for the remainder of the “lifetime” contract.

Now under new ownership, the gym announced that they would no longer be honoring the Lifetime Fee Guarantees and began alerting members that their fees would increase in 2016, in most cases either double or triple their previous rates. This didn’t sit well with members, as many consumers took to social media and internet, posting complaints on 24 Hour Fitness’ alleged renege on its promise.

However, 24 Hour Fitness fired back, pointing to the fine print located on membership contract and argued that the gym is permitted to increase all subsequent annual renewal rates on prepaid memberships as it wishes, regardless of the uniform promises made by their membership counselors.

The plaintiffs are seeking Class certification on behalf of themselves and similarly situated 24 Hour Fitness members in the United States, with three separate subclasses for residents of California, Oregon, and Texas. They are requesting reformation of their written contracts to reflect a lifetime membership with its attended guarantees and restitution, statutory, and punitive damages.

The plaintiffs are represented by Todd M. Logan of Edelson PC.

The 24 Hour Fitness Lifetime Membership Fees Class Action Lawsuit is O’Shea, et al. v. 24 Hour Fitness USA Inc., Case No. 3:16-cv-1668 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division.

UPDATE: January 2018, the 24 Hour Fitness prepaid membership class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.