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24 Hour Fitness USA Inc. has reportedly agreed to settle a consolidated class action lawsuit accusing the fitness club of increasing gym membership fees despite promising consumers that the annual renewal rate for “lifetime memberships” would remain the same for a lifetime.
Plaintiffs Kevin O’Shea, Mark Vitcov and Rod Morris filed the first 24 Hour Fitness class action lawsuit on April 1, 2016. Plaintiff Russell Marchewka filed a similar membership fee class action lawsuit against the fitness club on April 29, 2016.
The plaintiffs allege 24 Hour Fitness promised them that, if they purchased a prepaid membership, their annual renewal amount would remain fixed as long as they remained members in good standing.
They claim that these representations were made to prospective members in 24 Hour Fitness’ advertising and marketing materials. However, the plaintiffs say that their contracts did not guarantee that the annual renewal amounts would be fixed.
According to the 24 Hour Fitness class action lawsuit, the following contract terms were buried in fine print: “The initial renewal amount … is for the first 12 month renewal term only immediately following the expiration of your prepaid term” and “24 Hour … may increase all subsequent renewal amounts….”
The plaintiffs assert that 24 Hour Fitness began increasing the annual renewal amounts for certain members in June 2015.
24 Hour Fitness disputes the plaintiffs’ argument that this information was buried in fine print because it was located on the first page of the membership agreement under the bold heading: “Prepaid Initial Annual Renewal Amount (Optional Renewal).” The fitness club maintains that its membership fee increases were appropriate.
The two 24 Hour Fitness class action lawsuits were consolidated on June 28, 2016 and captioned In re: 24 Hour Fitness Prepaid Memberships Litigation.
24 Hour Fitness filed a bid to dismiss the membership fee class action lawsuit, and a federal judge granted the motion on Sept. 1. The plaintiffs subsequently filed an amended complaint and the parties engaged in mediation.
24 Hour Fitness denies the allegations but agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle the renewal fee class action lawsuit and avoid the burden and expense of ongoing litigation.
Class Members of the proposed 24 Hour Fitness settlement include anyone who enrolled in a 24 Hour Fitness membership agreement marketed or sold after April 1, 2006 which allows the member to prepay between one and three years of dues and renew annually for an annual renewal amount, and who maintained the prepaid membership on or after April 1, 2015.
Under the terms of the proposed 24 Hour Fitness settlement, Class Members are eligible to claim a refund of the extra fees they paid. They will also have the opportunity to keep their membership fees fixed for life as long as they remain in good standing. Members who do not file a claim will have their membership fees capped and will automatically receive a 10 percent refund on fees they already paid.
Top Class Actions will post updates to this 24 Hour Fitness class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.
The plaintiffs are represented by Edelson PC, Finkelstein Thompson LLP, Chimicles & Tikellis LLP, and Tycko & Zavareei LLP.
The 24 Hour Fitness Membership Renewal Fee Class Action Lawsuit is In re: 24 Hour Fitness Prepaid Memberships Litigation, Case No. 4:16-cv-01668, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
UPDATE: January 2018, the 24 Hour Fitness prepaid membership class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.
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88 thoughts on24 Hour Fitness Reaches $1.5M Renewal Fee Class Action Settlement
is it to late?grand opening 24 hour fitteness 3years up fround 1 year free and 29$dollers a,year for life after that well 2017 they 5×the amount .and said noway we will not honor it for a year i argued with them and go noteses saying they would sew me for payments no relizing one letter was for a claim it it to late for any action it can do now 2years latter?
i just found out about this in September 2019. 24 hour fitness says i was mailed something. However, i can say unequivocally that i never received anything about the lawsuit.
What can i do now?
I did not receive my check, after sending in my claim form. Additionally, my membership is cancelled. They stated that I did not renew last year, and I did.
Hello, I never received my refund after submitting all proper paerwork. My wife who submitted at the same time received hers. 24hr has been no help. They keep referring me to the 3rd party surveyor. They can’t say who it is though. Any help in this situation would be greatly appreciated.
We were listed in the Law suit and sent paperwork in prior to the June 5th. 2018 deadline, but we received no reimbursement for our lifetime membership.
John & Vi Haskell
24 Hour Fitness sent me a check and it was only good for 30 days. I deposited it in under 30 days but by the time their bank received it, the 30 days had passed. They stopped payment and I was charged a fee from my credit union. Now it’s like pulling teeth to get them to pay up.
how do you get a check re-issued. i moved and received it to my old address but it was over the 90 days.
I’m going through the same thing and have called corporate many times bit still no resolution. It’s a pain in the ads!
If you find anything out, I would love to know. Michael
i just went back on the site and this is what it states…
Per the Settlement Agreement, any unclaimed funds from void checks will be escheated to the States. Class members who did not timely cash their check will receive a notice from the Settlement Administrator about how to claim their funds from the state via the escheatment process, in early 2019. You must follow the process in that notice to claim your funds, as the Settlement Administrator can no longer process requests for check reissuances.
so I guess we wait for early 2019. let me know if you find anything!! thakns
If you missed that sort check cashing period the funds are supposed to be escheated to the states the administrator was supposed to contact you about the procedure to claim the funds.So far I have had no luck with this.Mine was sen’t in an unmarked envelope and was missed,this being related to a neurological problem.Keep at them till it gives good luck!
I signed up for the 24 hour settlement.
I paid the up front cost and payed $49.99 plus tax after 3 years.
I paid several years of $49.99 and later 24 hour fitness raised to over $200/7ear
I refused to pay for the increase membership fee and 24 hr discontinued my membership.
My question is how do I rejoin 24 fitness for $49.99 plus tax per year after settlement?
I stopped by one of the 24 hour fitness location at my area and the manager there do not
know anything about it.
Please help
I canceled my membership back in 2015 when they jacked it up from $49/yr to $100/yr. I was told that by the end of August, I would get a letter granting me reinstatement of my original membership agreement. It’s already September 4. When I can expect that letter? Or do I need to call someone?
I got mine in the mail today and was able to logon and paid for a whole year of membership online.
It looks like the judge signed off the settlement on June 1. When can I expected my refunds and reduction of my yearly dues. Thank you.
We received our refund checks in the amount of $420.00 and $320.00 respectively on August 24, 2018.
(Me and my wife)
That’s same thing happened to me. I just didn’t pay attention. But 650 up front for the those 3 urs and 49.99 renewals made sense. But then , it went up to 70 then to 99.99. How do I get in this suit ???