Laura Schultz  |  July 28, 2015

Category: Consumer News

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24-hour-fitness-logoA new Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuit was recently filed against 24 Hour Fitness and Does 1-10. The TCPA lawsuit alleges that the defendants participated in unlawful harassment in connection with collecting an alleged consumer debt.

The 24 Hour Fitness lawsuit was brought by Shabnam V., a resident of California. According to the TCPA lawsuit, 24 Hour Fitness called her cell phone multiple times without her express consent. The company allegedly used an automatic telephone dialing system and pre-recorded artificial voice messages. The company also allegedly continued to bill Shabnam’s credit card after Shabnam canceled her membership at the fitness center and the company refused to honor her dispute to the charges.

According to the TCPA lawsuit, Shabnam bought a month-to-month gym membership to 24 Hour Fitness in 2013. In December of 2014, Shabnam cancelled the gym membership by talking to one of the front desk representatives at her local gym. But instead of cancelling the membership, 24 Hour Fitness allegedly continued to charge Shabnam $46.36 for the months of January and February 2015. In February 2015, Shabnam contacted her bank and disputed the charges to her credit card. She informed her bank that she had cancelled her 24 Hour Fitness membership in December of 2014. The bank ultimately terminated the dispute process because 24 Hour Fitness never responded to the dispute notice.

After disputing the charge with her bank, Shabnam allegedly received over 17 phones calls from 24 Hour Fitness all during the month of March. On the 19th of March, Shabnam sent a letter to 24 Hour Fitness’ corporate offices informing the company of their TCPA violations and requesting they stop contacting her. At the end of March, the calls finally stopped after Shabnam made a second written request and sent an email to the corporate offices. The phone calls made to Shabnam’s cell phone were not for emergency purposes and were for the express purpose of collecting a consumer debt, according to the 24 Hour Fitness lawsuit. This is a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Shabnam is now seeking damages.

Overview of the TCPA

The TCPA was enacted by congress in 1991 to protect consumers for unfair debt collection practices and harassing phone calls from solicitors and debt collecting companies. Violations of the TCPA include placing automated dialing calls, unsolicited text messages, not providing opt out methods for calls and or texts, calling numbers on the do not call registry, and sending unsolicited advertisements via fax machines. Consumers can collect between $500 and $1,500 for each violation of the TCPA. Some of the past reported violators of the TCPA include 24 Hour Fitness, ADT Security, Bloomingdales, Costco, Hearst Newspapers, Hoover’s, Kroger, and Wells Fargo Bank. TCPA lawsuits help hold companies accountable for their actions and serve as a reminder to businesses that they must follow state and federal laws. Whether or not a TCPA lawsuit should be brought is a decision that must be made on a case by case basis with the advise of a legal professional.

The 24 Hour Fitness TCPA Lawsuit is Case No. 2:15-cv-03665-MWF-AGR, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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If you were contacted on your cell phone by a company via an unsolicited text message (text spam) or prerecorded voice message (robocall), you may be eligible for compensation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

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One thought on 24 Hour Fitness TCPA Lawsuit Filed in Federal Court

  1. Howard Herships says:

    I have filed claims in class actions and they never send out the payments and the case is not on appeal. When i request information on the payments they kept on stating that they are working on it it is well over one year since the court approved payment. Do you have to file action against the against the law firm to get your payments?

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