TIL my gym in Dallas was charging me $15 a month for a "maintenance fee" I never noticed for 2 years

I was looking at my bank statements after switching banks and saw 24 separate $15 charges from Gold's Gym that I swore were part of my normal membership. I called them and they said it was for equipment upkeep but I was already paying $40 a month for the basic plan - has anyone else gotten hit with hidden fees like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

emerym3629d ago

Gold's Gym is NOTORIOUS for this, it's like their whole business model. That $15 "maintenance fee" is something they add to almost all their contracts now, they call it a "facility enhancement fee" or something dumb like that. You probably signed something that had it buried in the fine print, but the truth is most front desk people don't even mention it when you sign up. They bank on people not checking their statements close enough, and two years is a long time for them to pocket that extra cash. You should file a complaint with the Texas Attorney General's office, they've gone after gyms for deceptive fees before. Also check if your original contract actually lists that fee anywhere, if it doesn't you might be able to get that money back.

olivia_moore29d ago

Wow, that's a pretty impressive scam they've got going. Sounds like they're charging you for the privilege of keeping their treadmills slightly less dusty. Maybe next time you can negotiate a "customer breathing their air" fee to round it out.

emmaclark29d ago

Hold up, wait. Two years? TWO whole years of paying that fee without noticing? That's honestly wild to me but also totally believable because gyms make everything so confusing on purpose. These companies know exactly what they're doing with those buried fees in tiny print. The fact that they added $15 every single month and nobody at the front desk ever mentioned it is just shady business practice all the way. Makes me wonder how many other people are getting hit with this same thing and have no idea they're being charged extra.