I Did Not Expect This from Them

The Federal Trade Commission has sued some of the largest gym chains in the nations to end their Byzantine membership cancellation policies.

This was something that Lina Khan was working on in the last administration.

The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against the operators of several gym chains, including LA Fitness, on Wednesday over allegations that they make it too difficult to cancel memberships. And that’s probably welcome news for anyone who’s had the displeasure of trying to cancel with their gym.

The companies being sued by the FTC are Fitness International and Fitness & Sports Clubs, which own gym chains like Esporta Fitness, City Sports Club, and Club Studio. The largest chain, LA Fitness, has over 600 locations across the U.S.

The 22-page complaint, which has been posted online, details how the FTC believes LA Fitness and others have created a cumbersome process for consumers to cancel. For starters, members are required to log in to their website and print off a cancellation form. But users are encouraged at sign-up to use the LA Fitness app and a QR code, meaning that many people apparently don’t know their login information for the website. There’s no way to cancel through the app, according to the FTC.

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The FTC’s press release announcing the lawsuit also alleges that LA Fitness has trained staff to reject requests to cancel by phone or email. And “consumers who try to cancel their memberships by stopping charges to their bank or credit card find they are rebilled, often under new account numbers.” The FTC says that violates the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA). Cancelling with nothing more than a click on the app seems like it would be a reasonable and consumer-friendly way to conduct business.

“The FTC’s complaint describes a scenario that too many Americans have experienced—a gym membership that seems impossible to cancel,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a press release.

As much as it pains me to say, the Trump administration got this one right.