June 16, 2003
Mr. Art Vega
24 Hour Fitness
FAX 760-931-9077
Re: Agreements #DYXXXXX (wrong) and #DYYYYYY (right)
Dear Mr. Vega:
Imagine, if you will, that one of your customers has had to contact your
office via phone six times, and by sending the same fax twice, in trying to
straighten out accounting/membership problems that your system created.
Now imagine how much joy that customer would experience when going
to her club location yesterday to discover that your offices had cancelled
her account the day before.
There is something terribly wrong with your system. I'm sure you are
aware of this. I'm sure that I am not the only person who has ever
purchased a trial month, and then purchased a regular membership,
and then discovered your system apparently had no way of dealing with
this situation gracefully. And I'm sure I'm not the only customer who
was charged an enrollment fee that somehow didn't match up with
what your corporate office expected, so that the customer was hounded
unto death by paper bills and phone calls demanding some ghostly fee
of $79 that she did not owe. And I'm pretty sure, since I cannot be
the only one, that someone went ahead and paid the charges
they didn't owe. So I'm just guessing, here, but I'm thinking the
words "class action lawsuit" will be a big part of your personal future.
There is something wrong with your system. Apparently you have been
crediting the wrong account with my monthly membership charges, the last
of which occurred on 05/16/2003. Apparently when I signed up the second
time, my new agreement never made it into your system properly.
Apparently the first time I faxed you my second agreement, it was
dropped into a black hole. Apparently no one in your office could give a
damn about following through on anything.
I am asking you to fix this. The good agreement number is DYYYYYY. Please
make sure all my monthly payments are credited to that account. Somehow
it doesn't astonish me that your system, with which there is something
terribly wrong, failed to pick up on the fact that it should be impossible to
credit multiple monthly fees to a one month account. All I know is, you
have been charging me, monthly, for the pleasure of getting to call your
office every 3 weeks or so because you still hadn't repaired my account or
even responded to my queries.
I am politely demanding that regardless of your system, you
find a way to fix things such that I don't ever have to call you again.
Considering the number of times anyone returned my calls (0) as opposed to
my calling your office (6), I don't think it's too much to ask. All I am
asking is that you make it better. Now. Don't make me call your office
again and explain the ever-more-complex problem to yet another representative
who will in turn never follow up. Just fix this. Please.
Yours most sincerely,
Cynsa Bonorris
415-xxx-xxxx xxxx
PS: When do I get my membership card? It's been over 3 months and
counting. I think there might be something wrong with your system.
encl. Contact History, DYYYYYY Agreement
cc: Mr. Mark S. Mastrov, CEO (read the cover letter)
Member Service Dept.
PO Box 2689
Carlsbad, CA 92018
Customer: Cynsa Bonorris DYYYYYY
Contact History:
02/14/03: Signed up for one month, membership DYXXXXX
03/15/03: Signed up for monthly membership, BofA EFT Authorization
to begin 04/15/03 (see attached agreement DYYYYYY)
03/23/03: Receive letter stating that they were unable to commence EFT
due to "missing or incomplete documentation
04/08/03: Called Marie at Financial Services, gave her my credit card
again.
04/16/03: Started receiving letters and calls from Financial Services
saying I owed further $79 "promised to pay."
04/30/03: Called Gabriel at Financial Services, told him I don't owe $79
Faxed agreement DYYYYYY
05/02/03: Received another call saying I owed $79
05/03/03: Called Suzette at Financial Services, told her I don't owe $79,
asked her to stop calling to ask me for $79
05/18/03: Received another letter saying I owed $79
05/20/03: Called Marie at Financial Services, told her I don't owe $79
Faxed agreement DYYYYYY
05/30/03: Left message with Art Vega at Financial Services, told him I
don't owe $79, and would he please fix this already.
06/14/03: Account Cancelled by Financial Services
06/16/03: Called Suzette at Financial Services, told her I am losing my
desire to live. She promised to give message to Art Vega.
06/16/03: Faxed Art Vega telling him there is something terribly wrong
with their system.
denoument: on 07/03/03 I was finally contacted by someone at 24 hour fitness.
this was almost three months, to the day, that I first called them.
I was told they had "straightened out" my account and would start billing/
crediting me on the proper account number as of 08/01. I
explained that that would mean I would end up double-paying
for 2 weeks, since I was currently on a mid-month bill date.
after repeating the problem various different ways, I finally
got through: the service rep amended that she would
bill me on the 15th, but in addition, for all my trouble,
they would gift me w/ one month free. I forebore to explain
to her how much of my time had been wasted, and how much it was
worth, and how I had lost a bunch of gym time, already
paid for, because I didn't want the hassle of getting stopped
at the door and harrassed and have to explain repeatedly that
the error was on their side.
two days later I received my membership card, almost four
months after signing up for a long-term membership.
I have since then, to date, experienced no further
difficulties with their system. but I still think there is
something terribly wrong with it.
June 17, 2003
Mr. Mark S. Mastrov, CEO
24 Hour Fitness Worldwide, Inc.
12647 Alcosta Blvd., 5th Fl.
San Ramon, CA 94583
Re: My relationship with 24 Hour Fitness Financial Services
Dear Mr. Mastrov:
Attached please find a letter I think you might find of some interest,
faxed to your Financial Services offices on June 16th. This fax details
my tragic, star-crossed relationship with that entity, which has been so
wholly unresponsive as to make me wonder if perhaps, maybe, they just don't
care. Not even a little.
This would sadden me greatly, because I have spent so much time and
attention on them. Of course, I have no way of knowing their emotions
on the matter, as they have never been so kind as to actually call me back,
ever. And yet, they keep taking my money, and then sending me letters asking
for more money, which I do not owe them. It's very puzzling, but such is
the nature of our relationship.
I thought my situation might merit attention from you higher-ups. Plus,
it's mighty fine reading. Enjoy!
Yours most sincerely,
Cynsa Bonorris
xx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
