Extreme Fitness, Extreme Ripoff?

You only get a flyer once a month? I get 2-3 a WEEK. I'd never join the damn club for that reason alone.

I also get at least one a week

What about that "Free Membership for TTC Metropass Holders" ad that was recently in the Metro newspaper...complete rip off! I went to inquire, and was told that I would still have to pay $70-$100 a month for AT LEAST 5 months after the first "free" month. False advertising...big time!

I fell for the $15/month/no contract offer back in January. While I regret having to pay so much, it hasn't been without its benefits.

I had to pay 3 months up front ($15 x 2, plus one regular month at $96), and was told I could cancel my commitment if I gave written notice 2 weeks in advance and made a big fuss of it.

On the plus side though, they pressured me into getting a personal trainer (initially proposing I pay upward of $400 a month, but I hemmed and hawwed it down to $150). I say 'plus side' because I really had no idea what was going on with my body and he got me using the equipment properly, and I've seen really good results so far.

The nutritionists are a joke though, don't even bother talking to them. Every other sentence is about buying supplements, or asking you rearrange your life around constantly eating the most exact combinations and portions. I'm sure that's fine if you don't have a real job and can spend 3 hours a day preparing food...

I got so sick of all the flyers that I finally did 2 things:

1. http://www.reddotcampaign.ca
Here you simply print-out the one page 'letter', sign it and stick it in your mailslot. Your Canada Post mail carrier will see it and put a 'red dot' whereby you will never again receive any unaddressed junk mail! Free.

2. https://ioptout.ca
This one's a beta project by an Ottawa professor that basically continues where the do-not-call registry legistlation (seriously flawed) drops off. Free.

mishka

Interesting piece, Tim. I think the thing about not quoting you rates over the phone is standard, though? At least, I had the same experience when I looked into Curves. I even stopped by on my lunch hour one day, and they still wouldn't give me a price until I actually booked an info session with one of the trainers. I understand the idea that there can be different ranges of prices depending on what you want, but it still seems super fishy that they're so reluctant to even give you those ranges.

While I totally hate the ads I get every week, I can't get over how many of these people signed up without reading what they were signing. I can't really feel bad for someone who doesn't read a contract.

Personal trainers are included FREE at the Y. A $150 trainer is not a plus side.

dave= I know what you mean... its bad enough I get every flyer on earth through my mail slot other than MAIL... to recieve this beautifully crafted POS 2 or 3 times a month is far above from annoying.

I was actually thinking about joining this place because of this amazing deal. But then I thought how the hell would they make up for this. Places like Goodlife charge an arm and a leg to use their facilities. Well here you go. Extreme LIES!
Thats why I joined the gym at my work.. 10$month! no Lies and Deceit!

@aaron - I agree. It'd be interesting to see what the contract actually says, though. It's possible it's still very misleading.

Fitness clubs and gyms are some of the most arbitrarily priced services out there. Good luck ever finding a chain that openly lists the rates for their plans.

I'm about to start a new job, and there's an LA Fitness right beside it...given the convenience, I was thinking of joining, but after reading this, I'm a little skeptical.

Does anybody know how LA FItness is? Same sort of scam?

Thanks for the links mishka!

I heard that there may eventually be a "waste tax" in Toronto. I support the idea so I started to catalog my garbage one day (no seriously) to see what I was throwing out. I realized that more than 70% of all paper products I throw out or recycle are from unsolicited mail. I know Canada Post makes decent coin off of distributing this stuff and I would rather see a postage increase than lay off a great deal of people but this is getting to be absurd. Almost all of my building's mail is junk mail that no one wants and now the city is going to charge us for it?

Excuse the tangent. :)

My girlf checked out the Extreme Fitness next to the Para^WScotiabank Theatre. Apparently, the scammy nature of the membership was pretty obvious the moment they opened their mouths, and not even that, but the women's changing room was still being built. So she'd be paying $70-80 a month for the privilege of changing in the toilets and walking home sweaty. Not a chance.

The best hard sell experience we've had since moving to Canada though, was in that place under the Skyd^WRogers Center, where we got the full used car treatment, including a soul-crushing tour that went on forever, time limited offers that expired if we left the building, and being left alone in an office while the salesman went off to get us a better deal from his nonexistent manager. On the off-chance that they'd miked the room, we had a chat about his body odour issues, it was great fun.

Full Disclosure: I am an Extreme Fitness member and I also working in a marketing job (not with any Fitness club).

There is no scam being run by Extreme Fitness. Sure, their marketing promotions are a little exaggerated, but they do offer you the options they advertise.

Take the $15/mo no contract. You can get 2 months for that price, BUT, if you wish to continue going to the gym you have to pay some extreme price of more than $120 each month. Since no one really wants to go for just 2 months, everyone skips this option.

Next you're given another quote based on how often you want to go, what location and if you want to use their towels (yuck). That price is around $70. But, if you're a schmuck you'll just say yes and sign up for a year. But, if you press the issue you'll pay less. All you do is take control by telling them how much you'll pay. I was a member at a competing gym in university and paid $35/month. They wouldn't match that but I do pay less than $50 taxes in, etc for unlimited use and no nasty towels.

Sure, it's a lot of money each month. But, do I feel duped? No. Was I pressured to get a personal trainer? Of course, that's how they really make their money. Could I say, "NO?" Yes, and I did.

If you're joining a gym they know you're a little down on yourself and are a potential push-over. Don't be. Read some Tony Robbins and get your self-esteem up.

"t no point did they EVER make it clear that was I agreeing to a ONE YEAR CONTRACT WITH NO CHANCE OF ENDING IT EARLY."

A friend of mine is in a legal battle with one of the Extreme Fitness locations. They continued to charge her account for well over a year in excess of $800 and will not drop the charges. It's ridiculous!! I would NEVER join that gym based on her account of their policies.

"You only get a flyer once a month? I get 2-3 a WEEK. I'd never join the damn club for that reason alone."

Ditto. I stuff them (as well as random other flyers and offers) into an envelope and mail them back to locations on a rotational basis.

This is just another reason to avoid gyms altogether. You don't need a gym to be healthy! There are many alternatives to going to a gym that are just as healthy and free (e.g., biking, walking, running, body resistance exercises, sports, hanging out with friends, listening to music, reading a book?all add to good general health and wellbeing). Gyms are big business and unfortunately treat you like most big business treats their customers; like mindless spenders.

This is just another reason to avoid gyms altogether. You don't need a gym to be healthy! There are many alternatives to going to a gym that are just as healthy and free (e.g., biking, walking, running, body resistance exercises, sports, hanging out with friends, listening to music, reading a book....all add to good general health and wellbeing). Gyms are big business and unfortunately treat you like most big business treats their customers; like mindless spenders.

I cannot get the redotcampaign link to work -- anyone have any luck? I googled it, and ever link related to the site seems to be broken.

Reading a book and hanging out with friends isn't going to add inches to your arms or help you shed 20 pounds of fat, Trevor. Being 'healthy' isn't the only reason people go to gyms; changing the shape of your body can mean adding lots of muscle and not just losing lots of weight.

Take the $15/mo no contract. You can get 2 months for that price, BUT, if you wish to continue going to the gym you have to pay some extreme price of more than $120 each month. Since no one really wants to go for just 2 months, everyone skips this option.

If you have a rate like that with conditions so ridiculous that nobody takes you up on it, then it only exists to get them in the door so you can commence the hard sell, that's a scam.

It'd be like me setting up a sign that said "Free Ice Cream!" outside my shop, only agreeing to give people ice cream if they listened to a pitch and looked at the merchandise, and then informing them "Oh, the ice cream is laced with rat poison, do you still want it?"

My personal trainer was great and I actually thought the nutritionist wasn't that bad either. It was far too expensive but I got out when I couldn't afford it anymore so I don't really feel like I got ripped off.

Definitely a hard push but you can say no.

I get at least 1 large, glossy, cardstock admail piece a week from these guys. I'm collecting them to drop in their club's lobby one of these days. I'm sure they'll appreciate it as much as I do.

Their marketing practices do disgust me, though. They recently took over the Dunfield Club at Yonge & Eglinton and while I haven't been there since the takeover, I get the feeling that the place isn't what it used to be. I was a member there when Sports Clubs of Canada ran it and they were always straight-up about the monthly fees and contracts. Their belief was that everyone should pay the same monthly fees to avoid a situation where Member-X gets upset about why Member-Y is paying half of what they're paying. It worked pretty well: everyone paid the same exorbitantly high fee, and everyone got treated the same way. And I'd rather pay more for honesty than deal with cryptic contracts and hassles -- I already have to deal with that for my long distance plan, but that's another rant.

Long-distance plan? Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to ditch those now. My latest international calls (each lasted about half and hour) costed me 5 cents a piece. Check out online services.

I have been through hell and back with Extreme Fitness and I didn't even sign up with them! I joined Jump Fitness on the Danforth in 2006 and they disappeared one night, but the payments still kept coming out...turns out it was Extreme Fitness taking out those payments because they "took over" Jump yet never informed me or posted up a sign.

Other complicated details, but I had a pretty solid case and took them to the Ministry of Consumer Services. Eventually, they went away.

Bottom line - never ever pay for a gym membership with your bank account. Do you want to have to close your account because of these jerks and transfer your payroll, rent, etc?

and don't join Jump Fitness - nothing is far when there is a team of lawyers ready to discount your every ripped off dollar.

The YMCA is about $80 for a family membership, with no lock-in.

I pay 62 bucks a month and have been paying that for the past year and a half over at Eclipse Fitness. I know they're not conveniently 'everywhere' but right at the beginning from my very first tour of the place that's what they quoted me, there were no hidden fees, no extra costs, if I wanted a trainer I was recommended a few according to my goals and their individual hourly rates were discussed after. And they made it abundantly clear that was my rate. It has always been so nice and clear with these guys that I've actually gotten all healthy!
Friendly people in there and always a nice vibe. (Wish they could switch up the music though, I'm one of those non-ipod wearing exercisers. Believe it or not, loud music makes me lose count of my reps!)

Besides, who would want to join a gym for less than a year anyways? Unless you're already super fit and just looking to brush up on parts.. in which case just mooch off your friend's one-guest-per-visit rules. Thats what I did :P

The Y sucks big time! I went to the downtown near College subway for 3 months. Although I got a 50$ a month membership, I ended up leaving to join another gym, the reason overcrowding, and too many people from disadvantage backgrounds so I never felt safe.

"...and too many people from disadvantage backgrounds so I never felt safe."

Somebody call a waaaambulance.

I have been a member there for over 10 yrs until I canceled my membership recently.. I used to pay 25 bucks per month..i have to say that extreme is an incredible gym.. so when i find out they are opening one at yonge and dundas, i am thinking of joining again.. we get a corporate rate of 53 bucks per month(i am a memeber at goodlife now, but they are so dirty and smelly).. so there you go, at least you have a bench mark for your negotiation.. never sign up for personal trainer sessions.. i am sure tim can give you some tips on working out.. just look at his biceps

As someone who has been burned several times by gyms suddenly up and closing, I greatly appreciate this article. Does anyone have any comments about Goodlife? They are allegedly putting one in at Coxwell and Gerrard, and I am considering joining.

Ive been going to Fitness One for the last 6 months, and while bare bones basic, Im only paying $20/month and the personal trainers are free. No pressure, no nonsense, no glossy flyers.

Extreme Fitness has made me more angry than any other business. Apparently I "won" a free month's membership and went into the location at Richmond/John. In order to get the free month I had to sign for the year with the understanding that I could cancel at any time.

Well...I did't end up using the membership and called to cancel. I was told I had to do this in person. When I came in they had lost my paperwork, but gave me something to sign and assured me I wouldn't be charged.

My next credit card statement showed charges for 2 months worth of fees and it took months of arguing with the sales rep (Leslie Jones) to get the charge removed from my statement.

She was the most awful person I have ever had to deal with I urge all of you to stay clear of their pitches.

Total RIP OFF!

I went to a local fast food, and saw the extreme fitness "contest". I signed up. Got a call from them saying that I "won" 4 months for free. I was like "yeh!". The catch was that you had to stay with them at least 12 months. Thus I had to throw away $70 every freaking month until last month - which was finally the end of a nightmare.

Plus, they try really hard to make you purchase a personal training.