Exploring the Drawbacks of Gym Memberships: The Cost

One of the biggest drawbacks to joining a gym is the expense that it involves.  While setting up a home gym can be a bit costly as well, it is generally a one time expense that is paid when purchasing your equipment.  When buying a gym membership, however, the cost is ongoing and, in many cases, it can be difficult to get the membership cancelled.

It is important to remember that gyms are businesses and, as such, their number one priority is to make money.  Therefore, they will do everything they can to get you to purchase a long-term membership.  Getting you to agree to a one-year membership is a good deal for gyms because they know that anywhere from 20-30% of new members won’t continue to come after the first 90 days of membership.  Yet, they still have you locked into your membership for the rest of the year.

Unfortunately, many people experience problems with canceling their gym memberships.  In fact, according to the Better Business Bureau, this is one of the top complaints they receive about gyms.  Not only can difficulty with canceling your membership result in a loss of money, it can also bring down your credit score as well. 

In order to keep yourself protected when canceling your gym membership, make certain you read through your membership agreement and that you follow the proper procedures.  If you move, for example, you may be required to show proof of your move in order to cancel a prepaid membership.  In addition, make certain to document all of your correspondences with the gym when canceling your membership.  This way, you will have a paper trail to present to the credit reporting agencies if a dispute should arise.

While many people join gyms on a regular basis and enjoy great results, there are a few things you should keep in mind in order to make certain you keep yourself protected.  Most importantly, do your research before joining so you can select the gym that will be likely to provide you with the best experience possible.  Or, you can set up your own gym at home with the help of AtHomeFitness!

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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 28th, 2009 at 8:01 am and is filed under At Home Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.