ComplaintsforMovati Athletic

• Initial Complaint

  08/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I initially signed a 12 month contract with movati in thunder bay while I was working in the area for my job. Before I signed up, I was convinced by the club sales member that I was able to utilize the gym in Thunderbay and continue utilizing my membership in Edmonton once I returned home. The convincing point was that Edmonton Movati was also opening a gym very close to my home in Manning Edmonton. I have returned to Edmoton and the Mannign club is still NOT opened, but luckily I could freeze my account for a few weeks, but I wanted to transfer my membership to someone else and I was told there was a $75 fee which isn't stated in the contract or informed to me when i signed up. I was told that my "select" membership is not valid in Edmonton or the new location in Manning as it is not the "all access" membership. I find it odd because that was not what I was told and the Windermere Movati website calls their membership "select" as well (when it is actually referring to their All Access membership type). I know the sales representative gets a commission and I can see why Movati makes it so hard to cancel or will say just about anything to convince people to sign up. I also dont get what their facility enhancement fee is when almost all their gyms have it. The facility enhancement seems like a price gouger. I understand the contract is for 12 months but I feel like I was definitely misled and their contract type (select,classic) is definitely misrepresented.

• Initial Complaint

  18/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Started one year contract for personal training for my 17 year old son on December 8, 2023. The trainer continually texted my son to schedule training even though my son told him he was unwell. Due to pressure, he showed up on 5 separate occasions, and ended up vomiting in the garbage can each time. The trainer continued to pressure my minor aged son to book training. Instead of notifying the contract hold (me) that there was an issue, January 17, 2024, the trainer charged me $1059.94 for 14 personal training sessions that were not used due to no show. This charge was in excess of the monthly $681.39. A minor aged person cannot be held to a contract and I should have been involved in the scheduling of sessions and been notified of missed sessions before it became a $1059 issue. In addition, the trainer has removed more than 20 sessions from my contract due to no show.

• Initial Complaint

  12/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company has agreed to stop taking payments due to not supplying what we agreed upon, but they are still taking payments. I am flagging this as fraudulent with my bank *** **** *** ******** ******* ****** and I have been advised to come to see you to get my money back and to file another complaint.

  Business response

  04/03/2024

  Good Morning

  We do apologize for this inconvenience and have made correction to our error. I have been informed that the bank has completed a reversal of the payments that had been taken in error.

  Please let me know if I am able to assist in anyway further

• Initial Complaint

  12/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I have a membership at the MOVATI Athletic gym. I wanted to stop my membership. It is in my contract that is not possible to pause a membership. I was struggling Financially and missed a number of payments. I had a $45 NSF fee for every missed $47 payment. This I take responsibility for are you called into the gym and spoke with someone who told me that they could in fact close my account or put it on pause not to worry. The payments stop going through my account when I looked at the app. My account stated that I could renew my membership by coming into the gym. It’s important to note the wording renew the membership. I also got numerous emails, inviting me to renew my membership and come back to Movati I did know that there is a $47 owing. That was the last amount that I saw on my. I went into the office to renew my membership and was advised that I owed a sum of $375 I could not use the gym I could not cancel the membership officially until I had paid out all of these fees and then I was going to continue incurring $47 biweekly until I paid. I insisted on speaking to a manager who told me the exact same thing that because they did not have any writing that I was stopping my membership that all of the fees biweekly $47 for several months redo, and they could not stop my membership until they were paid. The following week I received a letter in the mail from a collection agency. I did not receive any messaging, indicating that I had outstanding fees that were accumulating let alone that they were on the verge of being sent to a collection agency. It is not my fault that their front and stuff misinformed me. I called to say that I had to cancel my membership because I was unable to make the payments. At this point to simply be done with the organization, I’m happy to pay what they are asking for which is $474 provided that they correct my account with the credit agencies so that this does not reflect on my credit report.

• Initial Complaint

  20/11/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I started my Movati Membership during COVID. I needed a pool to assist with my mobility. Since the start of my membership, I have paid 3 months in advance. For the past 6 months, my health has been deteriorating ( increasingly difficult to leave my home). The last time I went to the gym (August 2023) I asked how many months I had left and to cancel my membership.I paid until Oct and since my membership is month to month there is nothing I need to do to cancel the membership, I was billed 5.92 Oct 27. I called the gym (Oct 28) and informed them I was indeed misinformed I would have canceled then. I indicated I had paid the last two months rather than selling my membership as I did not have the energy or health. This is when I was informed that because I prepay (I feel very stupid and too trusting) I was not able to transfer the membership so I had no choice but to let my money be taken..... I said I had my membership canceled and I wanted a refund for the $5 as I had already stupidly donated to a million-dollar enterprise. I told them again that I was having health issues and going to a gym to cancel was not an option. I called again Nov 3rd left a message as there was no followup 1. there is no indication on their website of the process to cancel - bad faith 2. During COVID the gym had the capacity to cancel membership via email and over the phone - *** ***** *** ******** ** ***** ** *** ****** *** ******** 3. I called the gym, messaged on ********, and sent numerous emails, and nothing.... so they are not responding to continue to ***** money from me knowing I am unable to physically go to the club 4. I signed a petition against Movati in September due to their business choices and was under the impression my membership was being canceled in October...... it is clear I did not want my membership to continue 5 I paid in good faith roughly $100/month and this is not customer service *** ***** *PLEASE CANCEL MY MEMBERSHIP AND STOP THEM **** ******** ****

  Customer response

  13/12/2023

  Re: You have a New Message from BBB Serving Central Ontario Complaint #******** ***** ****** <***********@*******.com> Tue, Dec 12, 10:44 PM
  to Better, me, *****
  I have heard from them and they took more money and mistakenly put me on medical leave instead of canceling my membership. ***** *** ******
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  28/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  I have been a Movati client since 2021, maintaining an annual membership paid through my company's benefits provider. On September 13, 2023, Movati Windsor emailed me, stating that my membership had expired. However, my 2022 membership agreement showed it was valid until September 24, 2023. I responded, expressing my intention to renew it at the same terms (price and on an annual basis).Upon arriving at the gym to renew, I was informed that I'd have to pay the current annual rate offered to new clients unless I switched to a monthly payment plan. I reminded them of our email discussion, emphasizing my loyalty and upfront payment history. To utilize my benefits to cover the gym membership, I must have an annual membership agreement. Dissatisfied with their response, I left the gym without renewing.On September 17, 2023, I received another email allowing me to renew annually at the same rate. When I visited the gym to complete the transaction, a different employee, charged me for the year but provided an inaccurate membership agreement (start date, payment frequency, and amount paid are all incorrect!). Despite raising this issue on the spot and multiple subsequent attempts, it was not resolved as promised. No one has called or emailed me, so I reached out to the gym and spoke with the general manager who was very defensive, impolite, and unprepared, as mentioned in other complaints by clients. She could not explain why loyal clients have to pay more if they wish to remain on an annual basis membership. She seemed more focused on offering to cancel my renewal than on issuing and fixing the inaccurate agreement provided by her employee. This was very disappointing! After explaining multiple times that I need an accurate agreement to obtain a refund from my company's benefits provider, she promised a corrected agreement within 24 hours, but as of September 23, 2023, it remains undelivered.Movati Athletic's business practices and management have been ************** *** questionable, causing me to lose trust in them. For the record, I do not consent or authorize Movati Athletic to retain my credit card or banking information on file, as I paid for my annual membership on September 17, 2023, with no additional charges expected. This request was also communicated to the general manager, who promised to delete my payment information from the system.

  Business response

  12/10/2023

  Movati Athletic reserves the right to adapt pricing to the current economically status. A one year PIF membership expires every year, and therefor so does the pricing. We did make the decision to have PIF memberships go to the new rate as a necessary business decision but to honour loyalty if a PIF member would switch to month to month with banking on file, we could retain their price. We do allow a member to make the full year payment that stays on as a credit, to avoid monthly charges to their banking.  As this is an on-going contract, there is no need to renew yearly and it doe maintain the terms of the agreement.  The team member did make an error when setting up, and worked as quickly as they could to correct. We were able to provide a official receipt that could be submitted but needed longer then the 24 hours asked based on our process. We do apologies for that delay and it has been sent. The new membership requires to have the banking information on file based on the month to month set up. If a member does not wish to have banking the PIF is/was still an option, but the pricing would increase when the membership expires yearly if our membership rates have gone up. 

  Customer response

  14/10/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I'd like to clarify that, contrary to what Movati has stated in their response, I have not received the corrected membership agreement. Additionally, I have made follow-up attempts both in person and via email **** *********** but have not received any response or updates. Movati had assured me that this would be sent to me by email, and they possess my contact information (email, phone number, and address). However, nothing has been provided since October 23, 2023. Therefore, given their claim that this has been provided, I request proof!

  Regarding the retention of my banking/credit card information on file, I have paid for an annual membership in full. I do not consent to having my banking/credit card information stored since there are no further charges until September 2024. With that in mind, I will contact Movati before my membership expires in September 2024 if I wish to keep my membership and switch to a month-to-month basis.
  
  Finally, I would like to strongly encourage Movati Athletic to invest in the proper recruitment and training of their staff, including those in leadership roles. This continuous back-and-forth and poor client experience could have been avoided if they had been transparent and upfront when they contacted me to renew my membership agreement in September 2023.

  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ********* ** *****

• Initial Complaint

  09/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I wanted to end my membership at MOVATI athletic as I had gotten injured at work in December of 2022 not being able to go back to the gym till I recover I decided to have my membership put on hold they told me I can’t put the membership on hold and I’ll have to cancel it I tried canceling over the phone and was told by an employee that I have to come in person to end my membership contract ***** **** ****** * *** **** ** ** ****** ** **** *** **** * *** ***** ** ****** I walked into MOVATI and cancelled my membership in person and now after almost 9 months I received a call from collections to pay a remainder fee of the amount for all the months my membership had been active and I haven’t been going in I’m not going to be paying a single dollar for because they have decided to not cancel my membership and the paperwork I signed to get the membership cancelled wasn’t sent to me either on my email.

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