Charlotte* loves exercising and was excited to enroll in a specialized yoga practice at a local studio. She eventually agreed to purchase a $1000 year-long membership upfront and received a credit card receipt after the transaction but no contract.
When Charlotte found out that the studio was under new ownership, was offering a different type of yoga, and her membership could be transferred but that no refund would be given, she was frustrated. “The new owners weren’t offering the specialized practice of yoga I signed up for. The previous owner had other locations she offered to transfer my membership to, but they were far from my home.” Charlotte didn’t want to sue the yoga studio but she knew she wasn’t being treated fairly. On the advice of a close friend, Charlotte contacted Consumer Protection BC, which regulates elements of gym contracts.
Consumer Protection BC’s investigation into the matter revealed that Charlotte had never received a copy of the contract and hadn’t received a refund even after she provided an official notice of cancellation. Thanks to Consumer Protection BC’s involvement, the studio owner provided Charlotte with a refund of $400. Charlotte was ecstatic and very appreciative of the work provided by Consumer Protection BC. “I was just thankful that somebody helped me. I thought my money was gone.”
*Name changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved
Interested in more information?
This is a real story of a consumer who came to us for help. The type of contract the yoga studio should have had in place is called continuing services contract. These contracts generally also apply to gym memberships, dance lessons, personal training, weight loss programs or self-defense classes. At Consumer Protection BC, we are responsible for regulating specific parts of these contracts – including consumer cancellation rights and what information must be in the contract.
For more information about your rights and responsibilities when it comes to these contracts, please visit “cancelling a gym membership?” section of our website. If you are interested in reading more consumer stories, please read our 2015 Annual Report.
ADDITIONAL READING:
What would you do? A guide to being a savvy consumer: gym memberships
Work out the details of your gym contract before signing!
Joining a gym? Here’s why you should “sweat” your membership, first
Am I missing something? She paid $1,000 and only got $400 back????
Hi Arlene, thank you for your question! Perhaps it is not clear from the post but Charlotte had used up parts of her membership (a few months worth) so that is why she received a partial refund for her remaining membership. I’m glad you asked the question to clarify.
Hi,
I have been trying to cancel a membership at a local hot yoga studio. I initially signed up for a two year membership. After a year, the nature of the classes, time frames, and teachers started to constantly shift towards high intensity fitness classes and not the yoga flow that was available at the beginning.
I gave them two verbal notices last December, followed by an email to the business owner-which was responded to in January. I have noticed that they continue to withdraw monthly payments from my credit card. When I called them about this, I was told that they would continue to do so until I went in and allowed them 50% of the remaining monthly payments.
Do I have any recourse?
Thank you.
Hi Lynn, thank you for your questions. If the yoga studio has changed the services that were originally offered, it is considered a material change by the supplier. If you feel as though the yoga studio is no longer offering what you signed up for, then you are within your rights to cancel.
To cancel your contract based on material change in the circumstances of the business, print off and fill out our cancellation form and send it directly to the business. Send the form and your proof to the business in a way that allows you to get proof of delivery, like registered mail, fax or email.
Keep copies for your records and be sure to follow up with the business. It is always a good idea to confirm a contract cancellation; the law gives the business 15 days to respond.
If you are still having trouble cancelling or getting a refund, contact us directly. Our phone number here is 1-888-564-9963. I hope this helps and best of luck!
Hi,
Similar but different issue here.
Yoga studio said they were closing permanently because of Covid-19. We had bought classes a couple weeks prior and had not used any. They say they don’t offer any refunds. Is this even legal? Moreover, they have another website still up and running and they use the same business name in the small legal characters. Meaning the business still exist under a different form.
Thanks,
Simon
Hi Simon, do you happen to know if the business filed for bankruptcy? If so, you may have some options to file as a creditor in the bankruptcy. You may want to ask the studio about this and find out who the trustee is (if they did declare bankruptcy) for further instructions on how to proceed.
When businesses close down, it can be really challenging to try to receive any money owed from them, as there is likely little money left to draw from. If you would like to speak to a lawyer, you can use the Lawyer Referral Service here.
Thanks Kevin,
It doesn’t seem like they did.
When asking about refunds, they don’t answer to emails. However, when I asked if they still provided classes and retreats, they referred me to their other website, which is using the same legal name. To me, it seems like they are just trying to avoid refunding people, and keep doing business other ways. They also seem to delete any comments about refunds on social media.
Hi Simon, does it look like their physical location is still open, or have they moved to online classes? You may want to refer to this article and follow the cancellation procedures listed there. I hope this helps!
Simon,
Is this studio located in Nelson, BC by chance?
Also, I would like to ask if a particular training counts as contuing service.
I had paid for 200hrs of Yoga Teach Training program and the training changed to online format. This training also included access to their studio classes, so I suppose in a way it would have been continuing service.
It has been over a week since sending them the cancellation for material change form and no response.
Hi Tesia, I would recommend following up with the business to see if they’ve received the form first. If they don’t respond to you after 15 days, please submit a complaint through our website so we can better assess the situation. Please also include all of the documentation related to your previous attempts at contacting the business to cancel the contract when you file the complaint. I hope this helps!
Hi there,
I am being told my a local hot yoga studio that I have to pay 50% of my remaining contract in order to cancel. However, the studio is currently closed and is only offering classes online now. The classes are certainly not “hot yoga” at home and the entire reason I pay for a studio is because I don’t have the space at home. This is considered a material change from what I understand, but am I obligated to pay 50% of my remaining contract to have my contract cancelled?
Hi Mari, it may depend on how the contract was written but we would like to get more details of your situation. Would you be able to submit a formal complaint to us online? It’s on our website here. Once submitted, someone from our team will contact you. Thank you!
Thank you for your help!
I received a 10 class yoga pass as a gift last year. The studio was closed (Covid) for a while and has been open for a number of months now.
They initially said that the class passes would not receive a longer expiry period. I contacted them and they offered me 2 months.
I have used 5 of the 10 classes and my expiry period has come. I asked them if they can extend it further and they said no, but if I buy either 5 or 10 more classes they’ll add my remaining 5 to it.
Can you please let me know if this is legal? I’m not going to take legal action against them, but I would like to use the passes and due to being laid off (lack of work) I don’t have the money right now to buy more.
Thanks again and have an amazing week!
Hi Jax, thank you for reaching out to us. Punch card classes are different from contract-based memberships and you may just have to negotiate with your yoga studio again. This may not be what you were hoping to hear but consumer protection laws in BC do not speak specifically to an extension on punch card type of arrangements. I hope you will be able to reach a resolution with your yoga studio!
I love my pilates studio and the service they provide. However, they recently changed from a punchcard type contract to a set monthly fee for the twice weekly classes I take. The problem lies in statutory holidays when the studio is closed. Since one of my classes is on a Monday, almost every month one of my classes is cancelled. The onus is on me to “reschedule” that class. The problem lies in the fact that I don’t have many days I am available, and they don’t have many alternative dates to choose from. So inevitabley what ends up happening, is that I loose a class each month. Should I be charged for a day that they are closed? That just doesn’t seem right.
Thank you for your help.
Hi Debbie, thank you for getting in touch with us. We do oversee fitness facility contracts but only certain aspects and not how classes are offered. If you want to cancel your contract, you have cancellation rights under certain circumstances but if that’s not what you’re looking for, you would have to directly negotiate with the business. Just in case you are interested in cancelling, here’s a link to the page that has detailed information on this.