Around 77 million Americans hold gym memberships, according to the 2025 US Health & Fitness Consumer Report (1). With gyms charging average monthly dues of $65 (2), Americans are spending a lot of money to stay in shape.
But what happens if your gym membership is no longer worth it, you want to cancel, and your gym doesn’t cooperate? Let’s pretend, for example, that Xavier has a gym membership he signed up for two years ago. The membership is month-to-month, so he has the right to cancel, and he wants to do so.
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The problem is that the gym contract requires him to talk to a staff member to cancel — and the gym doesn’t actually have any staff. Xavier has visited the gym at different hours, called, emailed, and sent letters, but no staff member is ever present, no one answers the phone, and no one responds.
Now, Xavier is in a situation where he is being billed each month, and he doesn’t know what he can do about the situation. So, what can Xavier do?
Read the cancellation contract carefully
The first key thing to do if you have a gym membership you don’t want is to ensure you’re following the cancellation procedure exactly.
“Check your contract and make sure it allows for cancellation based on what you agreed to in the documentation,” Bobbi Rebell (3), CFP® and consumer finance expert at BadCredit.org (4), told MoneyWise. “Make sure you have the right to cancel. It should say in the contract what the cancellation procedure is, so follow that. If it is not clear, and assuming you have the right to cancel, communicate your request to cancel in writing.”
Xavier should double-check his contract to make sure he’s doing what he’s supposed to do in order to end the membership. Of course, the problem in his case is that his contract requires him to cancel via a staff member, and he can’t get in touch with one.
Get help from your payment source
Since the gym has effectively made it impossible for Xavier to cancel his contract, his next best option is to get help from the payment source.
“If they are charging you on a credit card, contact the credit card issuer and let them know what is going on,” advised Rebell. “You will likely need to formally dispute the charges, but that will at least get their attention and should stop future charges. If they are taking money using a debit card or autopay from a bank account, contact that bank or financial institution and tell them what is going on, and have them stop payments.”
Unfortunately, Xavier has already tried this technique, and now he’s getting notifications that his payments are past due, and he’s worried about potentially being sent to collections.
Keep records and know your rights
Since the gym or billing company is alerting Xavier that his payments are due and is giving him no options to stop his membership, his last best option is to know his rights and make sure he’s got a clear paper trail to enforce them.
In many states, the law protects against this kind of abusive behavior. For example, Xavier is in Oregon, and Oregon Revised Statutes §646A.295 (5) states the following:
“A person making automatic renewal or continuous service offers shall provide a toll-free telephone number, electronic mail address, a post-office address only when the person directly bills the consumer, or another cost-effective, timely, and easy-to-use mechanism for cancellation that must be described in the acknowledgment required by subsection (1)(c) of this section.”
Xavier can cite this law and show his record of cancellation attempts to dispute any negative information on his credit report or to defend himself if the gym takes legal action to collect past due payments. He just needs to make sure he has proof.
“Keep careful records — that paper trail will be essential,” Rebell said. “That means emailing them, calling, texting, and so on. If the business is unresponsive, you can also contact your state’s consumer protection authorities.”
Since the law is clearly on his side, Xavier should make sure no payments come out of his accounts by getting help from the credit card company.
He should also watch his credit report, dispute any negative information related to the gym membership, and be ready to fight against collection activities. He may even be able to take the gym to small claims court if he experiences any financial loss in the process.
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Health And Fitness (1), (2); Bad Credit (3), (4); Oregon Public Law (5)
This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: She tried to cancel her gym membership but no one was there — now a billing company won’t stop charging her
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.