how do I cancel a Personal Training Contract?

by Sarah Adams
(Fallbrook, Ca)

please read about my troubles with the Boxing Club of San Diego, Ca; here is the link:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/308/RipOff0308248.htm


What is your advise???I recently had another epileptic seizure (grand Mal) and my doctor will not release me for the work outs that I contracted for; they are keeping my $1200 after ONE session and refuse to refund my money; HELP!!!!

Thank you,

Sarah Adams 760-731-9577 phone or e-mail me at

adamsvictor@hotmail.com

California Contracts require Cancellation Clause

by Victor Adams
(Fallbrook, CA)

All Personal Training Contracts issued in California MUST comply with the California Health Studio Services Act and have a cancellation clause. FYI

Refunds on Prepaid Packages

by Tom
(Colorado)

I did not have a client sign a no refund policy and now she wants a refund that would total around $1300. She got a discounted session rate due to her paying for so many sessions up front. What are my requirements in Colorado and what should I do?

Thanks

Tom

Cancellation Policy Limits and Retainer Fees

Hi I am an Independent Personal Trainer Contractor. I have not been working as a Independent very long and I have a company contract in which I am negotiating a contract service agreement with.

Most of the clientele are geriatric from 65 up to 95 years old, some staff members have mild to severe orthopedic problems and others suffer from severe mental illnesses from depression to schizophrenia.

The company pre-books sessions with me 3 days per week for the month, I require all pre-booked sessions be prepaid for that month. We seem to have a disagreement on the cancellation policy. My policy is the Fitness Industry standard of a 24 hour cancellation policy. Any booked sessions that are not canceled within 24 hours, the clients session will be forfeited, any sessions canceled within the 24 hours the client will be credited towards the next group of session booked. I also have set a maximum limit of the amount of cancellations of 2 session per month, any more than 2 cancellations per month, the client would not be credited.

The client would like a 48 hour cancellation policy for weekday sessions and a 3 day cancellation policy if they cancel a session that was booked on a weekend. They say it would be better for me because I have more time to book another client. I don't agree with this because they will have alot of time to cancel and I can't guarantee I can cover that canceled session with another client. I also would be crediting them for several session hours that I would still have to work but not be compensated for.

Can you offer me any advice on this matter, and what do you think of my maximum cancellation policy?

I also would like to negotiate a Retainer fee and for at least 1 year. I would like to know what would be a fair compensation amount? We discussed having this in the contract because of their age and ongoing health issues. If any of these clients gets injured, sick, falls or has surgery and is unable to physically perform any kind of exercise due to doctors prescription or is laid up for a period of time, I would still be paid for the month or however long they are out sick.

The client would still like to keep me and my services available to them when they need me again or the clients are able to go back to a regular exercise routine. They do not want to lose priority of the schedule or having my services available to them. So to make up for the lost income attaining more outside business would be difficult, if I attained more outside clients, I wouldn't be as available to them as they would like or as flexible with my schedule.

My question is what is a fair Retainer Fee? Should it be the cost of the gym membership?

They were paying for an Executive Club Membership which cost extra than a regular membership, plus they were paying for my services at the club in which they met me. I was an advanced trainer at the club and my rates were a little higher due to my education level and certification and experience working with geriatric clients.

Any advice you can give me would be gratefully appreciated.

Thank You,

Stephen Haggarty

Am I legally required to issue a refund to client?

I have a client who decides that she does not want to continue training with me. I am a mobile personal trainer and business owner. The amount in question is $99. Am I legally required in the state of Georgia to issue her a refund. She is not ill and has no medical reason not to fulfill her sessions. At the time, I did not have her sign a refund policy ( I have since instated one). She has asked for a refund, but I don't think it's fair. I would be grateful for your advice. Thank you.Chaunda Walls www.bellafitnessgroup.com

Client Reimbursement?

by Bob
(Austin,TX)

A client of mine purchased one of my specials/programs I was running at the time, of which gave the client a large discount on services based on paying up-front for a years worth of services ahead of time. After doing the program for a couple weeks, she took off across state for a week, then left the country for another 2 weeks. Then upon returning, the first day back decided to curse at me in front of other clientele in a group I was working with, because she said it was "hard." The client continued throughout the duration of a 1-hour sessions, steadily making smart comments and raising her voice to me numerous times with vulgar language.

After that she was a no-show, and would not answer calls, emails, texts-nothing. A week after ignoring me totally, I get an e-mail from her stating she wants almost all of her money back because "I wasn't nice to her and she was sore because of me." She stated she wanted a majority of her money back, and would go session by session for a short period and "give me another chance."

When this client purchased the one-year program and received the discounts because she paid one-year in full, she signed my disclaimer stating examples of "justifiable reasons you can receive reimbursement" & "non-valid reasons you will not be reimbursed." Examples of why the client could receive reimbursement include such things as extended hospitalization of longer than 3 months, loss of job/unemployment for longer than 3-months, etc. Nowhere does it state that if you have a bad day and curse your trainer out and cause him to possibly lose clients by damaging his reputation, you can get reimbursed.

She made my clients and those around feel uncomfortable and could have possibly damaged my professional reputation as a business owner.

I responded to her request telling her we needed to schedule a private meeting in order to discuss everything. The meeting days/times never matched up in accordance with her availability or mine.

Am I LEGALLY obligated to reimburse her anything at all?

Personal Training Contracts

(Los Angeles, CA)

I am a personal trainer and left the corporate gym I worked at over conflicts with my manager. One of my clients was able to get a refund on her sessions claiming that personal training contracts aren't valid in California. Another would like to do the same. This is something I had heard before from another trainer, but I don't want to misdirect my former client. Is this true? and why?

Is it legal to set an expiration date on personal training sessions?

Is it legal to set an expiration date on personal training sessions?