Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Ohio
My son and I went to a local fitness club to see about membership. We verbally agreed to join, but they never presented us a contract to sign. We wrote a check for the fee and the 1st month and did receive some food products and did go. After about a month, they kept giving us excuses on why there was no contract for us to sign, so since we didn't sign anything we decided not to join. A month later, the company took an electronic debit charge for the next month's fee out of our checking account. We never signed or gave permission for them to do this. They took our checking account numbers off of the check we wrote to them and did an electronic debit. We contested it with the bank and the bank refunded us our money. The fitness company has taken us to collections and is threatening small claims action against us for just over $400. They say that even though we did not sign anything, we agreed to the terms. We offered to give the food back (we still have it unopened), and they will not even give us a blank contract to see what we supposedly agreed to. Our son was a minor at the time and we were concerned with this program and we were under the impression that we could try it for a month to see how it would work. Is there any advice you can give us. The we contested the debt with the collection agency and we did receive letter with a collection fee added on. They acknowledge that we did not sign anything but they continue to say we agreed to join by giving them the check.
1 Answer from Attorneys
In Ohio, a relationship with a fitness club as you describe above is governed by the Prepaid Entertainment Contracts Act. Ohio Revised Code Section 1345,41 to 1345.50. R.C. 1345.41 is the definitional section of that act and it states as follows:
(A) "Prepaid entertainment contract" means a contract under which the buyer of a service pays for or becomes obligated to pay for service prior to the buyer's receipt of or enjoyment of any or all of the service and that is a contract for:
(4) Health spa service, which includes contracts for instruction, training, or assistance in physical culture, body-building, exercising, reducing, figure development, or any other similar activity or for the use of the facilities of a health spa, gymnasium, or other facility used for any purpose described in this division or for membership in any group, club, association, or organization formed for any purpose described in this division.
With direct reference to your situation, R.C. 1345.42(B) gives the requirements that contracts between you and a fitness club must contain and states in pertinent part as follows:
(B) Prepaid entertainment contracts shall:
(1) Be in writing and be signed by the buyer and the seller, and a copy shall be provided to the buyer at the time he signs the contract;...
So the fact that they cannot produce a contract with your signature on it would be a violation of the Prepaid Entertainment Contracts Act. Since this act has been incorporated into the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, a violation of it is also a violation of the CSPA which allows for actual damages, statutory damages and attorney fees.
If you want some assistance in this matter, you can email me at [email protected]. I don't charge for initial consultations to look over the papers you have to see if I can help you.
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