Washington, DC, Attorney General Karl A. Racine filed suit against Town Sports International for allegedly failing to abide by promises made to gym members while its facilities were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In mid-April, responding to a letter sent by AG Racine and state Attorneys General of New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, Town Sports agreed to freeze memberships, credit consumers for dues paid while their gyms were inaccessible, and process requests for cancellations. Since reopening on June 22, however, the company has neither issued those credits to account holders, nor processed all membership cancellations, according to the attorney general.
In response, the District’s Office of the Attorney General is seeking a court order forcing Town Sports to follow through on its agreement to credit consumers and process cancellations, along with civil penalties. This is the second consumer protection lawsuit the office has filed against the company.
Town Sports operates clubs under the brand names New York Sports Clubs, Boston Sports Clubs, Philadelphia Sports Clubs, Washington Sports Clubs, Lucille Roberts Clubs and others.
“The Office of the Attorney General warned the company that we would take necessary action if it did not honor cancellation requests and address charges billed over the COVID-19 closure period,” AG Racine said in the release. “We filed today’s lawsuit to get consumers their money back and the credits they were promised, and to ensure none of them pay for memberships they have canceled.”
Club Industry has reached out to Town Sports International for comment.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Town Sports operated six locations in the District, but two of its locations—Gallery Place and Georgetown—are now permanently closed, according to the AG. Since January 2019, the DC Office of the Attorney General and Town Sports have been engaged in ongoing litigation over allegations that the company misled consumers on its cancellation policies, violating both consumer protection laws and the terms of a 2016 settlement agreement.
In March, Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered the closure of all gyms and other nonessential businesses in the District. After receiving consumer complaints that Town Sports was charging membership dues while ignoring cancellation and freeze requests, AG Racine joined in April with the Attorneys General of New York and Pennsylvania urging Town Sports to stop both practices in light of the closures. Town Sports then agreed to automatically freeze all memberships starting on April 8, at no cost to members; issue credits for dues and fees paid over account cancellations and freezes requested once its gyms had closed; honor all cancellation requests submitted by April 30, with no fees or advance notice required; and resolve individual complaints with consumers who had contacted the Office of the Attorney General regarding these membership and billing issues. Town Sports communicated these changes to members on multiple occasions but did not credit all consumers’ accounts and process cancellations, according to AG Racine.
The DC Office of the Attorney General alleges that Town Sports misrepresented its policies and violated the District’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act by:
- Failing to credit members for payments made while its Washington Sports Club facilities were closed: Town Sports has still not applied credits to all members’ accounts equal to the number of days paid for while the clubs were closed. Since Washington Sports Clubs reopened, the Office of the Attorney General has received dozens of complaints from consumers who had not seen credits applied to their accounts.
- Refusing to process membership cancellations as promised: The Office of the Attorney General received roughly 50 complaints from Washington Sports Club members to whom Town Sports charged dues, even though they had submitted requests to cancel their memberships during the closure period. After these consumers had received emails confirming their cancellation requests, Town Sports still billed them membership fees for June, July and August.