A new law will make it easier for New Yorkers to quit the gym—a task made more infuriating for some gym-goers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new consumer protection law, signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday, requires that businesses with automatic renewal services provide an easy way to cancel gym memberships, such as online rather than in-person or other inconvenient ways.
"Exercising during this pandemic is hard enough—New Yorkers shouldn’t have to jump through hoops or visit a gym in person simply to quit their membership," State Senator Brad Hoylman, who sponsored the bill in the state senate, said in a statement. "Too many gyms, subscription boxes and other companies use misleading offers and promotions to lock unwitting customers into long-term contracts that are ridiculously difficult to get out of."
The law is aimed at helping gym-goers who have stopped going to indoor fitness studios and gyms to work out, whether due to a COVID-related shutdown or over coronavirus fears. Hoylman has sponsored the bill with Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz since 2013. But during the pandemic, the legislative efforts saw a new urgency.
In the months after New York went under its stay-at-home policy, more than 1,800 complaints flooded the New York Attorney General's office as New York Sports Club members say the company didn't suspend or credit membership fees or charged unexpected fees. AG Letitia James has since sued the company for fraud.
Last year, the difficulty of canceling subscription services drew widespread attention after Equinox members began canceling services over the gym company owner and Hudson Yards developer Stephen Ross's fundraising for President Donald Trump. Councilmember Keith Powers introduced a similar city-level measure in the wake of the outrage over Ross's Trump ties. (The issue has been a flashpoint for local politicians for years.)
The new state law would apply to any businesses offering automatic renewal or continuous service offers. It would also require businesses to offer terms more clearly and provide a no- or low-cost way to cancel memberships, and they're prohibited from advertising services and products as "free" if they are actually offered through the automatic renewal subscription.
In announcing Cuomo's signing of his bill, Hoylman cited two older gym-goers, 80-year-old Penny August and 92-year-old Steve August, who were told they could only cancel their gym membership in person.
"I’ve been athletic all my life and always enjoyed working out at the gym," said Steve August, who had to get assistance from Hoylman and send doctors' notes to their gyms in order to cancel their membership.
