The New York state Attorney General's office has ordered New York Sports Club to stop charging membership dues while all gyms are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter sent Friday to Patrick Walsh, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NYSC's parent company Town Sports International Holding, state AG Letitia James wrote that the gym company "has violated multiple State laws by charging consumers membership dues for services TSI no longer offers, imposing punitively high cancellation and freezing fees that are unconscionable under the circumstances, misleading consumers about their rights to cancel or freeze their memberships, withholding information from consumers about how they can cancel or freeze their memberships, and refusing to honor cancellation requests."
The letter was co-signed by the attorneys general for Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia, where TSI runs the Philadelphia and Washington Sports Clubs gyms.
All gyms in New York were ordered closed on March 16th by Governor Andrew Cuomo as part of the effort to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Members of NYSC's 53 locations in New York City have reported that they're still being charged their membership fees, with a $15 per-month fee to suspend accounts or a $40 cancellation fee. A class-action lawsuit was also filed against the gym over the charging of fees.
“As the COVID-19 pandemic has plunged our country into an unprecedented public health crisis, businesses have shuttered their doors, leaving millions without a paycheck and scraping to get by,” James said in a release Friday. “While the closure of all New York Sports Club facilities may have also placed a strain on the company, its financial straits do not relieve NYSC of its obligation to follow the law. New Yorkers have enough to worry about and should not be forced to pay for services NYSC is no longer providing. If NYSC refuses to do the right thing voluntarily, I will not hesitate to take every legal step necessary to protect New Yorkers from NYSC’s unlawful conduct and get their money back.”
James said NYSC should "immediately implement a membership freeze at no cost to members and honor cancellation requests without charging any fees or imposing any conditions (such as advance notice requirements)." She urged NYSC members whose bank accounts or credit cards are being charged automatically for dues to talk to their financial institutions to stop automatic payments.
An email inquiry to Walsh Friday afternoon was not immediately answered.
