A gym membership is one of the best things you can invest in. Not only is it a great way to stay active and fit, but it’s also an excellent place to socialize, get rid of stress, manage weight, increase energy, and improve sleep. However, there may come a time in your life when you’re just not able to pay your gym membership, maybe you don’t use it anymore so you feel like it’s a waste, perhaps you don’t have enough money to cover for it, or perhaps you realized too late that the contract is way too long. What if you decide to just ignore it? What happens then? In other words, what happens if you don’t pay for your gym membership?
In most cases, gyms will just suspend your membership if you don’t pay for it, especially if the amount due is small and if the recurring payment was monthly. However, in some cases and depending on the contract, gyms have the right to send your account to a collection agency which is not ideal for you.
In this article, we’ll talk about what really happens if you don’t pay your gym membership in general, and specify for each popular gym.
What Happens If You Don’t Pay Your Gym Membership?
When you don’t pay for your gym membership, there are two main scenarios that can happen and they depend entirely on the type of contract that you signed, its length, and the amount that you’re deciding not to pay.
Either your gym membership will be suspended and you won’t be allowed to access its facilities (and this is what you should hope for), or the gym decides to send your account to a collection agency which will greatly affect your credit score.
Let’s take a deeper look at each of these scenarios:
Gym Membership Suspension
This is the best-case scenario and what you really want to hope for in case you decide to not pay for your gym membership.
There are some gyms that will just suspend your membership if you don’t pay for it after a certain time. However, this depends on many factors like the amount due (if it’s large or tiny), the type of recurring payment (if it’s monthly or yearly), and the contract that you signed.
There are some gyms that don’t tolerate even the tiniest amounts of money and will go to extreme lengths which we’ll go over in the next section.
The best way to confirm if your gym will suspend your membership after you decide to not pay for it is to check the contract that you signed when you first joined and read it thoroughly.
Account Sent to a Collection Agency
This is the worst possible scenario that you want to avoid as much as possible. If your gym is strict when it comes to its contracts and you decide to breach it, it will be considered like any other contract breach and the following will most likely happen:
First of all, you’ll get a lot of messages from the gym in an attempt to remind you of the amount due. Depending on the type of information that you gave while signing the contract, these messages could be verbal like talking to you while you walk in, or e-mail, texts, phone calls, and so on.
If you still decide to not pay the amount that you owe, then your gym membership will most likely be suspended, however, in this case, they won’t just stop at a suspension, on the contrary, they’re just getting started.
Eventually, if you’re really persistent in not paying, your overdue account will be sold to a collection agency.
But what does this mean exactly? If the gym couldn’t convince you, then it won’t waste any more time and will sell your debt for a fraction of the price to a collection agency which is specialized in convincing people using all sorts of methods that could even involve intimidation.
This way, the gym will get rid of the hassle of trying to convince you and will get some of its money back which is a win-win situation for them.
One of the most common tactics that collection agencies will use is to report your debt to the credit bureaus which will tank your credit score. And this is not something that you want since having a bad score will haunt you for the rest of your life.
What About Popular Gyms?
Let’s take a look at each popular gym and what will happen if you decide to not pay for their gym membership:
What Happens If You Don’t Pay Your 24-Hour Fitness Membership?
If it’s a monthly contract, then 24-Hour Fitness will just suspend your gym membership, if it’s a yearly contract and you decide to not pay for it, then they’re allowed to send your account to a collection agency which could take you to court for the amount that you owe.
For example, if you have a 12-month contract with them, and you decide to not pay after 6 months, then you’ll be suspended from the gym and owe them the amount that’s left in the other 6 months.
Here is what you can do:
- Freeze your membership and the time it’s been frozen will count towards the remaining of your contract, but there’s usually a fee involved with freezing memberships
- In case you’re moving and the place you’re relocating to has no 24-Hour Fitness gym near it, then you’re allowed to cancel without a fee
- Contact your gym and explain your situation
What Happens If You Don’t Pay Your Planet Fitness Membership?
If you decide to not pay for your Planet Fitness membership, then you’ll be charged a late fee for every month that you miss, after three months, your gym membership will be automatically canceled but you’ll still owe them the total amount of three months plus the late fees.
If you still decide to not pay for them, then they’ll most likely send your account to a collection agency which will affect your credit score.
Here’s what you can do:
- Always make sure to cancel your membership before deciding not to pay since waiting till it gets automatically canceled is not worth it and will only cause you to waste even more money.
- Contact your gym and explain your situation
What Happens If You Don’t Pay Your Anytime Fitness Membership?
If you decide to not pay for your Anytime Fitness Membership, then you’ll be suspended from using their facilities, and any amount due will be sent to a collection agency which will affect your credit score.
Here’s what you can do:
- Temporarily freeze your account until you’re ready to pay again (additional charges may apply)
- Read your contract to make sure that you can cancel your membership
- Contact your gym and explain your situation
What Happens If You Don’t Pay Your Gold’s Gym Membership?
If you fail to make a membership payment as disclosed in the contract, Gold’s Gym has the right to enforce it in court and it can show up as an unpaid debt which will affect your credit score.
In addition to that, you’ll be suspended from the gym and your account could be sold to a collection agency.
Here’s what you can do:
- Gold’s gym offers temporary membership freezes which you can take advantage of until you’re ready to pay (small fees may apply)
- Read your contract and check your options when it comes to canceling your membership
- Contact your gym and explain your situation
What Happens If You Don’t Pay Your LA Fitness Membership?
If you fail to pay for your LA fitness membership, then they will suspend it, and they have the right to send your account to a collection agency which can take you to court and affect your credit score.
Here’s what you can do:
- Freeze your account (up to 30 days) until you can make a payment
- Cancel your contract by contacting your local gym
What Happens If You Don’t Pay Your Crunch Fitness Membership?
If you decide to not pay for your Crunch Fitness membership, then they reserve the right, as stated on your contract, to send your account to collections which will heavily affect your credit score.
Here’s what you can do:
- Pause your gym membership until you’re ready to pay (for how long you can pause it depends on the location of each gym)
- Contact your local gym and explain your situation for them