Ingrid Schneider has been working out at home these days. She used to frequent a neighborhood gym.
"It was just kind of cheap enough that it was something that I could keep going to occasionally, and if I didn’t go, it wasn’t a big deal, because it was $14.99 a month," Schneider said.
In December, she decided to cancel her Rockin’ Fitness gym membership, because she wasn’t using it as much.
"I tried to go cancel it, and it was completely shuttered, and closed down, and no signs or no nothing," Schneider said. "No lights on inside - completely dark, completely dead."
Schneider figured the automatic monthly billing of her membership fee would stop, since the gym had closed, but it didn’t, because $14.99 continued to be withdrawn from her account every month.
"I called them, and got this number has been disconnected," Schneider said. "I went on their Facebook page, and there was just some advice on juice cleanses, and odd dietary advice, and nothing about that fact that the gym was gone, completely gone."
So, Schneider got in touch with us.
Local
In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area.
"It’s not a lot of money, but it’s not even about the money," Schneider explained. "$14.99 adds up."
We did some online research, and determined that the billing was being handled by ABC Financial Services, a payment processing provider for the health and wellness industry. We told them about Schneider.
"All of a sudden, this other routing service gets in touch with me, and says we didn’t know that you wanted to quit the gym. We are going to refund your money," Schneider said. "Within 24 hours of emailing you guys, I have this routing service I’d never heard of refunding my money for four months of withdrawals."
ABC Financial Services tells NBC10 Boston: "t is our policy not to comment on these types of requests from the media. However, we feel this situation has been handled to the satisfaction of the former member."
Schneider was reimbursed $59.96.
"We’re about to have another baby, so I’m happy for every dollar and every cent," Schneider said. "You guys really came through for me. I’m psyched!"
Under federal law, you do have the right to stop a company from taking automatic payments from your bank account. For debits, contact the company in question, and ask them to stop taking automatic payments. Next, call your bank and tell them that you have revoked the company’s authorization. You can also give your bank a stop payment order, at least three business days before the payment is scheduled. Finally, monitor your accounts.
