US FTC sues LA Fitness for making it exceedingly hard to cancel gym memberships

By Jody Godoy

Aug 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued the operators of gym chain LA Fitness and other gyms on Wednesday, saying they have made it exceedingly difficult to cancel memberships.

Irvine, California-based Fitness International and Fitness & Sports Clubs, which operate hundreds of gym locations under brands, including Esporta Fitness, City Sports Club and Club Studio, forced members to use complicated methods such as speaking to specific managers who were often unavailable, the FTC said in a lawsuit filed in California federal court.

"The FTC will not hesitate to act on behalf of consumers when it believes companies are stifling consumers’ ability to choose which recurring charges they want to keep," said Christopher Mufarrige, head of the FTC's bureau of consumer protection.

A spokesperson for Fitness International did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The FTC enforces federal consumer protection laws prohibiting unfair business practices and has taken aim at hard-to-cancel subscriptions and recurring charges.

Earlier this year, business groups won a court ruling blocking an FTC rule passed during the Biden administration that would have required cancellation methods that are "at least as easy to use" as the sign up process.

Planet Fitness PLNT.N, the largest gym brand in the United States, gave members the ability to cancel online this year despite the rule being struck down in court, the company's executives said in August.

The FTC is pursuing cases using the authority it already has, suing Uber UBER.N in April alleging it deceptively marketed its Uber One subscription. The agency is also gearing up for trial in September in a case accusing Amazon.com AMZN.O of enrolling users in Prime without their knowledge and making it difficult to cancel the service. Both companies have denied wrongdoing.