So I (28F) have been trying to cancel my gym membership for months. I signed up at the start of the year thinking I’d be super motivated, but after about a month I just completely stopped going. Money’s been a bit tight lately, so I figured it was time to finally cancel.
The problem is, this gym makes it nearly impossible. They require you to come in person during very specific hours (which don’t work with my job), fill out paperwork, and then they still try to talk you out of it. A couple of my friends said it took them multiple visits to get theirs canceled.
I got desperate. When I finally managed to go in last week, I told the manager that I had been diagnosed with cancer and was starting treatment, so I wouldn’t be able to keep the membership. They immediately agreed to cancel it, even waived the final month’s fee.
I honestly felt a little guilty, but mostly relieved. Later, when I told my sister about it (thinking she’d find it kind of darkly funny), she got really upset. She said it was incredibly insensitive to people who actually have cancer, and that I was an asshole for lying about something so serious just to get out of a contract.
Now I’m feeling conflicted. It did get the job done, and the gym was being super shady about letting people cancel. But I also get that lying about a serious illness is pretty messed up.
So Reddit, AITA?
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So I (28F) have been trying to cancel my gym membership for months. I signed up at the start of the year thinking I’d be super motivated, but after about a month I just completely stopped going. Money’s been a bit tight lately, so I figured it was time to finally cancel.
The problem is, this gym makes it nearly impossible. They require you to come in person during very specific hours (which don’t work with my job), fill out paperwork, and then they still try to talk you out of it. A couple of my friends said it took them multiple visits to get theirs canceled.
I got desperate. When I finally managed to go in last week, I told the manager that I had been diagnosed with cancer and was starting treatment, so I wouldn’t be able to keep the membership. They immediately agreed to cancel it, even waived the final month’s fee.
I honestly felt a little guilty, but mostly relieved. Later, when I told my sister about it (thinking she’d find it kind of darkly funny), she got really upset. She said it was incredibly insensitive to people who actually have cancer, and that I was an asshole for lying about something so serious just to get out of a contract.
Now I’m feeling conflicted. It did get the job done, and the gym was being super shady about letting people cancel. But I also get that lying about a serious illness is pretty messed up.
So Reddit, AITA?
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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> Lying about cancer is sort of messed up but the gym was being so difficult I needed to. Still though I did lie about a big thing which could make me an asshole
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Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
YTA. Every time someone lies about an illness, it makes it harder of people to believe some one that actually does.
However, really don’t blame you as how stupidly hard some gyms are about cancelling memberships.
NTA. Getting out of a gym membership is like trying to escape a serial killer soundproof basement.
Also, your sister sounds like a virtue signaler. As someone with cancer, I’m not bothered you used it to get out of a gym membership.
ESH – yta for lying about having cancer, no doubt there. The gym also sucks for trying to “talk people out of cancelling” like i get wanting to encourage people, but sometimes people just want to cancel, and that’s ok too. I cancelled the gym a bunch of times before i finally committed lol.
I’m going to say YTA, but I get it. Some gyms are fucking AWFUL about contracts, and they are incredibly predatory with their practices. There is no reason that you should have to go to the gym during certain hours to cancel a contract – I bet that is a violation of some sort of contract law, but I don’t feel like looking that up lol. Frankly, I think that if they get to make up bullshit like that to prevent people from cancelling, then the people trying to cancel should be able to make up whatever lies they want to in order to counteract the gym’s lies.
That said…you don’t know what the person you were dealing with has going on in their life. Maybe their kid has cancer, or they lost a parent to it. Or who knows, maybe karma is real and you’re going to get some wicked payback in the next few months.
I avoid making comments / jokes about stuff like that with people who I don’t know because I’m never sure of how it will be received or what they’re going through
YTA. Didn’t you read the membership contract when you signed up?
YTA
This is wrong, people who really have cancer would like to have your problem instead. Don’t use such a terrible illness to make your life easier, very unethical of you.
Some gym are assholes and make it hard on purpose for you to cancle but that doesn’t excuse what you did.
You’re N TA for lying, because it’s ridiculous how much these gyms pressure you to stay, but YTA a bit for the specific lie – you could have thought of something less sensitive than a potentially terminal illness. I told Goodlife I was moving to a remote area to study birds.
ESH. You for lying and them for pushing you to that point / making it so hard to cancel.
NTA, it shouldn’t be that difficult to cancel.
NTA. I had a pet insurance policy that was terrible about actually covering anything and was such a pain in the ass to cancel that I told them my dog had died. She lived another 4 years after that.
Fuck those exploitative assholes.
YTA for lying. Remember to read the contact next time you sign one.
NTA. You didn’t start the shadiness. They make it nearly impossible for people to cancel on purpose. They create the problem, so it’s fair game for you to create a solution.
NTA. Gym memberships are predatory as hell. My state has laws preventing this, not your fault if yours doesn’t. No one with cancer was involved in this or had any way to be offended by it….who exactly would you be an asshole to?
Info: If you managed to go in during the specified hours why did you need to say the lie? Couldn’t you just complete the cancellation paperwork at that time?
ETA: would personally donate the money that they waived to a cancer charity so the lie can do some good
esh, it shouldn’t be that hard to cancel but you shouldn’t have lied about cancer
Soft YTA. Canceling memberships is near impossible sometimes, and a lie is often the easiest. So NTA for telling a fib, but your excuse was insensitive.
NTA you got a do what you gotta do. The gym is the AH for making you feel like you had to lie just so they didn’t keep stealing your money.
NTA gyms and other places shouldn’t make it that hard to cancel your membership. They make it super easy to sign up, but incredibly inconvenient to cancel. I get the people saying YTA because you should have read the contract etc, but it sounds like this place wants to keep getting your payments and don’t actually care about their members.
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I lied and told them I was moving to Kazakhstan.
They only stopped harassing me and let me cancel because there were no locations in Kazakhstan.
Edit: NTA. When a company creates situations that you can only stop paying them and you no longer want the service by lying, then they deserve it.
Yes. Very poor form for those that have cancer.
NTA. Scummy gyms make it difficult to quit. Damn near need a notarized letter in blood addressed to their CEO to quit. Cancer sucks. Your sister drawing the line doesn’t help anyone with cancer.
NTA saying this did not give people cancer and people with cancer would generally never know so who cares.
This is why I refused to give my gym a checking number. Lied that I didnt have the bank app when they were pushing for that over the card (said I could come back later to sign up with the checkbook but they wanted it then). Credit card makes it much easier to cancel.
ESH- The gym is an AH for their predatory contract nonsense and making it a marathon to try to cancel. You shouldn’t be put into the position where you need to lie about something serious in order to get out of paying for a service you don’t want anymore.
Lying about cancer…not something to repeat or get into the habit of.
In this case, where the people dont have a personal connection and probably will never see you again there’s probably no harm done, but it is a serious illness (which you are aware of and that’s why you used it as your excuse) and invoking it can have a broader impact.
In the end there were other options that’s better to use than to lie about cancer as one of them could do harm even if you didn’t mean to, particularly making it harder for people that do have cancer to be believed if people just start saying they have cancer to get out of shit.
You could have told them you’re moving somewhere that doesn’t have the gym.
If you reeeeally dont care about burning that bridge you could have done a stop payment to get yourself banned from the gym.
Basically you did the equivalent of starting a fire with a flamethrower when a match would do.
I used to have cancer.
NTA
You literally didn’t harm anyone, wasn’t trying to gain any sympathy points, just wanted to cancel your gym membership.
…. Chandler? Is that you?
NTA. A little white lie isn’t going to hurt a corporation
YTA. I know gyms can make it annoying to cancel, but I’m willing to bet you knew that going in. It sounds like you were able to get in at the necessary hours, which was the main hurdle – so why did you not just ask to cancel without lying about cancer treatment? I get that paperwork is a hassle, and it can be annoying when staff members are being pushy and trying to convince you to stay, but you don’t know if that desk person lost their child or parent to cancer. Hell, you don’t know if someone working out a few feet from you recently went into remission. It’s just not something worth lying about
Canceling gym memberships is notoriously hard but joining was a decision you made so whatever the hoops, that’s part of your decision.
Living with integrity is also challenging at times and small failures add up over time to become part of who you are so don’t let that happen.
Lying about an illness leads to people becoming skeptical of people with illness especially invisible disabilities.
While all of this is true, I struggle to say yta because we all get overwhelmed sometimes. Just do better.
NTA because the government had to create an entire new rule concerning cancelling subscriptions (mostly gym memberships).
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/10/federal-trade-commission-announces-final-click-cancel-rule-making-it-easier-consumers-end-recurring
NTA, your sister must have wanted to make you feel bad in that moment for some reason. don’t take it personally. everyone already discussed predatory subscription practices.
i told my gym i was moving to Hawaii (and they didn’t have a gym location there so there was nothing they could do).
Well it’s not good to lie especially about cancer but then again fuck these aholes lol
Couldn’t you just have easily lied and said you were moving out of state?
NTA – The fact that you have to lie to cancel a gym membership is so stupid on the gyms side. Most won’t let you cancel because they’re contracts. I stopped paying mine because they refused to let me cancel after I requested them to cancel it multiple times. I didn’t know I was signing a contract when I signed up, and it even said I could cancel it at any time. Refuse to go back there.
YTA – lying about cancer is just Not On
The gym sounds a complete PITA as well
YTA. I literally start my second round of chemo Monday, after being hit with a cancer diagnosis that blindsided me 8 weeks ago. My life has literally been turned upside down as I do everything I can to fight for the best chance of survival. For you, to lie about it, to get out of a stupid gym membership, just trivializes what all of us with actual cancer go through. Maybe next time, just put on your big boy panties and be a firm adult and say “No. I do not want this”.
Nope. Cancelling gym memberships is the worst. I usually just tell them that my job is relocating me to a different state.
NTA. Cancer has ravaged my family and will probably get me. Use it. Fuck gyms like that anyway.
ESH
You knew the terms when you bought the membership. If you hadn’t heard the stories about getting out of it, then you weren’t listening. Your “desperation” is entirely of your own making; you would have used the same excuse whether your friends had this trouble or not. You had options, but you did not avail yourself of any of them.
What the gym is doing is an entirely separate issue from the horrible thing that you did. It explains your choice, but doesn’t justify it.
People who have cancer often feel guilty about using the cancer card – and I should know. I think it’s fine to do it if you have cancer, not cool to do what you did.
NTA. Fuck them. They need to stop making it so hard to cancel memberships.
Don’t feel bad. They know exactly what they are doing to people and don’t care. Fight dirty.
“I got better”
NTA gyms are predatory and deserve anything they get. Although I’ve also heard “I’m going to prison” used successfully to get out of these sorts of contracts.
NTA cancelling gym memberships are the worst. Plus, it’s not like they have a monthly number of cancer patients that they max out with and you’re taking someone’s spot. It literally harmed no one lmao.
NTA. There should be a law against companies that try to make cancellations so difficult. There may already be one. But it should always be as easy as one click or one call and it’s done.
Edit. Just a quick edit to say I personally wouldn’t have said I had cancer to get out of anything. But it’s not harmed anyone that you did.
NTA. Nobody with cancer is harmed, inconvenienced, or even cares about someone using cancer as an excuse to cancel a gym membership. The gyms are TAH for making their memberships so difficult to cancel.
NTA. You told an employee at an exploitative business a lie that has absolutely zero consequences or repercussions. I used to work at a gym with a policy like this and unless you have a damn good reason to cancel, like cancer or moving to China, they’re going to make it difficult.
For everyone getting their panties in a twist think of how many times you faked sick to miss school or work, now imagine if you’re not sick enough you’re going to be charged $X. Of course OP went nuclear, if she said she broke her leg they’d just offer to freeze her account and resume payments when the cast was scheduled to be removed.
NTA, this is exactly why I won’t join gyms anymore. Imagine having to take it this far just to cancel, diabolical behavior for gyms to make it this hard.
Those who do have cancer shouldn’t have to disclose their medical condition to get out of the contract.
The gym is bullying people into staying (or at least paying). You should be able to say I don’t want to do this, lay the cancellation fee, and be done with it.
NTA. It’s only insensitive to people with cancer if you go around telling them. Otherwise, they don’t know.
And this doesn’t affect them in any way. It’s not as though if there’s a limit and a member who actually had cancer came in to cancel but couldn’t because of you.
NTA. You are iconic.
NTA but if there’s ever a next time use something less… drastic… like “your gym is so disgusting I keep getting antifungal resistant foot fungus”. Or something.. hand mouth and foot disease? Whatever.
YTA for pretending to have cancer. It’s unbelievably offensive to those who truly do have it. It’s not something to joke about or lie about. If you could take time to go there and lie about that to the manager, you could have just cancelled the correct way like everyone else. Yes the gym sucks, but you knew that when you signed up and doesn’t excuse your actions.
YTA – simply for the fact you lied about having cancer. It was your choice to sign up for the gym. It was also your choice to not abide by their rules to cancel.
ESH. Gyms are notorious for predatory practices so they deserve no quarter, however you did sign a contract. Enough people lying about having cancer to get out of their contracts may contribute to them changing policies to no longer give leeway to people who actually have cancer.
NTA. It’s malicious on the gym’s part to make it so hard to cancel memberships in the hopes that it will delay or dissuade people from canceling. Do what you have to, I have no sympathy for corporations, especially when they make you jump through hoops to keep your own money.
NTA it was a business move
Yes YTA. There is no excuse for what you did. You owe no one your patronage. Go in during the impossible hour one time and cancel. Don’t fucking lie about having a deadly disease, JFC.
NTA. I paid $279 for 5 training sessions and the trainer only showed up ONCE. When I tried to cancel they said “we don’t do cancellations”. I explained that $279 for 1 training session was unsustainable, they breached the contract, and the bank disagrees and I would pursue them legally if they kept trying to charge me. You told them something extreme because they were being extreme to avoid all the drama.
Next time just tell them you have been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
NTA. By any chance was this planet fitness?
I was in a long distance relationship at the time so I’d be visiting every 3 months and returning to the UK. I tried to cancel from the UK and the guy tried anything in his book even saying to wait it out as planet fitness may come to the UK… Still waiting on that three years later 😂.
Now living in the USA full-time and I REFUSE to ever support that gym chain again.
Threatening to chargeback always does the trick also…
As someone that has had cancer, and who’s had multiple familial losses from it NTA. It’s not like you’re going around town telling anyone and everyone you’ve got cancer for sympathy points or whatever
NTA. I say this as a cancer survivor. You didn’t say this to get any perks or upgrades or preferential treatment or anything like that. In other words, you were not receiving anything from your lie, just trying to get out of a contract more quickly, because they make it so stupidly hard, as if you’re gonna just give up & keep the membership. I don’t see anything wrong with that & I don’t blame you. I don’t think it’s insensitive to cancer patients or survivors (like me), cuz again, your only goal was to get out of a gym membership, not to get one for free. Your only mistake was telling your sister. People get weird about it, and I do understand & appreciate that, but no harm done in your situation.
I told the cable company I was going to prison.
NTA- do what you have to do. Your sister being upset at the lengths you had to go to cancel a membership is her problem. You aren’t being insensitive to my grandpa or any of my family members with cancer. You didn’t make their lives any harder. Just don’t be out there stealing parking spots claiming you need to because the chemo has you wiped.
NTA. The gym is shady AF and I’m pretty sure people with cancer don’t give a shit.
Good grief, some people in here going hard to defend a predatory company’s predatory practices. Hope that boot leather tastes good.
Don’t worry, it may happen one day…
Naw that’s smart. Fuck those kinda gyms
NTA I can help with this! I hereby officially transfer to you my one time use get-out-of-a-gym-membership-due-to-cancer card (like a get out of jail free card in Monopoly) to you! 🙂
Last year, I was diagnosed with a super rare kind of cancer in my appendix called goblet cell adenocarcinoma (I always remember the “goblet” because of Harry Potter). It’s okay now, but yeah it was a stage 3 tumour that ruptured my appendix and then they had to go in a second time through my belly button and take out about a foot of intestines at the bend where the appendix had been along with 31 lymph nodes to make sure they had gotten it all. Really gross and gruesome, but I’m in remission now so all’s well that ends well.
Normally these cards aren’t transferable, but this gym clearly was set up to scam you out of your money like the gym in Friends, so you can go ahead and use my excuse card guilt free. 🙂
NTA. Poor taste maybe, but having such specific requirements to end a membership is super shady, so you did what you had to.
I’m surprised. They needed a something from the doctor when my brother pulled out of his gym membership (foot surgery and recovery time of more than 3 months, I think was the reasoning).
NTA. Hi, I’ve had it twice. And we’re figuring out if I’m going through it a third time.
This one’s on me, friend. Fuck predatory practices at gyms.
NTA. The fact you had to resort to such an extreme excuse to get them to cancel with no problems is the messed up part, why couldn’t they just cancel it the first time.
Normally I’d be against this sort of this deceit, but in this case I feel you were both justified and brilliant.
NTA, I’m on a month by month contract that’s the same, and I don’t want to cancel, I only want to switch to the same gym but in the city I now live in, but I can’t, I’m going to have to take a day off work, to travel to my old town, just to visit my old gym, to ask them to transfer my contract to my new gym with the same company, and they’ll try to upsell me to the contract that means I can go to any of their gyms. I don’t want that, I just want to go to the one in my now city.
Next time though, try “I’m going to prison” lmao
NTA- it is darkly funny and kind of reminds me of that episode on Friends. The gym shouldn’t be that shady.
NTA – I had cancer, chemo, & radiation, and I’m not at all offended or bothered that you used it as an excuse to cancel your membership. They can’t prove it isn’t true and it’s not a situation that will cause the staff or anyone else to treat cancer patients differently in the future. If you told me this story, I’d find it funny. The only issue I would have is if this excuse becomes so commonplace that real cancer patients are no longer believed
NTA. It’s not like you said this in front of anyone else other than the person canceling your membership.
They should not make it so difficult to cancel. That’s shady business tactics, and you had the right to try to do whatever you felt you had to do to get yourself disconnected from them.
As long as the white lie ended right there, with the manager who canceled your account, then no big deal. You didn’t harm anyone else, and it sounds like you won’t be going back to that gym ever.
NTA they are the AH for making it so difficult to cancel you had to lie.
NTA fuck em
Two wrongs make right in this case.
I have cancer. I am not in the least offended.
yes, and for having to ask.
NTA. fuck em
NTA I had to mail in a letter, email, thousand (maybe 50)of calls for them to finally end my subscription!!!
I think CA passed a law that this is illegal bc it should be as easy as when you signed up!
I would say YTA but only a little bit and justified. It’s not an entire lie, that gym sounds harder to get rid off than cancerous cells. They have no business making it so difficult to cancel that you need to lie about having a terrible disease.
Oh well. It doesn’t change their life in any way shape or form. To be honest they’ll probably forget about it within 10 minutes. No harm no foul right?
Nta.
Ok, so I’m against lying about having cancer, and lying to get out of contracts most of the time, but gyms are crazy. It shouldn’t be that hard to cancel. I get them wanting notice. I even get them charging a cancellation fee. But damn it, it should only take one form (that should be freely available in person or on line) to cancel.
NTA. Gym memberships are notoriously difficult to cancel, even worse than Comcast, so whatever it takes to get this one off the books.
NTA. The gym makes money by selling memberships in January to people who don’t come and then refusing to cancel them for as long as possible. They could not stay in business otherwise.
I told a mail order record club that my husband was dead.
YTA. Anyone who lies about having cancer to manipulate others — even a gym with policies like this — is an asshole.
YTA & ESH.
Yes the gym sucks for making it so hard for people to cancel their freaking memberships. It should be illegal for them to go about it like that. It reminds me of Chandler & Ross trying to cancel Chandler’s gym membership. So yes, they definitely suck.
But YTA for lying about something so serious. As someone with a chronic/invisible illness (and mine isn’t terminal) I can’t tell you hard every single little thing in my life is. The things most people do daily without even thinking about it are some of the hardest things in my life. I have absolutely no energy & everything is such a fight & struggle. Getting out of bed is next to impossible, getting dressed is a battle unto itself, eating is a nightmare, showering literally feels like a marathon, everything is a struggle. And as it is, most people don’t believe us & we have to fight to be taken seriously & fight to get proper medical treatment & care that we need. And although I don’t have cancer, I can only imagine how much harder it can be for them. So to lie about that isn’t cool. Not to mention if they found out you lied, they probably won’t believe the next person that comes in and actually has cancer and does not have the energy to try and fight with them to cancel their membership. Anytime someone lies about an illness or disease it just makes life way harder for those with actual diseases & illnesses.
Plus, you say you got desperate, but unless I missed something, you never even tried to cancel without lying. You never said they made you come back in, or that they gave you a hard time, or that this was the 2nd or 3rd time you had tried. You only said that your friends had a hard time. So for all you know you could’ve gone in there just being firm saying you wanted to cancel your membership & they could start talking about whatever else & as long as you just stayed firm that you wanted to cancel your membership you could’ve easily gotten it cancelled. For all you know you could’ve gone in & ask to cancel & they could’ve said nothing & just cancelled it then & there.
I get that you were worried about it, but you didn’t even try the normal route. You just went in there prepared with the lie, & started out with the lie before they could even open their mouths. And you didn’t pick a harmless lie like you were moving (which makes me way more sense) you went straight to cancer?!? So in my opinion, YTA. If you had tried a gazillion times before and they were harassing you about it, then maybe I could get it (although I still don’t get why you’d pick cancer over moving?) but to just start out that way without even trying is the biggest reason YTA.
NTA
Who even cares? It’s not a big deal.
Considering how many jurisdictions have filled lawsuits against gyms for their unfair practices in business and cancellation policies, I’m not surprised you went to the extreme.
NTA
If you signed a contract yta
The gym’s memberships are literally designed to take advantage of you. You just took advantage back. Especially if its a chain, you’re so NTA.
NTA. As someone with cancer, I hereby give permission for people to use the cancer card to get out of gym memberships, because they truly are an ordeal to get out of.
I told my gym that I had MRSA and thought I caught it from there since I don’t go anywhere else. Instant cancel.
NTA.
If they weren’t that difficult, you wouldn’t have to stoop to that level.
But next time, use this instead.
I have been diagnosed with an ED (doesn’t matter what weight and body you have, eating disorders comes in all forms) and I’m not allowed to use the gym for now being. I will be back when I’m fully recovered.
My gym did the same thing.
I ended up showing up, 35kg and clearly looking like someone who shouldn’t be going to the gym.
The cancelled it on the spot and refunded me for all the months I have been heckling with them, because they could see I never entered.
Honestly, NTA. If they’re going to make it that hard to cancel, they deserve to be lied to and shamed.
I used to work for a gyms corporate offices and had to cancel appointments for people. And I truly did feel bad for people who wanted to cancel, but based off the contract, couldn’t. So I understand, however, id never want to put that type of karma on myself. I have to go with ESH. The gym sucks for having such shitty cancelation policies, but you also suck for that awful lie.
NTA. This was a littke in poor taste but generally speaking, I don’t think it’s ever wrong to lie to a large company for your own benefit.
NTA at all. Gyms deliberately make it so you have to Align the 12 Stones of Power on the sacred altar then activate the medallion at the moment of total eclipse to quit. (With apologies to the Evil Overlord List.) I don’t remember what state it was, but I saw an article that at least one state legislature was debating a bill to make it easier to get out of subscriptions (click like 3 times at most) and gyms were specifically mentioned as one of the inspirations for the bill.
Well, I have cancer, and that’s why I canceled my gym membership. My doctors said I couldn’t exercise for 2-3 months after my lobectomy. I honestly couldn’t work out anyway because I was in a lot of pain after the surgery and I was sick from chemo.
I don’t see what’s so bad about going there in person and filling out forms to cancel your membership. So what? And so they pressure you to stay. That’s their job. I used to go to Bally’s, and they were very aggressive about getting me to extend my membership and hire a trainer.
Just tune them out and say no, like you would to salespeople who try to get you to sign up for the store credit card. Cancer is a serious illness; I hope what happened to me never happens to you or anyone else. But don’t fake an illness that you don’t have because you don’t have the courage to stand up for yourself. You don’t know what it’s like to suffer from cancer. I do. And it really bothers me when people lie about having it in order to benefit themselves.
Gym membership is like cancer..and you canceling the membership is the first step of the treatment..
It took Covid for my wife and I to be able to cancel the memberships
NTA. Ending a gym membership is like trying to evade the mafia. I had to threaten legal action when they said I had to come in for a second exit interview. I was trying to cancel due to arthritis in my feet, knees and shoulder. They said they would suspend it for a month to see how I felt. I told them that I felt coerced and that they needed to cancel it immediately or I would sue for harassment. Assholes…
They are Some sort of hell-based MLM scheme. I don’t blame you for lying.
As someone who has had cancer, you have my permission to use the cancer card in this instance. Those gym memberships are obnoxious.
In almost any other circumstance, you’d suck.
But there are no rules when trying to get out of a gym membership. NTA for this only.
NTA but in the future my go to is I’m leaving the country for work. It’s a much easier bounce back if you ever go back there and are recognized and can always say got a new job or visa was up. Anytime I’ve called to cancel some sort of utility or gym membership I’m always moving to a place that doesn’t offer their services.
NTA, my family has tons of Cancer sadly. Lost my Dad to it when he was 57, 2 uncles, and my grandfather. My mom has it, and let’s just say I think it’s a curse on my dad’s side with how many more have gotten it and have been beating it so far. Out of my dad’s siblings, 10 out of the 12 have had some form, and they all laughed so hard at this. With that said NTA you are not hurting anyone with this. My Mom after coming down from getting a giggle said F the system, they shouldn’t make it so hard to cancel and she doesn’t feel like you did anything wrong and most of the holyer the know people saying the YTA probably don’t deal or have delt with cancer directly and not to listen to them. Your good, let this roll off your shoulders. There’s more to life than you needing to get out of a gym contract. I hope your financial issues get better. Continue to work on your health and I hope life gives you some positives. But definitely NTA.
NTA. The gym is the asshole for forcing you to this extreme.
NTA. After I received confirmation that my membership was cancelled I’d tell them I don’t actually have cancer, see the look on their face and walk out.
Yta
I don’t think that’s cool. It is very annoying to cancel a gym and they do resort to low blows some times but I wouldn’t lie about that.
100% NTA!
I dont like hearing people lie about sicknesses to get out of stuff… especially with cancer…. But you may be the exception.
That membership sounds incredibly tedious to get out of, and frankly i cant blame you at all. Sounds like that gym needs to be less shady and more… easier to get out of. I get it, companies want money, but that is a little much
I spent months personally taking care if my mother until she died of pancreatic cancer and… NTA, iconic, you go girl, fuck those gyms.
NTA – I mean, I get what your sister’s saying. And I agree lying about having cancer in general is a crappy thing to do. But this was pretty funny, and screw that gym. I say this as someone who has a family history of cancer and is going through another cancer scare right now (keep your fingers crossed for me that the biopsy comes back fine!)
Anything short of arson is moral when getting out of a gym membership.
If you’ll lie about something that serious what else are you willing to lie about?
It says a lot about your character.
NTA this is definitely lowkey funny (dark but funny) hahaha
NTA. This is the way.
I wouldn’t do it myself but I understand.
I signed up to a gym with a friend. The friend almost immediately got a job out of town and moved.
I had not even done an orientation.
I could not get out of that contract.
I finally canceled the payment at my bank.
They sent my account to collections and when I applied for a mortgage a few years later it was on my credit report.
I tried calling the collection agency and couldn’t make a deal.
I called the gym and it had new owners.
The current owner told me he had received multiple calls from people in a similar situation.
So while I would not do it, I don’t judge you.
I will never join a gym again.
NTA. You didn’t use the excuse for financial/emotional gain. You used it to make a point to a predatory company. If you still feel guilty after reading all of the survivors’ approvals on here, donate time or money (when you’re able/any amount) to cancer research or something (NOT Susan G. Coleman though!)
No-because fuck them. They shouldn’t make it this difficult to cancel. As a matter of fact, Laws are changing regarding this very thing. So again, NTA, because fuck them.
NTA. I’ve worked in gyms with this kind of predatory cancellation bs. Do whatever you have to to screw them over and never look back.
Girl, no. I had to change my bank account. Only use prepaid visa for gym membership and tell them you have NOTHING else
ESH. The gym is shitty for not letting you cancel, but capitalism is gonna capitalism.
You’re shitty for pretending to have cancer. I say that as someone who has stage 3 cancer. Sorry you couldn’t get your membership cancelled, I understand the frustration, but like…cosplaying my life threatening illness leaves a bad taste in my mouth, personally.
I had to find a town in BF Nowhere, TX that was 2 hours from a (unnamed chain gym) and claim to be moving there to finally get out of a membership. This excuse takes a lot less research. I support it.
Why would anyone with cancer care that someone they don’t know lied about it to get out of a predatory gym contract? Your sister is silly. NTA.
Why didn’t you just say you were moving? There’s lots of reasons for why you would need to cancel a membership. I totally get them being insufferable to deal with, and you were desperate- but, in my head your cancer reason was a no fly zone. My husband has had cancer- so perhaps I am biased. I can see why your sister wasn’t amused since scammers have used that as an excuse to steal money from people. Not saying you are a scammer, but you had lots of time to come up with a better reason than the one you did.
NTA! i’m confused about why some of these commenters are so obsessed with people getting their money stolen from a gym!
NTA. It’s pretty dark to use cancer but it worked. Like you said, gyms are pretty shady when it comes to cancelling and money is tight. You did what was in your best interest. No harm was actually done to anyone. It’ll be fine.
LOL Reminds me of the Friends episode when Chandler tried to quit the gym.
NTA. You did what you needed to do.
NTA I had to tell a company that my dog was dead in order to get them to cancel. Otherwise I would have had to close my bank account. I did close my bank account to stop a computer company from taking money. I even went into the store to cancel and they would not stop.
NTA. Desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s not at all insensitive to people w/ cancer. Many years ago when I was in high school my mother sent me to a gym (back then it was Gloria Stevens for women only) and I hated it. They were trying to get me to re-sign at the end of my term and I told them sorry, I’d be going away to college and I purposely told them a state where there were no Gloria Stevens franchises. (their locations were in a brochure since this was long before the internet).
I guess NTA, but I would never tempt fate like that.
I told weight watchers I was pregnant to get out of my co tract early. They will try to persuade you until you are blue in the face to stay
NTA, definitely darkly funny and the gym is the AH for putting people in this position that they feel they need to go to these extremes.
NTA- fuck ’em, a lot of things with subscription services pull that shit.
The previous administrations ftc imposed a rule that made cancelling as easy as signing up. The current administration just rescinded that rule.
Nta
Kind of an asshole move but I’m not mad at it. Fuck that gym
NTA
I had cancer for half of my life and this is just really funny to me lmfao. Gyms suck for making it so hard to cancel memberships. I don’t blame you for using this excuse 😂