Breach of contract by the Northridge Clubby Uriel Wittenberg (uw@urielw.com)
The Northridge Club is part of the Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. empire. The correspondence below describes breach of contract by Northridge. It also details misrepresentations made to me by then Northridge manager Excel Rosario and by salesperson Deborah Halioua. These misrepresentations are perfectly consistent with those that have led to multiple government investigations into the illegal practices of Bally clubs (see Northridge / Bally Ethical Breaches). The correspondence below also notes the company's association with an obviously unsavory organization. The person with the nickname "Dee," referred to below, is Darron Hill, another salesperson at Northridge.
From: Uriel Wittenberg Dear Ms. Comfort, I write to object to unethical practices at your clubs. On Saturday I was talking, between squash games at Northridge, with one of your new staff members there. He told me of a new promotion which was a good deal -- 2 months for $50. I said sure, I'd sign up for that. He was off duty but said I could sign up with [Deborah Halioua]. I spoke to her later on and she confirmed the 2 months for $50 deal. So we went through the paperwork, we signed a contract, and I made a credit card payment right then of $53.50 (including tax). Yesterday I received a voicemail from [Excel Rosario], the Northridge manager, saying he is "cancelling" the contract and crediting back my credit card payment. What exactly does a "contract" mean to your company if it can be freely cancelled at will? Do your customers have the right to "cancel" their contracts whenever they wish? But of course not. Among the many statements I was required to sign was one declaring that "Buyer shall not be excused from the obligation to make any payment in accordance with this Contract ... for any reason including member's failure to use any club." Excel's reason for cancelling is apparently that he told me last month that I could not buy a single month for $100 because I had previously done so. But that makes no sense as grounds for cancelling my new contract. First, the $50 deal was presented as a "new" deal (which wasn't available when I spoke to Excel); second, I directly informed Deb that I'd recently had the $100, one-month membership; third, Deb in any case had access to all the information on my membership since she consulted the club's electronic file in the course of signing me up. In other words, your company has entered into a valid, legal contract with me; I've been completely forthright with you; I've met my obligations under the contract by paying the money; and now you are violating the contract. Part of my reason for writing this letter is that this breach fits a pattern. First, the contract itself: It has "UNETHICAL COMPANY" written all over it. To get that 2-month deal, I had to sign, in multiple places, a 6-page piece of dense legalese which plainly anticipates legal disputes between you and your customers. One would have to consult a lawyer to fully understand it -- which I suppose you realize most people with a simple wish to work out a few times a week do not do. The contract has big boldfaced warnings of uncertain significance like: "NOTICE TO THE BUYER: DO NOT SIGN THIS CONTRACT IF IT CONTAINS ANY BLANK SPACES." Well, the contract is full of blank spaces -- e.g., on mine, the blank for "Withdraw from Bank Account #:". (It even has areas marked "This space intentionally left blank.") Your members are obliged to "ACKNOWLEDGE" patently false statements -- e.g. that they have read and understood all of it, and that they have received your privacy statement and consented to disclosure of personal information as described there. (I never got any privacy statement.) I was also supposed to get a complete copy of what I signed -- but I see now that the 6 pages I have are incomplete, since I remember signing other pages as well -- pages with BIG BOLDFACED ALL-CAPS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS THAT THIS IS THE ENTIRE AGREEMENT AND NO OTHER ORAL OR WRITTEN PROMISES CAN ALTER ITS TERMS. Of course, you must know that your sales reps in fact do make other promises in the course of signing up members. Sometimes they even make them in writing. A few months ago I pointed out to the Dunfield General Manager, Gerald Tannenbaum, that one of his sales reps had given me a separate written statement promising that I could cancel in under 12 months. That promise was fraudulent, in light of the language of your standard contract above. But Tannenbaum was completely unapologetic. Evidently, this is an approved sales strategy at your company. Similarly, Excel himself made false promises to me last September to encourage me to sign up. I agreed to sign based on his assurance that I could cancel if I left town. He printed up the legal documents and came back to me, offering his pen. But when I examined the contract, I saw that it does NOT permit cancellation on the simple condition that I leave town. (I'd have to acquire a "permanent" residence elsewhere, which wouldn't be the case if I go teach in China for a year.) Excel at the time acted as if he had misunderstood and had thought I meant I might relocate AFTER my initial twelve months. About a month after that I was speaking to Deb about a month-to-month membership. The offer at that time involved a $200 registration fee, which is not a very good deal if I leave in a month or two. But she pointed out the advantage: In future, I would face a LOW registration fee for re-joining as a past member. That was interesting. How much? She said it varied. But at that point in time, she advised by way of example, it would be $49. "In fact, I am a former member," I told her. Really? She hadn't known that. But she confirmed it via her computer. So -- could I join month to month with a $49 registration fee? Well ... no. Suddenly that offer for former members did not exist anymore. In short, Ms. Comfort, there is a good deal wrong with the way your clubs are being run. I would think -- I would hope -- that such practices do not constitute sound business practice. There is such a thing as word of mouth. There does exist a reputation effect. Conceivably these practices would even concern government regulators. As far as my own membership goes, I do expect you to honor the contract that your employee has signed with me on the club's behalf, and I request that you promptly respond to confirm that you will do so. If I'm still in town after the two months, my money is good, and I am prepared, on reasonable and fair terms, to pay you for the simple use of your facilities. Sincerely, UW
From: Uriel Wittenberg To: Ms. Comfort and Ms. Dow: Yesterday, three security guards marched into Northridge and onto squash court #1, where I was playing with club member Johnny Paredes, and ordered me to leave the premises. Had there been a disturbance? A threat? A shout for help? No. Had I somehow cheated my way into the club? No. I had entered with Joan Chin (a member) as her guest, using a valid guest pass. Another member, Bruce Bonaney, entered at the same time. He and I were playing a match (before I played Johnny). The only impetus for this urgent security operation was the new staff member known as Dee (the large South African fellow, I don't know his real name), who was drunk on the thimbleful of power conferred on him by the title "Acting Manager" -- the position he declared was his in the absence of anyone more senior. Dee was objecting to my presence because club manager Excel, on Wednesday, said he was cancelling a new membership contract the club and I signed a week ago. The contract gave me two months for $50 -- a good deal. It was Dee himself who told me about it and suggested I take advantage of it. On what basis could Excel cancel a contract duly signed by a club representative (Deborah Halioua)? Excel claimed Deb had made a mistake, and that the offer was only available to first-time members. Deb is an experienced sales rep, she knows me, and moreover she checked my record on her computer before signing me up. It is impossible that she thought I was a first-time member. But Excel insisted that the club has the right to cancel contracts at any time. (This would be a remarkably one-sided provision, since members certainly cannot do so.) He also said he'd spoken with Paula Dow at head office and been told that I was ineligible for any membership because of something negative in my history. He wouldn't, or couldn't, say what the negative information was. On Wednesday, I emailed Paula Comfort, Area Director for Sports Clubs of Canada and Bally's, to inquire about the situation. She has not responded. On Friday morning I phoned and was told Paula Comfort is away (though checking email regularly). I spoke instead to Paula Dow. She hinted that the club has disparaging information about me in its files, but she wouldn't say what it was. I told her I'd like to see those files. She said that'd be impossible because the information is "confidential." Confidential?? But, I told her, I myself am the subject of these files. This is straight out of Kafka. In Canada, it is illegal for a business (like SCC/Bally's) to maintain files on a person and keep the files secret from that person. It's a violation of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. Paula said she'd look into the situation and try to call me back later that day (Friday). She never did. So the issue of my membership was temporarily unresolved. I accepted that. But what seems to have eluded Sheriff Dee yesterday is that I wasn't depending on my membership that day. I was there as a member's guest! I've tried communicating with both of you to resolve this issue. I think it's time somebody gave it some attention. The club's behavior has been outrageous, and it's a slap in the face to all members for whom the club is a part of their lives and a home away from home. These secret files on me, if they really exist, contain false rumors that have been scribbled down behind my back. I've never seen the information and have had no opportunity to respond to it. Following yesterday's events, I suggest you apologize to me and my friends, and then honor the contract you have signed with me -- just as you require members to honor contracts that they have signed with you. Sincerely, Uriel Wittenberg
From: Joan Chin I am the member who invited Uriel to the club Saturday. It seems unbelievable that an innocent squash game at Northridge would be stopped by security guards. This is an insult both to me and to the member who had his squash match with Uriel interrupted. I don't want to hear that club management has legitimate reasons but that they're secret. As a dues-paying member I would like some basic respect from management and an apology for Saturday's actions against my guest. Yours truly, Joan A. Chin
The situation was resolved in a conference call on March 15, 2005 between Paula Dow, Excel Rosario and myself. Paula acknowledged that Darron/Dee was "obviously in the wrong" Saturday and that the situation "could have been handled better." She pointed out he's a new employee and there's a learning curve. She said they would honor the 2-month contract the club had signed with me. Re the guest pass I'd used, she said the passes are for "first-time users," though she understood the pass I had didn't have that indicated. She said Dee hadn't known that. She said the company in fact did not have any files containing detrimental information about me. The public messages above stirred several other Northridge members to send their own public messages about their own gripes with the club. I followed up on these with the further message below which, among other comments, notes the company's association with an obviously unsavory organization:
From: Uriel Wittenberg Indeed it does seem there are one or two things our club could be doing better. I understand the club has to be cost-conscious. But what's strange is that there would seem to be ways of improving the member experience that would cost the club nothing, or virtually nothing. Fluorescent light tubes. Is that an item that costs a lot of money? Why do we have so many dead ones on the squash courts? If staff have really received repeated complaints from multiple members about this, then there would seem to be a management issue. And the vacuuming before closing. Is much money being saved by having noisy machines operating in our midst while we are still there working out? And speaking of noise -- we all understand that advertisements are a necessity for commercial radio. But why on earth are we hearing ads in a private club which we pay fees to belong to? Often when hanging around talking with people between games, I hear one stupid obnoxious ad after another after another.... It's not even music. An endless stream of moronic ads. In a private club. Why? The sad thing is that most members aren't bothered about this at all. But it pains at least a few of us. I would guess the club could arrange for free, via member volunteers, to have pre-recorded music instead. Surely that'd be preferable. On the subject of ads: I wonder how many women at Northridge know that we men, in the changerooms, are being pitched a training manual that teaches us how to approach women ... how to take them out ... and then how to "CLOSE THE DEAL." That's what a prominently placed ad-poster in the men's changeroom is selling. I've noticed this both at Northridge and at the Wellington club. The ad directs you to www.simple-seduction.com . I took a look at it today. The site promises, if you buy the manual, that "You can know exactly what to SAY to break the ice...and exactly what to DO to get her in bed!" We're not talking just any women here. We are talking "Perfect 10's." To prove it, there are several photos, and I will vouch that the "hot babes" shown there are not bad at all. Obviously, once a guy's got one perfect 10, he's gonna want more. No problem. The manual teaches how to pick women up "repetitively." In fact, "You will be up to your EARS in Beautiful Women once you know these 'Dirty Little Tricks'." And then ... "off to the bedroom you'll go!" The site also features testimonials. One gushes: "I love the feeling of being able to have 2 girls at once and them not knowing about it, thanks to you guys." Another says: "This guide has not only made me better with women, but has helped me to improve my character overall." Now, please, no one should mistake me for a prude. But I have to ask: Should our health club, a place where we would hope to be interacting with others on a basis of mutual respect, be helping people improve their characters in this way? The site also promises a money-back "Get Laid Guarantee" which -- *conceivably* -- would not be scrupulously honored in each and every case. Should SCC be involved in helping promote this kind of business? Only slightly less objectionable is an ad-poster that's been up for some time in the general area at Northridge, featuring a picture of a young woman dancing with a man. She has her arms up, apparently doing some kind of rumba dance or something ... but the secret truth is that she's actually conducting a "sniff test" on herself -- because she's not confident she doesn't stink. And the simple reason she's not confident she doesn't stink is that she doesn't use whatever deodorant product the ad is pushing. The poster declares excitedly that the product is "strong enough EVEN FOR A WOMAN!" I have often pondered precisely what that means. I am still not sure. We pay fees. Do we really have to be harassed by ads on club premises?
(No one from management responded about the poster, but it was removed a short time later.)
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