LANSING, Mich. — The owner of a now-closed gym in Lansing is going to be getting a legal workout.
Attorney General Dana Nessel said the owner of the old "Go Workout" in Frandor broke the state's consumer protection law. According to Nessel, the owner promised one thing and didn't deliver on that promise. Namely that the gym was sold to customers as being for women only but once it moved it was mixed.
"Initially they were to my liking, but later on the swimming pool had issues they always had to order parts. Occasionally when you came in the sauna wasn't working, the steam room wasn't working, the whirlpool wasn't working and then it would work again. Until finally they just closed abruptly in August and relocated across the street to Quality Inn hotel," said Faye White-Shine, former Go Workout member.
Faye White-Shine joined the Frandor's Go Workout gym in July 2017 with a friend of hers.
"I think that they were never prepared to open up that site, it was never really busy," said White-Shine.
That "for women only sign", is now a "for lease" sign. However, it was one of the big selling points for Faye and her friend. When the gym unexpectedly moved across the street to Quality Inn, that promised a wasn't upheld.
"And I said 'can men who are staying as a guest in the hotel use this pool?'" White-Shine asked the management at the Quality Inn.
White-Shine said their response was yes, "well it's no longer all female and this isn't the facility we signed up for."
White-Shine said that she didn't even bother going to the Quality Inn gym. Instead, she demanded to retract her membership and not pay the yearly maintenance fee. She said a manager told her no and that's when she contacted the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the Michigan Attorney General's office in November 2017.
"If I can prevent this from happening to someone else and tell them to look into the facility, do some research before you join. And that's what it's all about, I was not trying to get member money back," said White-Shine.
"Early on the business did reply to the complaints that were filed with the BBB. They indicated they were going to hold customers to the contract because they felt they were fulfilling the contract as it was written. However, late last year the business did stop answering complaints," said Troy Baker- Better Business Bureau Communications Manager.
The BBB gave the business an F rating, and that's a grade that doesn't surprise White-Shine one bit.
"Absolutely, a G! Any time you take people's money and first of all the facility is not kept up, that's not right.," said White-Shine.
We have contacted the owner of the gym, we were unable to reach him. We will keep you updated with the criminal investigation.
Some signs to look out for before signing a gym membership agreement:https://www.bbb.org/article/tips/13250-bbb-tip-joining-a-gym
