LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today issued a notice of intended action and a cease and desist order [links.govdelivery.com] to Go Workout Frandor and its owner, Steve Millenbach. Go Workout and Millenbach are alleged of violating the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.
The Michigan Department of Attorney General has received more than 20 complaints against Go Workout Frandor, several of which reference interactions with Millenbach.
Go Workout Frandor is alleged to have violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act by:
- Advertising or representing goods or services with intent not to dispose of those goods or services as advertised or represented.
- Causing a probability of confusion or of misunderstanding as to the legal rights, obligations, or remedies of a party to a transaction.
- Representing or implying that the subject of a consumer transaction will be provided promptly, or at a specified time, or within a reasonable time, if the merchant knows or has reason to know it will not be so provided.
- Failing to reveal a material fact, the omission of which tends to mislead or deceive the consumer, and which fact could not reasonably be known by the consumer.
- Failing, in a consumer transaction that is rescinded, canceled, or otherwise terminated in accordance with the terms of an agreement, advertisement, representation, or provision of law, to promptly restore to the person or persons entitled to it a deposit, down payment, or other payment, or in the case of property traded in but not available, the greater of the agreed value or the fair market value of the property, or to cancel within a specified time or an otherwise reasonable time an acquired security interest.
- Making a representation of fact or statement of fact material to the transaction such that a person reasonably believes the represented or suggested state of affairs to be other than it actually is.
- Failing to reveal facts that are material to the transaction in light of representations of fact made in a positive manner.
The Lansing-based, women-only gym allegedly solicited memberships even as eviction proceedings were underway in August 2018. The gym then relocated from the Frandor Shopping Center to a substantially smaller room in a nearby hotel, where customers are expected to share limited equipment and a pool with male and female hotel guests. Millenbach and Go Workout have failed to make refunds to consumers who paid sign-up fees and advanced membership fees with the expectation they would have access to the now-closed Frandor gym.
“We count on companies to uphold their end of the law,” Nessel said. “And when they don’t, we stand ready to protect Michigan consumers.”
Nessel will file a lawsuit to seek equitable relief under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act and financial damages on behalf of affected Michigan consumers unless Go Workout and Millenbach respond to the notice by Feb. 11.
