One of the largest gym chains in the U.S., 24 Hour Fitness, has filed bankruptcy after losing $1.4 billion while being closed during the coronavirus outbreak.
All of 24 Hour Fitness’ 420 gyms are closed right now, and about 1/4 of them will stay closed forever. The rest will start reopening over the next several weeks.
If you’re one of the 4 million 24 Hour Fitness members, you probably have some questions.
Existing gym members get to pick from three incentives.
To encourage 24 Hour Fitness members to keep their memberships, the chain is giving them a choice of one of these “Thank You Offers”:
- A one-month dues credit
- A “buddy pass” for a year
- 90-day access for a friend or family member
The cancellation page offers even more incentives.
If you visit the cancel membership page on 24HourFitness.com, you’ll find that they’re offering “12 months of additional benefits” to keep you. Starting from the day they reopen clubs, 24 Hour Fitness will be offering:
- 1 free buddy pass
- Free 24GO audio coaching program
- 10% reduction in monthly dues
To get the benefit, visit the cancellation page, click “Yes,” enter your member number and birth date, and submit.
TIP: It’s unclear whether you’re able to get both the “Thank You Offers” and the non-cancellation offers. If you’re able to get both, let us know in the comments.
24 Hour Fitness won’t reopen 133 of their gyms.
24 Hour Fitness released a full list of gyms closing, but here are the numbers by area:
- California (Bay Area): 13
- California (L.A. Area): 11
- California (Orange County): 7
- California (San Diego): 6
- California (Other): 5
- Colorado: 13 (12 in Denver)
- District of Columbia: 3
- Florida: 7 (6 in Miami)
- Hawaii (Maui): 1
- Illinois (Chicagoland): 2
- New Jersey: 7
- Nevada (Las Vegas): 8
- New York (NYC): 10
- Oregon (Portland): 2
- Texas (Austin): 3
- Texas (Dallas): 11
- Texas (Houston): 12
- Utah (Salt Lake City): 4
- Washington (Seattle): 8
If you bought a 24 Hour Fitness membership through Costco, you can get a refund.
Via Costco Weekender
Costco has pulled all of the 24 Hour Fitness memberships from their shelves ever since coronavirus closed gyms, but if you happened to buy a membership beforehand, a number of Reddit users are sharing that they were able to get a full refund from the store.
Just visit the membership desk and they’ll sort it out. More proof of Costco’s insanely good return policy.
Members can now work out at any 24 Hour Fitness.
Via Club Industry
24 Hour Fitness says they closed underperforming gyms that were close to other locations, so chances are, if your gym closed, there’s another 24 Hour Fitness within reasonable driving distance.
In the midst of the closures — both temporary and permanent — 24 Hour Fitness is giving all members access to any of their open gyms through the end of 2020.
Typically, 24 Hour Fitness members may only utilize their “home” club — unless they pay for an upgraded “All-Club Sport” membership.
To cancel your membership, you have to fill out a form (but it’s not that easy).
If you want to cancel your membership, 24 Hour Fitness has a page for that. Put in your member number, your birthday, and submit.
This seems easy, but there’s plenty of evidence online to suggest that 24 Hour Fitness makes it difficult to cancel. Former members have reported that it takes 30 days from the next billing date to cancel, and that even after cancelling, members have been charged dues.
When in doubt, get in touch with your credit card company to ensure that you’re not overcharged.
This isn’t the only gym chain that’s going bankrupt.
Competitor Gold’s Gym also announced a bankruptcy filing in the wake of coronavirus, and the permanent closure of more than 30 gyms (out of the brand’s 400+ locations).
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