FTC deals with cumbersome subscription models of gyms, dating sites

The Federal Trade Commission this week sued fitness operators Fitness International LLC and Fitness & Sports Clubs, LLC for using cancellation procedures that made it difficult for consumers to unsubscribe from their monthly memberships. The complaint alleges that the gyms’ practices have incurred hundreds of millions of dollars in unwanted recurring charges.

According to the FTC, “LA Fitness has required consumers who want to cancel their membership to either go to the gym itself or send a cancellation notice by mail. To start the process, LA Fitness has instructed consumers to log into its website and print a cancellation form. But even logging in can be cumbersome because consumers often do not recall their login credentials, and LA Fitness requires consumers to use the email address used to establish membership, the “key tag” number assigned at start up, and the first five digits of their credit card or bank account number to reset their login credentials.”

In another case, the Commission recently reached a settlement filed in 2019 against dating site owner Match Group, Inc., which allegedly “misled consumers with a confusing and cumbersome cancellation process that causes consumers to believe they have canceled their subscriptions when they have not.”

The FTC also had alleged that Match employed deceptive or unfair practices to induce consumers to subscribe to Match.com and to keep them subscribed, including through misleading advertisements. The company, operating under trade names Match.com, BlackPeopleMeet, BLK, Chispa, Upward, Yuzu, Salams, The League, HER, Stir, OurTime, OkCupid, Archer, and Plenty of Fish, agreed to pay $18 million, stop its misrepresentations to consumers, and change its cancellation processes.

Earlier this year, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down FTC’s “click to cancel” rule which had aimed to make it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions and memberships. Lawmakers have responded with legislation to revive and codify the former rule.