GoodLife Fitness (Rideau Centre)

Go at your own peril

An Ottawa man who tried to cancel his gym membership on the weekend said Tuesday his gym not only refused his request, but called security guards who then roughed him up. Last week, a CBC investigation revealed that some Canadian fitness clubs may have collected hundreds of millions of dollars by continuing to debit the accounts of former members after they tried to cancel their memberships. In an Ipsos-Reid poll for the CBC, 39 per cent of Canadian gym-goers reported problems with over-billing. Computer programmer Christopher Probst has been trying to stop his membership at the Goodlife Gym in the Rideau Centre since August. "I'm travelling all the time, so I don't really need it," he said. A Goodlife manager wrote to Probst telling him he had to come in person to cancel his membership. Probst is currently working in Portland, Oregon. But last weekend he was in Ottawa, so he went to the Rideau Centre to cancel his card. But, he said, a staff member told him to go away and phone for an appointment. He said he told her he was on his way to the airport, and he continued to insist on canceling it then.