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Call Kurtis: 'Super' New Fees?

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GRANITE BAY (CBS13) ― A Granite Bay man paid almost $1,400 upfront for a gym membership for him and his wife. But when his gym moved to a different location under a different name, he was told he couldn't use it, so he called Kurtis.

Richard Williams has been a member of 24 Hour Fitness for the past four years. He believes he's being taken advantage of because of a small name change.

Richard Williams works in Folsom and likes to work out near his job. Back in November 2004, he joined 24 Hour Fitness and says he specifically asked if he could use the Folsom club.

"'No problem' they said, 'you can use any 24 Hour Fitness Sport center in the chain,' I said 'great,' signed up, paid the money," says Richard.

He paid almost $1,400 upfront for a three year membership.
According to the contract, after the third year, his membership would only cost $20 a year.

"Seemed like a really good deal at the time," says Richard.

Two months ago, he decided to get serious and paid another $1,500 for a personal trainer. Richard wanted to work out during his lunch hour.

"I went over to the old location which is about 4/10 of a mile from here and it was gone," says Richard. "Everything's been taken out," he adds.

The old 24 Hour Fitness "Sport" had moved to another location, except now the word "Super" has been added to the name.

"I walked in and tried to scan in with my card and said 'oh, you're a sport member, this is a super sport'," says Richard.

Richard says he was told he'd have to upgrade his membership.

"I'd go from $20 a year to a whopping 260 dollars a year which is a 1200% increase to come and use the same treadmill, only now this treadmill sits in a building called a Super Sport. I said 'this is absurd'," says Richard.

Richard checked 24 Hour Fitness' website and found the only difference is the Super Sport has tanning. But the Folsom club doesn't offer this service.

"I'm not going to be a victim of 24 Hour Fitness, I'm going to take charge," says Richard.

Richard says the club manager hung up on him so he wrote a letter to the Attorney General and called me.

We asked 24 Hour Fitness about their membership policy and about Richard's case. They refused to address the issue. Instead, they sent us a statement promoting their upgraded facilities at the Folsom club.

"The last time I checked, I could only swim in one pool at a time," says Richard.

Richard says he's not giving up and now, he's looking to contact class action lawsuit attorneys.

"It's not just for me, it's for everybody else caught in this web," says Richard.

We contacted the Attorney General's office and they're encouraging anyone who has been caught up in this situation to contact them.

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