FTC sues LA Fitness operators for 'exceedingly difficult' gym
cancellation policies
[August 21, 2025] By
WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is suing the operators
of LA Fitness, over allegations that they make it “exceedingly
difficult” for consumers to cancel gym memberships and other related
services offered in their clubs nationwide.
In a Wednesday complaint, the FTC accused Fitness International and its
subsidiary Fitness & Sports Clubs of illegally charging consumers
“hundreds of millions of dollars in unwanted recurring fees” as a result
of cumbersome cancellation processes. The agency said that tens of
thousands of customers have reported difficulties with these policies to
date.
“The FTC’s complaint describes a scenario that too many Americans have
experienced — a gym membership that seems impossible to cancel,”
Christopher Mufarrige, director of the agency’s Bureau of Consumer
Protection, said in a statement.
Beyond LA Fitness, California-based Fitness International operates
brands like Esporta Fitness, City Sports Club, and Club Studio —
spanning across more than 600 locations with over 3.7 million members
nationwide. And the FTC pointed to two “unfair and unlawful”
cancellation processes that it says these gyms have used for years:
in-person cancellation or cancellation by mail.
Both of these options require consumers to print out a form on the gym’s
website, which includes logging in with credentials that the agency says
some customers don’t have or remember. And if a customer opts for
in-person cancellation, there’s limited hours and often difficulty
finding a manager to process the forms, the complaint notes — while
mailing the form comes with additional costs.
“Each of these cancellation methods is opaque, complicated, and
demanding — far from simple,” the FTC writes in its complaint. It also
alleges that the company doesn’t adequately disclose cancellation
offerings when consumers sign up for memberships, and that some will be
signed up for additional services with recurring charges without
realizing there may be different cancellation requirements.
According to the FTC, Fitness International now offers website
cancellations for subscriptions “with stand-alone agreements” — but the
agency said the process “still imposes unnecessary burdens” on customers
and claims that that option is buried online. It’s also still not
possible to cancel memberships on the company’s mobile apps, the FTC
added.
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A vehicle drives near the side of the building of an LA Fitness gym,
on April 19, 2018, in Secaucus, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
 Jill Hill, president of club
operations at Fitness International, expressed disappointment in the
FTC’s decision to pursue litigation — and said that the allegations
were “without merit” and that the company was confident that it
would prevail in court.
In a statement, Hill noted that the statute that the FTC relied “was
designed to address only online retail transactions, does not
require any specific method of cancellation, and has never before
been applied to the health club industry.” She added that Fitness
International “proactively launched” its online cancellation process
18 months before the FTC’s “click to cancel rule” was set to take
effect.
“With just a few clicks, members may cancel online — a step we
voluntarily implemented well ahead of regulatory deadlines,” Hill
said, adding that the company chose to keep this offering in effect
“to provide members with yet another simple way to cancel.”
This isn’t the first time that federal regulators have accused gym
operators — and other companies with subscription services — of
making their cancellation processes too difficult for consumers.
Under the Biden administration, the FTC adopted a “click to cancel”
rule, which would have made it easier for consumers to end unwanted
subscriptions. But last month, days before that rule was poised to
go into effect, a federal appeals court blocked the proposed
changes.
In its litigation against Fitness International, the FTC says it’s
seeking a court order prohibiting the allegedly unfair conduct and
money back for consumers who were harmed by difficult cancellation
processes.
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