Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/12/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  *************************** Date of Delinquency: Balance at Default: Total Payments: Total Interest: Total Adjustments: Amount Outstanding: EDP Number: September 29, 2021 $1,763.33 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $1,763.33 ************** ***** **** ******************************************************** Re:Sandcastle Fitness Account # ****** Dear ***** **** We are the duly authorized agent for Sandcastle Fitness, and as such, we are required to advise you that your debt has been assigned to **************************** for immediate recovery. Please contact our office to make arrangements. Payment can be made online and through your financial institution. Look for **************************** in the list of payees at your financial institution. For a full list of payment options, please visit us at **********************. To ensure that your account is promptly credited please quote your EDP with your payment. Should you have any questions or would like further information regarding the current amount of your debt or the amount of your debt when it was first due and payable and, if applicable, would like a breakdown of the difference between those amounts, please contact our office at the number below as this information is available upon request. If there is a cost incurred by you to receive this communication, please advise our office and we may be able to contact you through other means. Sincerely, *.****** Collection Officer Tel. *************** Fax. **************

  Business Response

  Date: 03/12/2024

  Hello 

  Member was sent to *** collections as is general business practice once they fail to meet agreement terms

  Account was NOT cancelled at the time they mentioned, and we had made numerous attempts to contact them to avoid this happening. (As we do for all accounts) 

  To rectify this , we will go ahead and remove them from CBV collections 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/12/2024

   
  Complaint: 22617955
  
  I am rejecting this response because I don't understand what they mean.  Not only was I required to pay but barred from the gym as well as moved to ******* and then *******  Contract accepts cancellations for moving more than 30 miles away.  Attachments above.  My circumstances changed.  If there is a small administrative charge from July to Sept 2021 for the cancellation I will pay this.  I have also made a dispute with credit bureau.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ****

  Business Response

  Date: 18/12/2024

  We will be asking *** Collections to remove this person from collections. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:16/04/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Refused to cancel my membership and continued to keep charging my credit card after written acknowledgment of cancellation.

  Business Response

  Date: 16/04/2024

  As per agreement that the member signed and agreed upon the terms and conditions that he signed onto a 1 year agreement and wanted to cancel within the term of the agreement which was subject to a penalty which was also listed in the agreement itself. 

  Our records indicate communication between member and us, where he was advised how the cancellation process works (that email was sent to member on December 13th, 2022). We didn't receive any reply from the member.

  We followed up on December 15th, 2022 and August 17th, 2023 and we didn't receive any reply back from the member. Therefore, we will enforce the terms and conditions that are written in the agreement. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 25/04/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response:

   

  I specifically requested multiple times over the phone as well as through email over a period of over 3-4 weeks to cancel my memborship and instead of charging the cancelation fee for the last month of my contract they continued to charge my credit card and refused to cancel my membership. Based off the other reviews on ******* this is clearly a ********* tactic being used by this company on quite a lot of other people who are having the same issue of canceling. They have also refused to send me a copy of my contract. 

   

   

   

  Business Response

  Date: 25/04/2024

  The member never replied back to the email that outlined the two cancellation options, even though our organization followed up twice with the member. You can find screenshots attached. Therefore, we will enforce the terms and conditions written in the agreement itself.

  If the member can provide a written confirmation that our organization refused to send a copy of the agreement, that would be helpful. Our software automatically sends the agreement to the email address we have on file to avoid a situation where the company would be blamed like at this instance for refusing to send a copy to members. Therefore, our decision will remain the same.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 28/04/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  I gave notice to cancel in writing multiple times and agreed to pay the cancelation fees owing. I was never sent my contract as requested and the compnay decided to keep charging my credit card past my contract date. 

  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/05/2024

  We do not have any email from the client saying they would pay their dues or responding to us for that matter. Again we sent follow up emails and got no response. 

  This client has been sending our collections agency as well screenshots of half conversations that do not show the full email thread to try to say they had cancelled but do not show the parts where we responded and sent follow *** about their account billing issues.

  Regardless if they requested to cancel,  their account had past dues that needed to be resolved and they requested cancellation during term and did not full fill their payments within that term or responded to us when we were trying to work with them to collect payments and resolve the account.

  Once the amount is collected that is past due, we will close the account and client will be removed from collections. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/03/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I had been a member of Sandcastle Fitness. I approached the counter of the fitness centre to tell them that I would like to quit. The person at the counter said thay is easy, I'll let our account person know. Stop payments were then done. However, I received a call a number of months later stating that I owe payments despite Sandcastle Fitness making a stop payment.I have noticed online that similar actions have occurred to others or that there were extra charges not indicated by the fitness centre that was going to be done, as indicated in the business reviews.The fitness centre has now connected with a collections agency for an amount of $1,126.19. I will be connecting with a lawyer.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/03/2024

  Upon thorough review and assessment, it is clear that there have been instances of non-compliance with the agreed-upon terms and conditions outlined in the aforementioned agreement. As a responsible party to this contractual arrangement, it is imperative that all involved parties adhere to the stipulations laid out to ensure a mutually beneficial and harmonious business relationship.

  
  In light of this, I would like to clarify that our company policy explicitly states that cancellations must be processed through our official channels, which include such as email and online portal. This standardized process allows us to maintain accurate records, ensure compliance with our terms and conditions, and address cancellations in a systematic and fair manner.

  
  Since the new ownership took over Sandcastle Fitness and Wellness, 5 (five) years ago, Sandcastle Fitness has never accepted cancellations in person to avoid any future issues and uphold the integrity of our processes, we kindly request that all cancellation requests be submitted through the designated channels mentioned above.

  
  I would like to inform you that the moment we have record of electronic signature that was affixed to the document, the fully executed agreement was instantaneously dispatched to members designated email address. We have been reaching out to the the client consistently via email since 2022 to bring to client's attention an outstanding balance on client's account with us, to which client never replied back.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/03/2024

   
  Complaint: 21396317
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  The business stopped payment from my account as per my request.  This was recognized by the business after connecting with the business over the phone.

  It is immoral for a company to continue to charge someone for a service that is not being provided especially if they have themselves have stopped payment.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business Response

  Date: 13/03/2024

  By signing the agreement, the member has officially acknowledged and agreed to abide by the terms and conditions outlined within. The payments don't stop if the member doesn't use the facility nor the payments go up if the member uses the facility more than once per day. Therefore, we will expect the fulfillment of the terms and conditions outlined in the agreement. 

  Should the member refuse to comply with our terms and conditions, previously agreed upon, we will seek assistance from a third party company to resolve the issue.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:13/02/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On January 2nd, 2024, I received a promotional newsletter indicating that my boxing classes had been transitioned to Sandcastle Fitness, with an offer of "the first month for $1" as detailed in the attachment. On January 3rd, I visited the Sandcastle location to complete new waivers, only to discover upon reviewing my credit card statement that I had been immediately charged $45.14, followed by recurring biweekly charges of $24.14 under the merchant identifier "ASF*SANDCASTLE." This prompted me to contact Sandcastle Fitness on January 6th, requesting both a refund and cancellation, actions well within the guidelines outlined in the **** Business Practices and Consumer Protection Acts rescindable agreement period of 10 days. Sandcastle acknowledged that it should have been $1 for the first month and agreed to issue a refund and rescind the existing contract, with the opportunity to provide a new contract with amendments to the terms we were negotiating through our ongoing email correspondence. However, I noticed that the recurring payments of $24.14 continued, alongside an additional charge of $72.45 under the same merchant identifier, ASF*SANDCASTLE. The excess charge of $72.45 breached the contract as it was not disclosed as a recurring payment obligation in the contract itself and during the initial signup. According to Section 19 of the **** Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act, a contract must provide a detailed description of services, itemized pricing, terms of payment, and the total contract price, none of which were fulfilled in this instance. After a total charge of $214.18, Sandcastle Fitness only issued a partial refund of $164.18, citing an arbitrary administrative fee of $50. However, under the contractual terms, Sandcastle Fitness was only entitled to a maximum administrative fee of $20 if the contract had not been breached by them. Therefore, I am requesting the remaining balance of the full refund owed to me by Sandcastle Fitness.

  Business Response

  Date: 28/02/2024

  Hello, everything the client as provided is accurate so we don't need any additional documentation.

  The issue here is the following:

  ***** had retracted his cancellation request after we discussed we would honor the promotional pricing and then decided to reinitiate cancelation after the cancelation period had already past. Therefore, it is our opinion that ***** is not entitled to a cancelation at all, but we allowed it due to the fact he originally requested one, but after the amount of time and energy + the fact he had attended some classes, we decided an administrative charge of $50 was acceptable to us with a partial refund. Our membership contract does state that outside of the 10 day right to cancel (which had transpired) there is a no refund.

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/03/2024

  
  Complaint: ********

  
  I do not accept the response. Firstly, I have never attended a single class, Sandcastle's claim above can easily be refuted by their own online ASF Account Attendance Tracking log, which shows on record that I have never attended any sessions (I have attached a copy). Secondly, the $72.45 bi-weekly charges imposed by Sandcastle were never specified in the contract. In accordance with the **** Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act, the contract must include a detailed description of all services, all itemized pricing, terms of payment, and the total price. Failure to list these required components renders the contract non-binding, giving the customer the automatic right to cancel it within a year. Thirdly, the cancellation request of the initial contract was never retracted by me, but Sandcastle offered to compensate me with a new altered month-to-month contract which I ended up never accepting nor signing the proposed agreement. Sandcastle's response to BBB has been simply dishonest.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************