A woman has claimed that she was "fat shamed" when she tried to cancel her gym membership.
Lexie Rowe - who goes by the handle @lexiemarierowe - posted a video on TikTok revealing that the gym chain, Anytime Fitness, refused to cancel her membership until she took at least three private training sessions
"Listen, I'm pretty sure Anytime Fitness just fat-shamed me," Rowe said while sitting in her car. She then explained that she decided to withdraw her membership because she had already "bought day passes" at the YMCA.
Rowe then said that when she went in to cancel the membership, an employee told her that she would like to "see [her] try" to take the three private sessions first.
Check out the video below:Rowe then claimed that when she told the woman that she "wasn't interested" in continuing with the membership, the worker replied that the sessions would be "free to [her]" and explained that she'll set her up with somebody.
"Is that legal? Is that in their policy? Can they ask me to do that?" Rowe asked at the end of the video.
As it states in Anytime Fitness' cancellation policy, the gym's guidelines differ between states, as each gym is independently owned and managed.
They advise that people who want to withdraw their membership should check the exact policy highlighted on their agreement, and reach out to their local gym directly.
Rowe's video has now gone viral and garnered over 680,000 views and almost 114,000 likes on the social media platform, with many users saying that she should be allowed to cancel her membership immediately.
The gym chain also reacted to the TikTokers video after many people on the platform tagged them and asked them to explain their policies.
They wrote: "Hi, Lexie. Thank you for bringing your experience to our attention. As you can imagine, with our purpose to help people reach their total health."
"Our records confirmed what you have stated, that your membership was canceled back in 2019. One of the offers we do extend to returning members is the set of three free training sessions.
"However, no one should be forced to take the training sessions when attempting to cancel their membership - that is absolutely not our policy, nor a practice we endorse," they continued.
"Since the pandemic, there has been a total turnover of staff at that particular location. As you have not been a member since 2019, all we can do is apologize we are sincerely sorry that this was your experience," they added.
"Obviously, we don’t wish this to be an experience that any other member has with Anytime Fitness. We will share your story as a reminder to our owners, staff, and teams that we must treat all our members - even those who seek to cancel their memberships – with dignity and respect," they concluded.
Have any thoughts on Lexie's situation? Drop them in the comments below.
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