This was forwarded to me by a fellow associate. I post this to my blog in honor of Scam.com and all the other sites like it on the internet. This is a tribute to you:
Man, I’m mad. I’m so mad I can’t see straight. And I’m not just being emotional. I’m an intelligent person and I’m speaking from experience. Don’t make the mistake I did or you’ll regret it.
Gold’s Gym is a scam. In fact, I think the whole fitness club industry is a scam.
I saw pictures of people who were fit and trim and beautiful. And I wanted to be fit and trim and beautiful. So, I paid the $30 fee to come every month.
Then, guess what! No one told me that I had to pay extra for those power-bar snacks that were on the counter. Or that my membership fee didn’t include the sports drinks. Or that a personal trainer wasn’t included.
These things should have been my first red flags.
But, still I was excited that I might be able to lose some weight and start looking good. So I ignored the warning signals and started working out.
Well, I did everything they told me to do. I worked my legs a little. I didn’t work out my arms because I hurt it one time in the past working out and I was afraid I’d get hurt again. So I skipped the arms. After all, you don’t want to get hurt again. You’ve gotta be careful.
I worked out my back. I worked my stomach a little bit but I decided I didn’t want to push myself too hard. Plus, I was getting hungry after all this working out so I went and bought a powerbar. SIX DOLLARS! I kid you not. If I hadn’t been so hungry, I wouldn’t have bought one. But one of the guys who worked out there said he used them for daily snacks and he looked pretty good. So I thought I’d “try” one.
Anyway. That’s not what made me mad. I’m coming to that part.
This all went on for a few days. I even spent $100 on workout clothes. It wasn’t required but other people in the gym had them so I thought I’d get some, too.
In fact, I spent another $100 on a pair of new workout shoes. I picked a pair that I felt like I could still use even if I stopped working out. You never know if things are going to pan out the way you want, you know?
Anyway…one day, I was talking to a guy in the locker room. He was about 40 pounds overweight and he told me he’d been coming to the gym for SIX MONTHS. I did the math in my head…”If this guy has been here for six months, why isn’t he thin and trim yet???”
That’s when the warning bells went off again. This whole thing might just be a scam to get people’s money. I mean, this guy wasn’t mad or anything….in fact, he was excited that he’d lost some weight….BUT HE’S STILL OVERWEIGHT! And he’s spending that money every month…and Gold’s Gym just keeps taking it!
Then I thought, “I should get on the Internet and look up Gold’s Gym!”. I don’t know why I didn’t do that before! So, I went to Google and typed in “Gold’s Gym scam” and you won’t believe what I found!
Seriously.
Did you know that 80% of the people who join Gold’s Gym cancel their membership within the first year? That 95% of the people who join Gold’s Gym have never won a fitness contest? Or gotten a job as a model?
I found one lady online who said she joined Gold’s Gym and the manager of the gym said she needed a personal trainer to help her create a “fitness plan” and to keep her on track. Guess what? She said it cost her an additional $200 a WEEK! What a ripoff! She DID say that she lost some weight while she was going but that — after she stopped going every day — the weight came back. She fired the trainer and said it was all a scam, too.
I even found one story about a guy who said that they Gold’s Gym stole his money. He was supposed to get a promotional price of $19 a month but when he got his credit card statement, he found out that they were charging him $30 a month. That’s like $120 a year in stolen money if he hadn’t caught it.
Anyway….
As if that wasn’t enough, some friends and I were at McDonald’s the other day and I mentioned something about Gold’s Gym. My friend Susan said that she’d tried Gold’s Gym a few years ago and got NO results at all. She laughed that I’d fallen for it, too. I was so mad I almost spilled my milkshake.
Anyway….after I read all the stuff on the Internet about Gold’s Gym and talked to some of my friends, I decided to quit. I don’t deal with scam artists. They’re just in it for the money. They act like they’re interested in people’s health but I guarantee you that — if no one paid them — they’d close up shop. So much for their “mission”, huh?
And I’m beginning to think that those fit, trim, beautiful people in the Gym are part of the scam, anyway. Gold’s Gym probably pays them to come in there and work out so they can sell more memberships.
Am I saying that exercise doesn’t work? No, I’m not saying that. I’m sure it does. I’m just saying that you have to be careful when you join these big fancy gyms with the full-color brochures and all the stories of how people are getting results.
Because the truth is that those people are probably coming in there EVERY day (not just sometimes)…..they’ve probably changed their eating habits (which no one mentioned to me)…and you can bet that they’re all buying a lot of extra stuff from the Gym that’s not part of their regular membership fee. There’s a lot of stuff going on there that they don’t tell you about.
And I know they got me for several hundred dollars, too. I think the whole experience cost me $500 at least.
So, take it from me: Gold’s Gym is a rip-off. I know. I’ve been there. The idea that you can come in and work out every day and start looking fit and trim SOUNDS good….but that’s just to get you in the door. Then you find out that there’s more to it than that.
Remember what they say:Â “If it sounds too good to be true…it probably is.”
Anyway, all this has taught me a lesson. I’m not going to get suckered again. Next time I see someone or something that can supposedly “improve my life”, I’ll think twice.
Whether it’s a diet…..a business idea…..a network marketing opportunity….or just an idea….I’ll go check it out on Google first.
After all, if it’s on the Internet it must be true, right?
David Allred is the author and creator of CFW. David has been teaching entrepreneur minded people how to earn a full time income working from the comfort of home for nearly a decade.
Think about it. Never miss your kids’ events, set your own schedule, choose your own income and enjoy a lifestyle and income which most people only drool over!
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