LA Fitness sued by FTC over membership cancellation practices

The Federal Trade Commission sued LA Fitness over the gym chain’s allegedly onerous cancellation practices, the latest in a series of government cases accusing companies of making it difficult for consumers to end subscriptions.

In a complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles, the FTC said LA Fitness, operated by Fitness International LLC and Fitness & Sports Club LLC, maintained complicated cancellation practices that allowed the 600-gym chain to continue collecting hundreds of millions of dollars from customers who would have otherwise left.

“Tens of thousands of LA Fitness customers reported difficulties – cancellation was often restricted to specific times or required speaking to specific managers who were often not present or available,” said Christopher Mufarrige, th