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I wasn't able to read this entire thread, but this advice could help someone out that deals with a similar situation. Forgive me if someone has said something similar.
Obviously, you never want to pay up front because it will be much harder to get a refund then to stop collections from an account. If you do pay through an account or get billed, almost ever commercial gyms go through an outside billing agency to collect on an account. Call the billing agency about your descrepancy, DO NOT CALL THE GYM. The billing agency will typically want documentation regarding your dispute. Provide every piece of documentation you can think of. Pictures, your account statements showing withdrawals, a copy of the contract, name of manager, etc.
Once the billing agency recieves this, they will review it. The billing agency does not want to take on any liability they do not have to. In other words, the billing agency does not really care if the gym loses a customer. The risk/reward ratio is much greater for them. The billing agency is VERY LIKELY to cancel their collections. This does not cancel your membership, but the billing agency withdraws their collections. They will send this IN WRITING at your request. The gym will not try to continue collections with their own efforts.
I dealt with a situation with a large gym and did extensive research on the topic. My girlfriend and I got out of the contract immediately (after the manager told me I'd never get out of it) by doing what I said above. Another good thing to do is check your counties public records to see if the gym has to go to Small Claims court often as the defendant. See how often they win or lose. The gym I left had a losing track record, so I figured the research and time was worth it. If your gym has a well written contract, it may be harder to win. The best thing to do is assess how much time and energy you are willing to put into it and figure out if it is worth it.
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