Fitness First

A ribbon cutting and grand opening will be held at the new Fitness First located at the intersection of HWY 7 & 12 on Sat. at 12 noon. Be sure to come welcome this new business to the Ortonville Area!

December 4, 2009

Hi, Artie - and whoever else is going to read this (I am brand-new to this site).

I joined Fitness First when it opened last year. I have spent the last ten months trying to quit! You may be interested to know that Adrian Smith does NOT have a Yahoo address as the Chamber of Commerce website indicates. Becky Snortum no longer works there and wouldn't respond to notes or phonecalls when I did try to quit.

My most recent attempts to get out of this have also failed, and they continue to withdraw money from my checking account. Twice Adrian Smith has promised me a full refund, and I get NOTHING! He won't take my phonecalls.

I wonder if anyone else is having a problem with them? I can't believe there's a large enough customer base in Ortonville to treat people like that.

I would LOVE to hear from anyone else who belongs to Fitness First.

Mary Jo Thompson

Jotter, welcome!

I have seen contracts like the one you mention which allows a third party to withdraw funds for a period of time. My suggestion is do everything in writing and then cancel payment at your bank just like you would cancel payment of a check. This may have legal consequences if the business decides to sue you in smmall claims court.

In terms of the Chamber of Commerce, you should not confuse this with the Better Business Bureau. The Chamber is there to assist businesses, not to oversee the honesty of the businesses that belong.

JOTTER welcome to The Forums.

Not everyone will reply immediately to posts but many people read them and learn from them. I saw your post on Friday and have pondered it all weekend. One of the benefits of this forum is for people to have a place to communicate. Now that you have made your opinion known you have given others a heads up to be cautious as they make commitments. Thank you for speaking out. I do not know all of the particulars in your situation but would think that keeping the customers satisfied is the name of the game. Please keep us informed if there are any changes.

December 29, 2009

I finally reached and agreement with Adrian Smith, owner of Fitness First, which makes both of us happy.

His contact information on the Ortonville Chamber of Commerce website is still inaccurate, however. He does not have a Yahoo account and Becky Snortum hasn't worked for him for months. There is information posted on the door of the Fitness Center to contact his current employee, Mary, but if you want to reach Adrian, do what I did. I googled him in Sioux Falls, and it gave both his residence and home phone, plus details on the fitness equipment retail store he runs. He is also on Facebook, for anyone who is interested in that site.

Persistence pays!

Mary Jo,
I started at the fitness center shortly after it opened, and when the rods broke in my back, I sent a letter to the club, prior to my renew date, stating I was giving my thirty day notice. I called a few times, to make sure they had gotten the letter, but no response. I then went to my bank and stopped the authorization for automatic withdrawl after the current month was taken.
I am glad you have worked things out, it should not have been that difficult for you. Policy states 30 day notice, and when I signed up, they said to slip note under office door if somebody was not present.
I enjoyed the club, and hope someday that my back will again be strong enough to reactivate my membership.
It was great meeting you last night also!!