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Comment by conroy | Hacker News Reader

Full text of the proposed bill: https://legiscan.com/PA/text/HB2511/id/2569740/Pennsylvania-...

"This section shall not apply to a business entity that is subject to the act of December 21, 1989 (P.L.672, No.87), known as the Health Club Act" (in reference to disclosure of material changes to a service)

What is it with health clubs?!

It appears that health clubs are already highly regulated when it comes to memberships, so perhaps it seems like this law would be confusing to overlay on top of those regulations: https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/protect-yourself/consumer-ad...

> health clubs are already highly regulated when it comes to memberships

I had thousands of dollars of prepaid training with 24 Hour Fitness in New York City when they potted that LLC into bankruptcy. Class counsel negotiated a $50 gift card for anyone with claims over $200, or something stupid like that. Bought home equipment and work with my trainer over Zoom.

TL; DR Even in highly-regulated markets, the protections are B.S.

That's how gyms subsidize costs. January firsters are often make or break gyms. Mostly due to the fact that leases on those spaces are expensive and the insurance for them is a complete racket (all insurance is a racket, though).

While this is accurate (for "globo-gyms" like Anytime or PF, not gyms that actually having training components and charge $150-250/mo), that doesn't explain why it made its way into legislation. Legislators don't care about business models and let's be honest most of them aren't smart enough to understand it even if they did care.

Obviously someone has bribed the lawmakers for that exemption. Simple.

It's not obvious unless you're more interested in scoring political points online than actually figuring it out. Gyms don't have a huge lobbying presence. I used to live in Pennsylvania and I used to work very close to the lobbying industry. Nobody from Planet Fitness or any fitness-related association is walking around the halls of the capitol twisting arms.

> Nobody from Planet Fitness or any fitness-related association is walking around the halls of the capitol twisting arms.

The CEO of Planet Fitness was a contributor to Trump's campaign fund in 2016. I think you're underestimating how politically connected these groups are.

I mean a lazy google search shows this https://www.clubindustry.com/commercial-clubs/ihrsa-adds-lob...

Clearly there is plenty of big gym money bouncing around. Exceptions in laws don’t write themselves. I’m cynical but I’m also right.

They have a business plan that is predicated on people signing up for a service that they want to use but don’t and fail to unsubscribe because it’s like giving up on reaching their perceived potential best selves. It’s simple.

The gyms could still offer online cancellation and continue to make bank from this behavior if they sold you a contract with a minimum term, and heavy cancellation fees if you try to cancel early.

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