Gym would not respond to emails asking for cancellation form, nor pick up the phone during office hours.
Then stood by their cancellation policy of 30 days despite the weeks of messages left. 30 days from time of signing the form.
Shady business.
I got into a giant fight with Lifetime Fitness and Amex over this. Amex 100% took the gyms side and allowed them to bill me even after I told them I refused any additional charges.
The chargeback system is consumer friendly until there is actual real money on the table. If you are a giant business you can block many chargebacks as matter of course. Your issuing bank will tell you to take it up in civil court while issuing you a bill.
As I looked into this further I realized chargebacks other than outright theft and fraud are basically done as a courtesy until your account is no longer worth it to the issuer.
I refuse to purchase a Planet Fitness membership because of this. Despite PF being both closer and cheaper, I will not play their BS cancellation games with my bank account.
It took more than one try to catch them during office hours. The problem of course is that their office hours numbered just 12 hours a week, and smack in the middle of the workday! 10:30 - 1:30, M-Th