If a Health club is no longer takeing membership fees. Can they bill me for a Non EFT charge if none was set up for in the contract.

Question

If a Health club is no longer takeing membership fees. Can they bill me for a Non EFT charge if none was set up for in the contract.

Answer

First, let me say that your use of the expression "non-EFT charge" is going to throw a lot of attorneys trying to answer your question for a loop. I put it in Google and got exactly one hit; the County of San Bernardino's employee benefits manual uses the term. in the context of health club dues, to refer to payments a member will make that will not be collected automatically by Electronic Funds Transfer. Aha!

OK, as to the answer to your question.......I think the answer is probably. Despite any membership contract, a health club has a right to assess various fees and charges in addition to dues you may have agreed to pay by EFT. Just like a wine club.....they send me a club member's selection a couple times a year, and debit the credit card I have on file; but if I walk into the tasting room to buy an additional bottle, I need to pay cash or present my card another time. Well, maybe not an identical situation, but similar.

The bottom line is that if you receive services, you'll need to pay for them, some way or other. If they are already included in a membership you've paid for, so be it; they can't collect a second time for what the dues covered. However, at some point you probably went beyond what was in your package paid for by the dues or other EFTs, and incurred a billable.