Dear Editor:
I joined the Hoboken Health Concepts in June 2000 for $299, which I charged on my Master Card. And when, over a year later, it seemed pretty clear that the Club was never going to open, I joined the Sports Center at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan and began the process of obtaining a refund from Health Concepts.
I encountered the same obstacles as many of the members quoted in your recent articles. I phoned Health Concepts, and I was promised a refund if I returned "the pink copy" of my contract (my only copy); I never received the refund. After that I phoned the main office (Fairview) several times (the Hoboken number had been disconnected by then) and left messages for Chrissie Winters (who never returned the calls) all to no avail. Finally, I phoned Master Card and found, to my surprise, that I could "dispute" the charge even though over a year had elapsed. I decided that, since Health Concepts has two other facilities in operation, they wouldn’t want to jeopardize their relationship with the credit card companies. I filed a dispute, sent corroborating documents (including the earlier Hoboken Reporter article) to Master Card, and they issued a "conditional credit." A few months later, they found in my favor and issued a "permanent credit" of $299. For your readers who paid their membership with a credit card, I would recommend this route.
Frank Salamone