A “FITNESS CH” line on your bank or credit card statement is almost always a recurring charge from a fitness center or health club, shortened by the merchant’s billing descriptor. Gyms bill through processors that truncate the merchant name, so a fitness ch charge typically represents monthly dues, an annual or “enhancement” fee, or a trial that converted to a paid membership. If you don’t recognize it, the money is still going somewhere specific, and you can trace it, cancel it, and in many cases get it refunded.
Why the Charge Keeps Appearing
Gym memberships run on automatic recurring billing. The charge continues until you affirmatively cancel, and sometimes afterward. A few patterns account for most surprise charges.
Annual fees on top of monthly dues. Crunch Fitness charges an annual fee ranging from $39 to $89, which a 2026 class action alleges is not adequately disclosed during online signup.1Top Class Actions. Crunch Fitness Class Action Alleges Gym Charges Mandatory Junk Fees The Edge Fitness Clubs bills an “enhancement fee” 14 days after the join date and annually thereafter.2The Edge Fitness Clubs. What Is the Enhancement Fee and When Is It Billed If a mystery charge is roughly $40 to $90 and lands near your anniversary date, this is the likely culprit.
Free trial conversions. Providing a card for a “free trial” often authorizes automatic conversion to a paid membership once the trial ends.3Michigan.gov. Health Club Memberships: Lose Weight, Not Money
Cancellations that didn’t take. The FTC’s 2025 complaint against the operator of LA Fitness, Esporta Fitness, City Sports Club, and Club Studio alleged the company required in-person cancellations with a specific manager, trained staff to reject phone and email cancellation requests, and hid online cancellation forms behind cumbersome login steps.4Federal Trade Commission. FTC Sues LA Fitness for Making It Difficult for Consumers to Cancel Gym Memberships If you thought you cancelled months ago, you may not have.
Charges that follow you to a new card. Some gym billing processors use card network updater programs to pull your replacement card number straight from the issuing bank when a card is declined or reissued. ABC Fitness Solutions, a major processor, describes its “automated updater program” that requests new card information from financial institutions.5ABC Fitness. Collect More Income With Less Headaches Planet Fitness members have filed Better Business Bureau complaints about this practice.6Better Business Bureau. Planet Fitness Headquarters Complaints Cancelling a card is not reliably enough to stop a gym charge.
How to Identify the Gym Behind the Charge
Your statement usually shows only a truncated descriptor, sometimes with a location number. Call your bank or card issuer and ask for the full merchant name, city, and phone number attached to the transaction. Then check whether anyone in your household signed up for a membership, a trial, a day pass that required a card on file, or a class package. The charge amount often tells you which fee it is: a recurring monthly figure is dues; a once-a-year charge is the annual or enhancement fee.
How to Cancel and Stop the Payment
Once you know the gym, pull up any membership agreement you signed or clicked through. The Consumer Federation of America recommends checking the contract for specific cancellation requirements, which may include written notice, advance notice of 30 days or more, or early termination fees.7Consumer Federation of America. Exercising Your Rights: Gym Membership Cancellation Follow the method the contract requires, and if you mail a cancellation, use certified mail with a return receipt so you have proof.
If the gym stalls or refuses, you have two parallel moves. You can tell your bank to stop future electronic transfers by notifying them at least three business days before the next scheduled payment.8California Department of Consumer Affairs. Health Clubs – Legal Guide You can also dispute the existing charge with your credit card company. If the local branch stonewalls you, go over its head to the corporate brand owner or franchisor.7Consumer Federation of America. Exercising Your Rights: Gym Membership Cancellation
One warning: stopping the payment is not the same as cancelling the contract. The gym may still treat the account as active and send the balance to collections. If a debt collector contacts you, you can send a written request to stop collection efforts, which the collector must honor under federal law.8California Department of Consumer Affairs. Health Clubs – Legal Guide Cancel the contract in writing even after you’ve blocked the card.
Your Rights Under Federal Law
The main federal statute is the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA). It requires any seller using a “negative option feature,” where silence or inaction is treated as acceptance of ongoing charges, to clearly disclose all material terms before taking billing information, obtain the consumer’s express informed consent before charging, and provide a simple mechanism for stopping recurring charges.9U.S. Congress. Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act Violations are treated as unfair or deceptive practices, and both the FTC and state attorneys general can enforce them.
You may have seen headlines about an FTC “click-to-cancel” rule that would have required cancellation to be as easy as signup. Do not rely on it. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the rule in July 2025 in Custom Communications, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission, finding the FTC had committed a “fatal” procedural error by skipping a required preliminary regulatory analysis.10DLA Piper. FTC’s Click-to-Cancel Rule Voided The underlying ROSCA requirements still apply.
Your Rights Under State Law
State protections are often stronger than ROSCA, and they vary.
California. The Automatic Renewal Law requires affirmative consent, clear disclosure of renewal terms, and easy cancellation by toll-free number, email, or an online method.11Justia. California Business and Professions Code Sections 17600-17606 Amendments effective July 2025 added online cancellation without obstructive steps, advance notice of fee changes 7 to 30 days before they take effect, and annual reminders about active subscriptions.12Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. Automatic Renewal Litigation on the Rise in California If the business failed to get proper consent, anything it provided is “deemed an unconditional gift to the consumer.”
New York. Under the Health Club Services Act, you have three days to cancel after signing. At annual renewal, you have 15 days to cancel. Gyms must accept cancellations through their website, email, telephone, mail, or in person. Contracts that violate the Act are void and unenforceable, and you can sue in small claims court for up to three times your actual damages plus attorney’s fees.13New York Attorney General. Health Clubs and Gyms A separate state law effective November 2025 requires businesses to obtain advance affirmative consent for price increases or allow cancellation within 14 days with a pro-rata refund.14Arnold & Porter. FTC and State AGs Continue to Scrutinize Subscription Practices
Illinois. As of January 2025, gyms must allow cancellation by email or through the gym’s website. The in-person or regular-mail requirement is gone.15NBC Chicago. New Illinois Law Makes It Easier to Cancel Gym Memberships
Georgia. Gyms selling prepaid memberships must warn you that you are “risking loss of your money” if the business closes. If you prepaid, you can cancel within seven business days for a full refund minus the value of services already used.16Georgia Office of Consumer Protection. Prepaid Gym Memberships
Maine. For auto-renewing memberships of 12 months or more, the gym must send renewal notice no more than 30 days before the renewal date and must let you cancel using the same method you used to enroll.17Maine State Legislature. Title 10, Section 1210-C
If the Gym Won’t Cooperate
File a complaint with your state attorney general’s consumer protection division and with the FTC. In its LA Fitness case, the FTC noted the gym operators often changed their behavior “when complaints are escalated to state attorneys general or the Better Business Bureau.”18Global Policy Watch. FTC Sues LA Fitness Operators for Unfair Gym Cancellation Policies A directory of state and local consumer protection offices is available at usa.gov/state-consumer.7Consumer Federation of America. Exercising Your Rights: Gym Membership Cancellation
For smaller sums, small claims court is realistic. California allows claims up to $10,000, and New York consumers who prove a Health Club Services Act violation can recover up to three times their actual damages.8California Department of Consumer Affairs. Health Clubs – Legal Guide13New York Attorney General. Health Clubs and Gyms Bring your contract, your written cancellation requests, and your bank statements showing the charges.