A “relaxing stretches” charge on your bank or credit card statement is almost always a recurring subscription fee tied to a stretching, fitness, or wellness service. The two usual sources are a mobile app billed through the Apple App Store or Google Play (often a free trial that converted to a paid subscription), or an auto-renewing membership at an assisted-stretching studio such as StretchLab. If you don’t recognize it, the charge may reflect a trial you forgot about, a subscription that kept running after you deleted an app, or a studio membership that kept billing after you believed you had canceled.
What the Charge Usually Is
Most stretching and wellness subscriptions use what regulators call a “negative option” model: billing continues unless you take an affirmative step to cancel. StretchLab’s membership terms state that memberships “automatically renew for successive one-interval periods” and that the company will bill the payment method on file at the start of each interval. If a payment is declined, you remain responsible for the uncollected amount, and the company may continue attempting to charge updated payment information.1StretchLab. Terms of Service
Mobile apps work the same way. The JustStretch terms state that subscriptions “automatically renew” and that users must cancel “at least 24 hours before the end of the trial or then-current subscription period” to avoid being charged. Deleting the app does not cancel the subscription.2Daily Bend. Terms and Conditions One Google Play user reported being charged more than $75 for a year-long subscription to a workout app they said they never signed up for, even after deleting it from their device.3Google. How to Refund an Unauthorized Subscription Payment
Check the merchant name on your statement, the dollar amount, and the billing frequency. An app subscription will usually show the app store as the processor rather than the app’s own name, which is one reason the charge can feel unfamiliar. A studio membership will typically show the studio brand or a franchise entity name.
Why Billing Can Continue After You Think You Canceled
Complaints about stretching and wellness memberships follow a recognizable pattern. Members try to cancel, believe the cancellation went through, and then find they are still being charged. Better Business Bureau complaints against StretchLab locations describe consumers charged for additional months after a contract ended, billed twice for monthly fees plus late fees after a cancellation was supposedly confirmed, and sent to collections after requesting a membership freeze.4Better Business Bureau. StretchLab Complaints
Part of the problem is structural. StretchLab studios are independently owned franchises, and corporate offices often cannot access individual member records. The company’s help center confirms that membership changes “will need to be handled at the studio level.”5StretchLab. How Do I Freeze, Get Refunded, or Cancel My Membership Consumers report that emails go unanswered and that terms like a 30-day cancellation notice requirement or a 60-day window to use purchased sessions are enforced only after a dispute arises.
Other wellness brands show the same dynamic. A class action filed in Cook County, Illinois, alleged that Massage Envy provided an online profile for account management but omitted any mechanism for cancellation. The named plaintiff said that despite submitting a written cancellation request, the company withdrew $75 from her account the following month.6ClassAction.org. Class Action Claims Massage Envy Blocks Members From Canceling Massage Envy’s website terms acknowledge that wellness agreements are entered with independently owned franchise locations, which can leave consumers unsure whom to contact.7Massage Envy. Terms and Conditions
How to Cancel the Subscription
The right path depends on where the charge originates.
App Store Subscriptions
If the charge is from a stretching app, cancellation has to happen inside the Apple App Store or Google Play subscription settings. Deleting the app does nothing to the billing relationship. Refund requests also go through the app store, because app developers typically cannot process refunds for purchases made through those platforms.3Google. How to Refund an Unauthorized Subscription Payment
Studio Memberships
For a studio membership, contact the specific location where the membership was opened. StretchLab’s terms list several cancellation methods: visiting an account page on the website, consulting the studio’s membership policies, contacting the studio directly, or emailing operations@stretchlab.com.1StretchLab. Terms of Service Whichever method you use, keep written documentation of every cancellation request, including dates, the names of any staff you speak to, and confirmation numbers. Disputes over whether a cancellation was properly processed are the single most common complaint, and documentation is what settles them.
Disputing a Charge That Won’t Stop
If a company keeps billing you after you cancel, or if you don’t recognize the charge at all, you can dispute it with your card issuer. You do not have to contact the merchant first before opening a dispute with your bank.8Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Electronic Fund Transfers FAQs
For credit card charges, the Fair Credit Billing Act gives you protection if you act quickly. A written dispute has to reach the card issuer within 60 days of the statement containing the error. The issuer must acknowledge the dispute within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days or two billing cycles, whichever is shorter. While the investigation is pending, the issuer cannot try to collect the disputed amount, charge interest on it, or report it as delinquent.9Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
For debit card charges, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act provides similar protections. An unauthorized electronic fund transfer is one initiated without your authority and from which you received no benefit. Financial institutions must investigate reported errors, and they cannot require you to contact the merchant or file a police report as a condition of starting that investigation.
When you file the dispute, include the merchant name as it appears on your statement, the date and amount of the charge, copies of any cancellation confirmations, and a short description of why the charge is in error. If the same company is charging you on more than one statement, list each charge.
State Laws That May Give You Stronger Rights
Federal rules on subscription cancellation are in flux. The FTC’s “Click-to-Cancel” rule, finalized in October 2024, was vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in July 2025 on procedural grounds. The court did not reach the substance of the rule.10U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Custom Communications Inc. v. FTC, No. 24-3137 The FTC continues enforcing subscription-cancellation principles through Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.
State automatic-renewal statutes are often more useful for an individual consumer. Roughly 30 states have them. California requires annual renewal reminders with a link to cancel. Colorado mandates one-step online cancellation for consumers who subscribed online. New York requires a cancel button within mobile apps that offer auto-renewals. Massachusetts requires businesses to offer internet cancellation through the same website or app used to sign up.11Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Click-to-Cancel Rule Maine’s law, which applies specifically to health club memberships, requires that consumers be able to cancel using the same method they used to sign up and mandates advance notice before renewals of 12 months or more.12Maine State Legislature. Title 10, §1210-C: Automatic Renewals
If your state has one of these laws and the company isn’t following it, that’s worth raising in your cancellation request and in any complaint you file with your state attorney general.