Fitness contracts will not transfer to Athletic Club
Former Leader members will not have to contact Athletic Club to cancel deals.
The members of Leader Health and Fitness who were told last week they would have to contact The Athletic Club of York to cancel their fitness contracts now don't have to, according to a statement issued Monday by both gyms.
The new agreement between the two fitness centers also means members who had expected their contracts to transfer to the Athletic Club now have to start new memberships with either the Athletic Club or another gym.
Travis Aldinger, co-owner of the Athletic Club, said the new deal is good because he wants to be as fair as possible to former Leader members.
He said it is better for someone who didn't want to join his club to have his or her contract canceled than have people drive to West Manchester Township to do so.
The joint statement said most of the members at Leader had contracts that ended up being a type the Athletic Club could not take on because of nuances in the state's Health Club Act.
The act says that unless a gym has given state authorities a line of credit or sum of money to cover refunds during a sudden closure, a gym cannot offer long-term contracts. Leader had such an agreement and the Athletic Club does not.
Aldinger said all Leader members are still welcome to work out at the Athletic Club through the end of June for free. He also plans to offer a discount on the club's enrollment fee from July 1 to July 15.
Leader, formerly of 2500 S. George St., York Township, initially planned to transfer all of its hundreds of members to The Athletic Club of York, 1785 Loucks Road, West Manchester Township.
Owners of Leader Health and Fitness said they went out of business because they had put more money into it than they had expected when they opened more than three years ago.
Co-owner Bryant Ferris could not be reached for comment Monday about the new deal and has not been available for comment about the investigation launched into the gym's closing by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.
Krista Darr, a member at Leader, said she believed her membership was going to transfer to the Athletic Club and had planned to cancel. She said the latest agreement sounds good.
"I think that is the fair thing to do," she said.
She received a refund check from Leader for her children's summer camp tuition.
In addition to gym members, the fitness center's pool and Camp Leader day camp program also closed June 9.
The cancellation sent Darr and others scrambling to find alternate day care.
She paid half of her two children's roughly $2,100 tuition about a month ago, and also purchased several Camp Leader T-shirts, which she said were required attire for the camp.
"Nobody is excited about wearing a Camp Leader T-shirt now," she said.
By BRENT BURKEY
bburkey@ydr.com; 771-2035
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