Banned from gym for bringing a guest

[carollu]

I’m just so dumbfounded and pissed off still I didn’t know where to post this. As the title says- I was banned from my gym for bringing in a guest after hours. It’s a 24/7 gym and we showed up around 10pm and left at 11:30. I’ve been going to this place for 2 years and this is the first time I’ve brought a guest after hours. Apparently it’s such a bad offense that the owner called me the next day and said he was going to call the cops on my friend and I for trespassing and that my membership was immediately revoked. WTF?! Apparently it’s in the contract I signed, but I didn’t remember reading that. It was a misunderstanding in my opinion. What do you guys think?

 

[godsguy34]

@carollu When you sign up for a gym, you are usually also signing a gym liability waiver so that you can't sue them if you hurt yourself (unless they were negligible in some way, but even then, it can be difficult to get around the language you may have agreed to).

If you've brought an unauthorized guest to they gym, that means the gym is at a higher risk for lawsuits, as your guest has not signed anything relieving the gym from liability.

Perhaps the gym owner has been sued in the past, and is just protecting himself. Still pretty annoying for you. If you have the ability to switch gyms, that might be the path of least resistance. Otherwise give him some time to calm down and then try again.

 

[carollu]

@godsguy34 Your totally correct about the liability. I wasn’t thinking about any of that when we went. It was just a couple of guys going to the gym to workout. It all seems a little crazy to me

 

[dawn16]

@carollu If I owned the gym I’d be pissed.

People get hurt at the gym. At least you signed the liability waiver. Your friends didn’t. They could have gotten hurt at the gym and sued. You know how quick people are to sue these days. Even if you guys are in the wrong he can still get surd. Fuck that.

Edit: shouldn’t have threatened to the cops though

 

[carollu]

@dawn16 The “I’m going to call the cops” part was what really got me. Everything else I completely understand and realize now that I screwed up.

 

[meisje]

@carollu Police officer here, it’s going to go nowhere. You are not going to be held criminally for that. He’s mad and throwing it out to probably scare you.

 

[transalp600]

@meisje This depends. My state criminal code has a "theft of services" statute this could fall under. Could also be prosecuted under criminal trespassing. So it all depends on what the laws are where he's at.

 

[meisje]

@transalp600 We have theft of service too. You’re right, it’s going to depend on the state OP is in. In my state at most it would be a Class C misdemeanor like a traffic ticket. If I were writing the report it would be OP’s friend as the SP. Gym owner would need to I.D. the friend. In my jurisdiction, follow-up detectives don’t assist in Class c’s. So it would be yo to the gym owner to gather that info if he wanted to take it to Municpal court. And OP would be listed as an accomplice to class C theft of service. I just don’t seeing it going that far.

 

[claryjose1]

@meisje Err..can I see your Badge for confirmation, please ?

 

[meisje]

@claryjose1 T4 Sgt.

 

[lizzie66]

@carollu You should have told him your friend was thinking about joining and wanted to try it out. Probably a little late for that now

 

[carollu]

@lizzie66 Oh, I did-and he didn’t care.

 

[braceboyd88]

@carollu I would say wait till he calms down and explain the situation that you were unaware and it will not happen again. He is trying to protect his ass. But i think he should be understanding IF you truly were unaware of this problem.

 

[dawn16]

@carollu But you're stealing from him. That's theft. I don't think it warrants charges but by principle you've gone against thr rules of any gym. Not sure why you're complaining as you're the only one in the wrong here.

 

[luxianzhong]

@godsguy34 Why can't the gym contract include a clause that relieves the gym from any liabilities arising from unauthorised guests brought in by gym members?

 

[illumine]

@luxianzhong because you can't sign a contract that signs away someone else's rights.

 

[luxianzhong]

@illumine Good answer thanks. Wouldn't they count as trespassing though?

 

[illumine]

@luxianzhong yep, which is likely why the owner threatened to call the cops. Though it would likely lead almost no where at this point.

 

[davis32123]

@illumine You could have policy posted that any guests must sign a waiver and keep the waivers handy. Pretty standard too keep them around for new people trying out the gym. Owner has lost business over this where it could have been an opportunity to gain a member.

 

[illumine]

@davis32123 you are correct, this is what my gym does.

However, the owner may just not want people visiting outside staffed hours since they then cannot be policed until someone comes in and views camera.

One dipshit fucking around in your gym can cause a lot of damage, get injured, or any other number of laundry list items that can significantly harm your business through a lawsuit or just legal fees to pursue damages etc. keep in mind we only have OP's side of what happened.