Business
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office is distributing $4 million to members who the sports club improperly charged during the COVID-era shutdowns.
At the front door to the Boston Sports Club that was once located in Medford. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff)
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Boston Sports Clubs is now facing a lawsuit for charging members while closed due the coronavirus
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Boston Sports Club members will share in nearly $4 million restitution payment
Former Boston Sports Clubs customers who were wrongly charged during its pandemic shutdowns are finally getting their money back. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office announced Wednesday it will distribute nearly $4 million to roughly 47,000 consumers.
A court ruled that former CEO Patrick Walsh unlawfully billed members for April 2020, even though all Boston Sports Clubs locations were shut down from mid-March to July during the pandemic.
The court also found that Walsh misled members and violated the Health Club Act by making it difficult to cancel their contracts and by ignoring cancellation requests.
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office received more than 2,000 complaints from members who said they called, emailed, and messaged the company to cancel, but received no meaningful response.
Many also reported that BSC continued charging them even after they tried to cancel.
Affected consumers will receive an email with instructions for claiming their refund, which will equate to about $85 per member.
After Boston Sports Club filed for bankruptcy in September 2020, the gym chain, which once had more than 30 locations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, abruptly closed at least a half-dozen gyms.
Boston Sports Club has since rebranded as New York Sports Club under a 2023 restructuring by its parent company, Town Sports International.
The New York Sports Club now lists only three locations in the Boston area: 505 Boylston St. in the Back Bay, 1 Bulfinch Place in Government Center, and 1 Davis Square in Somerville.
Beth Treffeisen is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on local news, crime, and business in the New England region.
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