Consumer complaint received 2026-02-02 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt is not yours
Company: Aldous & Associates, PLLC
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
Hello, I cancelled my gym/health club membership in XX/XX/year>. The gym charged an old credit card of mine without my consent for incorrect charges they claimed to be owed in connection to me terminating my membership. I told them that I did not owe them this amount ( {$99.00} ) and that they charged my card without my consent. They never responded to my email then so I filed a dispute with my credit card company that reimbursed me for the charges. A few months later I received a notice from a collection agency stating they were working with the gym on the collection of this debt + {$50.00} in additional banking fees that were never agreed to, invoiced or even presented to me. 
I asked the gym for an invoice for the charges they are claiming I owe but they did not provide XXXX. They did state in an email : " Your account was sent to collections for an amount of {$140.00}. This is for your XXXX membership dues [ {$99.00} ], which you disputed with your bank, plus a {$50.00} fee. '' I informed them that these charges are incorrect based on the below reasons, and provided them with supporting documentation. The charges are incorrect because ( see corresponding attachments ) : XXXX. Attached is an email from XXXX XXXX confirming that my account had been frozen. This states my monthly billing is $ XXXX from XXXX through XXXX. Therefore I was overcharged for XXXX ( i.e. my XXXX dues were {$20.00} not {$99.00} as stated in their email ). 
XXXX. Attached is the cancellation confirmation email I received from XXXX XXXX. Within the email they acknowledge that I prepaid my final month 's dues at the time of enrollment. However they incorrectly apply it to the month of XXXX for no explained reason ( XXXX state XXXX is the last billing cycle so my prepaid amount should be applied to XXXX ). XXXX is the final billing cycle and my prepaid amount more than covers the {$20.00} frozen member due. They incorrectly charged me for an additional month. 
XXXX. My agreement with XXXX XXXX makes no mention of additional banking fees due for any reason and no valid reason for the banking fee was provided. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ), it is considered an " unfair practice '' for a collector to attempt to collect any amount ( including interest, fees, or expenses ) unless that amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law. Therefore I can not be charged {$50.00} for undescribed/undisclosed and more importantly unagreed to banking fees Additionally, an invoice was never issued or provided for this additional banking fee charges, so you can not add it to the collections amount. Is a separate charge which would require its own notice/delinquent period- if it was a legitimate charge in any case. 
To summarize - Only {$20.00} should be due for membership fees in XXXX, which was already covered by my prepaid amount. 

I am currently in dispute with the collection agency and the gym but neither is responding since I notified them of my intent to dispute and providing the detailed support as to why the charges are incorrect.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation