Is there a contractual obligation you and they need to go over?

Seriously: Tell 'em you're moving.

Somewhat less seriously: If they make you come in, bring a big sandwich, and eat it during the spiel.

There will be hardsell, esp. if it's a 24Hour Fitness or some such thing.

Just tell them that it's not meeting your needs anymore and nothing they can say will change your mind.

Did you pay first and last, when you signed up? Is it automatically deducted from your bank acct?

Box's suggestion amuses me to no end. I 2nd it.

I feel your pain. I just did this at 24-Hour Fitness. It took me two weeks to get my nerve up. I went in and after I repeated my request a few times they gave me a phone number to call. I had prepared my "reason" for quitting (my workout partner belongs to a different gym -- NOT true I don't even have a workout partner) and kept repeating it. Don't say you got a cheaper deal somewhere else they'll try to match it. I called the number and it took a few requests to have them process. Also -- watch out for this one. They offered this thing where your membership is "suspended" or something like that for six months. And then you can re-join. I actually said okay to that, but then they said that that would be $7.00 a month. (And that little bit was buried, I barely heard it.)

PS An email won't do it, in my experience. They'll just keep charging your checking account unless you go through their system. (There have actually been lawsuits about this stuff, because gyms are so hard to quit.)

It's never been easy for me. The YMCA was the lesser evil; I just had to be there in person and accept the fact that I'd be paying for 6 more weeks. Bally's Total Fitness was a nightmare, though, involving in-person attempts to talk me out of it, calls to the local branch and then Corporate to get them to let me out, and then a second round of calls and letters a few months later when I found out they were still billing me.

Last year, when my wife and I were applying for our mortgage, we found out that Bally's still lists me as an active member (ten fucking years down the line!), although they at least don't charge me for it.

I am so thankful for Virginia Beach's rec centers. They are $50/year (yes, year) and offer just about the full gamut of fitness center stuff. Olympic sized pool, two or three full basketball courts, racquetball, and of course, cardio and free weight equipment. They also run top-notch, dirt-cheap youth programs (lessons and camps) that I use liberally for my daughter. The summer camp program is $90/week and includes hot lunch and a field trip every week for the kids.

I'm never moving.

Call (and then follow-up with a "snail mail"), telling them that you are moving to London for a three-year assignment. No law against "white lies."

Shockingly, the email seems to have been enough. they got back to me promptly and said they would cancel it (we'll see when my payment would normally go through for May).

Be absolutely sure you follow up! I cancelled a health club membership a few years ago: they put me on "leave" status instead, so for three months I wasn't charged, but three months after that I discovered they'd started charging me again.

I've never had any problems canceling gym memberships, though for a number of places I've had to give 30 days notice, which they all told me in advance, so that was fine.

But I do keep getting "You may want to join out class-action suit against 24-Hour Fitness, if you've ever tried to cancel and they continued to charge you anyway" letters in the mail, which amuses me, because I do know other people have much more trouble. It's such a sleazy thing, or at least, these gyms have a reputation for being so sleazy. I hope they do clean up their acts.