Women's Only Fitness Club Abruptly Closes

By Susan Petroni

Sunday morning, Lee Gagen of Framingham showed up to workout at Ten X Club on Route 9 in Natick, only to find a piece of gym equipment blocking the front door and a note from the gym owners stating the gym is no more.

The popular women’s only fitness center, at 1400 Worcester Road, closed with no warning to members or instructors.

“It is disappointing that the club closed so abruptly,” said Gagen. “I was working out Saturday at noon and there was absolutely no sign of any impending changes. I showed up Sunday at 8 a.m. to find the doors locked and a very casual note, free from much information, taped on the door.”

Other club members found out about the closure via an email to members on Sunday. It read: “Attention NATICK members....
WE HAVE MOVED! You are now members of The Fitness Club For Women in Wellesley.”

The email told Ten X club members that the Wellesley club “is amazing and your rates and memberships are all honored! ... ll you need to do is show up and use your new club, classes and amenities. Your rate stays the same! You will be surrounded by the familiar faces of many of the staff you have grown accustomed to and the members you shared the TEN X facilities with.”

“I think many of us at the club had a funny feeling that Ten X was having problems. The machines weren’t being fixed and classes were being cancelled due to budget concerns. However, none of us expected the owners to close it as abruptly as this. An email was sent at 6:05 this morning stating that “Ten X has moved to a new club in Wellesley” and we are all members of the new club,” said gym member Tina Crotty of Framingham.

“There were some issues from canceled classes to broken equipment that were overlooked by most of us members because we recognized the value in the community feel of this gym. This is why so many women are upset,” said Gagen.

“They told NO one in advance - not even the people who worked there - trainers or front desk staff. So many people who expected to go to class (Sunday) morning as usual woke up to an email or a Facebook message from a friend saying that the club was closed. They put a piece of equipment in front of the door so no one could get in,” said Crotty.

A woman who answered the phone at The Fitness Club For Women in Wellesley, said they had not even heard from the owners of Ten X until late Sunday. They knew nothing of the closure of the old club and were surprised to get dozens upon dozens of calls from Framingham and Natick woman on Sunday.

“The worst part is the lack of notice,” said Crotty. “Many of us feel that the people at the club were like family and are sad that there was no opportunity for closure. When you work out with same people everyday at the same time, you get to really know and care about them - like family. And now, we are all left feeling lost.”

One woman who worked at the club, who asked not to be identified, said she had not been paid since August.

A Facebook page was started on Sunday for the former members of the Ten X club in Natick. It has more than 80 members as of Monday. Several gym members emailed Framingham Patch, but many asked that their names not be used, as they fight to get their money back.

“Thankfully, Facebook allows those of us who are online to connect and figure out what to do from here. I am very disappointed in the way the owners handled this. It seems unethical - especially because it appears that they kept selling membership packages and training packages (while keeping the trainers in the dark about their plans) the day before this happened,” said Crotty.

“I have contacted my credit card company to fight any charges that don’t apply with the gym closing, and placed a block against future charges. The note on the door said “We’ve moved!” and we know that’s not true. If it were, everyone would have had advanced notice. Even shadier is the former owners of TenX didn’t call the “new” place until Sunday evening,” wrote one gym member from Framingham to Patch.

Jillian Fennimore, deputy press secretary for the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, said gym members who feel they have been affected by the closure can call the state’s consumer hotline at 617-727-8400.

She said the Attorney General’s Public Inquiry and Assistance Center offers a free, voluntary mediation service that works to help resolve matters between consumers and businesses outside of court. The Center can explain to consumers their rights and work with the consumer and health club to achieve this cancellation/refund voluntarily through mediation.

If a business unfairly took advantage of consumers, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office may bring legal action.

If gym members paid with a credit card, they should call that credit card and dispute the charges.

As of Sunday, there was still a Groupon for sale for Ten X in Natick.

Several customers said that Ten X Club charged their credit card a full month’s fee just days before they closed.

Other gym members said they were pressured in August and just before the closing to up their membership for another year. At least a dozen gym members Patch spoke to said they are paid up for more than a year at Ten X.

“I don’t even know if the Wellesley place will honor what I paid to Ten X or provide the personal trainer I paid for through August 2015,” said a Natick woman, who asked not to be identified.

“I paid with my debit card for the personal training and I fear I won’t get that money back,” said one Framingham gym member.

All the women Patch spoke to said the owners and the manager had pressured them to pay for another year recently and none of them have returned their emails since the closure on Sunday.

A handful of Ten X Club members filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau on Monday.

Framingham Patch called Ten X and sent emails to contact@tenxclub.com but no response as of midnight today.