MONROE — Teresa Whalen signed up for 60 personal training sessions at Allstar Fitness in August. She paid $3,600 up front.
The Monroe woman went to three sessions before the Allstar club in Monroe abruptly closed in September.
She says she’s due a refund for the 57 sessions she didn’t receive, but has been unable to collect the money from the Seattle-based company, according to a lawsuit she filed Friday in King County Superior Court.
Her attorney, John Phillips of Seattle, has asked the court to make the case a class-action lawsuit that could affect hundreds of others who may not have been compensated when the club closed.
“We could be talking about a $1 million of prepaid fees, depending on how many people are out the money,” Phillips said.
Allstar officials could not be reached for comment Friday.
Whalen, 37, said she liked Allstar because it had a place for her children.
“I’m a mom and it’s hard to stay in shape when you are taking care of little kids,” she said. “I loved the Allstar Fitness facility because it had a day care and I could work out with a personal trainer on a regular basis.”
She described the Monroe Allstar club as “kid friendly,” and child care for her 5-year-old son was included in the membership.
Whalen had been a member of the Monroe fitness facility since it opened in July 2004. She maintained a month-to-month membership agreement until the club closed, the suit says.
Phillips said the contract Whalen signed with Allstar anticipated the possibility of closure.
The contract requires Allstar to repay members on a pro-rated basis if “comparable facilities owned and operated by the club are not made available within a 10-mile radius of the closed facility,” the lawsuit says.
The nearest Allstar Fitness facility is in Seattle, 33 miles from Whalen’s home.
Allstar made arrangements with another Monroe fitness center to take its clients, but Whalen considers it inferior.
The lawsuit alleges that Allstar broke its contract and violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act.
“When I found out (the club was closing) I was dumfounded,” Whalen said. “They had to have known” when they took her $3,600. “I don’t know why they took such a huge package of personal training from me.”
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or jhaley@heraldnet.com.
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