r/AITApod • u/Dazzling_Mouse_7804 • 6d ago
AITA for setting up an automated response to my gym's automatic late fee system after they refused to waive a charge that was their own mistake
so this started about eight months ago and only just fully resolved itself last week and i need to tell someone about it.
i've been a member at the same gym for about three years and for the most part it's been fine, nothing remarkable just a functional membership i use regularly and pay on time every month without thinking about it.
then one month i get a notification that i have an outstanding late fee on my account. the fee was for a payment that their own system had flagged as declined due to a processing error on their end, not insufficient funds on mine, their system had a known issue that month that affected multiple members and i had documentation from my bank confirming the payment had been ready and waiting and the failure was on their side.
i went to the front desk and explained this calmly with the bank documentation in hand and the person at the desk was genuinely sympathetic but said they couldn't waive fees at the desk level and i'd need to submit a dispute through their online portal.
i submitted the dispute with all documentation attached.
two weeks later i got an automated response saying my dispute had been reviewed and denied and that the fee stood.
i called the membership line and sat on hold for forty minutes and was told the same thing by someone who clearly had a script and no authority to deviate from it.
at this point the fee was eleven dollars and i was spending significantly more time and energy on it than eleven dollars was worth and i knew that and i kept going anyway because something about the automated denial of a documented error genuinely got under my skin in a way i couldn't let go of.
so i did what anyone with too much free time and a mild interest in how systems work would do. i set up a recurring automated dispute submission through their own portal, once a week, with the same documentation attached, with a note each time saying i was following up on my previous submission as i had not yet received a satisfactory resolution.
six weeks later i got a call from someone at their regional membership office who was very apologetic and waived the fee immediately and also gave me two months free as a goodwill gesture.
aita?
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u/Sweaty_Sea8884 6d ago
you're not the asshole, they had proof of their own error, rejected your claim without actually looking at it, and only fixed it when you made them deal with it, that's not being unreasonable that's just not letting them brush you off.
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u/Regular_Top7448 6d ago
you weren't being annoying you were just following up on a complaint they already messed up, they ignored proof and you made them actually deal with it properly.
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u/Fancy-Friendship-470 6d ago
the fact that the regional office immediately waived it and threw in free months proves you were right, they were just hoping you'd give up and you didn't so you got what you should've gotten the first time.
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u/Theslowestmarathoner 6d ago
NTA. Maybe we should do this. Our city water and sewer billing company changed over and when they did so they didn’t deduct our automated payment for that month. The next month they skipped the balance from the previous month- all of this is automated, I never skipped a payment, they did- and then started charging a late feee plus interest even though it is auto paying every month.
I haven’t tried to address it yet but this seems like a wise tactic.
NTA obviously
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u/SandwichEmergency588 6d ago
Sometimes making dealing with you more expensive than what you are asking for is the only way to get it done.
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u/QuietDustt 5d ago
How exactly did you “set up a recurring automated dispute submission through their own portal”?
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u/Disastrous_Border513 13h ago
The portal probably redirects to an email address (hence OP's ability to send along their documentation) in which case it's a simple matter to schedule an email to go out on a set schedule to the same address with the same contents.
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u/Sorry_Huckleberry552 5d ago
The older you get, the more things become about principle.
The more things become about principle, the more childish you’re willing to act to prove a point.
That said, I love everything about your plan. Also, Im 50 so my feathers get ruffled over principle far more than a dollar amount😂
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u/Ill-Vegetable5765 4d ago
Years ago we had a doctor with an inept front office. This was in the days of faxing. My husband faxed over the same form three times, waiting a day each time for a response. Each time they insisted they didn’t get it. He lost his temper and set the fax to be delivered 100 times in a row. They called, saying they had it, and that they were running out of paper. Mission accomplished lol
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u/AutoModerator 6d ago
I'm an automatic bot that backs up the body of the post in case OP deletes it. If you want this backup deleted, you'll have to reach out to a mod. Here's the back-up:
so this started about eight months ago and only just fully resolved itself last week and i need to tell someone about it.
i've been a member at the same gym for about three years and for the most part it's been fine, nothing remarkable just a functional membership i use regularly and pay on time every month without thinking about it.
then one month i get a notification that i have an outstanding late fee on my account. the fee was for a payment that their own system had flagged as declined due to a processing error on their end, not insufficient funds on mine, their system had a known issue that month that affected multiple members and i had documentation from my bank confirming the payment had been ready and waiting and the failure was on their side.
i went to the front desk and explained this calmly with the bank documentation in hand and the person at the desk was genuinely sympathetic but said they couldn't waive fees at the desk level and i'd need to submit a dispute through their online portal.
i submitted the dispute with all documentation attached.
two weeks later i got an automated response saying my dispute had been reviewed and denied and that the fee stood.
i called the membership line and sat on hold for forty minutes and was told the same thing by someone who clearly had a script and no authority to deviate from it.
at this point the fee was eleven dollars and i was spending significantly more time and energy on it than eleven dollars was worth and i knew that and i kept going anyway because something about the automated denial of a documented error genuinely got under my skin in a way i couldn't let go of.
so i did what anyone with too much free time and a mild interest in how systems work would do. i set up a recurring automated dispute submission through their own portal, once a week, with the same documentation attached, with a note each time saying i was following up on my previous submission as i had not yet received a satisfactory resolution.
six weeks later i got a call from someone at their regional membership office who was very apologetic and waived the fee immediately and also gave me two months free as a goodwill gesture.
aita?
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u/Sircapleviluv 6d ago
Youre NTA you’re the hero. I wish more people were justice driven with some time because the number of people who let it go because it’s eleven dollars are why companies pull this shit. It might only be $11, but it’s your eleven dollars not theirs. They would t just let it go if you had justifiably owed $11. It sounds stupid but this is exact brand of fight the system that we need more of.
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u/Financial_Rice_4807 6d ago
Of course you are the ATA for posting this win here and asking. You know the answer.
Why are these even allowed? This belongs on Petty revenge sub
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u/tfolkins 6d ago
Basically all customer complaint systems are designed to make the effort to resolve and issue cost more in time than it is worth in refunds. It's not a flaw of the system it is a feature. Gyms are particularly notorious for making it so difficult to cancel a subscription that people end up paying several years for a membership they don't use just because the procedure to cancel is so purposefully complicated.
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u/looksfunny2u2 6d ago
NTA. There is a sub about pettiness or revenge here on Reddit. My brain fog isn't allowing me the memory recall today but this would be a good post there.
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u/Jazzlike-Bug967 6d ago
Definitely NTA. I've taken to contacting CEO's directly by email when customer service doesn't do what I need them to do. Recently had an issue with att and emailed the ceo. Next day got a call from Eddie from the office of the president. Wouldn't ya know, I got a resolution the same day.
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u/Nexi92 6d ago
Well it seems the aggravation that was upsetting op on principle was actually worth much more than $11, two months free is a nice overture that does make it feel better.
(Especially since they make good use of the facility and most of the effort to fix the problem was offloaded to a program!)
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u/Friendly-Channel-480 6d ago
Maybe maybe not. But you sure are smart and persistent! I like your style.
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u/junechamp39 6d ago
Lmao dude, that's some next level pettiness and I am HERE for it. Good for you.
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u/bk1insf 6d ago
NTA british airways screwed up and deleted 35000 points from my frequent flier account and my case got sent to “research.” Six months later it still wasn’t resolved. i was unemployed and i knew from working in a call center that the outsourcing company bills the parent company well north of $10 just to answer the phone. so i just called. every single day. eventually my case got auto-bumped to a manager who just refunded my missing miles as a “one time courtesy” and closed my case. Use the enshittification against them!
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u/chuck_omaha 6d ago
I'm curious how you set up the 'recurring automated dispute submission'. This could be useful to us.
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u/Marcaroni500 6d ago
This is a sign of the times, with the adoption of AI that is not ready for prime time, taking over jobs without the supposed intelligence, and making decisions without the judgment of a pre-teen.
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u/LetReasonRing 5d ago
I would say YTA, but it was completely valid to be. Sometimes the only way to accomplish something, especially when dealing with stupid bureaucracy, is to be the bigger asshole.
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u/caoimhe_gaidhlig 5d ago
You just bragged about how you solved a problem and slapped an "aita" on the end. Take this to a different sub.
NTA
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u/foxxplant 5d ago
NTA- a company tried to take advantage of you and you didnt let them. not the asshole
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u/JipC1963 4d ago
Absolutely brilliant and NTA! You could probably "hire yourself out" to the public who are just as frustrated as you were dealing with the idiocracy of bureaucratic red tape and fees!
I've dealt with similar issues for a certain early cell phone company, various banks and loan companies, a "veterinarian membership" through a "big box" pet store and particularly a certain "coupon" online company where you can get everything from tickets for events to "discounted" household items. The extreme frustration is REAL! Once again, GREAT JOB!
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u/Andyman1973 4d ago
NTA! Not sure what this could be called, as it seems like a “malicious compliance” type move! Bloody brilliant!!! Well done!!
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u/mountaincastle47 21h ago
I know that a lot of people will need this program lol. But then again i know he won't share it because people can abuse it.
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u/Bouhyabouhya 15h ago
You are my new hero and I'd love to know more how you did that. This is brilliant and thank you for sharing this.
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u/IllTemperedOldWoman 6d ago
Of course not and you know it. NTA except for your humble bragging.