How to Cancel Your Equinox Gym Membership
August 15, 2019Welcome to CANCELED, Motherboard’s series of helpful guides on how to stop paying for the subscription services you probably signed up for years ago but don’t use (or feel guilty about using).
Despite espousing liberal, LGBTQ+ friendly values and next-level mindfulness, luxury gym retailer Equinox has been canceled.
Equinox members—alongside SoulCycle, PureYoga and Blink Gym devotees—are boycotting the upscale gym because of chairman Stephen Ross’ $250,000 fundraiser for President Donald Trump. Ross also has stakes in the beloved Momofuku restaurants, Bluestone Lane, and &Pizza. His firm had a pivotal role in developing Hudson Yards, the $200 million capitalist creation in New York City’s Midtown (hence the fancy new Equinox flagship and new Momofuku pit stops).
If you’ve been meaning to cancel your hundreds-of-dollars membership to Equinox or you’ve decided you can no longer monetarily support it, here’s how to cancel Equinox as painlessly as possible.
If you’re still in your first year of membership, you can only technically cancel your Equinox membership if you relocate 25 miles away from a gym or have a doctor’s note (just like grade school.) Before you call your home gym, grab any paperwork that may qualify—let’s say you have happen to have a phone bill at your parents' house—or hit up your doctor. The physician’s note doesn’t need to be specific, it just needs to say that you can’t work out for more than six months. You’ll need to bring this paperwork to your home gym in person. Once you grab your paperwork, you’ll be able to fill out the cancelation form.
Luckily, if you’re outside of that first year, you can cancel for any reason with enough notice. The amount of notice will be in your membership agreement. All you have to do is give notice, fill out the cancelation form and then pay the remaining prorated amount.
According to Equinox’s FAQ page, all cancellations must be done in-person with a club manager, through the Member Administration department, which you can email at memadmin@equinox.co, over the phone (866-332-6549), or through registered or certified mail sent to your home club.
A New York City councilmember is currently drafting legislation that would require club businesses to allow people to cancel their memberships instantly online.
