FitOn’s Never-Ending Sale

For consumers looking for a DIY approach to meeting fitness goals that doesn’t involve signing up for a gym membership that may be difficult to cancel, FitOn advertises that you can work out for free with its fitness app.

“Stop paying to work out!” FitOn urges consumers in the app’s description on the Apple App Store. “Get lean, toned & fit, with personalized workout plans to help you reach your fitness goals – absolutely free. No strings attached.”

However, those who “sign up for free” on the FitOn website soon learn that if they want access to all the app has to offer – including exclusive fitness programs, personalized meal plans and more than 500 recipes – they are going to have to pay.

Luckily, FitOn advertises that consumers can upgrade to its one-year PRO subscription with all these features and more for only $29.99, which, the company claims, is 70% off the regular price.

But according to an ongoing TINA.org investigation, $29.99 is the regular price for a one-year PRO subscription.

Prompted by a tip from a consumer we received more than three months ago, TINA.org signed up for the free version of the app. Since then, we’ve been keeping tabs to see if the purported discounted price ($29.99) or advertised “regular” price ($99.99) of the PRO plan changes. Neither has.

According to the FTC, in order for a sale to not be deceptive, the advertised regular (or former) price must have been “offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time.” In other words, the regular price can’t be created out of thin air for the purpose of promoting a sale.

State regulators have taken a similar approach. Under California law, for example, the regular price is required to have been the “prevailing market price” within the three months preceding the ad’s publication. To put it simply, at no point in the last three-plus months has the “prevailing market price” of the FitOn PRO subscription been $99.99. Rather, it has been $29.99, the purported discount price.

Cancellation issues

In addition, if you take the bait and sign up for the PRO subscription but then find it’s not for you, you may encounter difficulties canceling, according to customer reviews left on the Google Play Store.

Of note, while a court recently vacated the FTC’s “click-to-cancel” rule provision (which would have required sellers to make it as easy to cancel autorenewing subscriptions as it is to sign up), the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act still requires subscriptions to have “simple mechanisms for a consumer to stop recurring charges.”

FitOn did not respond to TINA.org’s request for comment.

The bottom line

Consumers should always do their research when shopping online, especially if it involves enrolling in a subscription that may not be easy to get out of. Reading online consumer reviews can be helpful.

Find more of our coverage on subscriptions.