iFit Coach Membership

Fitness service iFit claims that its Coach membership gives users access to personalized workouts, customized calorie targets, daily recommendations on activity and sleep, and more. But figuring out the actual upfront costs of membership can be an exercise in itself.

After a TINA.org reader alerted us to an email from iFit that the reader said distorted the cost of membership, we looked into the company’s advertising. The email that our reader received offered membership at $10 a month with a free iFit Vue (pictured) for signing up. The Vue, among other things, tracks steps, distance and calories burned. But our reader soon found out that the promotion had a catch.

“You cannot get this offer unless you sign up for a full year at $120 and pay the entire amount upfront,” the reader said. “There is nothing in the offer that says you have to pay a full year.”

We found a similar promotion for a free Vue on the company’s website that priced membership at $9 a month. And we also soon came to the conclusion that we’d have to pay more than the advertised monthly rate in advance.

After making an account and handing over a fair amount of personal information, including an email address, date of birth and billing address, a “quick breakdown” blurb listed below a form requesting credit card information revealed that we’d be “charged $216 today” for the full cost of a two-year membership. (The site also peddled a one-year membership at $12 a month that, as you might have guessed, also required the full year’s fees to be paid upfront.)

In addition, while the company claims that “[t]here are absolutely no contracts with iFit” and that you can cancel anytime, only those who cancel membership within 30 days of purchase are eligible for a refund. The terms state:

Any yearly and 2 year service fees will be charged in advance and are refundable if canceled within 30 days of purchase. After 30 days, the fees are not refundable.

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