Canceling Your Gym Membership

By Amy E. Feldman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - What are your rights to cancel that ill-considered gym membership?

A Missouri man broke a world record last October when he knitted a 12-foot 1- inch scarf while running the Kansas City Marathon. Which is almost as impressive as my personal feat of not knocking over the bowl of popcorn while reaching for
the TV remote.

Let's say that your New Year's resolution was to run a marathon (or at least get up off the popcorn strewn couch) and you joined a gym and now, less than two months into the new year the only thing getting thinner is your wallet. You want to know if you have the legal right to cancel the membership?

The answer probably WAS yes, but by now, the answer is no.

That's because in most states, you have the right to rescind a health club membership, but only for three days.

After that, you're stuck to what you agreed when you signed the contract. Some gyms give you a 60 day out clause, others require you to pay for a year. Some let you cancel if you're injured, but stupidity isn't an injury.

Next year, perhaps you want to resolve to learn to knit rather than learning the hard way about gym memberships.