Beachbody LLC, the company behind popular at-home workout and weight-loss programs like P90x, Insanity and 21 Day Fix, has reached a $3.6 million settlement with the city of Santa Monica over allegations it was charging consumers’ credit cards on an automatic, recurring basis without their written consent.
The Beachbody credit card renewal settlement does not provide restitution for consumers, which could open the door to class action lawsuits filed by customers seeking their own compensation.
Automatic Renewal Charge Allegations Lead to Beachbody Credit Card Renewal Settlement
According to a lawsuit filed by the Santa Monica AG’s consumer protection division, Beachbody was charging its customers’ credit cards for recurring, automatic renewal fees without their required written consent.
On August 28, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff ordered Beachbody to pay $3,579,000 and change its renewal practices.
Some of the changes that Beachbody will have to make as a result of the Beachbody credit card renewal settlement include sending reminders of upcoming renewals, making it simple for customers to cancel their orders, clearly disclosing the renewal terms, and providing a separate check box for subscription renewals.
This is expected to be the first injunction in the state of California to require separate check boxes for renewals.
The Beachbody credit card renewal settlement does not provide any money for customers who were subject to the old renewal terms because the city believed there were too many variables involved to come up with an accurate repayment for money lost. Instead, $2.6 million will go to the city and the remaining $1 million will go to nonprofit groups that focus on health and nutrition programs.
“Beachbody was using automatic credit card renewals for its customers for subscriptions to a number of products and services at different price levels,” explained Adam Radinsky, chief deputy attorney for Santa Monica’s consumer protection division. “It would have been too difficult to come up with a fairly simple reimbursement formula that would have applied to everybody.”
Consumers who wish to pursue their own legal action against the company could file a class action lawsuit if they were automatically charged for Beachbody subscriptions they did not want and were not reimbursed for.
Automatic Renewal Class Action Lawsuits
Lawsuits over automatic renewal charges, such as the one that led to the Beachbody credit card renewal settlement, are becoming more prominent in recent years as California and other states attempt to crack down on subscription and auto-renewal services that do not clarify consumer responsibilities.
Many of these auto-renewal lawsuits and corresponding settlements have to do with allegations that consumers did not know what they were signing up for at the time they initiated a subscription, and that it was difficult to cancel these services after the fact.
California has one of the strictest laws associated with automatic renewal disclosure problems.
If you have been subjected to unfair consumer practices, such as those outlined in the Beachbody credit card renewal settlement, you may have grounds to participate in a class action lawsuit. Fill out the form on this page for a FREE case evaluation.
