Gyms in Dripping Springs

If a new gym doesn't open within 180 days of first selling memberships, or doesn't stay open for 30 days, members who prepaid are generally entitled to a full refund. Keep your contract and receipt, and note the date of your first payment so you can count the days.

Registration comes first. A gym covered by the Act can't operate or sell memberships without a Secretary of State certificate for each location. The certificate is $100 a year, must hang where members can see it, and its number must appear in your contract. A contract signed while the seller wasn't registered is void.

The Act covers businesses that sell memberships for exercise instruction or facilities. Nonprofits, member-owned clubs, dance or aerobics-only studios and rehab providers are outside it. For a covered gym, the Secretary of State's online search shows whether it's registered and has posted security.

Unless exempt, a gym posts $20,000 to $50,000 per location as a surety bond or certificate of deposit, scaled to its prepaid memberships, from $20,000 for up to $20,000 prepaid to $50,000 above $45,000. A gym that never requires contracts or prepayment beyond 31 days, financing, automatic bank drafts or initiation fees can be exempt.

Dripping Springs gym closures

A closing gym must post notice inside and outside each entrance at least 30 days ahead and tell the Secretary of State, except after a fire, flood or act of God. Members can then claim against the security by mailing their contract and proof of payment within 90 days of the closure notice appearing on the SOS website.

The three-day window is short: written notice must go by certified mail by midnight of the third business day after the contract date, and no contract may run more than three years. Ask for the full cost in writing, initiation fee and any automatic drafts included. Gyms may not claim to be "bonded by the state" or misrepresent staff qualifications.

If the gym is unusable for 30 days or more because of something outside the owner's control, such as a natural disaster, it must extend your contract by the same time. A member who dies or becomes totally and permanently disabled, or the member's estate, can cancel and get back unearned payments.

The national average membership was $28.58 a month in 2021, according to Statista as cited by Forbes Health, with prices from about $10 to $300; get each Dripping Springs gym's full price in writing to compare. Complaints go to the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division at (800) 621-0508.

The Texas gym guide has the full Health Spa Act rundown, Wimberley gyms are close by, and the Dripping Springs page covers the town's services.