Latest news with #MerrimackSuperiorCourt
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
AG files complaint against personal training firm at NH gyms alleging 'unfair' contracts
The Attorney General's Office has filed a civil complaint against a company offering personal training services in health clubs across New Hampshire, claiming it locks customers into annual contracts with 'large monthly payments' that are hard to cancel — a violation of New Hampshire law. The civil complaint was filed Wednesday in Merrimack Superior Court against Granite Personal Training Inc. — operating in New Hampshire as Redwood Personal Training — alleging unfair or deceptive acts or practices in violation of the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act, RSA 358-A, and the Health Club statute, RSA 358-I. The Health Club statute includes several consumer protections like mandatory disclosures, cancellation rights and refunds for customers with prepaid health club contracts. Redwood offers personal training services out of 'The Zoo Health Club' locations in New Hampshire, including Concord, Derry, Epping, Manchester, Nashua and Hooksett. The complaint alleges Redwood's business model is 'to lock consumers into annual contracts with large monthly payments.' 'Redwood makes it extremely difficult for a customer to cancel a health club contract and discourages consumers from canceling contracts with an expensive early termination fee,' the complaint says. 'Redwood delays canceling contracts, through their own lack of responsiveness and adequate staff. Redwood keeps customers in their contracts until they agree to pay the expensive termination fee. By delaying the cancellation of contracts, Redwood continues to charge monthly fees that it is not entitled to.' Attempts to reach corporate representatives of Redwood for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful. Court documents show Walter Watson handles all customer cancellations in New Hampshire and other states for Redwood. He is physically located in Georgia. According to court documents, Redwood offers two types of prepaid contracts for personal training services – monthly installments, or full annual amount. 'Customers are often unaware they are signing an annual contract, and only believe it is a monthly commitment,' the complaint alleges. The average value of each Redwood contract canceled in New Hampshire between Jan. 1, 2022, through March 2024 was over $2,500, with only 10 of the 135 canceled contracts under $1,000 (the highest was for $8,400). Customers are required to pay an early termination fee — 18% of the total contract price or $299, whichever is greater. 'Redwood continues to charge monthly dues after a customer has provided their written notice of cancellation to Redwood,' the complaint says. 'Redwood does not track when a cancellation notice is received. After payment of the early termination fee, Redwood waits an additional thirty days before cancelling the contract. Redwood does not disclose in its contract that the thirty-day notice does not start until payment of the early termination fee.' The complaint details the experience of Alfred DiPrima, who signed a contract with Redwood in May 2022 for five personal training sessions a week, with monthly payments set at $700. According to court paperwork, Diprima paid $1,449 upon signing the contract. After notifying Redwood through its website on Oct. 16, 2022, that he wanted to cancel, he agreed to pay an early termination fee of $1,512 to cancel the contract, court paperwork shows. 'Redwood continued to delay processing the early termination fee,' the complaint alleges. 'In doing so, Redwood made the account past due for November 2022 and required another $700 to be paid before processing the early termination fee and cancelling the contract. Mr. DiPrima never received a refund for any unused prepaid services.' According to the complaint, Redwood identified 135 customers in New Hampshire that 'effectively cancelled their contract, but only because they paid the early termination fee.' 'It is unclear how many customers were illegally told they were unable to cancel their contract without payment of the early termination fee,' the complaint says. 'Of those 135 customers who cancelled their contract, only four were issued a refund for an undisclosed amount and reason.' Under state law, New Hampshire consumers have the right to cancel prepaid health contracts, be relieved of all further obligations under the contracts, and can receive refunds for unused prepaid services if the aggregate value of the contract exceeds $1,000. In the complaint, the state is seeking permanent relief enjoining Redwood Personal Training from violating the Consumer Protection Act, the Health Club statute, and from operating as a health club in New Hampshire. The state is also seeking restitution for affected customers, civil penalties, and attorney's fees, and a preliminary injunction seeking similar relief. Anyone who has tried to cancel a contract with Redwood Personal Training is being asked to file a consumer complaint with the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau at:
Boston Globe
15-04-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Hospitals sue New Hampshire over tax that supports Medicaid
Dartmouth Health and Concord Hospital have also joined the lawsuit, which was filed in Merrimack Superior Court on Tuesday. It's not the first time hospitals have fought against the tax. A Superior Court judge Get N.H. Morning Report A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox. Enter Email Sign Up But the 2014 decision 'imperiled the existence of the Medicaid program,' according to the lawsuit, and hospitals reached an agreement with the state to keep raising funds. Some of the money went to meeting federal match requirements to fund the Medicaid program, and hospitals also received a portion of the money back in a reimbursement. Advertisement The state's latest agreement with the hospitals expired last June, and they were unable to reach a new agreement, leading to the lawsuit. Governor Kelly A. Ayotte criticized the lawsuit in a statement, and said the state had put forward a solution that prioritizes patients and protects funding for critical access hospitals, the state's small, rural hospitals that often have tighter margins. Advertisement 'Unfortunately, the plaintiffs are only focused on driving more money to billion-dollar corporations and have resorted to playing political games and misleading the public,' Ayotte said. 'They should return to the table and come to an agreement that benefits all Granite Staters.' But hospitals say the new reimbursement plan proposed by the state is unacceptable as it will cause them to lose $70 million a year, according to the lawsuit. 'This difficult decision was made after months of attempted negotiations with the state to convey the potentially devastating impact this loss of funding will have on our health system's ability to deliver patient care, at a time when the federal government is also threatening to withhold funding,' said Joanne M. Conroy, president of Dartmouth Health. Under the current tax agreement, Dartmouth Health provides 30 percent of the hospitals' total tax payments but would carry 75 percent of the lost revenue, she said. That's because the hospital serves patients from Vermont, who contribute to its revenue but aren't included in its reimbursement. Conroy said in the last three years Dartmouth, a nonprofit health system, has contributed $885 million in community benefits, including free and reduced-priced care and $682 million in uncompensated health care. Steve Ahnen, president of the New Hampshire Hospital Association, said the governor's proposal would impose 'punitive cuts' on hospitals, while delivering an additional $137 million to state coffers. 'It has an immediate impact on access to care,' he said. In recent years, hospitals in aggregate have received a 91 percent reimbursement, but the governor has proposed cutting that to 80 percent, according to Ahnen. Advertisement He said the loss would hurt hospitals, coming at the expense of patient care and benefiting the state. 'We agree that generating more revenue for the Medicaid program is a good thing because it allows us to invest in behavioral health or substance misuse or other services that are needed in the community,' he said. 'But to do so in a way that harms hospitals is absolutely the wrong approach.' According to Ahnen, the hospitals' payments of $348 million help generate $485 million in federal matching funds for the state's Medicaid program. 'We want to protect access to care for patients, and we think there's a way to do that,' Ahnen said. 'We're committed to finding a resolution that works.' Amanda Gokee can be reached at
