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Show By Brian Gray The story begins at a metropolitan spa-fitness-exercise center. cen-ter. The story ends with an irate mother. A 15-year-old girl (whom we'll call Julie) visited the privately-owned privately-owned center and, impressed with the facilities, asked about membership rates. A representative of the center, trained in the techniques of a used-car salesman, told the girl that this was indeed her lucky day. A membership, she said, would normally cost $525. But "today "to-day only" the center was offering a special $50 reduction. Sign your name. ..Receive a specially-priced two-year membership-... membership-... We'll bill you for payments of $17.31 each month. ..You'll be the first adolescent on your block to have signed your life away .. .Congratulations ! Julie's mother was upset. She called Cyclops. "They never told my daughter about the need for parental consent," she said. "What's more, they never asked about mv daughter's ability to pay. The girls works a summer job but that's it. Her only source of income in the fall, winter and spring months is what her father and I provide for her. "I really felt like the center was taking advantage of my daughter." The mother called the representative. "What will your company do if Julie misses a payment?" asked the mother. "Oh, that never happens!" "Well, what if it does happen?" "Well, it never does," replied the representative. "But if it did happen, we'd just remind her of her obligation." "But what would you do if she still didn't pay?" "I guess we would just be out the money," said the representative. represen-tative. When the representative found that the mother wouldn't budge from her position, she agreed to allow the girl to cancel the contract. All the girl would have to do, she said, is return to the center and bring in her copy of the signed contract. The mother still wasn't budging. "Why does she have to return her copy," asked the mother, "when the contract isn't valid in the first place? There was no place for parental consent on the contract and at age 15 she cain't legally sign a contract." The representative, obviously hard of hearing, replied that the contract would be in effect unless the girl brought back her copy. And then the representative dished out some good old-fashioned old-fashioned philosophy. "Julie has to learn to live in Tough-Town USA. The real world isn't easy." Maybe the real world isn't easy. But it's easy to prey upon 15-year-olds whose only knowledge of contracts is what they've heard watching late-night Mafia movies on Channel 20. "Cyclops can help other families by letting people know of these scams," said the mother. "How many other kids has this happened to?" I don't know. I called the representative but she refused to answer questions. But it could not have happened to too many young people. And it couldn't have happened to many adults either. "How do you know?" asked the mother. "Simple," I said. "The center declared bankruptcy last month." "They surely didn't know much about the law," said the mother. Right! And. they didn't know much about good business either! |