New owners voided my prepaid membership credits after takeover — is this normal?
Has anyone dealt with businesses changing membership policies after new ownership takes over?
I was a member at a Stretch Lab Bothell for quite a while under the previous owners, and they were always accommodating with rolling over unused credits if scheduling conflicts came up. That flexibility was honestly one of the reasons I stayed with them.
After new ownership took over, everything changed. I had accumulated a few prepaid credits and was told they would no longer be rolled over because “those payments went to the previous owners.” As a customer, that made no sense to me because when you buy a business, you also take on its memberships, customers, and obligations.
Ironically, when I canceled my membership, I was specifically told that I could still use my remaining credits. Later, they completely changed their position and said the credits were forfeited under the membership agreement.
I tried resolving it professionally and simply asked to use the sessions I had already paid for. Their “solution” was offering to reactivate my account for an extra $150 fee just so I could access my own prepaid credits for 30 days. I explained why I felt that was unfair, and after that they stopped responding altogether.
What bothers me most isn’t even the money at this point — it’s how dismissive and inconsistent the communication has been. It feels like loyal long-term customers got treated as liabilities after the ownership change.
Curious if anyone else has experienced something similar with memberships/business acquisitions and how you handled it.