July 1, 2010 was the day when a lot of products and services became more expensive by 8% in Ontario and by 7% in British Columbia due to HST law.

One of such services is fitness. Most of the fitness places, gyms, aerobic and running rooms, etc. have momentarily increased their membership fees. The price went up by 7-8% in general, depending on the province.

I used to pay $56.70 per month for Extreme Fitness membership in Thornhill including taxes before July 2010. Here is the line in my credit card bill:

Jun 01 – EXTREME FITNESS THORNH THORNHILL ON – 56.70

It was the last time I payed $56.70 for the membership cost. In my July 2010 credit card bill I got charged with $63.28 for the membership:

Jul 01 – EXTREME FITNESS THORNH THORNHILL ON – 63.28

I knew that it was HST tax transition happening on July 1, 2010, and my membership started in August (Extreme Fitness usually may increase prices every year of your membership), so I guessed that the increase is related purely to HST.

But let’s do some math. Initial membership rate of $56.70 is $54 of the rate itself + $2.70 GST (5%), which was applied to fitness membership fees before HST came into effect. Now we should have $54 + 13% HST = $61.02. But Extreme charged $63.28 which is $56 + %13 HST.

To conclude: Extreme Fitness concealed membership price increase from the customer with the help of HST transition by $2/month. It is a bottle of beer or a tasty chocolate bar!