I think a viable business model in a competitive market is one that conforms to most customer's expectations about fair dealing. Obviously, a gym chain that bases its customer retention strategy on threats of suing customers who defect does not have a sustainable model. Good guys do not hide inconvenient business covenants in fine print on multipage contracts. This is about joining a gym, not acquiring a business.

As a matter of principle, I would suggest you do not do business with the bad guys. Give the good guys, those who pay their salespeople enough basic salary to not have to cheat, the business they deserve.

What a fantastically stupid gym chain!