Some Fitness Connection customers billed $2900 fee

Some members of Fitness Connection in Raleigh say they discovered charges amounting to thousands of dollars to their credit and debit cards - something the fitness company is blaming on a processing error.

Josh Harwood, senior vice president of operations for Titan Fitness, the parent company of Fitness Connection, said Wednesday that Visa customers being charged an annual maintenance fee of $29.99, were inadvertently charged more than $2,900 by Vantiv, a third-party credit card vendor.

Vantiv Vice President Ken Thorsen said that no cardholders were actually charged and that what customers saw on their online statements were authorization holds.

Harwood said the overcharge was a nationwide issue affecting customers of many other companies as well.

Titan's chief executive officer, Jeff Skeen, however, said the issue affected about 2 percent of Fitness Connection customers, but he would not say how many that was.

Any late or insufficient fund fees resulting from the error, Skeen said, will be covered.

"Although this is not our fault, we will make sure our customers are 100 percent covered and protected," he said.

Anyone affected by the charge should send their full name, phone number, the name and location of their gym, the amount of the fees incurred and a screen grab or copy of their credit card or bank statement showing the charges to refund@jonasfitness.com.

Fitness Connection is located in three states, with more than a dozen locations in North Carolina, including three in Raleigh, one in Cary and one in Durham.