Hundreds of senior citizens out of a gym pass after Five Star Fitness contract dispute

Hundreds of Silver Sneakers member are saying goodbye to their free gym passes next week. Five Star gym and Silver Sneakers, which is a national no-cost gym program, have had a contract for more than five years, but after a recent contract dispute, the owner of Five Star, Suresh Shah, says he’s breaking the bond.

“In the past five years we have lost about $75,000 which was billed to Silver Sneakers, but they didn’t pay. We can’t even pay employees now, because of nonpayment,” Shah said.

We reached out to Silver Sneakers. They provided us with this statement:

“Silver Sneakers has fully compensated Five Star Fitness, per our contract, throughout the tenure of our relationship. Understanding the strength of our Silver Sneakers community, we are committed to collaborating without location partners and will continue to work with Five Star Fitness through this situation.”

Now, Silver Sneakers’ members are being asked to pay $35 for a membership.

“We can’t afford what they’re asking us to pay, so we’re going to have to quit coming,” said one Silver Sneakers member.

But Shah says he doesn’t want the burden of money to stop people from living active lives.

“We love them [senior citizens], we have special classes for them. We really help them a lot. And I want to continue that, and if people are really poor and they can’t afford, then we’ll give them free membership,” Shah said.