However I am so concerned and frustrated by an experience I had with Soma Health Club in Williamsburg I plan to voice my concerns as far and as wide as it is possible so that others do get find themselves in my position. I am now $410 dollars in the hole to Soma Health Club due to their DECEPTIVE and MANIPULATIVE business practices.

I signed a one year contract with Soma from July 2008 to July 2009. I moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan in May and had asked about early termination of memberships at the end of March as I knew my move was impending. The cancelation fee was four months of membership so I told the female supervisor that I would pay through July and end my membership. She verbally confirmed this would be fine. Frustrating but still in the contract.

However I have recently been going through my finances and I have been getting charged by Soma $82 a month every single month despite the fact that my membership was up in July. IT IS NOW DECEMBER!

They are now telling me I have to physically come in and sign a form saying I do not want to auto-renew. However the contract I signed says that you must simply give 30 day notice, it does not stipulate it must be written notice.

I have phone records and emails to prove that I contacted the club on March 27th to investigate termination of membership and received verbal confirmation from the female supervisor that I would end my contract in July. Given the terms of the contract this should be adequate. Below is my first email contact with them at 2:11pm on March 27st and my phone call to them (from my AT&T phone bill) at 3pm the same day.

I called to complain on Saturday the 5th of December saying that I thought I had canceled in March and that my final payment would be July as confirmed by their female supervisor. I called again this morning saying I had gotten another charge on my credit card despite the fact that I had called on Saturday asking for this to stop. The manager very nastily told me that until I signed the form I would continue toget charged and I would not get my money for December back even though clearly I have been trying to cancel, if not in March, then very clearly in December.

It is upsetting that I have only just discovered this and yes I should have found it earlier but this is not appropriate given the terms of their own contract. They are making no attempt to work with me in good faith. Getting a charge on my card even though they know I want to get this canceled because I did not physically come into the club to sign is not my legal obligation according to their own contract.

The fact that they are unwilling to do anything to be helpful or decent is shocking to me. As far as I am concerned they should refund me five months of dues or $410 dollars and particularly the December dues given that I have been trying to cancel, they knew this, and yet they still charged me.

When I asked to speak to the owner the manager David said that he would not forward my complaint to them and he is the only person who would hear it. He further reiterated that he had no intention of refunding my dues. I continued to ask politely and in a calm tone if they would be willing to give me back any money and he said “this conversation is over.”

They won’t even try to work with me on this. In my final phone conversation with them the Manager David told me that if I wanted to pursue the matter further I could take it up with a lawyer. I have filed a chargeback to my VISA and my lawyer tells me I have enough evidence to make the case to my credit card company with the above evidence and contract. I have also submitted a complaint to the Better Business Bureau.

To anyone looking to join a gym in Williamsburg think twice. They have no concern for you as a person, as a member or to gain your loyal business. They simply want your money. Do not give your business or money. I have reviewed them on Yelp, CitySearch, Google Business, Yahoo Local Business, Social Workout and on their own Facebook page. I will continue to tell my story until Soma Health Club wishes to work with me in good faith towards an equitable solution. One that does not involve lawyers or the Better Business Bureau preferably.

I really feel like our coverage has gotten progressively more serious, much faster, and more artistically interesting. We are still beating larger organizations with bigger budgets and more public relations lubrication with our pace and even our breadth. We now have access pretty much anywhere we want when it comes to interviews and shows but its still a lot of work and not all PRs are as aware of the breadth and seriousness of our coverage. I think our access has improved as more people have gotten used to the idea of online coverage not necessarily because people are that investigative of our work and given it their seal of approval (meh, its my own fault for using so many big words in our features) as our coverage has enough nuance to confuse the poor dears as to just how positive (very honestly, we live for designers) we really are or are not. I would warrant most PRs don’t really do their homework when it comes to the coverage, the tone, and the intensity of a given outlet.

But designers are certainly taking notice which is heartening. Its been so amazing to have been at this for enough seasons (I believe I am on my 7th) that I have relationships with so many of the designers I have come to love and respect. Out of everyone they seem to appreciate our interest in the process and its details from the textiles and sourcing to the imaginative process the most. They know we aren’t in it for some gimmicky coverage or entitled enjoyment and they have rewarded us with their insight and friendship. Hard work really is its own reward.

If precious twentysomething style had a shelter magazine Blueprint was it. I knew the magazine died (I am kicking myself for not getting a subscription to support its killer editorial) but after my Domino experience I figured I could at least enjoy the Blueprint website. WRONG! They let that die too. Come on Martha, how the hell are we supposed to grow up to be like you if we don’t have a good starter magazine?

I would wager precious twentysomethings aren’t spendy enough or they spend on Marni and not Smeg but come on, I am going to hit my mid twenties soon and I am starting to feel the urge to take shelter!

I am in Buffalo for a few days working (great internet cafes in this town) and hanging with my big brother Scott. While he normally lives in Baton Rouge where he works as a chemical engineer he is in Buffalo for a few days for a client. Thus I hopped on a train to meet him up here for a few days of large bodies of water and chicken wings.

No need to watch, just listen

Thus to distract myself until the next seminar I wandered into the Jimmy Choo sample sale next door. I am somewhat wary of large shoe sales as invariably the prices are completely out of whack, there are scary women lusting, and you rarely find a good deal anyway. Despite my good friend Lauren coming out with a book on the brand the allure of the Choo shoe has never been strong for me. And yet I found something. The one hole in my shoe wardrobe is the formal sandal.

My preference for gold and platform heels is long standing. And thus when a press sample pair of 37 gold platform current season sandals came my way I got a little distracted. The moral of the story? Never use shopping to kill the time.

And if you like these beauties they are called the Elazer Leather Mirror Platform Sandal in Gold and they retail for about $800. Glad I got them at a fraction of that price!