Stamford gym refuses to refund murder victim's membership dues
STAMFORD, CT - A Glenbrook gym continued to draw money from a 2007 murder victim's bank account for almost two years after his death and is refusing to refund $400 to his mother.
Patricia Rowell, the mother of Gregory Rowell, said she had closed her son's Bank of America checking account after his murder Dec. 5, 2007, but said he also had a Wachovia bank account she was not aware of.
Gregory Rowell was found dead from a gunshot wound in his SUV in a parking lot near Myano Lane in December 2007. A 19-year-old, Hyshon Smith, is charged with his murder.
Planet Fitness at 316 Courtlandt Avenue continued to make regular withdrawals of about $15 per month for Gregory Rowell's gym membership from the Wachovia account. A woman who worked at Wachovia who knew Rowell, and knew of her son's death, saw the withdrawals on a monthly bank report and alerted Patricia Rowell to the withdrawals in October, Rowell said.
Rowell said when she iniitally spoke with a staff member at the gym and showed them her son's death certificate, they offered to refund the money, but then renegged.
"The girl said they'd refund, and after the manager calculated, they found out it was $401," Rowell said.
But then the local manager spoke with the gym's district manager, and Rowell got a call. The manager then said it was Rowell's fault for not alerting them, and offered her a six-month free membership, Rowell said.
"I told them to take their membership and shove it," she said.
A manager for the Planet Fitness branch, Josie, declined to give her last name and said she could not comment because member issues were confidential.
