How to File a Claim Against SoulCycle

We’ve all had similar issues at one point or another, where SoulCycle charged you when they weren’t supposed to, overcharged you, or didn’t cancel your membership like they were supposed to. If you’ve been wronged by SoulCycle, you probably want to know how to sue them. We can help. 

SoulCycle Customer Service

The challenge with SoulCycle is getting a hold of anyone. The issues you have with your account are usually connected with a single location which means you are supposed to take the issue up with the front office or management where you attended. But if they can’t fix it, it becomes much, much harder to get in contact with someone higher up the company who can. They aren’t open about contact information and don’t have a uniform site where account details can be viewed like other types of services which makes it really hard to try and solve the problem. 

You probably talked to someone at the front office but they didn’t have the power to change the situation and getting in touch with someone who can is a series of dead-end internet searches and frustration. 

So, what do you do now? What can you do if SoulCycle still won’t fix your issue?

Now you go to small claims court.

Arbitration Clauses

Why is small claims court the next option? Because your user agreement with SoulCycle probably contains a clause called the arbitration clause which prevents you from using other types of legal action, such as a class action lawsuit. However, this same clause also gives you the option of going to small claims court or using consumer arbitration. 

Is small claims court the best option?

Just because you have the opportunity to take SoulCycle to small claims court doesn’t mean that your case qualifies.

The first thing you have to understand is that a small claims court is designed to handle monetary compensation only. This means the only compensation you will get is money. So if your issue has to do with something tangible or physical, they won’t be able to give you that property back or make SoulCycle replace the property. At best they would simply make SoulCycle compensate you for the value of that property.

The next consideration is the limitation. Every state is different but they each have a minimum and maximum requirement for small claims court with the average being between $5,000 and $10,000, and a couple of states going as low as $2,500. But in most situations this is going to be far outside the compensation you want especially if the issue has to do with over charging you for a service or failing to cancel your membership and thus charging you for months you didn’t want.

However, if your situation falls into this category and it qualifies, you can go to small claims court.

How to Sue SoulCycle in small claims court

The first thing you have to do before you actually march up those courthouse steps is send SoulCycle a letter officially. This is called the demand letter. In this letter you explain what the issue is, what steps you try to take to fix the problem, and how you want them to fix it now. This can be very short and simple explaining who you are, what the problem is, and what you want them to do. Many companies ,when they realize that you’re serious about going to a small claims court, will try and offer a settlement at this point in exchange for you dropping the case.

This letter has to be sent to the official address at:

SoulCycle Inc., 

609 Greenwich Street, 

New York, New York, 10014,*

*Note: The address you should use will be listed in your individual agreement.

If you don’t get a response to your demand letter, or the demand letter isn’t what you want, you can follow the next steps:

1. Fill out your state required forms. Your state court website should specify what forms you need for the state and for the county, if your county has additional forms. These are freely available on the state court website but it does take some navigation to find. Make sure you have enough copies as well. Courts are very finicky about having the precise number of copies and if you are short, they won’t accept the paperwork and you’ll have to try again.
2. Formally file your complaint with the court.  Bring all the forms you have during the appropriate hours to the right courthouse and file them with the county clerk. You will have to pay a small claims court fee in order to sue SoulCycle. Once this is paid (and you have the right number of copies) they will give you stamped copies of your paperwork with the court hearing date. 
3. Legally “serve” SoulCycle. You have to legally notify SoulCycle, again, that you have taken additional action. You have to legally serve SoulCycle the copies of your court documents, the process for which is outlined based on your state. Your state court website will have very specific instructions on how to serve a company and make sure you follow them precisely because any mistake means your case can be thrown out.
4. Go to the courthouse for your hearing. If you live in a larger area you might have multiple court houses so make sure you go to the right building and the right room. Have all the copies of your filed forms and any evidence against SoulCycle with you. They may or may not have a representative there but either way it’s your job to thoroughly explain your side of the issue to the judge.

Use Consumer Arbitration

If your case falls out of the parameters for a small claims court or this process seems very overwhelming to handle by yourself, there is always the consumer arbitration process. The steps here are pretty similar but we help you generate your documents and serve the right people.

Steps to File a Claim Against SoulCycle with Consumer Arbitration 

1. Submit your complaint to SoulCycle. You have to submit an official, legal notice to the company that you are pursuing additional action. To make it easier you can tell us what the company did, what you tried to do to fix it, and what you now want SoulCycle to do using our online interface. We generate the legal notice for you and submit on your behalf. 
2. We also create the hard-copy demand letter for you which has a time frame. We ask SoulCycle to fix the problem within that time frame or you will use consumer arbitration.
3. SoulCycle might choose to settle at this point in which case you can accept the settlement and the case is over. But if they don’t, file your documents with the American Arbitration Association. We file on your behalf with a “documents only” arbitration process so you don’t have to take time off work to meet with anyone, or head to multiple court houses on multiple occasions. 
4. The documents are filed with the American Arbitration Association on your behalf.  The American Arbitration Association appoints a case administrator who functions as the go-between for you and soul cycle until the arbitrator is appointed who will then set a hearing and make a decision. You can choose to do this hearing over the phone, in person, or “documents only”.