Fitness First the Latest Shanghai Gym Scam

Yes, I am back from America, and back at work — so busy that I have not had time to write since I returned to Shanghai on Monday.

But I always have time to write when I’m seriously chapped, and nothing sounds the call to action like scam artists, this time yet another gym which fails to keep its promises.

I was among the many members of Fitness First that signed up for a refund of our unfulfilled memberships when the gym was forced to close down due to losing its lease. According to the agreement that I signed with Fitness First on the 29th of April, I was to receive my refund within 3 weeks time. The membership representative, Shirley Zhu, assured me that I would receive my refund in the form of a check before the gym was to close on May 31st.

However, on May 30th, when I still had not received the promised refund check from Fitness First, I was told that there had been some unforeseen delays, and my check would not be available until June 10th, and I would then need to go to the Fitness First temporary office in Plaza 66 to pick it up.

Well, when I went today to pick up the refund check, the Fitness First staff told me the following:

• There were too many people who signed up for refunds before me, so I couldn’t expect to receive my check promptly
• That their bank limited them to issuing 30 checks a day, so they could not process all of their members by this date
• That the manager in charge of the Shanghai office, Mr Andrew Philip, had fled to Malaysia, where he no longer answered email or phone inquiries, but still maintained responsibility for resolving unpaid refund checks from the Shanghai office.

From the multitude of answers that the Fitness First staff gave me, I’m guessing that none of them are actually true. Not to mention that their original three week timeline has now stretched to ten weeks.

In the meantime, in case any of the rest of you are owed money by Fitness First, here are some contact numbers and emails.

• Mr Andrew Philip, Fitness First, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. email: ap@fitnessfirst.com.hk, Tel: 60-3-7722-1177
• Colin Waggett, CEO, Fitness First Limited, 58 Fleets Lane, Poole, Dorset, BH15 3BT, United Kingdom,Tel: 01202 845000

I was not comforted by the fact that while waiting in line, I heard the staff tell the person in front of me that his membership had already expired, and he was not due a refund, only to correct themselves upon being shown a copy of the contract that proved the membership was not due to expire until October.

If any of you are owed money by Fitness First, I would suggest pushing them hard. Or if any of you have received refunds, I would be interested in hearing whether the piledriver or the full-nelson was more effective in expediting the processing of your records.

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your Friday, and have a happy weekend.