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The California Fitness Whampoa branch in Hung Hom was closed after the club failed to pay electricity and rental fees. Photo: Felix Wong

More than 1,000 California Fitness members in Hong Kong plan collective action to demand refund

California Fitness faces angry backlash from members after sudden move, while three customers make formal police complaint

The weight of complaints against California Fitness gym chain ­continued to grow on Tuesday as hundreds of customers joined the clamour for a refund and a hardcore trio of disgruntled members called in police.

More than 1,000 people joined a social media “victim group” seeking recompense from the chain, which opened its first ­outlet in 1996 and at its height boasted nine gyms in the city.

The ire follows the sudden ­closure of the firm’s gym in Whampoa on Monday.

Questions to California Fitness for a response to customer claims that it was unfit for purpose went unanswered on Tuesday, as three customers made complaints to police amid claims the firm could have broken the law.

One complainant said a bid to get a refund of HK$200,000 for a relative had been frozen after a creditor filed a legal bid to liquidate the company as it tries to find a buyer

It is believed there are at least five other such cases, involving a total sum of nearly HK$1 million.

Another case, involving someone who had been a member since 2006, alleged personal trainers and salespeople incessantly asked her to buy more classes.

“They always tried to gain sympathy by telling me they had quotas to meet, or else they would be told off by superiors,” she said, adding that the staff ignored her plea that she was not mentally fit for classes even though she showed them doctors’ notes.

In the end, she signed up for 370 personal trainer lessons worth a total of HK$220,000.

Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Tang Ka-piu questioned whether the gym chain’s management had asked staff to make a last push to hit sales targets before shutting.

He said he had also met six personal trainers from the chain who were owed between HK$800,000 and HK$1 million in wages. A Labour Tribunal hearing is set for July 15.

Tang is set to propose tighter regulation of the industry when he meets representatives of the Home Affairs Bureau on Wednesday.

Pro-establishment lawmaker Dr Priscilla Leung Mei-fun, also a district councillor in Whampoa, said some 300 victims had sought her help over the past two days, with dozens of cases involving residents of other districts who feared all branches would shut.

She said within a year, one ­retiree had signed dozens of contracts at the Whampoa branch amounting to HK$900,000 as he was asked to sign a new one whenever he hit the gym. Leung said that location had recruited lots of members in recent months, which she found “suspicious”.

“Did the club purposely ­recruit members in bulk even though it clearly knew it would not be able to provide services or would even face a winding-up petition?” she said on RTHK radio. “I think it is a legitimate suspicion”

Legislator Priscilla Leung found it ‘suspictious’ that the new outlet had recruited so many members. Photo: Dickson Lee

Another member of the “victim group” said she and her family had all bought three-year memberships from that branch earlier this year, at HK$12,000 each.

But she later found out that some newcomers had managed to secure a cheaper deal of HK$8,000 in May, and even a ­contract for HK$6,000 in June.

“Are they trying to lure in more members on purpose before the closure? If so, I would think it is a bit shameful,” she said.

Leung also pointed to hidden clauses in the contracts, which many customers had overlooked. One clause stated that members of a club that had closed could not seek a refund if there was another branch “within 10km distance”.

“The words are so small that even someone reading law might not have spotted them,” Leung said, adding that the staff should have drawn customers’ attention to such important clauses when going through the contract.

The Consumer Council earlier named and shamed California Fitness for aggressive sales practices. On the same radio show, the council’s chief executive, Gilly Wong Fung-han, said it had received some 300 complaints.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: ire at gym chain over closure AT whampoa
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