Hey, Anyone reading this outthere feel cheated by California Fitness?

We are planning for a lawsuit against them for illegal and unfair trading practices. You could join me if you have some sort of bad experience with them. The grounds of the law suit is based on the Consumer Fair Trading Act of Singapore as well as others.

Please reply to this comment if you need help getting your money back from them.

Unity is power. Lets stop these bastards from treating us like idiots.

i'm looking for people who faced similar problems to group together and engage a lawyer. like lehman brothers style.
contact me at LKH81@hotmail.com

kindly contact me via this email LKH81@hotmail.com
Including me, there is 1 more who would like to get a lawyer.

I had a unpleasant experience with the personal training package. Like a gym virgin, i signed up for 10 PT sessions @ $800.00plus with 2 free sessions thrown in. I had medical conditions which i made clear to the PT. Instead of doing regular twice a week work out, i ended up having my sessions cancelled at last minute notice via SMSs,,, at the end of the course after almost 3 painful months, i did not reach any of my medical targets.. todate i am trying to get the PT manager, Clare, to look into my issues... not getting anywhere. Anyone out there with similiar issues, please contact. thanks.

Yes, they totally ignored your sms/phone calls etc once they know you wanted to cancel the membership. For my case, i have been joining for about 6 months or so and have been owing a few months membership fees. (but i have not been going gym since then), i kept asking the sales person (who happened to be my friend's friend) how do i go about cancelling the membership, but no reply from him. If i really dont pay, what will happen next after receiving the big red letter from them? Please advice! Thanks!

I was one of those that signed all the life time infinity plan at $8 per renewal basis, paid a good decent sum for it.
Just went back to cali yesterday and was told my plan and membership was void because I did not pay for the $8 renewal last year.

1) no apologies offered
2) no reminders given to me of any sort i..e emails or calls. (but they will rather enthusiatic about calling me previously on a regular basis to ask me to join their trainer programs and pay for it)
3) no offer of any late penalty charges to continue my membership
4) The manager, in orchard branch, by the name of azlina, actually have the cheek to tell me she would have offered me to join other plans but presumed I won't want to join them anymore.

I stopped going back to the gym 1 year plus back because of hectic work commitments and frequent travelling. Finally decided to get a piece of health after a long hiatus but ended in a terrible shock when I went back to the gym.

All these only make me realise that how this infinity plan works is to get as many people to join as possible and hoping that some will forget to renew. (that's where they make the money!)

Guys, whoever who wants to have joint or group case against them, whether in approaching CASE or THE MEDIA or even to the point of TAKING LEGAL ACTION against them.

PLEASE COUNT ME IN. I am contactable via califitness.scams@gmail.com

Justice needs to be served.

My locker was broken into on Sunday, Dec 7 2008 while I was doing my routine work-out. When I reported to the manager-in-charge, Sasidharan Unnithan, he simply said sorry! When he told me that this was not the first theft case, I was really frustrated. To add salt to my wound, he told me that there has been no security guard since beginning of December. I almost screamed at him. I told him I was not informed at all. I then asked him what has Cali done for the past cases, so as to prevent further theft cases. He said that a sign was put up at the entrance of the changing room and another A4 sized poster indicating which types of locks were not to be used was hung on the top corner of a wall at the changing room. I asked him who will see these posters when they are not eye-catching at all? I questioned him further by asking him that if this was not the first time lockers were broken into, what other form of communications have been done to warn members besides posters? He was dumbfounded and kept quiet. I asked him what about emails, flyers (like those at the road show) or anything else to caution members about theft? I told him since Cali knows how to create awareness and clearly communicate what they are selling at the road show, why can't they do the same when the very first theft happened? One of the reasons could be "Unless they DO NOT CHERISH THEIR MEMBERS AT ALL!"

I wrote in to Wilson Koh, the Country Operational Manager. The Service Manager from Bugis called. Of course he was S***! When I told him that I want to speak to the Country Operational Manager, he told me that he is one of them in charge of Bugis. What a liar! I found out that there is only one Country Operational Manager.

There is a serious management problem and relational skill in Bugis outlet! (Not all of the managers, I believe)

I lost my cellphone and cash, total closed to $600.

I do not know how many cases there are at this point of time, I strongly encourage those who were victims not to keep quiet and let the irresponsible management of the fitness center continue to be careless. Being a member of the fitness center, we also need to be treated as members. If not, why do we pay a monthly fee and deserve such preposterous treatment in return!.

I intend to write to ST forum. Victims of the past, please email me.

YES! COUNT ME IN!

These people are a bunchy of scammers. I hope that everyone who had felt cheated by CF will join in. I think some of us might feel that its not worth the trouble. If we feel that way, not only will CF be emboldened but we will invite other potential scammers to do the same.

Do count me in! been cheated by the personal trainer! paid 2.5k to lose 1kg and on top of that he promised me 10 extra sessions or until i lost weight, then he got sacked and ran away. bastards

Count me in!! its impossible to speak with anyone who can help or is WILLING to help there...arghs!!

Count me in. http://talkback.stomp.com.sg/forums/showthread.php?t=48974&page=2

Hi,

Has the lawsuit started? I am also a victim. I want to be involved. I was kicked out after failing to pay $8/annum to CF (without my knowing). I am sure I can afford $8/year if I knew about it.

Thanks!

hi, am trying to talk to some people about singapore gyms and their hardselling tactics. anyway i can have a chat with you? i'm working on a report. tks

hmm, im not surprised to hear that im not the only one, who feels treated like and idiot in cf. i joined cf in 2006 in KL, valid all clubs, all times. i moved to china in 2005 and the price in KL was very good. service there also ok. last year cf opened in shanghai and i joined with my malay (valid without restrictions, all clubs ...) in shanghai. since im kind of new to fitness i let them talk me into buying personal trainer lessons, 36 for 400 RMB (40 euro) each. not exactly a bargain, but the quality was good. problem was, nobody told me, for some internal regulation they accepted visitor cards only 30 days. so i had signed for half a year PT but soon was asked to change to the shanghai platinum membership, which is only valid in asia (not all clubs anymore). all my complaints were handled by different persons every time. so i had to explain to every of them again and again. finally i threatened to cancel the credit card booking and explain to visa the reason was fraud. my treatment got better. hannah in the cf there contacted KL for my contract details and offered to copy exactly with all conditions. she asked me to sign the new contract with old conditions. since i do contracts in my job i never sign without reading. good choice! instead of my initial 34 months duration, only 22 were transferred. i asked for explanation, but that wouldnt be cf, i guess. so i rejected and told them at the reception (many other customers around and i didnt go to cf office, where they wanted to usher me into) that we might have a deal, if the new contract is really copy exactly or i cancel the payment and file official complaint. within 5 minutes i got what i wanted.
why did i get treated like an idiot?
why did it take so long to get my chinese contract?
how many other customers dont check as long as i did to get their right?

PS: there were more offers for PT lessons or classes later. maybe its my fault. maybe i look like the born idiot. cf never again after this contract is ended.

Can i help?

Count me in....Lawsuit, Media Headline, etc....

I am a member there for more than 3 years. They have all kinds of cheat. Especially, personal trainer....

The best way is to unite all and make headline in Media. So, their business will be down.

It is sad that, they try to cheat the 4 million people one by one. They care one time business and find new victim to trap.....We must stop them

california fitness are stealers....ive no respect for this compagny and would join anyone who want to sue them.....do not sign into this club they will abuse you as much as they can and you cant stop the contract unless you pay hundreds of dollars.....

The following is my bad experiece:

On 15/06/2008, Sunday at1140am, I went to California Fitness Jacky Chan Sport located in the north area. As I would like to end my membership by this month, I approached an Indian staff at the counter. She told that I can only end my membership between 30/06/2008- 20/07/2008 as this is company policy. Thus, although I already paid 2 months in advance when I joined the club, I still have to pay for July month which is amounting $84.60. Otherwise I would not be allowed to join the club.

As I was still confused about the whole matter, I decided to approach another staff at the counter on 24/06/2008, Tuesday at 0715pm after my usual gym workout. She told me that I did not inform the club 5 working days in advance as stated in the contract note. Therefore, I still have to pay for the next month before I can terminate my membership. I did not agree as the other staff which I asked on Sunday told me a different story. If I was told that I can end my membership on Sunday, I could have made it for the 5 working days and did not have to pay a single cent. As she cannot make decision at her level, she referred me to her supervisor.

The supervisor at the counter is a Malay guy. He claimed to be the supervisor of the team. I told him the whole story and he insisted that I need to tell him the name if not he could not help at all. He pointed at 2 Indian female staffs at the counters and asked me whether they are the one. I said she was short hair. He said they only have 2 Indian female staffs here and no one is short hair. Both staffs said they did not talk to me at all and one of the Indian staffs started to make fun of me behind her back. I told the supervisor that she is rude toward me and he did not care and pretend that he did not hear and started to ask me question such as: who are you talking about? What did she said? I feel insulted by the whole incident. I told him that what if I stop my debit card and disallow California Fitness to debit any fund from my account will I still be allowed to enter into the club since I already paid 2 months in advance. He said that their credit control department will send me a letter and if I do not pay by the stated date and they will take legal action against me because I did not pay them $84.60 irregardless I already paid them 2 months in advance.

My complaints are the followings: 1) it was their staff wrong information which cause me to pay for another additional month since the contract stated that I need to inform 5 working days in advance. 2) The staffs are unprofessional and intimidate me. I feel insulted and consumer should not be treated in this manner. 3) The supervisor threatened me that he will take legal action against me if I do not pay them $84.60 although it was their staff fault since I can not provide them with name and he insisted that no such person at all. They could have checked the staff duty list or the CCTV to check as what I am saying is the truth.

Hey Guys,

You have the right to cancel if you have completed your contract period. If you are a recent member, you can make use of the Singapore contract law clause
" Within 3 working days of signing up a contract, the customer can terminate the contract by informing the supplier in writing that they do no wish to continue the contract." This 3 days is valid only if the customer has been properly informed of the 3 days cooling period. What I mean is, if you are not informed of such a cooling period, you can extend it upto months. Normally the fitness club consultants never inform this clause, which means you can give this notice even if you are 3-6 months into membership. The best reason: you were forced to join the club with high pressure sales tactics by the membership consultants. This works. It really does!!! Please try it. I can assure you, you can get rid of this california fitness headache for life!!!

its a pain, i know that you know it too!

The key is, they will try to threaten you by saying that they will send legal notices etc. etc., but trust me there is nothing they can do. You can proceed to go to CASE or the Small Claims Tribunal. The history says that everyone who has approached CASE or Tribunal has managed to get out of the problem.

I did too. My case was solved after I told them I am willing to face any legal notice from them. I told them the moment I get a notice, I will go to court and make sure they will be the one with the damaged reputation.

They called me from the head office of theirs a couple of weeks later and warned me again of legal actions. I didnt give in and I warned them not to call me again but send the notice if they have the guts.

Three weeks later after a few calls, a lady called me with a nice manner telling me they will void of all the pending payments to them if I continue to become a full time member from then on.

I just asked them to go to hell.

Trust me, they cant put you in jail for signing up their membership. The key is to fight back. If we become scared, they will take advantage. They will send their own notice letters with big red letters, don't be scared. They cant do anything legally.

If you face such situation, just send a registered post stating that you do not wish to be communicated with and will take legal action if they send any more notices.

Trust me guys, my case is resolved and my money is safe.

Burn California in Hell!

Read more about California Fitness in the Wikipedia.com. They mention about other people fighting cases and winning against them.

Hope they shut down their business soon. Hope they crash and have no money at all!

So cruel is their business model!

Hi Benny,

I have just tried to terminate my membership about a month ago. But no action was taken till now. I just checked my account and is still being charged for the monthly membership fee. I'd like to join the petition against them too!

Im in. I want to terminate my membership and they advise me that i could not.

Im in. I want to terminate my membership and they advise me that i could not.