Celebrity Fitness

The other day I saw this post on Facebook which showed an image of a robber holding a gum with the tag line "amateur robber" and a professional looking man asking couples to sign a contract with the tag line "professional robber". It did not occurred to me how true it was in the current world until an incident with Celebrity Fitness where I requested to have my membership terminated before the expiry due to the fact that their gym is overcrowded, not very well maintained (except maybe those areas that require extra payment for use such as simulated golf), and they increased their rates recently (less than 6 months after becoming a member).

Whenever you join a gym, they will usually have a contract which means you have to be a member for a stipulated period of time at a certain rate. A common person would not be wrong to assume that the rate will be the same for that period of time. But as the nice lady who called in response to my complain to customer service (or Celebrity Service as they termed it) repeatedly explained that Clause 10 allows them to increase their rates. On their website, it says that "membership rates may from time to time increase, due to factors like taxation changes that are beyond our control." Yet the recent price increase was due to "increasing maintenance costs". Checking with a friend in finance, maintenance costs does not fall under uncontrollable costs.

So how does the contract benefit the member? Answer is that it does not. It does not state the minimal benefits that you are entitled to such as a safe and enjoyable workout, hygienic shower areas, or even usage of machines of your choice in return for the payment that a member must pay every month. It is not against the contract that the gym classes are so crowded that I had my feet stepped upon by other members. It is not against the contract that I have to focus on ensuring that I do not accidentally kick someone rather than concentrating on having a thorough workout. It is not against the contract that I cannot find a suitable machine to exercise on. It is not against the contract that the showers have little bugs all the time.

Nope. All that they will tell you is that "the gym is crowded because it is peak time" or "this is one of our busiest clubs" or "I hope you understand that we are doing our best to maintain the club and it has its costs" or even "Body Combat is one of our more popular classes". It is not their fault that the gym is super crowded and their aggressive campaigns to recruit new members have nothing to do with the reason that the gym has more members than it can accommodation. So what if there is the chance of injury due to the lack of moving space in a fast paced class with lots of kicks and punches which will usually require at least an arms’ length distance from the next person?

You want to have your contract terminated, why yes you can! With one of 2 options. You pay RM400 to have it terminated before the contract ends or you transfer it to another person. Both representatives from the gym kept asking me to transfer it to a friend to avoid the RM400 payment. I guess that is how they treat their friends, by giving friends things that you do not want. This is not like giving your friend a nice blouse that you just no longer fit it, this is more like giving your friend a blouse because it is torn and you do not want to wear it anymore.

Thinking of joining this Celebrity Fitness? Think again. While I have to go through the remaining period of the contract, this is just to warn and save the rest of you from falling into the same trap I did. Don’t be fooled by the cheap entry fees because they waive this and that. The goal is to have you committed for a period of time where they will have a stable source of money which they can increase as they like and let’s not forget the high exit fee which they definitely will not highlight to you before you sign the contract.

Cheers!