As a ex fitness consultant,

I'm sure there are many grieviences of the club by many people. and I'm not surprised. I know many consultants who are less than honest with their dealings.. however sometimes its really not their faults when they some customers assume things and don't ask. I know as my stint as a MC, I've always enjoyed giving my members the best deal. and the most free gifts I can smuggle out. Obviously I didn't last very long. ahaha.

Firstly, I'm very happy with the club. thank goodness as my membership consultant was nice enough to give me the details although not all the details, I was pretty happy with what I got as I'm a gym go-er and I love to go to gym. However to those of you who have difficulties in the gym, here is some advise, as an ex membership consultant.

1. as a member of true fitness, you CAN transfer your membership to anyone that would like to purchase it over. Trust me. there are people out there who love to sign up to the gym. many people sign up everyday... and instead of blindly letting the bank take the fees out of your credit card monthly, sell off your membership to someone who'd use it.. or at least pay for it.. then you would not suffer the payment so much. OR you could always get a doctor to say that you are unable to go to the gym, and cancel your membership. Plus there is a no charge for transferring your membership. it's absoulutely free. If you need to know more about how this can be done, let me know.

This works for the memberships that are *dues* where you pay monthly.
if you freeze this type of membership, you still pay a 20% fee to the club.

for the *pre-paid* memberships, you can pause your membership. ( not many times) but only where there is a proper cause, i.e. doctors letter.. work overseas etc. and not pay the freezing fees.

2. The ploy with getting your credit card is to see what type of deals you are entitled to. Depending on your card, i.e. your GOLD card, platinum etc whatever. they will offer you different types of plans. OF course their goal is to actually maximise their profits in the end lah. it'll really depend on your credit limit. However sometimes, the club does really have good deals.. and sometimes it's really worth it to sign up if you intend to use the club on a regular basis. If it's out of the way, or it's not convenient, tell them that. they'll of course have 5 million ways to counter that but no matter what it's you who agrees to the contract in the end.

3. like all sales jobs. there's a fixed sales pitch. don't really trust everything that you hear. Although everyone on this thread seem to think that misrepresentation etc etc... do read the contract before you sign it. For me I really do tell my customers what they are signing up for, and every single detail upon how to quit the membership ( fulfilling the criteria) as well as the legal consequences if you should default on the credit card payment. If you're lucky.. you'll get a good consultant who is really helpful. But if you misunderstand what he or she says it's not their fault. Not that I'm saying that people misunderstand... I'm just saying ask all the questions before you sign up. they are earning a commission off your joining fees.. soooo make it worth it. ask them EVERYTHING under the sun. and if they are unable to, get them to bring out their manager. Be careful tho.. usually the manager will convince you to sign up. and unless you are very FIRM, you will feel compelled to sign up. even pressured to. But do not give in unless you are absoulutely certain that you want to.

4. not everyone is cheated in gyms. the majority are pretty happy with what they have paid for... it's only a number which is unhappy because they didn't get what they paid for. everyday, many people join the gym. The number who join the gym is amazing actually. and out of this... only a few have problems. but as they have about 20 consultants to recruit members, they only have one operations manager to deal with member's problems. you can see the problem here already. and they are overworked as it is. It's quite sad actually that they have to deal with the problems that the mc has ceated, especially the mc's that make the most outrageous claims.

5. it's a practise of the club to scare you with the scariest prices. don't fall for it. pay what you think is worth your money. if you don't like it don't be shy to walk out of there and demand your free pass. I know a few people who just paid a deposit and used the gym for a week and then never came back. Don't waste your money that way. Just say that you will try the gym out and then come back to them. they will be VERY insistant that unless you join on that day you'll lose the 'special' price.
Don't fall for such nonsense. Unless it's the end of the month or year. The prices for the month stay the same. sometimes they really have good deals. really. during events like christmas or hari raya.. or something like that. ASK for it.

6. I really doubt that any legal proceedings can be held over with the club. My friend who's a lawyer came across this guy from KLANG who insisted that hejoined the subang branch under duress. and he claims as it is duress he should be able to quit the club. the lawfirm did not take up the case. Clearly, a club cannot cause you duress as they did not have a knife or gun to your head to threaten your life or safety.. as well as any ecomonic duress can be held against them. As part of contractual law, no matter what was said before the contract was signed, so long as there is a written agreement, the written agreement is binding upon all parties. So you can't sue them for misrepresentation either. Plus you SIGNED the form stating that you've read and understood all the terms and agreements. IF you are not given the chance to read the terms and agreements. don't sign it. Plus you're given a yellow copy of the terms and agreements to take home. So you really can't plead ignorance.

Lesson? be more aware of what your rights are.

7. the mc's have it hard as well. seriously. the pressure to perform is tremendous and you have to work public holidays.. etc.. and no extra pay.. cause the pay is on commission. Be a concious consumer. It's your hard earned money that they are trying to earn.

8. Lastly, if there are consultants who bug the daylights out of you giving you calls incessively. just tell that you're not interested. and tell them to stop calling. Sometimes different consultants will call you. Your name has either been recycled OR you have a many friends who have joined the gym giving your name out..
Be considerate to the mc's as they are people just doing their job and if you tell them that you might go.. they'll put your name down and call you again later. trust me they won't forget to call you. so just put an end to their misery tell them you're not going.
If you give them false hope.. they'll bug you ... again and again..

If I'm not mistaken the last rates that I know about were about 165++ for the 2 year contract. Oh yeah. they'll conveniently not let you know about the 5% government tax added to your monthly fees. You can get it much cheaper about 90 a month depending on the prepaid plans that you take. but you have to pay a lump sum ( or 12/24/36 month installment plan depending on your credit card facilities)