Fitness First
reviews and complaints

I have been fitness first member for years. During March this year I decided to cancel my membership (had joined min period contract). I walked up to the front office with a colleague of mine and put my request. I was told not to worry by the customer service and if I need to renew again I will need to come and reactivate my account. Hence I am not suppose to do anything. Having got this confirmation I assumed my membership is cancelled and I do not need to do anything. I was leaving gym due to medical issues. I went back to gym to check if there is anything pending as my account was being charged. Having asked I was told since I have not got any receipt from the fitness first my membership was not cancelled. This way convinently they have charged me by giving me wrong information. In my contract I am not told I need a written receipt. The front office first denied that such conversation has happened. When I asked to get the person in the conversation I was told she has left. When I asked to get camera recording I was told we do not record or keep records.. hence now I am paying three months charge for something fitness first failed to inform me. I have a witness who was there with me when it happened. I am not worried about the money but this is unethical and shows how they treat theie customers. Completely fraud and appaling..

Hi

Im a member in TH who use to be with for more than 2 years and now I have got the some personal thing plus covid situation. I would like to firstly change the type of member from 1 year contratc to half year contract.
But your CS team in TH got no response because she said I forgot. This is how you treat the member? Not mentioned that I have been with more than 2 years.

Want to cancel the membership instead of change now.
Please be sure that to have someone contract me urgently. This is very disappointed me.
I have attached the conversasion in this complaints but it is in TH and actually I habe asking this for more than a week. You can ask any person who know TH for translation.

Brgds,
Pakpoom

My membership was ending November, 2020 but I was not using the facilities so group classes did not have any space so had frozen my account from Oct to Dec 2020 with minimum commitment ending on February 2021. I had very clearly told them in August and in September 2020 over phone and emailed that I do not wish to auto renew and cancel my membership once it ends.
In March 2021, they charged membership fees to me again despite my minimum commitment period ending in February 2021 and Customer service person completely denies the fact. This is like forcefully renewing memberships despite having phone and email conversations. The customer service person have completely forgotten about the same and keeps saying higher management is reviewing. Like seriously? This is complete fraud against me by forcing renewals... I will suggest and spread word of mouth not to join Fitness First ever again... I am still waiting for customer service to get back to me. Pls make sure you email them several times as they go back on thier words spoken over the phone.

Back in Dec 2020 I requested a number of times (on site) to have my membership cancelled. I was told each time the guy who deals with membership was not available and no one else on site could really assist but someone would contact me back - when asked for an actual name I was never given it.

I had explained I also requested this via the online form to cancel a membership and would be told someone would contact me within the time range. I also did not get a response via this. When I mentioned this to the gentleman in the gym reception I was told "Oh we sometime's don't get them come through" and then later slipped "No one really keeps track of them". I thought this was quite unprofessional, why have a contact me section that doesn't work or no one gets back to you. I am certain if someone was signing up, then there would be immediate contact.

Back in Nov 2018 I requested via the online form/account section to pause my membership for several weeks as I was flying to the UK. The day before leaving I checked (again on location) if this was all set. My account was checked, no notes, no schedule was checked nothing.

Back to this actual complaint, since finally speaking to someone at head office to cancel my membership I was told to just keep it as I had a good deal and use it often (which I don't). I felt quite uncomfortable with this approach and I mentioned from the start and several times I have to cancel my membership due to personal reasons. This was ignored each time and I was offerred a personal trainer (which I was offered when I signed but never got it) and that my deal is so great... I was being forced to keep my memberhsip.

Finally after being firm that I wanted my account to be terminated asap and no extra fees as I have been with the gym since 2017 (even a member several times before' I was told I had to pay another payment, even when i'm not going to be using the gym plus having financial struggles as well as other personal issues. This is appalling behaviour how to deal with a loyal customer who has been with you for years.
The next day I was charged as per phone conversation. 2 weeks later or less I was receiving phone calls on a daily basis from various numbers being told I owe money to the club and I am in arrears?

I've contacted the club several times with and the last email was the comms I received, about being harassed for money and for them to explain why I owe.

"Hi Jose,

Thanks for reaching out.

I can see your membership has been cancelled as per your request - it is just one payment of $49.66 which we are needing to collect to have this all finalised.

Please give the club a call on [protected] to finalise this and for us to stop needing to contact you.

Thanks,
Emily Daffas

Club Manager"

This was in response to the following email which clearly stated most what I have said and was blatantly ignored by the club MANAGER.

"I'm constantly being harassed by you guys about unpaid membership?

I've been with you for years and this is how you go about treating people.

I asked 3 times in December to cancel my membership only to be told the person I need to speak to isn't available and will contact me back.

I also sent through via the online form which I was told"oh no one really reads them"So why have these methods of communication when they are useless.

I had the same issue back in 2019 when I went to the UK for family matters and asked to place the account on hold. This was confirmed to have been done and low and behold this was NOT done and I has to ask again.

I finally got through to someone on the phone to cancel and they transferred me elsewhere. After 40 min wait I was told they would cancel it with no issues. I was constantly harassed to keep my membership even though I explained the people is extremely personal and I'm unable to continue. But no I got harassed even more to keep it like it was good for me. What point do you guys not get when something is so personal and damaging that you cannot proceed to go to the gym anymore and give enough time to cancel my membership which you would not do.

This is totally unacceptable behaviour from the company and shows a lack of respect for someone who has been loyal for years. This just concludes that when I said the time was right and things on my end improve I'll rejoin but this will simply never happen.

Now you are again harassing me asking for more money? If anything I should be reimbursed several weeks due to your staff incompetence and a clear image of ‘let's make it near impossible for anyone to cancel'. My friend used to work with the Mona Vale branch so I know how it works.

If you want to take this further then let's do it and let me know the next steps so I can get legal onto this.

Otherwise show some respect to the people who are struggling and were committed to a gym that had half working equipment or horrible non hygienic cleaning areas."

I have not received any actual information or anyone even explain why i'm being harassed via email and phone calls.

this is disgusting behaviour and this company are just full of lies and do not care one thing about their members.

I am a member of Feltham Branch of the gym. The gym Opened in August. I sent an email to the gym in July 2020, requesting that my gym membership be put on hold, The manager agreed and was told no Direct debit would be taken from my My Account. The Gym took a Direct Debit from my Account. i emailed the manger in August to complain, i was told no direct debit would be taken in September to Compensate, the gym took a Direct Debit in September i am disappointed the manager has not resolved this matter

I would like to complain seriously about no people response to my case, which previously I have submitted my doctor certificate & medical report about I got cancer, so not able to go to gym, need to suspend the service, however, your account dept deduct my credit card for 3-mth services, which I have already reported, but no people get back to me, & now it charges my credit card again in Nov. I really feel very bad for the service of your company, pls refund back to me asap

Again I was disappointed with the service been offered by fitness first (branch the curve)

In 2.10.19, I visit the branch the curve and the manager in charge Mr Farid told me b4 that there will be no towels ran out issue happen again in October 2019 onward. Unfortunately, my trust toward him was spoiled as I was facing no towels in 2.10.19 and I had to go to buy a towel nearby for myself

Regarding this issue I was mad and frustrated and ask for stop joining ff and refund for the October membership fee. The manager in charged said will send me a form to fill up and will notice me.

The next day I aldy fill up the form and sent to the manager but from the day I sent till now is aldy 2 weeks time but I didn't get any news update from him...

I did email and contact him but at last no reply at all... I do hope fitness first give me an appropriate n prompt response and seek this issue seriously... And now I really strongly not recommend fitness first for everyone as we paid the premium membership but the return is substandard services... The management is definitely bad...

The day I signed up, I was super treated by FF agent and informed that sign this agreement for 12 months there is no locking period. After 6months I went to the cancellation.

The FF agent turned out to be a zombie and said there is a locking period and I cant cancel it. The center manager come to talk to me after waiting for 90 minutes infront of his desk.

I again waited for 6months, now they say since the agreement is extended by another 20 months due to freezing. None of their terms and conditions state this point.

If you sign up for Fitness First be ready for insult, hearing no to everything and letting your money go simply.

I was at fitness first Avenue k today (8 sept 2019) till it closed. The staff switched off the lights in the changing room at 9.05pm when a few of us were still in the changing room. Even the cleaning staff were still inside doing some last minute cleaning and washing of the shower area. I think the staff at the counter was impatient to leave and thus switched off the lights to chase people out. I find this so rude - if this is the behaviour of your staff, please don't be in the service industry! Can't the staff make reminder announcement or ask a colleague to go into the changing room to remind on closing of centre? Would FF take responsibility if a member slipped and fell in the shower or changing room in the dark?

Another observation - your staff like to leave members' FF cards, IC, driver license etc on the counter table for members to collect on their own when they leave. I lost my FF card a few times because of your SOP. I wonder if anyone lost their IC or driver license before. When I raised my concern to your staff, I was told I would be given a FF card replacement if it went missing!

I think FF management should seriously look at your SOP and behaviour of your staff.

Hi. I am mr koo how guan. Cos don't have any branch manager on duty at setiawalk celebrity. Sorry to interrupt you.
Today I met the very rude and impolite inception desk area general manager sheryl and personal trainer ahmad at setiawalk celebrity fitness. The personal trainer named ahmad try to beat me and shout at me. I just ask what is his name. But the area general manager do not stop that guy who try to beat me. That guy also call me go out of celebrity fitness and takeoff his cloth to beat me.
I start walkout here already three years. I support and royal to celebrity fitness since walkout. But after branch manager is not working at here
The employee start lazy and irresponsible. The equipment take very long time to service.
Today the reception desk employee take my card and said I bring my friend come here. She said second time I bring along people. I always introduce and recommend other ppl to join this celebrity fitness. Thanks yot. She also encourage me change to another branch and discontinue my workout on this month. She not appreciate me as the existing and potential customer wh
O royalty to fitness first and celebrity fitness. I try to contact customer service but line always busy. So I fail to complaint.

I have registered a membership with UAE - Dubai - Burjuman Center FF but unfortunate as per doctor advice unable to started a DAY due to my chronic back pain problem which i communicated to the assigned customer in-charge (Ms.Rhea) over the phone about the my situation and she mentioned i will discuss with management and do the needful but later never turned up. Every month their is a debit from my account for the membership fee which not even started a day.

Related to this, dropped an email with multiple reminders to the concern center, but no one is responding.

Next level escalated to the landmark management but again no action.

As a last step i'm approaching this forum.

Regards,

I went to Fitness First Paradigm to terminate my membership earlier only to be informed that I have to go back to my home branch in Gardens for this to be possible. This is ridiculous seeing that Fitness First is an internationally renowned brand and the sole reason I signed for the platinum membership was for its convenience and accessibility to all the centers. So I've been told that I have no choice but to go back to the Centre in-spite of the inconvenience and ideally if I want to have my membership terminated by Aug 2019 (1 month notice taken into account), I need to have this done at the home branch by 31 July 2019. It really is not the distance, but mainly the inconvenience of it it, given my schedule this week.

To the Paradigm centre's credit, the staff there were very attentive and was trying their best to help, but there was only so much they could do.

My account number is [protected] if you need for reference.

Thanks.

shwutyng

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am a registered member of your company. Normally I am pleased to use your gym. But there is a situation where we are constantly having problems. We ask that you concentrate on this topic and solve the problem. Normally we have 3 days of exercise days called boot camps. Since I started, there are no boot camps that are 3 days a week. These disruptions are experienced in your Bahrain Oasis FitnessFirst gym. We would like to make a boot camp 3 days a week without making excuses about this issue and we ask you not to hitch. My name is UMIT ASKAR. I'm an active member of your gym.

The incident happened on Jul 2nd 2019 at 5:30 PM in the Club 39 Sukhumvit, Soi 39 in Bangkok.
One of the visitors was taking pictures and recording videos of others during the class without the permission.
When I asked him to delete it, he aggressively attacked me.
I have complained to administration, but they could not support me, neither force the guest to delete all pictures and videos.
This is totally unacceptable for the club chain of such a high class to allow anyone take photos and videos during the exercises without prior permission.
The administration should have taken strong measures and in case of violation, withdraw the membership.

I have had to return to the uk due to my mother having dimentia and I have no idea how long I will have to be here. During sorting coming back I forgot to freeze the account and so there is a month or so owing I believe. As you can imagine this is a very stressful time. Below is a copy of the email sent to me giving me incorrect information on how much I would have to pay to leave the contract. Upon investigation I found this not to be true and questioned it at which point I was finally told that I could cancel paying a different amount. Are Fitness First in the habit of lying to their customers to get more money out of them? This added unnecessary added stress. Please advise on how you wish to proceed, as you can imagine I am not happy about the way I have been treated.

Hey Neil,
You still are in contract till 16/4/2020.
We cannot offer any cancellation until arrears are paid. Your current remaining contract amount is $737.00. Cancellation fee's will be $589.60.
You can look at the options of transferring your membership to someone if you cant continue., let me know if you will need help with this?
Regards Ashleigh
Member Services Representative

Fitness First Australia

my name is tamba tua sidabutar, my member id [protected].
i'm a member of fitness first jakarta indonesia branch oakwood mega kuningan.
i've been member of fitness first for almost 10 years, but over the past 1 year i've been disappointed by one of the front desk officers fitness first oakwood jakarta indonesia.His name is Nanda, he is a new staff officer fitness first, he always served me with a arrogant face and also not polite.When i came to the gym, i gave my member card for scanned, he took my card impolitely and gave it to me impolitely as well.And it's always happens when i'm there.i've been told him "if you make me uncomfortable i will report to your boss and also send email about your attitude" and he asnwered me severaly and arrogant "go ahead"
then i came up to his manager and then the manager apologized to me and she said that nanda (name of front desk officer)certainly bad attitude.He did the same thing with my friend as well!
My question is, why is he employed in fitness first when he has very bad attitude and has a lot of problem with customer.Dear fitness first, please follow up this problem ASAP, because i will put this case to media (newspaper, media online and social media) if it is not handle immediately.
all i know fitness first is very good fitness center and always hiring professional employee, But this case make me very disappointed

Hi

My name is usha had join as member last year, during reg they request for credit card info just as reference however they charge my card without my knowledge. Try to ask them many times, check at same branch at gardens they said the amount wrongly charge however will be do the refund back to my credit card as per advice by staff prema. All the payment i done via cash since join, in mid feb staff prema call back said i have over paid my acc and claim not need to pay till end of april. But on end of april i get charge from my card, which without my knowledge . I need refund back on the charges and need call back from prema. If i didn't get call back within 24hrs, i will post this in social media.

Contact num:[protected]

Thanks

My name is Nourah Almansour a wife of Khalifa Abdulla
I'm a wife of international & permanent member of the club and we are guests in Bangkok for 4 days and this is the second day my husband joined the club in Bangkok, there is a receptionist named Marinee, she is very rude and racist in dealing with us. She did not let me sit on the chair to wait for my husband an hour only. I do not want to use the club equipments and I do not even want to drink water from them, but she treated me badly and ordered an employee from them to get me out of the club! This is an uncivilized act. There were people in the restroom not members as parents and students were waiting.
Why this racist! I was a former club member and my husband is still a regular member. This treatment we can not accept at all. Very bad. This is not a Thai welcome style.
For more information : norakwt.[protected]@gmail.com

A staff tried to register another member to my card. That's the reason why last december they charged me extra p800 and p3295 last january. She said she was not able to update the card of her other member that's why it was being charged on my vard which she registered when that member signed up. It's already february and it's not still settled. She paid less than half then now kept on promising to pay the other half. Well I already have considerations. But she keep on promising dates. Every cents counts. I really need my money now because I worked for every cents. I hope you give action in this.