Victorian Government and Melbourne media warn consumers about being ‘ripped off’ by gyms

Both the Victorian Government and Melbourne newspaper the Herald Sun have this week set to warn consumers about the need to be “careful” when joining fitness clubs.

An annual occurrence by many states, the Queensland Government having issued a similar warning last month, the Victorian Government advice and the Herald Sun ‘beat up’ cast doubt in the minds of fitness industry consumers in the way few other sectors are targeted.

Advising that “Consumer Affairs Victoria received more than 500 contacts regarding fitness centres or gym memberships in the last financial year”, the Victorian Government urges “those signing up for gym memberships to read the fine print carefully and make sure they understand the costs involved before making any commitments.”

An example included one customer who signed up for a 12-month gym membership, only to be diagnosed with an illness that severely limited his ability to exercise. Under the contract terms, the customer was required to pay out the full-length of his membership.

The advice from CAV consumers encourages consumers to understand several issues relating to gym memberships: including the circumstances in which they can cancel; and overall membership costs, including any cancellation fees.

It also declares that it is “important for fitness centres to remember that Victoria has strong laws that protect consumers from unfair contract terms (and that) fitness centres should take care not to include any contract terms that would cause unnecessary harm to a consumer, financial or otherwise.”

It also advises that it “has worked with health and fitness centres to remove or modify contract terms that may be deemed unfair, including terms that result in the automatic renewal of a membership.”

Adopting a tone set by Victorian Minister for Consumer Affairs, Marlene Kairouz when she said “working out at the gym is a big part of staying ripped – but don’t get ripped off”, the Herald Sun took a more sensational approach to the issue in its article ‘New way gyms are ripping off thousands”, reporting that “callous fitness centres are refusing to cancel contracts, even after members suffer broken bones and develop serious health conditions.”

It added “upset gym goers have complained of unfair tactics at some businesses, with more than 2000 Victorians finding fault in their selected service since 2016.”

In response, the Herald Sun quoted Fitness Australia Chief Executive, Barrie Elvish (pcitured) as saying most of the nation's five-million gym members had no problems, but there were a small number of legitimate concerns.

It also added that Fitness Australia is pushing for all gyms to be forced to adopt its code of practice, which promotes professional and lawful conduct.

However, reference to the latest Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) 2018/19 Annual Report, shows it dealt with more than 115,000 ‘contacts’ during the year, from which Australasian Leisure Management calculates that "the 500 contacts regarding fitness centres or gym memberships" represents less than 0.005% of issues.

It is unfortunate that, once again, the fitness industry is an easy target.

The National Fitness Industry Code of Practice offers clear guidance that meets legislative requirements for business operation, nationally and we encourage fitness service operators in the industry to apply and achieve the standards set in these initiatives.

Click here to view the Code of Practice.