Claims against Hong Kong gym chain Physical Fitness reach HK$31m as 8 personal trainers take case to police
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has received 1,000 complaints with claims amounting to about HK$31 million against gym chain Physical Fitness, days after the company announced a “temporary shutdown.”
Physical abruptly closed 23 fitness and health centres across Hong Kong last Friday, blaming high rents. The move came after the city’s pensions authority warned that the company had not paid contributions to the pension funds of its 740 employees since June.
The company said over the weekend that “new investors” had reached a deal with the landlord of its Wan Chai branch, which would resume business under a new brand Healthy. Customers who had purchased fitness plans and trainer programmes with Physical could complete those plans with the new company, it added.
The Consumer Council said, as of 4 pm on Monday, it had received 1,000 complaints over the closure of Physical, involving more than HK$31 million.
Earlier in the day, head of the Consumer Council Gilly Wong reminded customers to keep a record of their purchases with Physical, including service plan contracts and credit card payment records, so that the watchdog or banks could follow up if refunds were requested.
Speaking on Commercial Radio on Monday morning, Wong said the largest claim the watchdog received involved HK$650,000, adding that on average complainants had paid HK$31,000 to Physical before its sudden closure.
She said the watchdog had also received complaints from people who had purchased beauty treatment services from Physical, and urged the company to make follow-up arrangements for this group of customers.
Wong called recent developments “unclear” for customers, as it was not certain whether and when the new investors would take over Physical’s business, or what changes would be made to the services.
“Consumers will have to re-assess whether the new service provider can meet their needs, and to study the clauses and nature of the contracts,” Wong said in Cantonese. “In any case, consumers are entitled to request a refund from the previous and the new company.”
“But it is a big challenge to make contact with [Physical] now and we hope the company can make follow-up arrangements clear as soon as possible,” she added.
Meanwhile, Wong said customers could contact the banks that issued their credit cards to stop payments and request a refund, but that the process could take up to 300 days and was contingent on customers having kept their payment records.
‘Responsible’
Separately, a group of eight former fitness trainers with Physical filed a police report on Monday, saying the company had offered them extra commission to promote fitness plans days ahead of its sudden closure.
A trainer, surnamed Fung, told reporters in front of the Tsim Sha Tsui police station that he had been kept in the dark about the company’s closure and that he did not know the identity of the new investors.
Fung said he had been told that a new bonus of HK$1,000 would be given for each sale of HK$30,000 from September 1. Physical announced its closure five days later.
“As trainers, we are responsible for our customers, but we were really unaware that the company would close all of a sudden,” he said in Cantonese.
“Furthermore, no one from management or person in charge has come forward to inform the several hundred employees, ourselves included, about salary arrangements,” he added.
Chan Siu-tong, a Yau Tsim Mong district councillor of the pro-business party Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong, urged police to investigate suspected offences by Physical management over asking staff to increase sales just before shutting down.
Lawmaker Bill Tang of the Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) also said on Monday that the FTU had received dozens of calls for help from former fitness trainers and beauty specialists of Physical, who said they had not been paid for a month.
Tang told an RTHK programme that some Physical staff had been encouraged to increase sales in recent months, such as by offering a 10-year renewal plan for HK$8,000 to customers.
The Wan Chai branch of Physical remained closed for business on Monday, HKFP observed.
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