Sir Richard Branson takes on Fitness First tagged: , ,

Sir Richard Branson takes on Fitness First

Posted by Claire Connelly in Humour

Finally, someone is taking on Fitness First – a rogue with a keen business mind and what some have described as an eery foresight for lucrative business opportunities.

Sir Richard Branson is planning on setting up a chain of Virgin Active gyms across Australia, promising better customer service and value for money.

Fitness First (or rather Finance First) has faced a lot of bad press over the last few years:

Finance First found themselves in hot water last year for continuing to take money out of a dead woman’s account.

In January 2008 Terry Lewis contacted Fitness First in Chatswood to cancel his wife’s gym membership after she became terminally ill.

The fortnightly payments of $33.95 continued to be deducted from their bank account, despite their promise that all payments would cease.

Though a number of phone calls were made by Mr Lewis attempting to cancel her account, the payments continued long after Terry’s wife Maxine, passed away in March.

“When she was ill it was bad enough … but Fitness First knew she was dead, the personal trainer even came to the funeral,” said Mr Lewis’s daughter, Fiona.

Fitness First’s reported defense was that the contract must be cancelled by the provider, “so they’ve got you really,” said Mr Lewis.

Additionally, although the family had contacted Fitness First to alert the gym of her demise, FF argued that because they did not submit an official letter of request to end the contract, they were still entitled to debit funds from a dead woman’s bank account.

The payments eventually stopped however none of the deducted funds were every refunded to the Lewis family.

In another PR bungle, FF sued a woman in August last year over a $200 cancellation fee.

The court ruled in favor of FF and ordered that Suh Yoke Chong who suffers from lupus, thyroid problems and sleep apnea should not be refunded a $200 cancellation fee after she was unable to continue her membership due to blurred vision and headaches.

It is extraordinarily difficult to end a contract with Finance First without paying massive fees and penalties.

I’m not the only person who has been screwed over by this company – my boyfriend received a subsidised Finance First corporate membership from his old company, but when he went to FF to validate his membership, they denied the existence of such a deal (despite the documented paper-work) and tried to make him pay full price.

He was verbally abused by the manager after he requested to speak with her, and despite their avid denial of the existence of any membership deal, FF still tried to make him pay a penalty fee for ending a contract they said didn’t exist.

I don’t understand how Finance First can continue to run the monopoly on gyms in Australia: it’s much more expensive than your average gym, many of their machines are broken and remain so for months at a time, their staff are rude and presumptuous and the only marketable benefit is that you have access to many or all of the FF gyms in your capital city.

Great, more dodgy gyms to choose from – I don’t get it.

Never fear though! Finally there is someone smart and successful enough to take on Fitness First.

Richard Branson is the 23rd richest person according to Forbes Magazine’s 2008 list of billionaires with an estimated net worth of approximately $4.4 billion.

Best known for his Virgin brand of over 360 companies, Richard Branson is a corporate guru renowned for his canny business decisions and foresight into the future of the global market.

Along with a record store, countless magazines, two Airways, and a mobile phone company, Branson can now add Aussie gyms to the pile of successful business ventures founded over the past twenty years.

Virgin Active offers rolling contracts with an initial four week commitment (slightly longer if you join between billing dates) which automatically renews every fortnight unless terminated.

Unlike Finance First whose contracts are extroadinarily difficult to get out of, Virgin Active requires only three days notice if you want to cancel your membership.

Go to their home page and hover your mouse over the blonde lady, it reads: “Fed Up? Looking for something new? Start a new relationship, we’ll treat you right,” a not-so-subtle swipe at Fitness First’s long reputation of putting finance ahead of customer satisfaction.

Though I doubt Virgin Active can offer me anything better than my local gym, (not really a big fan of corporate chains) it’s nice to know that there’s someone out there prepared to take on Finance First, who is calling them out on their bullshit.

Best of luck Sir Richard Branson, may the force be with you.