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Open the swimming pool or get punished: watchdog warns gym following complaints
Online Edition
A gym in downtown Changning District with some expat members was ordered to refund hundreds of members by the city's consumer rights protection watchdog yesterday after it failed to open its swimming pool for about seven months, drawing the ire of consumers.
The watchdog warned punishments would ensue if the gym fail to make the refunds.
The swimming pool is listed in the gym's contract with its members and is included in its promotion content to lure members as well, according to the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission.
The commission said it has received 24 complaints towards the Heijunma Fitness and Swimming Club on Fahuazhen Road with the amount of their prepaid cards totaling more than 110,000 yuan (US$16,923).
A woman surnamed Mao purchased a fitness card at the club with 9,460 yuan in May this year, and she told the club that she would swim here with swimming ticked in the contract.
"I was told that I could swim here after one month, and I felt that I was cheated," Mao said.
"I want nothing but a refund now."
Another member Tan Mengjue paid more than 3,000 yuan for her membership, and she said the club promised to open its swimming pool very soon when she signed the contract.
"I visited the club several times then, but my request for a refund was always refused," she said.
A representative from the club surnamed Zheng said there was a water leakage problem of the swimming pool, which delayed its opening, at a meeting with the commission yesterday. But the club even did not apply for approval from sports and health authorities for the pool's opening.
He said the club has more than 500 members, including some foreigners.
Zheng refused to offer a refund to consumers at the meeting.
The Changning District Consumer Rights Protection Commission said it held a talk with the club in August and ordered it to open its pool or refund consumers, but the club turned a deaf ear.
The Shanghai commission said it would provide support to consumers' joint lawsuit and forward the case to market watchdogs for investigation and punishment if the club fails to offer a solution and a reply over these complaints within five days.
Prepaid consumption remains a hotbed of irregularities, the commission said.
It received 3,390 complaints regarding prepaid service in the first half of this year, with fitness, education and housekeeping fields topping the list.
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