Members up in arms against gym

PETALING JAYA: True Fitness Malaysia members are rallying together through a Facebook group to air their grievances and come up with an action plan following the gym chain’s abrupt closure.

Accountant Vincent Goh, who is leading the effort, said he is compiling a list of all affected members to file a complaint with the Malay­sian Consumers Association and the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consu­merism Minis­try, as well as Subang Jaya state assemblyman Hannah Yeoh.

Helping him compile the database of affected members is a software engineer who wanted to be known only as Chew, 23, whose RM3,200 True Spa membership is now in limbo.

Lawyers and long-time True Fitness members Chen Yu Szen and Alex Netto are volunteering their legal services, and have called for a meeting this Saturday to discuss the feasibility of filing a suit.

Chen, 27, said action needs to be taken quickly as it would be difficult to demand compensation if the subsidiary companies wind up.

True Fitness Malaysia had posted an abrupt announcement on its website last Friday that it was closing down, followed up by the shuttering of all its True Fitness and True Spa outlets here just 24 hours later.

True Fitness Malaysia is part of Singapore-headquartered True Group, which has a number of subsidiaries operating its outlets in Malaysia.

It also announced it was closing down its two outlets in Thailand.

True Group said it was stopping all operations of its gyms and spa facilities in Malaysia and Thailand because they were “no longer financially viable due to evolving market conditions”.

The announcement came just days after True Group chief executive officer Patrick Wee told Singapore’s The Straits Times that the company plans to open 20 new clubs in China over the next three years, and is aiming for a possible public listing.

He also claimed the company had more than S$100mil (RM430mil) in its reserves.

Despite this, some employees claim they have not been paid for four months, and plan to lodge a formal complaint with the Labour Department today.

In its announcement, the company said it would not issue any refunds but that consumers would be able to transfer their membership to CHi Fitness.

When contacted by The Star, True Fitness Malaysia said it would respond to the concerns of members and staff today.

CHi Fitness operations director Ashley Paulus said that True Fitness was currently in the process of purchasing one-month membership passes for its members.

“They have asked to purchase 20,000 one-month membership passes from us.

“We have agreed to honour them over a period of two years,” she said.