Shen Fangfang never imagined that she only wanted to find a gym to swim, but was forced to stay in the store by three personal trainers (hereinafter referred to as "private tutors") on the grounds of helping to buy 36 private lessons to complete her performance until the whole department store closed down. The private tutor even told her that if she didn’t have enough money with her, she could go home with her to get money to buy classes.
It has been a while, but in retrospect, she still has a lingering fear. It was one night in September 2019, when the gym was closed and most shops in its shopping mall were closed. The building is empty, but three private tutors have been around to prevent her from leaving. There was only one thought in her mind at that time — — Get out of here.
Three private tutors never let go when they saw her, suggesting that when signing the contract, the sales staff had copied the members’ ID cards and knew the home addresses of all members. Smelling the threat, considering that there are elderly parents at home, Shen Fangfang is unwilling to entangle any more.
"I just got my salary in August, but it was still not enough. I took some money from my savings before I made up the class fee." After Shen Fangfang paid the class fee and went through the relevant formalities, it was already 22: 40, and she was allowed to leave the mall.
Three private tutors wrote a letter of guarantee to her that night: "This month is the promotion month, and we will decide on the happy life behind. Please ask Ms. Shen Fangfang to help us again." And three people also promised that this is "the last time for Ms. Shen Fangfang to buy 12 classes each, and she will not be allowed to buy again in the future."
However, as if she had opened Pandora’s box, Shen Fangfang would continue to be promoted by private teachers in various ways every month.
Qi Chen, who has suffered losses in this respect, said: "We must not easily believe the verbal promises of some private education."
Qi Chen bought a private training course at another large chain gym in Shanghai. At first, she had a good relationship with the private tutor. She often bought some food and drinks together and got along like friends.
"That day, (private education) asked me to help them with their performance and bought 36 classes." Qi Chen said that at that time, there were 10 lessons left in her private education, but because she usually got along well with private education, Qi Chen was embarrassed to refuse the request of "friends" and paid the money.
"I also said at that time that I didn’t go very often, and I might not finish (so many courses) at once, but they didn’t say that there was a deadline for this course at all, so they kept saying ‘ No problem ’ ‘ No problem ’ 。” Qi Chen said.
Later, due to physical reasons, Qi Chen couldn’t go to exercise for a period of time. When she returned to the gym after recovering, she was told that the courses in her account had been frozen due to the expiration date. If she needed to activate them, she should buy the same class hours as the frozen courses at a ratio of 1: 1.
Qi Chen thought it was forced consumption in disguised form, and rejected the course activation scheme. She also learned from other members that even if the course was activated, the validity period was very short.
Pang Jing, who graduated from Beijing Sport University and majored in physical education, once worked part-time in the gym. He said that most of the personal education in the gym on the market has sales tasks, and consumers need to be cautious when selling classes.
Preliminary Rights Protection of "detour"
Yu Lin, who works in Shanghai, joined a large chain gym last year. At that time, the sales consultant told her that there was a special offer for new guests, and 12 private lessons were only 2400 yuan. Yu Lin felt that the discount was very strong and bought it directly.
However, after that, three consecutive appointments were delayed by the coach for various reasons. Yu Lin offered a refund, and the coach told her to go to the director, but she still didn’t return it.
Because Yu Lin didn’t attend the whole course very much, after consultation between the two sides, the original plan of the gym for Yu Lin was to deduct her 20% handling fee, and the refund would be received after half a year. Yu Lin rejected the plan and asked for only 5% deduction. The gym promised her to apply to the head office.
After more than a month, Yu Lin got the reply that the head office did not agree to the proposal of deducting 5%. "After that, we sent any news, he didn’t reply and completely lost contact." Yu Lin said.
Because the negotiation failed, Yu Lin decided to file a complaint with 12315. The feedback result of 12315 is, "This dispute is handled by the cultural inspection department, and our department terminates the mediation. It is suggested to report this situation to the cultural inspection department through 12318 or 12345." The staff of the Sports Bureau who was transferred by 12315 told Yu Lin that there were many similar cases. Usually, the gym would refund the customers, but it took a long time, and the epidemic situation made Yu Lin wait patiently.
"Like a tug-of-war, it lasted for about three months. Finally, they suggested that I take judicial channels." Yu Lin said. Qi Chen also called 12315 and the Shanghai Mayor’s Hotline 12345, but did not make much progress. In the end, he also chose to take judicial channels to protect his rights.
Take the case to court to recover the prepaid tuition.
On December 3, 2019, Qi Chen filed a case online and sent relevant materials to the People’s Court of Pudong New Area the next day. On March 4, 2020, the court accepted the case; On April 8, the court opened.
Qi Chen said that because he didn’t read the course contract carefully before, it did mention that the private education course has a valid period. If it is not finished within the valid period, the course will be frozen. Therefore, in the pre-trial mediation, the gym used this as a basis to show that it did not violate the contract, but the customer did not read the contract carefully.
The gym also said that Qi Chen could be dismissed from the class, but since she had already resold her fitness card to others at that time, she was no longer a member of this store. If she wanted to continue taking these dismissed classes, it would mean that she had to spend a sum of money to get her membership card back, and it was still her own loss. Finally, the plan after discussion between the two parties is that Qi Chen can resell the private lessons to other members of the store, and the expenses from resale will be owned by her.
"At that time, it was still during the epidemic and could not be sold at all." Qi Chen said that after a month or so, the court staff inquired about the resale progress, and when they learned that resale was difficult, they offered to help her coordinate with the gym again. In the end, the gym promised to refund about 40% of Chen Qiyuan’s course.
"After this incident, I will read all documents such as agreements and contracts that require my signature very carefully." Qi Chen said.
On the other hand, after Yu Lin failed to help 12315, he found the gym store on a review App, wrote his own experience and gave a bad review. Not long after, some netizens contacted her and shared their similar experiences. One of them was Shen Fangfang, and Shen Fangfang also suggested that Yu Lin directly take judicial channels to protect rights.
Shen Fangfang said that many people who have suffered from boredom in the gym choose to endure this tone, mostly because the amount involved is around several thousand yuan, and they are in an embarrassing situation.
Say "not much" because if you want to go to court, taking into account the lawyer’s fees, time costs, etc., and many consumers just took the purpose of fitness at first, did not pay attention to the deposit of cards, or read the contract carefully, and combined various factors, the lawsuit may not be worth the loss; Say "a lot" because most people who go to the gym to spend money are young people, office workers or college students who have just worked, and this amount is indeed a big sum for them.
In view of this "no more, no less" situation, Shen Fangfang, who has made up her mind to carry out judicial rights protection, continues to purchase courses according to the requirements of private education and sales every month, and also saves related chats, payment records and contracts one by one.
On April 24, 2020, Shen Fangfang v Shanghai Keyi Fitness returned the advance payment, which was heard in the Xuhui District People’s Court of Shanghai. On May 13th, Xuhui District People’s Court issued a judgment, ruling that Shen Fangfang could cancel the membership contract and private education course (supplementary agreement) with this company; The defendant company will refund Shen Fangfang RMB 112,950 within 10 days from the effective date of the judgment.
There are very few defenders like Shen Fangfang who can basically get back the full amount of compensation. Most of them are young people like Qi Chen and Yu Lin, who choose to mediate before the court and get back the money after deducting the handling fee.
Yu Lin said that on the day of pre-trial mediation, the operation manager of the gym told her that if she was willing to accept a 5% deduction, she could get a refund immediately. If she asked for the full amount, she would have to discuss with the company. In addition, the manager also pointed out that Yulin complained that the course was cancelled twice. One time, he made an oral appointment on the day of buying the course, and there was no record. If the court opened, he would use this as evidence, only missing the customer’s class once.
"He also said that the private tutor who gave me classes at that time had left his post and changed his WeChat avatar. If I really handed this evidence to the court, he could apply for this evidence to be ineffective." Yu Lin told the reporter that the mediator also analyzed for her. If she continues to take legal channels, he (the operation manager) will delay the trial time because of the evidence, and the time can’t afford it. It is recommended to accept a deduction of 5% handling fee.
Where will the industry go after "barbaric growth"
Pang Jing said that in the past few years, the gym market has been mixed, from initial germination to barbaric growth. Due to the imperfect industry standards and regulatory regulations, many opportunists seek improper benefits by exploiting loopholes in laws and regulations. "These individual behaviors may eventually require the entire industry to pay for it." Pang Jing said that this is the worry of him and some colleagues.
"I also know some serious and responsible coaches in the gym." Pang Jing said, "Although some of them may not have high academic qualifications, they love this industry very much." Pang Jing pointed out that these coaches have continuously improved their professional quality through personal efforts and accumulated rich teaching experience. It is unfair to blame the whole group only for individual phenomena. In addition, some experienced and qualified fitness instructors will also start their own businesses and set up private training studios.
Cao Meina, from Chengdu, exercised in the private education studio for about a year and lost 30 kilograms. She was very satisfied with this effect. She said that she prefers to have a professional coach with her, so that the exercise is more targeted and at the same time she can supervise herself. If she doesn’t take private lessons, she seldom goes to the gym to exercise alone. However, because the class fees of these studios are also paid in advance, Cao Meina suggested that it is safer for exercisers to buy a small number of courses at first.
Pang Jing also mentioned that online and offline fitness brands such as "Super Orangutan" and "Music Carving Movement" developed in recent years are favored by consumers. The advantages of this kind of brand are that it charges a single time, the exercise cost is low, and consumers can freely choose the group exercise courses and exercise time.
Some time ago, Beijing and Shanghai successively issued the policy of "7-day cooling-off period for gym cards". Pang Jing believes that this is a signal that the regulatory authorities pay more attention to the fitness industry. He believes that after the barbaric growth, the fitness industry will make waves, the inferior institutions will eventually be eliminated, and the quality service providers will get better and better. The development of new formats allows consumers to have diversified choices. After the market forms healthy competition, it will in turn promote consumers to know more about this industry and will not be deceived as easily as when they first came into contact.
(At the request of the interviewee, Qi Chen, Yu Lin, Pang Jing and Cao Meina are pseudonyms.)
Zhongqingbao Zhongqingwang Trainee Reporter Tian Hongwei Source: China Youth Daily
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