philippines, philippine business, kabayan-balikbayan

{ 1 trackback }

Fitness First. Payment Foremost. « Of Making Sense
August 29, 2011 at 5:39 pm

{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }

nyanin October 31, 2007 at 1:02 am

did they really sue u or its just a threat? coz d same thing happens to me

tristan November 8, 2007 at 2:09 pm

oh my…di pala ako nag-iisa. i also received the same letter from fitness first. i paid my unsettled account however, the company automatically renewed my membership!

kerokeroppi November 16, 2007 at 7:31 am

I’m also a victim of fitness first phillipines. I called DTI and they refer me to reklamo site. They are mukhang pera and inhuman.

anonymous July 16, 2008 at 8:06 am

That’s why you should be reading the contract before you sign. The person you talked to was obviously a salesman and naturally his objective is to have you sign, regardless if you’ve read the TnC or not. It is YOUR obligation, and not anybody else’s, to read and understand what YOU are getting yourself into. Don’t blame other people for your mistakes.

I am NOT a FFIRST employee nor am I connect with it in anyway except being a gym member for a year (with which I have no complaint except the high cost). From my experience, the contract pretty much explained everything including the fact that the minimum subscription is 3 months (and not one month).

eryl garcia July 29, 2008 at 9:55 am

i too were victimized by this fitness first inc. but i told them that i would only pay for my fee if only they would allow me to use the months that i didn’t use their gym, and they replied to me that they would allow me to use it. i am hope that its true

kristel August 20, 2008 at 11:55 am

i agree, my friend was once victimized by fitness first!!! even we signed up twice (2) times of the cancellation form they still deducted monthly to my friends credit card.. that the fact that my friend is already back at taiwan… so my friend had no choie but to cut his own credit card so that FF cant remit money.. they are really greedy!!!! my friend signed for a 1year contract but he was been able to use maybe 2times a month for 3months only because he had been busy and he is a foreigner so time to time need to go back to taiwan.. without any notice FF w/out my riend’s consent they automatically renewed his contract by that time my friend already go back to taiwan.. so he went back to philippines to submit a cancellation form and still had to pay fo the succeeding months that he wont be able to use but he just did so that they will close his membership.. after that he went back to taiwan then still they remit payment from his credit card.. i felt so shy to him because FF is a philippine company who is so greedy, mapagsamantala, manloloko, nakakahiya sa mga foreigner… we even sent a formal complain letter and they saidthey will reimburse it but until now no action from them… so greedy!!!! so bewareof FF… I hope you wuold make ablog site or a more detailed website where can the other victims of FF can post their experiences with FF.. please… thanks… i will never forget FF because i also accompanied my friend and we together shouting complaining but still patay malisya sila.. yung mga staff nman alm na nlang mali yung pamamalakad dun pati cla sumasali sa pagtatakip sa greedy na sistema dun… Pls wag na FF puro pera dun, hindi din magagamit ung facilites…

Lilian Marte September 21, 2008 at 2:12 am

This is very true. Fitness First is a cheater. I enroll on this company last April, this year. I enrolled for 4 months, they let me sign a contract. They said that the membership fee is discounted, that is for 1 year and the minimum length of enrollment is 4 months. So I get the 4 months, which they debited 2,590/monthly from my account. (The longer your enrollment the lesser you pay, 6 months I think is 2,100, not so sure!. Due to my heavy schedule I only uses the facility for one month but I let them debit from my credit card for 4 months, because that is what I signed for, 4 months. I understand that even If i didn’t use their facility for 4 months, my obligation is to pay for a minimum of four months. But it is 7 months already but they are continue debiting from my account.

I was shock! They did not informed me that there is need a cancellation contract before they stop debiting from my account. Until now, It is still my problem, I dnt know what to do for them to stop debiting from my account.

So please, before you enroll on this company. Read this post several times. It is easy to get in, but they will give you a hard time to get out.

Lilian M. Marte
Mobile: +639228873352
Landline: +632-4138581 / +6324801193

Oscar Abesamis October 3, 2008 at 5:28 am

Im a member of this club right now. Did you read the contract before signing? When I signed the contract, I knew that Im obligated to be a member for at least 12 mos. It is a contract so yes, they can sue if you don’t pay.

unknown October 30, 2008 at 5:46 pm

I was also pissed off by fitness first, specifically the fort bonifacio branch here in taguig. i mean it. i was really pissed off!

i have already read about how deceitful ff is prior to my membership but there were no other gyms available so i had no choice. i just made it sure that ff could not fool me ..or so i thought.

i joined ff summer of 2008… i was to join for the whole summer ONLY. i personally went there and inquired. their what they call “friendly agent” looked SO pleased for my inquiry, entertained me VERY VERY well while smiling like hell!. she told me that the minimum time for membership is 4 months and that a credit card is required. i told them i dont have a credit card because i am only 16 (im 17 now). i intended to simply pay it whole in cash right on the spot. the agent looked unsure and called the ff general manager. i was amazed because i thought i was offering them the best deal. i mean common who wouldnt want crispy cash right? so the manager came and asked some personal questions first like job of my parents, residency etch. i told them 70% lie ofcourse. after a long negotiation, they ended up asking for any of my parents’ credit card account instead of mine. They even told me that it would only be a form of consent from them since I was a minor. i was shocked again beacause my whole cash payment offer was refused! they only asked for more or less 4 thousand and told me to come back tomorrow with my parent’s credit card account. i aint fool. i didnt listen. like i said i already knew how deceitful ff is. they also asked me give them contact numbers of my friends. im glad i ignored it.. so I came back tomorrow and started exercising. they keep asking for the credit card account like hell but i just kept ignoring them.
when i was still inquiring they’re so efficient, friendly, approachable, but right after i paid them they treated me like BULSHIT! most probably trainers there have thought: “ff has already gotten his credit card account anyway, why still waste our time on him”. i lost interest because of their lack of customer service, more-over, because they made me feel like a fool whenever I was there. i felt like i never paid for the entrance, i felt worthless. all in all i paid them more or less P6500 for a worthless stay there less than 8 hours accumulated for 4 seperate days only! I PAID P6500 FOR FEELING LIKE A FOOL. i stopped going there after the fourth day and tried forget the experience. the agents anyway told me that since i paid in cash advance for the 1st month, i could simply stop going there right after the month if i wasnt satisfied with the service. i believed, partly because i was only 16 and more-so because i thought that since i didnt give them any credit card account, they wouldnt be able to charge me in any way.. the thought of that made me feel safe. …so four months passed. i have already forgotten about the wasted time and P6500. i was at peace. until one shocking day shitness first sent a letter here in our house showing my unpaid balance for three months!! Bulshit! why should i pay?! I have a good sense of hearing, I was listening very carefully when I was still inquiring I was sure about what the agent told me. Why have they sent me this?! it really got me worried. there also in the letter shows threats like “if you could not settle this blah blah before blah blah then we would take legal blah blah and so on!” it was a blah-ckmail! they weren’t contented, they were even texting me every single day implying a threat. they even called to me, to my sister, and my mother. so my parents knew about it and asked me everything that concerns the letter. My parents were also affected by ff. SHAME! Thank God my mother is brave enough. she told me not to worry because im only a minor. i was relieved. i remember ff called to my mama’s office.. the guts! even to my moms office! i heard her say : “stop harassing my child or else”, “dont you know that he is a minor huh?!”, “who are you again? are you the right person i should talk to?”, “fax me the documents he signed”, “do (the legal actions) as you please”. hahaha! atleast my mom bursted out to agent of ff what i have always wanted to say to them. after that, ff txted for the last tym and no more (atleast until now oct 31)

now, were waiting for the “legal actions” HUWATEVER of ff if ever there would be any hahaha! my god they have the guts to talk about legal actions!! For those who are experiencing the same deceitfulfulness of ff, I insist you not to pay them! You know that the problem isn’t in you. The problem is in them! All because their greed! Its enough that they have made you pissed and worried. Don’t twice a mistake. you ff have conscience! you have already fooled P6500 from a 16 yrs old! enough already! your so greedy like hell better go to hell with your “world-class” equipments!

Issa E November 12, 2008 at 11:39 pm

This is so true. I enrolled at Fitness First Greenhills and informed Teresa that I only plan to avail of the facility fot 6-months as I was not a permanent resident of the Philippines. When my 6-months was up, I informed her that I was going to terminate my membership since I was due back to go to the States. Well, she told me that I was committed to pay a monthly waiver fee until I came back to use the gym and contiune my monthly dues or I could find somebody to take over my membership. Prior to enrolling with Fitness First, I made myself clear that I was only going to enroll for 6 mos. and I made sure she understood that. I let her understand that I only needed to avail of their gym for 6 mos. Apparently, Fitness First tactics of luring balikbayans is such a disgust. What a scam!
I tried contacting Teresa and she never even responded. This was in 2006 and I am still being charged from my credit card. So, beware of Fitness First, nice facility but what a scam.

Ace November 17, 2008 at 1:13 pm

Thanks for the info and warnings! Before reading these comments I was actually looking for the nearest fitness first branch from where I live. But after all these testimonies, I’ve seen how unreliable and untrustworthy their systems and people are. I won’t ever consider applying for a membership there! Thanks for the warning!

sam November 23, 2008 at 8:32 am

hi! could you help me on this. i signed-up a 12-month contract with fitness first. its my 2 months pa lang. however, im planning to stop na because im very busy with my work. sayang naman if i’ll pay them 2,800/month without using their facilities. i did not give my credit card to them instead i paid them thru cash. is their a way to cancel my account eventhough i just started recently?

Richard Garcia November 23, 2008 at 10:11 am

Hi Sam,

I hope they change their policy about this matter since there are lot of complains in this particular issue.

I suggest, talk to the manager- those people who can really make a decision para hindi sayang pagod mo then let them know your concern.

Since that you already signed for 1 year contract they will not stop collecting money from you- in your case that you haven’t give them your credit card- they will kept on sending you letters in your address.

I did tried to call the president of this company in regards to this kind of policy but nobody want to talk to me.

I will be there in the Philippines by March 2009- I am planning to send my lawyer to talk to them and also petitioning this company to higher authority.

thanks.

Richard Garcia

Richard Garcia November 23, 2008 at 10:20 am

Hi Guys,

I would like to correct the idea about Fitness First Philippines – they are excellent fitness facility, have good trainers, cutting-edge equipments, clean and decent place with reasonable price BUT want I don’t like is their cancellation policy and how they conduct their business.

They will not explain it to you, they will not tell you ahead of time that what you are signing is one year contract that you need to pay the whole one year even if you cancel.

Who in the hell will read that small-fine-print-document? If they can tell you everything about their gym then they simple tell you that “If you cancel you will still going to pay the whole 1 year contract”.

Fitness First Philippines – Hey Gising!

sam November 24, 2008 at 2:42 pm

i agree richard. i was not informed that what i signed in was a 1 year full contract and meron palang 4 months lang. they did not inform me that i need to pay the whole year even i cancel my membership.

do they really mean the suit that they will put on the letter?

thanks.

oliver lim November 25, 2008 at 10:34 am

hey oscar abesamis!! let your eyes open to what this fucking fitness first have done, are you tolerating to have these inhuman, cheater and no soul people who are running this healthy establishment, take note health. If they want their customer to be healthy they should do that without giving them any headache. if you noticed they dont want people entering fitness first without CREDIT CARD, that means they have a plan right away that they cannot cheat people without a piece of deceiving paper along with the NEEDED COMPULSORY credit card. as you can see this company is a cheater, or you are protecting them because you are a member of this SCAM too. And to Fitness First which is the same as FAMILY FIRST operating like this too. Go to Hell and you burned.

Cherryl December 18, 2008 at 11:56 pm

Hi Guys! This is so true! I was also a victim of Fiteness First and I was so shocked when I came across this site. I did not know that there were so many out there who’ve had the same experience. I went at one of the branches of ff in Makati with my friend when one of their “sales personnel” approached me and ask if I would want to try the facility. I told her yes, but then she asked me to sign some bunch of papers, asked for my credit card and that’s it! I was immediately charged P3500 in my card. I told the “sales personnel” that I cannot go to their gymn regularly because of my work schedule but then she told me that I MUST continously pay for the monthly fee for 1 year! I told her that’s not fair! I only used the facility once, for only 30 minutes, they aleady charged me P3500 for that and now they want me to pay the monthly fee for 1 year. I kept on explaining my side to them but they woudn’t listen. I received phone calls and demand letter from ff like as if I did them wrong.

Where can we complain about the infair practices of Fitness First? Can we report this to DTI? Please do let me know if you know of any government agencies where we could raise our concern and I would gladly report the unfair business practices of Fitness First Philippines.

Thanks.

annie08 January 18, 2009 at 2:20 pm

OMG! aku dn may problem regarding FF. they kip on sending me letters bout my bill. 2wiks ko lng nman nagamit ung contract ko na 3months and now they asking me to pay almost 6k kc nga i stop going to the gym kc nakakainis lng!
dinededma ku lng ung mga txt and calls nila b4 and now letters nman..anu po ba dapt gawin? bnayaran nyu ba ung unsettled acct nyo sknla? or hinyaan nyo na lng? wla akong cnubmit na credit card eh,i pay them cash nung nagpamember ako..

abnerayag February 23, 2009 at 10:02 am

I too am a victim of the unscrupulous practices of Fitness First. I only recently received a letter from them saying I owe them 8000 Pesos for the 3 months or so They have billed me including the penalty from the denied credit card of 200 for each of the 3 months. I terminated/cancelled my credit card precisely because of this assholery by them when they reactivated my account without my permission when I told them to freeze it INDEFINITELY during the early midyear of last year. Those greedy bastards i regret ever signing up for those parasites. And now they have the gall to threaten me with charges because of not notifying me once again that my account was reactivated without my knowledge? And I even got a trainer and referred a friend to them, and now they’re snarling after more of my money! so what have the others done inspite of the lawsuit threats? Did you pony up the cash just to get rid of them or did you just ignore them? please advise! thanks!

Richard Garcia February 24, 2009 at 4:37 am

Hi Abnerayag,

I am based here at US at this time kaya I do have a hard time really dealing with this company. I did try to contact DTI about this kaso wlang result.

I will be there by March 2009, I am planning to call or contact a national TV company there in the Philippines and tell them about this scrupulous company practice. Tignan lang natin kung ano gagawin ng mga ito.

Thanks

zirk February 24, 2009 at 7:57 pm

hi richard,

I just received a text message today 24 Feb09 from Fitness First that they will forward to their legal office on 26 Feb09 if i dont settle all my unpaid bills.

To give you a background, I joined FF last June08 but by the end of August I had to make a decision to leave the country for good and went to Qatar by the 1st week of September. I had several email correspondences and i tried calling the front house manager during this time. But whenever i call the manager through the branch hotline, it’s either she’s in a meeting, half day or in a hospital. I am really frustrated because they want me to pay for the 9 months which i have no means to consume because im here in Qatar. My sales representative told me that I just need to send an email and ticket to the front house manager and it should be already cancelled because my reason is valid. I did and still the manager refused. And now they are threatening me with lawsuits.

I also tried DTI’s website now but the complaints section is currently down.

Please advise. This situation is twisted because I am the one being extortioned with money without receiving anything in return (since i cant avail of the services) and they are the ones who’s taking the legal actions against me.

kiks_90210 April 28, 2009 at 3:29 am

hey richard,

tell me when you wanna get back to this company.. i will really give them hell after what they did.. my aunt is a DTI director of Davao del Sur Province and I told her about my problem with fitness first. since they did not give me their end of the bargain (from the contract) I have the right to recind it…

Guys,

next time, pay in cash as I did.. just ignore their letters, its just a tactic to scare you.. read your contract and find items that they did not do in your end. that way, you can recind your contract..

kiks_90210 April 28, 2009 at 3:32 am

For those who paid with their credit cards,

if you’re done paying your contract, ask to cancel a month before.. give them 3 letters.. one for them the other two have it signed by the receiving personel. one is for a lawyer in case since they will keep on billing you for the reason that they did not a receive a cancellation letter or might have lost it.. at least you’ve got proof.

if you cancelled it already and they are still billing you, you can dispute it with your bank or you can report your card lost and have a new one. that way, they will not be able to charge your card.

kiks_90210 April 28, 2009 at 3:41 am

Oscar abesamis,

dont be naive, many people have rants about the deceit their doing.. if you’re a satisfied customer then its fine. statistically, ff is loosing members every month.. i have stayed with ff for 3 months and only a few are familiar faces. most have canceled their membership or just stopped paying. if they are as honest as what you are saying, they should be true to what they are saying and not just recruit members for their quota’s sake. that’s cheating. and a contract can be recinded with that..

a contract must be in good faith… what they say must be in accordance with their so called contract. with clear expalanation on cancellation and etc.

yurie June 16, 2009 at 4:16 pm

I’m glad na basa ko ito kasi balak ko sana mag pa member sa fitnessfirst.. hindi ko alam na ganito pala sestima nila kasi kong i promote nila yong gym nila ang ganda nang pag kasabi. dapat hindi nila ginagawa yong ganitong panloloko kasi baka makarma sila.. FitnessFirst Bagohin Nyo sestima nyo baka lahat nang costumer nyo ayaw na sa facilities nyo kayo rin mawalan kayo nang costumer.. Thanks to all kasi nalaman ko early ito atleast hindi me mabiktima.

ninkaroo September 23, 2009 at 9:41 am

naku same din sakin.. ngpadala ung ff ng letr..
panu na ung unsettled monthly?
ung legal actions?
at ung 25% additional fee for the attorny etc??

help please..

jo_i December 5, 2009 at 3:31 pm

Oh, I’m glad I came across this.
My scenario is: I signed up for the 1year membership, which was fine with me. I paid for the monthly fee, even if there were months I never used their facilities. So one month prior to my 12month membership, I told the branch that I will be cutting my membership already after the 1st year. The receptionist told me that I had to go to my branch of membership next month (the actual 12th month) to sign an end of contract whatever. So the next month, I went to my branch of membership and told them I will be ending my contract already. The manager informed me that I cannot due that this month, since there should be a 1month grace period prior to signing! I got really irate. I told them that I am a responsible member, and told them of the information the other branch gave me. He told me, regardless of that, he still cannot let me sign an end of contract. I got really pissed at this point and told them that I won’t pay for the months after the 12th month. They are now calling and texting me. And I told them again, that I did my obligatory 12 months, and I also did my obligatory appearance for end of contract signing – they were the ones who didn’t want me to sign! So why should I pay for the next months after that?

Ooohh FF is really irritating!!

gwapito January 4, 2010 at 11:25 pm

sobrang dami pla ng issues ng ff.. im still a member right now.. i signed for 1yr contract, then d ko ngmit for a couple of mos. kc busy s work, then i ask them to cancel my contract kc sbi sken before i signed wlang termination. but then nung pina-cancel ko n, meron daw so i end up freezing my membership for 2 mos. now im paying again pero d ko mgmit coz of work.. help me guys what to do its automatic deductions from my salary kc tie-up ata cLa ng company nmen… gusto k n tlga i-cancel kc di ko n mgamit…

pls help me.. il appreciate it.. ayoko ng mgbayad s serbisyong greedy. buti n lang i got the chance to read this blogs… slamat…

cp #: 09175491987
email me: march_podih@yahoo.com

2cents February 3, 2010 at 2:49 am

Honestly fitness first indeed have good facilities, i’ve been a member since North Edsa Branch opened, but in the past year i haven’t been able to utilize my membership thus, Feb 2 2010, i decided to cancel my membership, this is when i knew for a fact that this company is just after the money!

Fitness First have that small print that indicates you have to cancel your membership 1 full calendar month, but it does not specify that if u don’t they would still charge you for a minimum of 2 mos.

I would probably extend my understanding on this policy if i had cancelled it mid month, but come on it’s a 1 day diff (it indicated on or before 1st day of the month. So to make the story short they will still charge me for the month of March. My question is how difficult, time-consuming is it to cancel or stop billing if it is still a month away? Or maybe this company is just interested in billing.

I find it unfair to members especially when i read these blogs indicating that other people somehow had the same billing issues with the company.

I just hope the company will do something about this.

audz_01 May 19, 2010 at 2:47 pm

OMG I just registered last Monday at FF… I’m more afraid of the gay people who have macho bodies in the sauna since they have that creepy look…

let’s just hope someone will step up.

ina August 13, 2010 at 3:38 pm

OMG! Bakit ba ngayon ko lang to nabasa? I’m a victim too of FF…my story goes like this: i enrolled in 2008 for a 1 yr contract that will end aug ’09. Since i got busy, i seldom go there last year…i was thinking that they will stop my membership once the expiry comes but they automatically renewed which i didnt notice until Dec ’09. I went to the gym in alabang and was asked to fill up a cancellation form and was told the effectivity would be Feb…i was unhappy but accepted since its their policy. Feb came but the charging continued. Went there for 2x, the last one was june. They said they will reverse the billing and work it out with my bank…i’m still awating up to this time for them to do that…..walang customer service talaga!….

megan0722 November 19, 2010 at 6:54 am

I stumbled on this page because I’m looking for a good physical fitness gym, and thought Fitness First is a good choice. Thanks for all the warnings I read on this page. It’s unfortunate that FF is unscrupulous with their dealings. I’m reminded of one company online that gave me a free trial of downloadable music for a month. After not being happy with their service, I tried to cancel my “subscription” but never got a decent reply from them. They kept charging my credit card.

Since I knew I would not have any attention from this company, I took the matter with Visa, and filed a complaint for unauthorized charging. It took quite a while (more than 45 days), but all the charges were reversed.

I suggest, if you are not getting the right treatment from FF or any other merchant, for that matter, file a complaint with your credit card company. If the credit card company keeps receiving complaints, they would have to advice FF or perhaps cancel their merchant agreement (if that can even happen).

As for FF’s legal threats, none of these establishments that issue these legal threats usually push through, because for every case that they file, they would have to pay at least P12,000 filing fee with the Philippine courts. Imagine the cost it would entail them if they have to file cases for those people they consider “delinquent” payers. Let them pursue their case, anyway, you can always go to the media and file a group suit against them. That will really damage their business here.

Just my two cents worth. And thanks for those who wrote their comments here. I think I’ll stay away from FF, knowing all these bad feedback they’re getting from their customers.

megan

Next post: