California Wow Raises Renewal Fees

[hhgz]

From a CA WOW statement:

"If you have a Bht 100 annual renewal membership, we are extremely sorry but California Wow will have to enact its first dues increase...During the month of August, Californiai Wow will be increasing the fees for Baht 100 annual renewals. If you paid Baht 40,000 or more in enrollment fees you may maintain your current annual fee...If you paid less than Baht 40,000 in enrollment fees your fees will now be paid monthly at a rate of Baht 698 inclusive of tax...As we value your membership blah blah blah blah..."

[DLock]

So, its gone from 100 baht annual renewal to 8,376 baht per year?

I'm sure it's buried in the fine print somewhere that they are able to do this.

Interested in people who are on the 100baht per year scheme and what they plan to do?

[Sateev]

I thought CA WOW went out of business...

[toenail]

8,376 annual update fee is better than paying 21,000-32,000 baht for a membership at some of the hotel gyms.

One can always go to Lumpinee Park for a cheaper rate

[bobbin]

How does a "lifetime" membership fee morph into an "enrollment" fee?

[zakk9]

I thought CA WOW went out of business...

They will with this kind of policy. Life time membership at Tony's in Pattaya is 25,000. Last Saturday, they had a promotion, 14,999 for lifetime membership. Maybe not as fashionable as CA WOW, but still.

[ericg1953]

I have a lifetime at Calwow at 10k baht and am happy to pay the 700baht per month. I got 3 yrs out of my 10k and its by far the best gym in Pattaya.

[trajan]

I understand that the only branches left are SIAM PARAGON and CHIANGMAI....

The one at SIAM PARAGON this evening was incredibly crowded....

[DLock]

8,376 annual update fee is better than paying 21,000-32,000 baht for a membership at some of the hotel gyms.

One can always go to Lumpinee Park for a cheaper rate

You missed the point.

Please try harder.

[Numerounos]

698 baht a month is still very good value for monthly membership of a gym of CAWOW standard, I will gladly pay it on top of my life time membership.

If the gyms stays open there is no better value for the price, anyone who has a issue with this is just cheap and doesn't see the bigger picture that this is the only way CAWOW can survive as a business.

[trajan]

698 baht a month is still very good value for monthly membership of a gym of CAWOW standard, I will gladly pay it on top of my life time membership.

If the gyms stays open there is no better value for the price, anyone who has a issue with this is just cheap and doesn't see the bigger picture that this is the only way CAWOW can survive as a business.

agreed, but they should have done that before they closed 8 out of 9 gyms in Bangkok (who the hell is managing that place!!!)

only Siam Paragon gym is left open in Bangkok!! (and its oppressively crowded now with members from all corners of the city converging)....

Edited August 8, 2012 by trajan

[JanKlaasen]

I paid 14990 enrollment with a 100 Baht renewal fee.Only problem is that at that time they still accepted that the renewal fee was paid in advance, and so I did for 15 years ahead.How they would solve this?

Another issue is that I'm located in Pattaya where the doors of the gym are still closed, and it's a bit of a hassle to commute to Bangkok daily for a training session.

[Ludacris]

This is precisely the problem with some people these days - don't care at all about the company's ethics, how they run their business, or how they treat their employees or customers - all that matters is the lowest price.

Why in the world would you give money to a company that is already bankrupt, already closed how many locations, hasn't paid their employees in how many months, turns off the air con at will, doesn't follow contracts, randomly closes their only remaining branch, and could close their doors forever at any moment!

The other gyms are more expensive because that how much money it takes to run a successful fitness center! Why not move to another gym and pay a fair price for what you are getting?

Or maybe the population on TV is biased towards just looking for the cheapest price regardless of the consequences, why am I not surprised?

It could just be me, but I would rather pay more money to support a company that treats its employees fairly, honors its contracts, and provides good service to its customers.

Edited August 8, 2012 by Ludacris

[tropo]

I paid 14990 enrollment with a 100 Baht renewal fee.Only problem is that at that time they still accepted that the renewal fee was paid in advance, and so I did for 15 years ahead.How they would solve this?

Another issue is that I'm located in Pattaya where the doors of the gym are still closed, and it's a bit of a hassle to commute to Bangkok daily for a training session.

"the doors are still closed".

This is most likely a permanent situation and you can kiss your money goodbye.... like the rest of us (in Pattaya) have.

[tropo]

It could just be me, but I would rather pay more money to support a company that treats its employees fairly, honors its contracts, and provides good service to its customers.

Good for you. Most people are looking for a good deal. How could a person possibly know about how a company treats it employees, honors its contracts and provides good service to its customers before they join? I have no idea how California Wow treated its staff 3 years after I joined or if they paid their bills.

You could just as easily pay 4x as much somewhere else and find the doors closed. There's no guarantees in the gym business.

[garet]

I'm rather amazed at people here supporting CaWow Sucksperience changing the lifetime membership to a monthly membership fee. I don't know how they could get away with it.

They should've spent less money on dozens of speakers blasting that cheesy house music and flat screen TVs endlessly looping promotion videos and bloody CNN news.

The atmosphere was always terrible, the locker rooms are atrocious, and the pathetic house music is always too loud. If I wasn't already locked into their "Lifetime Membership" sham, I'd gladly pay more to join Fitness First, which has 7 or 8 well maintained branches in Bangkok.

[tropo]

I'm rather amazed at people here supporting CaWow Sucksperience changing the lifetime membership to a monthly membership fee. I don't know how they could get away with it.

They should've spent less money on dozens of speakers blasting that cheesy house music and flat screen TVs endlessly looping promotion videos and bloody CNN news.

The atmosphere was always terrible, the locker rooms are atrocious, and the pathetic house music is always too loud. If I wasn't already locked into their "Lifetime Membership" sham, I'd gladly pay more to join Fitness First, which has 7 or 8 well maintained branches in Bangkok.

I trained at the Pattaya branch for 3 years and had fantastic workouts. Does that amaze you?

[garet]

Who cares about your bloody workouts! You won't be going to CAWow anymore ,will you... Unless you want to trek out to Siam Paragon or take the sleeper train to Chiangmai.

Of course the original point was that a fitness centre doesn't have the right to change a lifetime membership into a monthly membership.

[JanKlaasen]

I'm rather amazed at people here supporting CaWow Sucksperience changing the lifetime membership to a monthly membership fee. I don't know how they could get away with it.

They should've spent less money on dozens of speakers blasting that cheesy house music and flat screen TVs endlessly looping promotion videos and bloody CNN news.

The atmosphere was always terrible, the locker rooms are atrocious, and the pathetic house music is always too loud. If I wasn't already locked into their "Lifetime Membership" sham, I'd gladly pay more to join Fitness First, which has 7 or 8 well maintained branches in Bangkok.

So,since Cawow is so awful and such a big scam, what holds you back from exitin Cawow since it's dead anyway and signing up with Fitness First?

Can't be that because it isn't any better and costs a multiple,is it.

[bonobo]

I'm rather amazed at people here supporting CaWow Sucksperience changing the lifetime membership to a monthly membership fee. I don't know how they could get away with it.

They should've spent less money on dozens of speakers blasting that cheesy house music and flat screen TVs endlessly looping promotion videos and bloody CNN news.

The atmosphere was always terrible, the locker rooms are atrocious, and the pathetic house music is always too loud. If I wasn't already locked into their "Lifetime Membership" sham, I'd gladly pay more to join Fitness First, which has 7 or 8 well maintained branches in Bangkok.

So,since Cawow is so awful and such a big scam, what holds you back from exitin Cawow since it's dead anyway and signing up with Fitness First?

Can't be that because it isn't any better and costs a multiple,is it.

I have a CaliWow life membership, and if the Pin Klao branch was still open, I would suck it up and pay the new monthly fee. I may not be happy about that, but the bottom line is that for my workout, CaliWow is better than Fitness First. The latter is less crowded and cleaner, but I go to a gym to work out, not worry about the music, what is on the tv's, or whatever. And CaliWow has better quality and more equipment than FitnessFirst.

However, I am not going to commute to Paragon, so CaliWow has seen the last of me.

If I lived in a house instead of a condo, I would just build my own home gym and be done with it.

[tropo]

Who cares about your bloody workouts! You won't be going to CAWow anymore ,will you... Unless you want to trek out to Siam Paragon or take the sleeper train to Chiangmai.

Of course the original point was that a fitness centre doesn't have the right to change a lifetime membership into a monthly membership.

There's no need to curse.

The point of your post was lost in your scathing attack of California Wow as a place to train. Your point was clear - you don't like the place.

If they can keep the place open by charging lifetime members a monthly fee, that's a good decision. Stay open and charge or close. They would be the only choices. Saying they have no right is ridiculous as it would be the only possible way to pull themselves out of their financial hole.

Many members from the Pattaya branch would be happy to pay this fee, as I would be.

[tropo]

but I go to a gym to work out, not worry about the music, what is on the tv's, or whatever. And CaliWow has better quality and more equipment than FitnessFirst.

Hallelujah! It's all about the quality of the workout. People who complain about the music or what's on the TV are not focused enough and should work on that.

[garet]

Who cares about your bloody workouts! You won't be going to CAWow anymore ,will you... Unless you want to trek out to Siam Paragon or take the sleeper train to Chiangmai.

Of course the original point was that a fitness centre doesn't have the right to change a lifetime membership into a monthly membership.

There's no need to curse.

The point of your post was lost in your scathing attack of California Wow as a place to train. Your point was clear - you don't like the place.

If they can keep the place open by charging lifetime members a monthly fee, that's a good decision. Stay open and charge or close. They would be the only choices. Saying they have no right is ridiculous as it would be the only possible way to pull themselves out of their financial hole.

Many members from the Pattaya branch would be happy to pay this fee, as I would be.

The quality of the gym or anything else isn't the point here.

The point is, they enticed people to join by offering a relatively cheap one time lifetime membership fee. Now they are going back on their deal, and essentially offering a mandatory monthly membership fee in addition to the lifetime membership they lured customers in with. If they made a bad business decision, that doesn't give them the right to basically cancel the offer and the contract I already signed with them while staying in business.

When they gave me and thousands of others their sales pitch, they compared what I was paying at Fitness First and how much money I would save by joining them and paying their ONE TIME LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP fee.

People seem to have the attitude that it was the customer's fault by signing up for the package that CAWOW SUcksperience salespeople aggressively sold, and now they are backing out of their end of the deal.

Basically they already folded as Siam Paragon or Chiangmai are impossible locations for me.

[necronx99]

I'm rather amazed at people here supporting CaWow Sucksperience changing the lifetime membership to a monthly membership fee. I don't know how they could get away with it.

They should've spent less money on dozens of speakers blasting that cheesy house music and flat screen TVs endlessly looping promotion videos and bloody CNN news.

The atmosphere was always terrible, the locker rooms are atrocious, and the pathetic house music is always too loud. If I wasn't already locked into their "Lifetime Membership" sham, I'd gladly pay more to join Fitness First, which has 7 or 8 well maintained branches in Bangkok.

How are you "locked in"?

[tropo]

The quality of the gym or anything else isn't the point here.

The point is, they enticed people to join by offering a relatively cheap one time lifetime membership fee. Now they are going back on their deal, and essentially offering a mandatory monthly membership fee in addition to the lifetime membership they lured customers in with. If they made a bad business decision, that doesn't give them the right to basically cancel the offer and the contract I already signed with them while staying in business.

When they gave me and thousands of others their sales pitch, they compared what I was paying at Fitness First and how much money I would save by joining them and paying their ONE TIME LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP fee.

People seem to have the attitude that it was the customer's fault by signing up for the package that CAWOW SUcksperience salespeople aggressively sold, and now they are backing out of their end of the deal.

Basically they already folded as Siam Paragon or Chiangmai are impossible locations for me.

You've lost touch with reality. The company is broke. They're about to close down permanently and you're arguing about your "rights" which amount to zero when the doors are closed.

If you were on a ship which was about to sink, would you be arguing that you still have a right to have you dinner - before the ship goes down?

If the only way to save the gym from permanent closure is to change the deal, then they have every right. How else would you suggest they attempt to save themselves from impending doom?

However, I think even that measure is too little too late - especially in Pattaya... but I would welcome it if it meant I could still train there.

You'd be amazed how important my (bloody) workouts are mate.

[Gaccha]

When I got my lifetime membership it was discounted to 9,000 baht (down 1,000) if I promised to date one of 6 sales rep girls at Siam paragon that day.

I wonder to this day if my discount is unique....

[garet]

The quality of the gym or anything else isn't the point here.

The point is, they enticed people to join by offering a relatively cheap one time lifetime membership fee. Now they are going back on their deal, and essentially offering a mandatory monthly membership fee in addition to the lifetime membership they lured customers in with. If they made a bad business decision, that doesn't give them the right to basically cancel the offer and the contract I already signed with them while staying in business.

When they gave me and thousands of others their sales pitch, they compared what I was paying at Fitness First and how much money I would save by joining them and paying their ONE TIME LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP fee.

People seem to have the attitude that it was the customer's fault by signing up for the package that CAWOW SUcksperience salespeople aggressively sold, and now they are backing out of their end of the deal.

Basically they already folded as Siam Paragon or Chiangmai are impossible locations for me.

You've lost touch with reality. The company is broke. They're about to close down permanently and you're arguing about your "rights" which amount to zero when the doors are closed.

If you were on a ship which was about to sink, would you be arguing that you still have a right to have you dinner - before the ship goes down?

If the only way to save the gym from permanent closure is to change the deal, then they have every right. How else would you suggest they attempt to save themselves from impending doom?

However, I think even that measure is too little too late - especially in Pattaya... but I would welcome it if it meant I could still train there.

You'd be amazed how important my (bloody) workouts are mate.

It's amazing how many on this site support this business screwing over thousands of members just so the self-proclaimed "Number 1 fitness center in the world" can keep it's hi-so Siam Paragon and Chiangmai clubs open. Would a landlord to a condominium have a right to break his lease 1/2 way through and then charge you double? They wouldn't get away with in your country.

Once again, comments about having good workouts at the club in Pattaya (while it existed) are irrelevant, especially as they shut down and took your lifetime membership money. Now all of us who got screwed are subsidising the Siam Paragon location to stay in business.

[tropo]

It's amazing how many on this site support this business screwing over thousands of members just so the self-proclaimed "Number 1 fitness center in the world" can keep it's hi-so Siam Paragon and Chiangmai clubs open. Would a landlord to a condominium have a right to break his lease 1/2 way through and then charge you double? They wouldn't get away with in your country.

Once again, comments about having good workouts at the club in Pattaya (while it existed) are irrelevant, especially as they shut down and took your lifetime membership money. Now all of us who got screwed are subsidising the Siam Paragon location to stay in business.

Everything amazes you, but I find you lack of basic logic the most of amazing of all. Obviously change of contracts is irrelevant in a situation where the club will fail if they do nothing. If they do nothing and fail, then you're contract is worthless anyway.

What you're basically suggesting is that they do nothing (to upset you) and close when in fact you're lucky that your club is trying their best to stay open.

Obviously you don't care because you've joined Fitness First.. however I don't think you're going to be happy anywhere unless the gym plays your music at the volume you prefer.

[garet]

It's amazing how many on this site support this business screwing over thousands of members just so the self-proclaimed "Number 1 fitness center in the world" can keep it's hi-so Siam Paragon and Chiangmai clubs open. Would a landlord to a condominium have a right to break his lease 1/2 way through and then charge you double? They wouldn't get away with in your country.

Once again, comments about having good workouts at the club in Pattaya (while it existed) are irrelevant, especially as they shut down and took your lifetime membership money. Now all of us who got screwed are subsidising the Siam Paragon location to stay in business.

Everything amazes you, but I find you lack of basic logic the most of amazing of all. Obviously change of contracts is irrelevant in a situation where the club will fail if they do nothing. If they do nothing and fail, then you're contract is worthless anyway.

What you're basically suggesting is that they do nothing (to upset you) and close when in fact you're lucky that your club is trying their best to stay open.

Obviously you don't care because you've joined Fitness First.. however I don't think you're going to be happy anywhere unless the gym plays your music at the volume you prefer.

It is the principle that is wrong. The customer shouldn't get screwed over so they can stay in business.

Why should they be allowed to stay in business to try to make up their losses and make a profit, but the thousands of members sold lifetime memberships, who were promised no more fees get screwed?

If they went out of business, then they took the risk and failed, that's the nature of business. However, they didn't go out of business. The company is still in business and they are keeping two locations open while breaking it's obligations to lifetime memberships.

[garet]

How does a "lifetime" membership fee morph into an "enrollment" fee?

That is exactly the point. I highly doubt they could get away with this in our home countries without a huge class action lawsuit.