Gym Memberships

[cdmtdm]

having joined three gyms in Thailand in my 8 years here , i have never been given a copy of the " Contract", just agree on a price for a set period and then receive a tag /key card or a membership number ...now we can sit back and not be too concerned as we are in LOS after all ......but what if something goes wrong ? during economic hard times gyms are notorious for closing down and leaving paid up members out of pocket ..happened in phuket not so many years ago ... back in Australia it has happened many times ..or if a dispute arises over poor equipment maintenance , unclean atmosphere , opening hours , or the owner just doesnt like you !!! how do you get your money back with no written contract ? the membership contract should include all the conditions stated quite clearly and duly signed by the new member / gym manger or owner ... including cancellation , suspending for periods of time and heaven for bid termination !!! i would be interested to find out from gym users over the whole thai country if they have received any type of contract with conditions attached ... IMO it would be prudent right now to pay as you use or at best go month by month ..the warning signals are already appearing in the Thai economy ,set for a slow down ...along with poor exchange , military rule etc etc etc ...just a general discussion point not open for a slanging match or abuse ....

[robblok]

I was one of the people who lost out a bit with California Wow not that much as i paid 12k and had the member ship for 2 years before they went belly up. But it was supposed to be lifetime.

I think what you want you wont find in Thailand or it will be in Thai not English as it would be quite expensive for them to have it correctly translated and updated.

[CharlieH]

MOVED to Sports/activities

[cdmtdm]

charlie why would you move this ? its a general discussion and where is sports and activities located ?

[Anthony5]

I pay 4900 Baht a year for a gym in Thailand, that is about the equivalent of what I would pay for 1 or 2 month at best in my home country, so I don't woory too much.

[msealey]

555 op u think 2 much

[cdmtdm]

msealey ..not at all .... u have written contracts for everything, but not for gyms ? why ? i would be very sussed about paying upfront fees for a year ... 15 to 20k thrown to the wind ...

[msealey]

I throw nearly all written contracts into recylcled waste. I find this saves considerably on storage and administration costs whilst benefiting the environment. Should the gym have given me a contract it would have been filed no differently, interesting that we have very opposing views on the same non-issue. I suppose in the end only God can judge who was right or wrong.