True fitness asoke closed for good

[ray35ty]

I went tonight no staff. People said no staff have been paid. people were training and the gym was packed.. People told me it was the last day.

[Thainess]

They only get paid on the last day of the month, not every day. You must try spreading rumours harder.

[bbi1]

Really? Why are they closing it? It's a great location and always looked busy

[kingkenny]

2 hours ago, Thainess said:

They only get paid on the last day of the month, not every day. You must try spreading rumours harder.

Staff have not been paid for 4 months.  There is a thread running in Thailand news 

[ThailandLOS]

1 hour ago, bbi1 said:

Really? Why are they closing it? It's a great location and always looked busy

Combo of low cash flow and high rent for the space.

 

Exchange Tower is not exactly cheap (my company has an office there) - and once people have bought their 12 month memberships they basically train for free, while the place looks busy.

 

These places are dependent on constant inflow of new members and sales of side products such as drinks, training gear and supplements. At the end it just didn't add up for them.

[Katipo]

2 hours ago, Thainess said:

They only get paid on the last day of the month, not every day. You must try spreading rumours harder.

It is quite possible they were not paid their salary at the end of last month. I have personally heard of several cases where staff in Thailand have not been paid for 1, 2, or even 3 months. The bosses just said they didn't have the money, and promises they will be paid at a later date. More often than not, they aren't of course, and the business folds.

[SooKee]

Does make you wonder if these places have realistic business plans when they open, whether the income can be expected to continue beyond year one when people flock to join giving a massive splurge of money at first, enough to make the venture look viable and fend of the banks then not surprisingly it drops down to a trickle.  Hard to believe that these larger enterprises wouldn't do their sums properly.  

 

Had a look at TF Exchange Tower when I first moved here, twice.  First time I saw many of the cardio machines were not working.  Hmmmm. Fairly typical here, seemingly no maintenance schedule (or budget most likely).  Two months later, nothing changed, well, except for the fact there were more cardio machines not working.  I'll pass.  These places are way overpriced if you pay monthly and while I've no problem paying the year up front costs I've little confidence that it's a safe investment.  When it first opened and in the second year, maybe.  Now, good call it seems.  Feel sorry for the folks who have paid up though as, unlike some other countries, there's little (no?) protection here if the outfit goes belly-up.  Not a confidence building recipe all round, especially with the total lack of transparency.

Edited June 9, 2017 by SooKee

[captBinBKK]

If you are a victim of this scam and paid an annual membership with a credit card, it is definitely worth disputing the charge with your bank that issued the credit card.  You paid for a service you did not receive. Good luck. 

[MyFriend You]

1 minute ago, SooKee said:

Does make you wonder if these places have realistic business plans when they open, whether the income can be expected to continue beyond year one when people flock to join giving a massive splurge of money at first, enough to make the venture look viable and fend of the banks then not surprisingly it drops down to a trickle.  Hard to believe that these larger enterprises wouldn't do their sums properly.  

 

Had a look at TF Exchange Tower when I first moved here, twice.  First time I saw many of the cardio machines were not working.  Hmmmm. Fairly typical here, seemingly no maintenance schedule (or budget most likely).  Two months later, nothing changed, well, except for the fact there were more cardio machines not working.  I'll pass.  These places are way overpriced if you pay monthly and while I've no problem paying the year up front costs I've little confidence that it's a safe investment.  When it first opened and in the second year, maybe.  Now, good call it seems.  Feel sorry for the folks who have paid up though as, unlike some other countries, there's little (no?) protection here if the outfit goes belly-up.  Not a confidence building recipe all round, especially with the total lack of transparency.

".......if these places have realistic business plans when they open"      -   they see someone open a business, seems to be doing good, so three more pop up , all go down in flames.  I must admit, True Fitness had some good equipent.  Hope it doesn;t close, I have friends that go there quite often.

[Ramen087]

I was offered a one year prepaid plan as a great option in the middle of April,  Glad I didn't bite. 

[bangkokairportlink]

California fitness syndrom.

 

It will happen to all these big gyms in Thailand as it happened to all these big gyms everywhere in the world.

 

Only Fitness 7 seems trustable, it's only 1500 when paying by month.

 

Who are the next victims ? I do not know all the big gyms in Bkk, can you tell me ? Wefitness ? and what else ?

 

 

[gandalf12]

4 hours ago, ThailandLOS said:

Combo of low cash flow and high rent for the space.

 

Exchange Tower is not exactly cheap (my company has an office there) - and once people have bought their 12 month memberships they basically train for free, while the place looks busy.

 

These places are dependent on constant inflow of new members and sales of side products such as drinks, training gear and supplements. At the end it just didn't add up for them.

How can they be training for free when they have paid for a 1 year membership? Can you please clarify?

[impulse]

7 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

".......if these places have realistic business plans when they open"   -   they see someone open a business, seems to be doing good, so three more pop up , all go down in flames.  I must admit, True Fitness had some good equipent.  Hope it doesn;t close, I have friends that go there quite often.

 

Lots of businesses at Exchange Tower go away when their leases are up for renewal.  I'm not going to ponder why, because I'm not keen on a defamation suit.

 

They may have had a workable business plan when they started, but rent increases can easily take all the fun and profit out of running a business that uses up more than an acre inside a very expensive building.

 

Edited June 9, 2017 by impulse

[Deez]

5 hours ago, bangkokairportlink said:

It will happen to all these big gyms in Thailand as it happened to all these big gyms everywhere in the world.

Not at all true. A Super Fitness Center run properly is a cash cow.  Having a TV/satelite company run it is not the way to go.  They run it as a VIP extra and give too many freebies away..

[bangkokairportlink]

13 hours ago, Deez said:

Not at all true. A Super Fitness Center run properly is a cash cow.  Having a TV/satelite company run it is not the way to go.  They run it as a VIP extra and give too many freebies away..

ok if you are so smart give me evidences of any large gyms opened for 20+ years anywhere in the world ?

They ALL end up closing, you like it or not.

 

 

[bbi1]

4 minutes ago, bangkokairportlink said:

ok if you are so smart give me evidences of any large gyms opened for 20+ years anywhere in the world ?

They ALL end up closing, you like it or not.

 

 

I can give you one off the top of my head, Fitness First. Opened in 1993 therefore 24yrs in business: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitness_First

[metisdead]

Please continue in the topic now running here:

 

Customers scream "Scam!" as True Fitness shut up shop

 

Closed