CBC is set to air the programme tonight, January 7th, 2011 at 8pm Eastern Time Zone.
Marketplace, who call themselves "Canada's Consumer Watchdog", is airing the programme, named "Big Gym Ripoff", in which they attempt and expose Canada' private fitness companies as 'Rip-off Agencies'.
In the program, they expose a series of different fitness companies in the country, and attempt to point out faults in their systematic payment plans, among other areas of interest.
GoodLife Fitness, being one of the targeted companies, has set out a Key Message Response to the program, and I am about to go over a few key points in regards to this so called Marketplace "expose".
According to Marketplace, the recent Ipsos Reid poll put in place by CBC Television found that 39% of adult Canadians have experienced problems with overbilling due to their membership through a private fitness facility. In 2008, however, the Canadian Better Business Bureau registered only 654 complaints from all over Canada, in regards to this overbilling. With GoodLife Fitness having over 4 million members nation-wide, 654 complaints is less than 1/10th of 1% of the total number of fitness memberships across Canada! That is, 0.01635% of members who have had 'problems with overbilling'.
When potential members come in to a private fitness facility, they are made aware of the terms and conditions of an agreement. No less, everything is written on their contract, to which they are asked to read before signing. It is up to that individual person to acknowledge these terms and conditions before registering.
In most cases, this 'overbilling' issue is a result of non-sufficient funds during the date of an automatic payment. It is common knowledge that, when a payment is set to come out of your account and you do not have sufficient funds to meet that payment, your BANK will charge you a non-sufficient fund payment, which has nothing to do with the company requesting the payment. These NSF payments automatically come out of your bank account once there are sufficient funds, and can rage anywhere from $30.00-$45.00 CN, depending on your branch.
This is an Out-Of-Agreement cost, that these members are viewing as an "overbilling" when, in fact, it has nothing to do with their gym facility, nor their membership payment.
A good point to address, is that society today has a lacking for patience. When you make a change to an agreement, no matter where this agreement takes place, it will take some time to process the change: Especially when this is a financial change, such as the switching of a bank account for instance. Changes like such cannot be processed immediately, as they coincide not only with the company with whom you are modifying your agreement, but also with the third party companies, who provide the financial transfer (IE: your bank). For this reason, process dates can be anywhere from 7-10 days.
Canada has some of the best consumer protection laws in the world, however, it is absolutely imperative that individuals take responsibility for themselves. You cannot sign a contract, not read the agreement in full, and then put someone else at fault for your own mistake.
Not to mention that I, among many others, am thoroughly disappointed in the angle Marketplace took, in approaching the subject. They went into their investigations with negative intentions, looking solely for negative responses.
Of course, when you research a subject to make your point, you are more apt to use only the research that works to your advantage, and this is exactly what marketplace has done: They have used a negative approach to commission only negative feedback.
Marketplace's subjects are concerned with the price of gym memberships... These gym memberships, which cost only a little more than $1.00 CN/day! How much of Canada's population find themselves at Tim Hortons each morning? How much does that coffee cost you?
Such subjects are also concerned with the agreement length. Members are given the option as to the length of their membership! Even so, for those fitness companies who hold only one or two membership term options; What do these subjects want? They want to reach their goals! How are you going to reach your fitness goals, in 2 weeks? Or, hauntingly enough, one or two visits to the gym per month? Simply put, you're not.
Now, imagine this:
Private Fitness Facilities no longer exist: What if YOUR tax dollars had supply the entire population of Canada with fitness memberships?
GoodLife Fitness states:
"Currently, over 50% of our tax dollars go to funding healthcare and hospitals and fitness and physical activity is the only way to help lower the cost of healthcare. So, if you remove private fitness providers and put them out of business, our tax bill will be higher"
GoodLife Fitness states that private fitness facilities ARE the new healthcare system!
61% of adults in Canada are either Obese, or Overweight! 61%!
"Should we not be focusing our energy and energy in the media to helping raise awareness about this issue and educate Canadians about the impact on our healthcare system and what we can do to overcome this epidemic?" says GoodLife Fitness.
Ironically enough, almost 500 members of this same CBC team and their families are GoodLife Fitness members...
Marketplace promises "We've Got Your Back". Will they also be paying our taxes?
Alycia Dort
Customer Service Representative and Member Ambassador
GoodLife Fitness
Friday, January 7, 2011
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