Copy of submission to MMail
I just submitted this to the Malay Mail, complaining about Fitness First Malaysia. To say that I am supremely annoyed is a major understatement. I delivered an ultimatum to them earlier today: I would pay only what I owe them, which is RM331 for the months I did not attend and the months I suspended, which is till this month. If they dare to charge me in December 2010 and January 2011 before my contract is up in February 2011, I will be taking them to Small Claims’ Court, as I want to terminate my account with immediate effect. They’ve broken faith with me twice (first time was with the rebate: it took my bro and me 3 months, filling up the forms TWICE and ensuring my account had too little money left for them to auto-debit before it was finally reflected in the system). I fail to see why I should allow them to leech off my account.
In March my brother and me signed up for Fitness First memberships. Due to certain factors, we decided to use my Maybank account for both our subscriptions. In September, we both submitted Update Billing forms to Fitness First Curve, with my brother’s acc being placed under his own banking account and mine being transferred to a secondary banking account meant only for recurring bills like Fitness First. As a precaution, I also submitted forms to Maybank requesting for the cancellation of Fitness First’s auto-debit on my account. As requested by Fitness First, these documents were submitted on 19 September 2010, in time for their admin to make changes.
It’s now November 4. I thought all the changes would have been made by last month. Imagine my surprise when I found RM215 missing from my account, the exact same amount for a Fitness First monthly subscription. A check with Fitness First revealed that YES, they debited the wrong account. Demands for an explanation was met with a weak, “Oh, we’ve submitted this already, don’t know why the admin did not update.” This is in addition to the counter staff knowing FULL WELL that my brother and me had already submitted the forms way in advance, at THEIR REQUEST. Yet they want us to RESUBMIT the forms, which would be quite a hassle as that means my brother and me will need to provide them with the front page of our bank books. AGAIN.
At the same time, when I mentioned that I had already requested for the payment to be stopped from the Maybank side, the girl at the counter told me that it was not something Maybank could do. Even if I, as the account holder, requested Maybank (through Maybank’s own forms) to stop the auto-debit, Maybank could not do so without permission from Fitness First.
My response to that, “So wait, you’re telling me that just because I allowed Fitness First to auto-debit my account to pay you, I have no right and control over my account to stop the payments?”
Her reply, “Yes, they cannot do that without you first informing us to stop the payments.”
To say the billing system for Fitness First sucks is a major understatement. I told them in no uncertain terms that due to this third billing fiasco, I wanted them to terminate my account with effect from December. However, I am told that I cannot do so, as I am a new member. No terminations are allowed, even though Fitness First has screwed me over with their billing system.
If Fitness First has broken faith, why should I be the one to pay for their incompetence? I’ve followed the procedure set TWICE by them, yet they can’t seem to follow it themselves. Why then, should I complete the contract when they have broken faith so badly?
So annoyed. Writing meme delayed till Sunday.
Original entry as appearing at Reach Into Your Soul.