Gyms get back in shape

DOING OKAY: MANY STRUGGLE WITH RESTRICTIONS DUE TO CLASS SIZE

Planet Fitness members flocking back but Virgin Active is not as upbeat.

It looks like the fitness industry in South Africa is the one industry that survived the strict lockdown that started almost a year ago, with many consumers returning and even prepared to queue to get in with lockdown Level 3 restrictions stipulating 50% occupancy.

“We have seen record numbers of members returning to the gym as well as record numbers of new members joining,” said Gillian Elson, marketing manager at Planet Fitness. “Between 1 September and 31 December, 2020, we had over 2.7 million visits to our gyms.”

She said Planet Fitness members were flocking back. “We are currently only permitted to have 50 people inside at any one time in line with government regulations. Many members are prepared to wait to get into the club to do their workout.”

Planet Fitness did not have to stop any classes, but had to implement stricter protocols and social distancing in all group classes, leading the company to investigate outdoor classes to supplement the space lost at indoor classes due to the number restrictions.

Elson said although the company was doing its best to help curb the spread of the virus, the limitation on the number of members who could be accommodated would cause strain on the business in the long run.

Although there have been some increases in cancellations, these are within the company’s yearon-year predictions. “We have not seen an alarming change of cancellations month-on-month, although we initially took a pessimistic view due to the pandemic and were expecting massive cancellation figures.”

Planet Fitness has seen a steady influx of new members, with member figures relatively consistent with that of pre-lockdown.

We have not seen an alarming change of cancellations month-on-month.

The company did not have to close any of its gyms and is, in fact planning, another 12 brand new Planet Fitness gyms that will open over the next 15 months.

This is an investment of approximately R600 million that will create 600 job opportunities.

Virgin Active’s holding company, Brait, said last week fewer people were coming to its gyms and there was an increase in member cancellations since the move to adjusted Level 3 lockdown restrictions at the end of December last year. However, its gyms have remained operational.

By December, Virgin Active’s user rate increased to 70%, but the company said limiting the number of members in a gym had an adverse effect on usage rates and lower sales. Virgin Active has approximately 138 gyms across the country with and about 670 000 members, down from around 1.1 million members as reported in its most recent annual report. It had about 715 000 members in July 2020.

Many people complain they are unable to cancel their gym contracts but if you follow the rules as laid down in the Consumer Protection Act, it should not be too difficult.

A gym contract is a fixed term contract and fixed contracts are covered by section 14 of the Act and the regulations stipulate that a short-term contract cannot be longer than 24 months, unless the gym can show that it would be to your financial benefit to have a contract with a longer duration.

You can cancel your gym contract by giving notice of 20 work days in writing. You will then be liable for the outstanding amount until the day you cancel and a cancellation penalty. The penalty amount would of course vary as you will pay more to cancel in the third month than when you have only two months left.

Section 14 also stipulates you can cancel your contract free of charge when it expires. The gym must give you notice that it will expire 80 to 40 working days before your contract expires. The notice must indicate if a new contract will differ much from your current contract and whether you will have the same options and pay the same price.

If you do not indicate that you want to cancel when the contract expires, the gym can renew your contract on a month-to-month basis. If the gym cancels the contract, such as when it closes down, it has to give you 20 working days’ notice in writing.

You also have a cooling-off period if you join a gym when someone calls you to offer a membership and you did nothing to initiate the call. This is called direct marketing and the Act gives you five working days to cancel an agreement entered into as a result of direct marketing. You have to cancel in writing and must get repaid within 15 working days. –

Gillian Elson Planet Fitness