After months of forced closure, the first week of reopening of gyms, which since last Monday (May 24) have given a sigh of relief to those who, in recent months, have improvised a rush to the home replica of unusual machinery including bottles that have become weights, broomsticks transformed into rockers and chairs used as benches.
If the queue at the entrance to get in touch with the new ‘post covid19 bis’ gym is not enough to discourage the return to the first day of training, however, the dynamics for reintegration into the sports world are likely to curb the adrenaline. Surely the owners of gyms and wellness centers have suffered and still suffer from a forced closure season (according to the estimates of the Cgia di Mestre in 2020 the sector suffered losses in turnover of over 70%) but the lines chosen to welcome their customers again risk putting the weight of these losses directly on the shoulders of the consumer, who, in turn, is likely to fall into one of the categories affected by the crisis.
In fact, it happens that, as the complaint itself Consumers’ union in the face of various reports, sportsmen – or aspiring ones – on returning to the gym had to ‘fight’ with anomalous requests, at the limits (and perhaps beyond) of legality. A kind of modus operandi common to at least two sports facilities in the Lucca area and beyond, which would consist in forcing the customer to a forced renewal of the subscription in order to take advantage of the months already paid but not used due to closures, mostly at higher prices.
“When on Monday I returned to the gym ready to train – says a girl from Lucca – at the entrance, as per protocol, I was asked to indicate the date of the last renewal. After reminding the reception that I had chosen and paid in September (precisely in two installments) an eight-month subscription, and that I was able to take advantage of only two due to the closure of the sports facility, I was confirmed a ‘surplus’ of six months. At that point, however, I was told, with a strange twist of words, that Fr.In order to take advantage of the six months in advance I would have had to pay at least two for renewal, at a mostly higher cost. Asked for clarification on the legitimacy of such an imposition, I was told that, depending on the personal situation, exceptions could have been ‘perhaps’ made ”.
In the conversion law of Sostegni decree the issue of reimbursements in the gym is also discussed. In particular, the text specifies that the subjects who offer sports services can grant subscribers of season tickets, alternatively to the reimbursement or to carry out the activities remotely when achievable, a voucher with a value equal to the credit claimed that can be used within six months from the end of the national state of emergency.
“The text of the Sostegni decree is clear – explains the Consumers Union -, it is up to the individual gym to choose whether to opt for a refund or for the return of the unused season ticket through a voucher, but it does not in any way provide for the obligation of a renewal. Of course, it is possible that sports facilities, returning from a year of closure and in crisis due to the lack of revenue from new subscribers, offer the consumer the possibility of renewing the season ticket to ‘support’ the reopening but this cannot be set as a condition. only to use the residual already paid by the customer, who must be free to choose if and when to extend the registration “.
But there are those who are not interested in this reconstruction. This is the case ofAuser Club of Marlia and of Pilates dance studio Lucca who are keen to point out that not all gyms are acting incorrectly. “In our structure, between the first and second closure, there were yes and no three complaints on a catchment area of hundreds of people – explain the Auser Club of Marlia -. By comparing ourselves with our colleagues, we can ensure that this is not the case for all structures ”. “We have always respected every safety provision required by law despite the conditions in which the category is reduced”, adds the Studio Danza Pilates.
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