Another member has complained on social media about Anytime Fitness' (AF) policy of charging a penalty of S$60 if someone tailgates them into the gym.
The disgruntled member claimed on TikTok that he was wrongly penalised and billed S$120 "without warning" for apparently being tailgated twice.
AF denied the allegations, claiming the member had "repeatedly ignored" their calls.
However, after clarifications, they waived the S$120 charges but charged him S$65 for lending his key fob to a non-member, claiming they had "video evidence".
This was after AF recently increased the penalty to S$65.
Charged S$120 for two 'tailgating incidents'
The latest incident occurred at Anytime Fitness Jurong East (AFJE).
AF branches are independently owned and run by different franchisees.
In a TikTok video posted on Nov. 18, the gym member showed screenshots of his conversation with AFJE's owner upon discovering a S$120 deduction from his bank account.
During the conversation, they had a back-and-forth on whether a "tailgater" actually had a membership.
After the gym member provided "evidence", the gym assured him that a refund would be given if any errors were made.
CCTV footage of three people entering the gym
Then, in a follow-up Tiktok video, the member showed CCTV footage of him entering the gym with his key fob.
While he did not close the door behind him, the two people behind him also tapped their key fob before following him into the gym.
He also questioned why the person behind him was not charged a tailgating fee.
Gif via Tiktok/@botakbodybuilder
Gym's response
Responding to queries from Mothership, AFJE said that they do not condone any tailgating and treat such incidents seriously.
AFJE claimed they had contacted the member for several months regarding the tailgating incidents, but their texts and calls were repeatedly ignored.
"After sufficient notice and many delays, we had no choice but to proceed with the charges. The member-only responded after we proceeded with the charges," they said.
After verification from the member on the two incidents, they made a partial refund of S$55. They kept S$65 for the third incident of the member allegedly lending his key fob to his friend at a later date.
This friend was no longer a gym member at that point of the incident, AFJE later added.
Gym member say it's not about the money
Speaking to Mothership, the AF member clarified that for the alleged "third incident", he did not lend his key fob to his friend since the friend had already been in the gym for about five to ten minutes before his arrival.
He also claimed the gym didn't inform members about the increase in penalty.
The member said he is not unhappy solely about the monetary loss but also how the gym handled the situation.
He hoped other gym members would remain vigilant against such incidents and closely watch for any erroneous charges to their accounts.
Top photo from @botakbodybuilder/Tiktok and AFJE/Facebook