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features

Editor's letter: A chance to shine

New laws are about to come into force that will oblige health club operators to offer consumers better membership terms. It will be disruptive, but tackled well, will change the sector for the better

Published in Health Club Management 2024 issue 2

Even a quick browse through customer ratings on platforms such as Trustpilot make it clear that all is not well in the land of health club contracts, with consumer complaints centred around the terms and most specifically issues that arise when ending them.

Of course this doesn’t apply to all operators, but those who sail close to the wind in imposing onerous terms on consumers cause real harm to the reputation of the sector.

I’ve been told on good authority that some make more income from financial penalties associated with membership severances than they do from the actual memberships and this just can’t be right.

Now the UK government is passing legislation to give greater power to consumers when it comes to health club membership contracts in the form of The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill which has been designed to clamp down on subscription traps, fake reviews and drip pricing. The bill is expected to become law in Q2 this year and be fully implemented by 2025.

The legislation will grant the UK’s Competitions and Markets Authority stronger powers to tackle businesses that breach consumer rights in a variety of ways.

Operators will be required to give clear information to consumers about contract terms at the point of signing, rather than hiding it in small print, while making it as easy for consumers to get out of contracts as it is for them to sign up in the first place.

There’ll be a mandatory 14-day cooling off period at the start of every contract and a further 14-days if prices change and at the end of each contract term, with the customer pro-actively notified and given sufficient warning.

In some cases this will mean a 14-day cooling off period will need to be given at the end of every year.

Trade body UK Active is representing the sector in negotiations with the government to make sure the legislation doesn’t create an ‘undue burden’, but it’s clear those without contracts, such as The Gym Group and PureGym, will be in a stronger position, while operators with complex contracts will need to overhaul their systems to accommodate the new framework.

Ultimately, whatever the law compels us to do, this is an opportunity for the sector to shine in the eyes of consumers by going above and beyond in creating an excellent contract environment. This will be especially felt by members who’ve had a difficult time with a contract, while also giving us the opportunity as an industry to heal rifts with people who feel they’ve been unfairly treated at some point. As we work to grow the community of consumers who are engaged with the sector, this has never been more important.

Liz Terry, editor
[email protected]

Sign up here to get Fit Tech's weekly ezine and every issue of Fit Tech magazine free on digital.
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Perfect Gym is a global software provider specialising in fitness and recreation facility management solutions. ...
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Cryotherapy
Digital
Salt therapy products
Flooring
Lockers
08-10 Oct 2024
Malaga - FYCMA, Malaga, Spain

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features

Editor's letter: A chance to shine

New laws are about to come into force that will oblige health club operators to offer consumers better membership terms. It will be disruptive, but tackled well, will change the sector for the better

Published in Health Club Management 2024 issue 2

Even a quick browse through customer ratings on platforms such as Trustpilot make it clear that all is not well in the land of health club contracts, with consumer complaints centred around the terms and most specifically issues that arise when ending them.

Of course this doesn’t apply to all operators, but those who sail close to the wind in imposing onerous terms on consumers cause real harm to the reputation of the sector.

I’ve been told on good authority that some make more income from financial penalties associated with membership severances than they do from the actual memberships and this just can’t be right.

Now the UK government is passing legislation to give greater power to consumers when it comes to health club membership contracts in the form of The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill which has been designed to clamp down on subscription traps, fake reviews and drip pricing. The bill is expected to become law in Q2 this year and be fully implemented by 2025.

The legislation will grant the UK’s Competitions and Markets Authority stronger powers to tackle businesses that breach consumer rights in a variety of ways.

Operators will be required to give clear information to consumers about contract terms at the point of signing, rather than hiding it in small print, while making it as easy for consumers to get out of contracts as it is for them to sign up in the first place.

There’ll be a mandatory 14-day cooling off period at the start of every contract and a further 14-days if prices change and at the end of each contract term, with the customer pro-actively notified and given sufficient warning.

In some cases this will mean a 14-day cooling off period will need to be given at the end of every year.

Trade body UK Active is representing the sector in negotiations with the government to make sure the legislation doesn’t create an ‘undue burden’, but it’s clear those without contracts, such as The Gym Group and PureGym, will be in a stronger position, while operators with complex contracts will need to overhaul their systems to accommodate the new framework.

Ultimately, whatever the law compels us to do, this is an opportunity for the sector to shine in the eyes of consumers by going above and beyond in creating an excellent contract environment. This will be especially felt by members who’ve had a difficult time with a contract, while also giving us the opportunity as an industry to heal rifts with people who feel they’ve been unfairly treated at some point. As we work to grow the community of consumers who are engaged with the sector, this has never been more important.

Liz Terry, editor
[email protected]

Sign up here to get Fit Tech's weekly ezine and every issue of Fit Tech magazine free on digital.
More features
Editor's letter

Into the fitaverse

Fitness is already among the top three markets in the metaverse, with new technology and partnerships driving real growth and consumer engagement that looks likely to spill over into health clubs, gyms and studios
Fit Tech people

Ali Jawad

Paralympic powerlifter and founder, Accessercise
Users can easily identify which facilities in the UK are accessible to the disabled community
Fit Tech people

Hannes Sjöblad

MD, DSruptive
We want to give our users an implantable tool that allows them to collect their health data at any time and in any setting
Fit Tech people

Jamie Buck

Co-founder, Active in Time
We created a solution called AiT Voice, which turns digital data into a spoken audio timetable that connects to phone systems
Profile

Fahad Alhagbani: reinventing fitness

The team is young and ambitious, and the awareness of technology is very high. We share trends and out-of-the-box ideas almost every day
Opinion

Building on the blockchain

For small sports teams looking to compete with giants, blockchain can be a secret weapon explains Lars Rensing, CEO of Protokol
Innovation

Bold move

Our results showed a greater than 60 per cent reduction in falls for individuals who actively participated in Bold’s programme
App analysis

Check your form

Sency’s motion analysis technology is allowing users to check their technique as they exercise. Co-founder and CEO Gal Rotman explains how
Profile

New reality

Sam Cole, CEO of FitXR, talks to Fit Tech about taking digital workouts to the next level, with an immersive, virtual reality fitness club
Profile

Sohail Rashid

My vision was to create a platform that could improve the sport for lifters at all levels and attract more people, similar to how Strava, Peloton and Zwift have in other sports
Ageing

Reverse Ageing

Many apps help people track their health, but Humanity founders Peter Ward and Michael Geer have put the focus on ageing, to help users to see the direct repercussions of their habits. They talk to Steph Eaves
App analysis

Going hybrid

Workout Anytime created its app in partnership with Virtuagym. Workout Anytime’s Greg Maurer and Virtuagym’s Hugo Braam explain the process behind its creation
Research

Physical activity monitors boost activity levels

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have conducted a meta analysis of all relevant research and found that the body of evidence shows an impact
Editor's letter

Two-way coaching

Content providers have been hugely active in the fit tech market since the start of the pandemic. We expect the industry to move on from delivering these services on a ‘broadcast-only’ basis as two-way coaching becomes the new USP
Fit Tech People

Laurent Petit

Co-founder, Active Giving
The future of sports and fitness are dependent on the climate. Our goal is to positively influence the future of our planet by instilling a global vision of wellbeing and a sense of collective action
Fit Tech People

Adam Zeitsiff

CEO, Intelivideo
We don’t just create the technology and bail – we support our clients’ ongoing hybridisation efforts
Fit Tech People

Anantharaman Pattabiraman

CEO and co-founder, Auro
When you’re undertaking fitness activities, unless you’re on a stationary bike, in most cases it’s not safe or necessary to be tied to a screen, especially a small screen
Fit Tech People

Mike Hansen

Managing partner, Endorphinz
We noticed a big gap in the market – customers needed better insights but also recommendations on what to do, whether that be customer acquisition, content creation, marketing and more
More features