A female Fitness First member, who took legal action against the group after being denied access to a Pilates class after arriving late, has lost her attempt to sue the gym chain for $16,000.
Court documents show that Sydney woman Sophia McGinn was headed to the Pilates class on 17th July 2023, when she was asked to leave having arrived late.
McGinn’s gym contract specified that “entry after the class has started may be refused by the instructor”, which is a rule to prevent people from attending without being present for the warm-up at the start of a class.
She had only been a member of the club for under a month, but the relationship took a downward turn following the Pilates incident.
After discussions between the parties and Fitness First providing her with free classes, the gym put McGinn’s membership on freeze as she was not actively using the services.
On 17th March this year, McGinn terminated her contract and filed a complaint with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal the following day.
She claimed that Fitness First had breached the contract and failed to comply with its consumer guarantee obligations under the Australian Consumer Law.
She sought damages of $16,600 which she calculated would have been the difference between the cost of her Fitness First membership and a comparable Virgin Active Membership over a 20-year time period.
However, the Tribunal found “Ms McGinn had not entered into a new gym membership at a higher price nor provided a quote from another gym as to the higher membership prices she would have to pay.”
Both her claims were unsuccessful as McGinn failed to demonstrate that Fitness First had breached the contract, and had argued instead that she was unaware of its terms.
The Tribunal found that even if a breach had been established, it was not clear that she would have been able to recover compensation anyway, as she “has not incurred any loss or damage”, rather, she had “speculated about a future potential loss or damage.”
While the case was dismissed on 28th June this year, McGinn launched an appeal before it was dismissed again on 21st October.
Fitness First’s reform Pilates classes are exclusively available to Platinum Plus members, who pay $36.99 per week for access to all Passport and Platinum clubs.
Born in the English county of Dorset, Nigel Benton is the co-founder and Publisher of Australasian Leisure Management, Australia, New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific’s only magazine for professionals in all areas of the leisure industry and the www.ausleisure.com.au website - the go to news resource for industry leaders and professionals.
With a long-term commitment to communicating all that is best about the leisure industry (aquatics, attractions, entertainment, events, fitness, parks, recreation, sport, tourism and venues) his career has been defined by an ability to develop and implement industry communications.
Starting his career working in heritage visitor attractions and then adventure travel in Africa and the Middle East, an interest in writing about his experiences led to his change of career into magazine journalism and publishing.
In addition to publishing, Nigel speaks on marketing communications at a range of industry events.
He was made a Life Member of the World Leisure and Recreation Association in 2006 and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (London).
As of October 2024, he was inducted into the Australian Fitness Awards Roll of Honour at the 2024 AUSactive National Awards.
Among a range of published works and features, his comments on a Blog (blogspot) from 2007 to 2011, when this website went live in its current form, may be interesting to reflect back on.
His philosophy on life is to be kind to all and to indulge those that you love.
His passions include family, Newcastle United and motorcycles (especially British ones) as well as caring for Stella the pug.
Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?
As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.
Perfect Gym Solutions is a software as a service (SaaS) solution purpose-built to service the fitness industry, with over 1000 clients servicing over two million gym members across 40 countries making…
Yellowbox is an Australian technology company that has developed smart locker technology operated through an app with a focus on experience for users and facility managers. Found at Beaches, Aquatic…
revolutioniseSPORT is the emerging market leader in online club management in Australia. Whether it is memberships, registrations, events, online sales or governance tools - revolutioniseSPORT is the…
BH Fitness, part of the long-standing and iconic bike manufacturer BH Group, is a global leader in fitness equipment for both Commercial and Home markets. The company, with the headquarters based in…
Gladstone Health & Leisure (Gladstone MRM Pty Ltd Australia) is a leading supplier of leisure management and fitness software and is endorsed by leading health and fitness professionals and…
AIS Water, the trading name of Australian Innovative Systems, is a multi-award winning, Australian owned leader in the design, production and supply of commercial and residential chlorine generators…
Hidroplay welcomes you to the exciting world of children's Playscapes, waterslide's and Water Attractions.
Appealing to families, Hidroplay increases patronage in your facility during those…
HIB Insurance Brokers - Experts in Leisure and Amusement Insurance
With over 20 years specialising in the Amusement and Leisure industries, we have the experience to understand your operations and…
