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, until February 2025 when she left us, caring a little pug named Stella.
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