The joy of abuse?The following letter is part of a public discussion initiated by Uriel's letter of Dec. 9, 2005 objecting to management abuses at his Toronto squash club (which is part of the Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. empire). See index for list of letters in the discussion.
From: Uriel Wittenberg Hi Byron, So if your job sends you out of town for 10 months, you have to quit the club and re-join when you're back — and re-pay an initiation fee. And if you don't like it, take a hike. Of course the club has a right to set any policies it wants. But what's irksome is that these people are hurting not just customers and employees, but their own business as well. It's hard to believe that the policy you describe — penalizing you with a month's fees when you have to leave town for 10 months — is good for business. The administrative cost of suspending someone temporarily, for either 6 months or 10, should be practically nil. Why would they apply a substantial penalty to someone whose life is already being inconvenienced by relocations? Is it just for the joy of abuse? One senses an us-versus-them mentality. Their job is to act friendly, but they really dislike the customers. "Buyers are liars," as Bally salespeople are told (reported in An Exercise In Deception, New York Post). Your message has reminded me of my initiation fee last May: $125. Despite my membership contract, Bally Vice President Jodi Wellman has abruptly barred me from admission to the club. I assume that fee is going to be coming back to me. Jodi? Please confirm. (I've included her on this letter's distribution list.) I mentioned that the club can set any policies it wants, but of course those policies are supposed to be within the law. I don't believe they've been sticking to the law very scrupulously. There is, for example, the Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits making a "false, misleading or deceptive representation." Examples given in the legislation include:
I'm not a lawyer but ... isn't the second example above precisely what Dunfield Assistant Manager Gerald Tannenbaum was defending in his written statements exhibited at Misrepresentations by the Dunfield Club? I have submitted a complaint to the Ontario Ministry of Government Services (using their online complaint form), and we will see what they think about it. Bally abuses have been investigated in the U.S. by the Federal Trade Commission, the New York State Attorney General, and the Wisconsin Attorney General (details in my Dec. 9 letter). I trust Canadian authorities have as much gumption as their American counterparts to curb corporate abuses of ordinary people. Sincerely, Uriel
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