SINGAPORE: A man took to social media after he was charged S$60 by the gym because he did not close the door behind him and allowed another person to tailgate him and enter without tapping their key fob.
In a video posted on Aug 29, the complainant provided screenshots detailing the situation. He exchanged messages with “AFBugis”, the Anytime Fitness Bugis outlet.
The Independent Singapore has written to Anytime Fitness and will update the story with their response, but here’s what the man, Alan, posted. He said that he was shocked to receive the following message from his gym: “Hi Alan, on 28/08/2023 at 11.10pm you were seen entering the L4 gym. You did not close the door behind you, which resulted in an unidentified person coming in without tapping her keyfob”.
“We understand that it might not have been intentional, but we take this matter very seriously and have reminded all members that sign with us that it is your sole responsibility to ensure that the door is closed behind you. We will be charging you 1x 60SGD tailgating fee for this incident if you cannot verify that the person who came in behind you is an AF member”, the message from the gym read.
In response, Alan said, “in this case this person alr was taking out her fob as I entered so I take it she will tab (sic). She was just behind me”. He asked for the gym to identify her through the CCTV system in the gym.
The gym responded that “it would have been ideal” if he had asked her to exit and tap back in and referred to its policy stated in their membership terms and conditions. Alan went down to the gym to view the CCTV footage himself, which showed a woman coming out of a lift and following behind him into the gym.
However, he was ultimately unable to identify the tailgater. He paid the S$60 fee as he was told he would be banned from all Anytime Fitness outlets if he did not do so within the stipulated time.
The gym had also reiterated that it was his sole responsibility to ensure that the woman tapped in with her key fob.
In his video, Alan wrote: I’m travelling tmr for a week so I will definitely miss the deadline so i payed. I was extremely upset Cos there were many rules that Wanst (sic) so why pick on this? It was unintentional. If u give me a warning I will rmb for life”.
Netizens who commented on his video expressed similar frustrations, with some even saying they left negative reviews on Anytime Fitness’ page.
Here’s what they wrote:
The man also uploaded a follow-up video on TikTok with screenshots of the gym membership’s terms and conditions.
One of the terms stated: “You must not allow anyone else to use your key fob and must alert the Club immediately if it is lost or stolen. If this policy is violated, you may be charged a guest fee and/or have your membership suspended or cancelled subject to a cancellation fee”.
One of the other terms in the letter of acceptance for the membership also stated that a member may be charged S$30 if someone else uses their key fob. /TISG