SINGAPORE: In February, UFC Gym Singapore told its members it would be temporarily closing its sole remaining premises for renovation.
But its members got a rude shock when they recently found that another tenant, Anytime Fitness, had taken over the CityLink Mall space, with the fate of their memberships left hanging in the balance.
UFC Gym Singapore is a franchise of Ultimate Fighting Championship, the world’s biggest mixed martial arts promotion.
It opened its first outlet here at CityLink Mall in March 2019, offering mixed martial arts classes and personal training. It later opened another outlet at City Square Mall.
The City Square outlet closed in 2022 due to “challenging market conditions” and losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, the gym said on its social media pages on Nov 10.
UFC Gym Singapore said it could not refund unused portions of memberships or personal training services in cash, and would transfer memberships to the CityLink outlet instead.
One of its gym members, who wanted to be known as Ms Zhang, said she is owed S$850 (US$640), following the closures.
“I’ve been owed unfinished personal trainer package and gym membership, they didn’t answer to these unpaid services at all,” the barista, who is in her early 30s, said.
Instead, WhatsApp texts and emails to the gym have gone unanswered, she said, showing screenshots.
She told CNA that she could not go to the CityLink outlet as it was out of the way for her.
The CityLink outlet also failed to refund her, claiming that it ran under a different owner, Ms Zhang said.
Another member of the City Square outlet, who wanted to be known as Kevin, 31, said he had around S$500 of his membership left when the gym closed its doors.
“After a lot of back-and-forth arguments, they made an ‘exception’ to transfer my membership. No one (wanted) to buy it despite a 50 per cent discount, so I gave it to a friend for free, but even so, she couldn’t use it as the gym started ‘exciting renovations’,” Kevin, who is in sales and marketing, told CNA.
