A man in eastern China has sued a gym after he paid it more than 870,000 yuan (US$120,000) for memberships lasting 300 years before the management fled with his cash.
The man, known as Jin, has also sought the help of a television station to expose the Ranyan Gym in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.
Jin showed the station 26 contracts he signed with the gym for buying memberships and coaching sessions.
“From May 10 to July 9, I bought about 1,200 lessons and membership cards with an accumulative validity period of 300 years, at a total cost of 871,273 yuan,” Jin was quoted as saying.
Jin, who has worked out at this gym for three years, said that on May 9, a sales worker told him that there was a promotion for existing customers.
After the customers bought a one-year membership card for 8,888 yuan (US$1,200), the gym could sell it to new customers for 16,666 yuan (US$2,300), an ad for the gym read.
Ten per cent of the mark-up would be kept by the gym while the rest goes to the customer, the sales worker said.
At first, Jin was sceptical, but the sales worker guaranteed it would work out to his benefit.
“He said if they did not sell it within two months, they would return all the money to me,” said Jin.
Lured by the high returns, Jin bought two such membership cards for more than 17,000 yuan (US$2,400).
In the following weeks, he was persuaded by sales staff to buy more membership cards and private tutoring lessons. On one occasion, he spent more than 300,000 yuan (US$42,000).
On July 15, when the gym was supposed to return some of the principal to Jin, he did not receive any money.
When he checked with a sales worker, he was told that the finance department of the gym was still reviewing the transaction.
But at the end of July, Jin discovered that the gym’s management and all its sales staff had disappeared.
The gym, in the Binjiang District of Hangzhou, is still open to customers, although only receptionists and administration staff are at work, Zhejiang TV found.
Jin said he later found out that all the contracts he had signed with the gym did not mention the returns promised by the sales worker.
Also, the contracts stipulated that the membership could not be transferred to others.
“I admit that I have been brainwashed by them, because I believed I was only one small step away from getting back all my money,” he told the media.
Jin said he loved working out and regarded buying the memberships and lessons as a “health investment”.
“I actually do not count on using it for 300 years. In my eyes, it was a kind of commitment to health,” said Jin.
His story shocked and delighted millions of people on mainland social media.
“He bought the gym card for the grandsons of his grandsons, ha,” said one online observer.
Another person quipped: “When a person’s wealth and his intelligence quotient do not match, the redundant wealth will flow back to society in some form.” – SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
