Let me come out and say the first thing first. I used to be a big fan of Mickey Mehta’s. Here I started exercising for the first time in my life and lost 10 kgs and loved every bit of every session.
I have been a member of the Malad(W) Centre for over a year and then I joined the Bandra(W) Centre because it was just next door to my workplace. After a few monthly renewals, Vinita, the Centre Manager gave me an offer I could not refuse. 12 months for Rs. 10000. She was even considerate enough to offer two EMIs in postdated cheques. I was looking forward to another year of holistic health with Mickey Mehta’s.
In the beginning of August 2010, I had to switch my workplace to Andheri East. I informed my gym immediately that I wont be able to continue(I stay in Malad East so Bandra West will be completely out of the way). Suddenly there was trouble in paradise.
According to the rules, I was aware that they neither would refund my money(Only 3 months / Rs. 2500 worth of membership was used and 9 months / Rs. 7500 worth of membership was still left) nor transfer my membership to another Mickey Mehta’s Centre(since each centre is run by a different franchisee and no Andheri East Centre anyway).
So the only option left to me was to transfer the leftover membership to another member. I spoke to the staff and they said they will definitely help me out with this. As per rules, I was not allowed to do any kind of advertising to sell my leftover membership. Fair enough, I thought. Still, through word of mouth, I found two eager, existing members who were ready to purchase my remaining 9 months of membership for Rs. 7500.
Lucky me, I said to myself. But luck ran out as soon as Vinita, the centre manager was presented with the proposal. A flat NO was her answer. Confused and surprised, I offered to meet her face to face to discuss this. I thought, the gym does not lose anything in this deal(they already HAVE my money with them), so why should she disagree? Within minutes of discussion, the velvet gloves and saccharine tones were off and claws came out.
I was told:
- I can’t transfer / sell my leftover membership to an existing member. Because the existing member is a sitting duck(her words, not mine) so he / she will renew the membership anyway. Why would she sell them 9 months for Rs 7500(which she already has in her pocket and can keep) when she can sell them 9 months for Rs 18000(The going rate of membership)?
-I have to get a newbie, enroll him / her in the Bandra Centre and then sell my leftover membership to him / her(I have asked all possible people without any luck). And mind it, I am not even allowed to SMS, mail, Tweet or FB about this. That would be considered commercial activity.
-And finally she dropped the bomb. Whoever said I had 9 months / Rs. 7500 worth of membership left? Since I have broken the sacred pact, my 3 months of usage will be charged equivalent to Rs. 6000(Going rate of Rs. 2000 per month. The sweet deal I was trapped with has long been over.) and only Rs. 4000 / 2 months(Rs. 10000 - Rs. 6000) are left.
I pleaded, I grovelled, I bleated. Who on earth will buy 2 months of membership for Rs 4000? "Maybe someone who would take pity on you", Vinita said, without batting an eyelid. Then she added an extra helping of generosity. "This offer will be open for as long as you want, Sourav." She said. "Bring anybody even after a year, we will give him / her 2 months for 4k." Ya, right! As if Mumbaikars are THAT stupid.
Or, she said, sounding almost motherly, "You can pay for 3 months(Another couple of thousands) of membership at our Malad Centre and THEN we can transfer 2 free months of your leftover membership there."(By the way, at the time of writing this, the Malad West Centre was already offering Rs. 4500 of free membership with 3 months of new membership. Very convenient.)
As a parting note, Vinita held her head high and said, "There have been incidents where people have discontinued after one month and the rest of the eleven months’ membership has been wasted. We NEVER consider these cases. You are lucky, I am giving you so many options."
I did not feel lucky at all but rather angry and cheated.
Then the penny dropped. I realised the true significance of the clause in their bill "Transferring of membership will be at the sole discretion of the management without giving any reason or explanation whatsoever."
In layman’s terms, it means we will take your money any way we can. And after that, it’s my way or highway. And any chance of a legal action or Consumer Court Appeal will fall flat thanks to the’rule’ above.Running out of options, I posted my grievance on Mickey Mehta’s facebook wall and twitter feed on August 24. On August 26 I receive a Twitter Direct Message from him: "You seem to have had an unfortunate experience. If you could DM your contact details, I will look into it immediately."
I finally get a call on August 28 evening("immediately" means 2 days to them), not from him but Vinita, the person who started this atrocity. "We are offering you 3 months complimentary membership at our Malad West Centre(highly inconvenient for me), no strings attached." She says, in honeyed tones.(She even asked how I was feeling.) "I will take my decision and call you back." I said.
The moment I hung up, I received an SMS. "It’s Mickey Mehta’s 48th Birthday. Get 48% discount on yearly membership. Join only @Rs. 6240."(They have forgotten to take me off the SMS Promo list.)
So WAIT a minute, they are giving me a highly inconvenient deal that costs only Rs. 1580(12 months for Rs. 6240, so 3 months is one fourth of that) in return of Rs. 7500 that they stole from me and expecting me to be grateful?
I decided never to set foot in a Mickey Mehta’s Gym to exercise again. From now on, Talwalkars it is. You are most welcome to join there, at your own risk. Except if he turns 100 and gives a 100% discount.