Celebrity Fitness - Payment Error

ALL she wants is to pay her monthly Celebrity Fitness membership fee on time but JESSIE CHIN has not been able to do that.

When her four-year membership with the gym expired in February, she renewed it in March.

"This time, I opted for monthly payments as opposed to the previous annual. My first payment of RM179 was supposedly due on March 30 and I've made a standing instruction to debit my EON Bank credit card accordingly," she says.

JESSIE says she got the shock of her life when she receive her latest credit card statement on March 29. The statement showed eight deductions of RM179, resulting in transactions worth RM1,432.

"I went to see Celebrity Fitness customer service the next day and told them about it. Upon checking, they told me the mistake was theirs and it would take one week to do the reversal."

On April 5, JESSIE called customer service to check the status but was told the head office is handling the case and that it'll take another two to three weeks to be resolved.

"But my credit card payment is due April 13. If I don't pay by then, I'd be charged interest. That won't be fair," she says.

She then headed to the EON Bank in SS2, Petaling Jaya to seek help.

"I filled up a dispute form. The officer-in-charge said the bank will contact Celebrity Fitness to clarify the matter and it'll take one to two weeks.

"On April 11, I called the bank's credit card centre to check the status but they said they've only received the dispute form that day. Worse, it will take two months to investigate," says JESSIE.

"The time frame to resolve this matter is absurd! Who's going to pay for my card's interest and late payment charges? It's unfair that I'm being penalised for their mistakes."

JESSIE wants an explanation from both parties.

● AN EON Bank Berhad spokesman says: "We have advised JESSIE to liaise with the merchant to amend the disputed transactions as the charges were administered by the merchant and not EON Bank.

"However, we recognise JESSIE's concern about being charged interest on the disputed transactions, so as a gesture of goodwill, we have granted her temporary credit for 45 days to allow the merchant to correct the disputed transactions. No interest will be incurred on the disputed transactions during this period."

Meanwhile, a Celebrity Fitness spokesman says: "Our operations manager from our One Utama branch has apologised to JESSIE personally. The reversal process was completed on April 12.

"The operations manager has contacted JESSIE on April 18 and she is happy that we fulfilled our promise to solve her case within the time frame given."

When contacted by Hotline, JESSIE confirms the phone call from Celebrity Fitness.

"They said the reversal has been done. However, I wouldn't have to go through this hassle if the gym had been more careful."