Bengaluru: A woman software professional was allegedly duped of Rs 15,000 and harassed by one of the staff members of a well-known chain of gyms at Koramangala. The complainant alleged that the gym not only duped her of her money, but she also sustained a shoulder injury as one of the machines was not oiled properly. The complainant, Ms Shanti (name changed), told DC, “I joined Gold’s Gym at Koramangala on March 11, 2018 on a yearly membership of Rs 15,500. One of the instructors, with whom I had never shared my number, started sending me messages on WhatsApp in the middle of night. I complained to gym managers and got him stopped.”
She said, “While working out, one of the machines was not oiled properly and it gave me a shoulder injury. I had to go under physiotherapy sessions. I was advised by the physiotherapist to take a break of two months from all workouts, and I informed the gym. It took me two-and-a-half months to get better. “ But when Ms Shanti went back to the gym in December 2018, she was shocked to find that the gym had shut shop. “When I inquired, I found that it stopped functioning in September. One of my friends told me that they were given a notice in the second week of September and the gym shut in the next three days. Whoever went in those three days were given the option of refund of amount through the fraternity app, which would be active for 30 days and could be used to join any other gym which accepts money through that app. If not, the money would disappear. The other option was to get a transfer to any other branch of the gym.” The complainant approached the police on January 19. During the probe, it came to light that over 100 people had been duped by the gym chain.
