Within half a year of applying for a membership card, the gym lost contact and ran away. Consumers discovered that two months before applying for the card, the gym was vacated by the court due to a venue rental dispute. However, during this period, the gym still persuaded consumers to apply for an annual card. What should be done with the consumer's advance payment of membership fees? Does the gym intentionally conceal important contractual facts, constituting consumer fraud? In August 2022, Ms. Li signed a "certain gym service transaction contract" with a gym, obtained a fitness card at the gym, and paid an annual fee for two years. But less than half a year after she completed her card application, in early January 2023, the gym moved out of the venue and could not be contacted. A letter to all members was posted at the door, stating that she could no longer provide fitness services for the cardholders. Ms. Li still has more than 3500 yuan of fees that have not been refunded. During the process of negotiating a refund with the gym, Ms. Li learned that two months before she applied for her card, the gym had a dispute with its landlord at the time due to unpaid rent, and the gym lost the lawsuit. The lease contract with the landlord had also been terminated by the court, and the gym had to vacate and move out immediately. But when signing the contract with Ms. Li at the gym, there was no explanation to Ms. Li about moving out. So, Ms. Li filed a lawsuit with the court, demanding that the gym refund the remaining service fees and claiming that she was defrauded by the gym and demanded triple compensation. The court, after trial, believes that a contract concluded in accordance with the law is legally binding on both parties. In this case, the "Service Transaction Contract for a Certain Gym" signed between Ms. Li and the gym has legal binding force on both parties, and both parties should fulfill their obligations according to the contract. During the performance of the aforementioned contract, the gym was declared closed on January 8, 2023, after its closure in November 2022. Due to the closure of her fitness venue, the contract cannot continue to be fulfilled normally. Ms. Li is unable to achieve the purpose of the contract and has the right to request a refund of the remaining fees. The contract should be terminated by both parties. In addition, the gym was informed in June 2022 that the lease contract for its operating premises had been terminated by a court ruling. It still signed a service contract with Ms. Li in August 2022 and collected the contract payment from Ms. Li. Shortly thereafter, the gym was unable to continue fulfilling the service contract with Ms. Li due to objective reasons. The gym's behavior was a concealment of important facts in the contract, Because this situation is sufficient to affect the true expression of Ms. Li's intention to continue the contract, it should be deemed as fraud. Therefore, Ms. Li's lawsuit for triple compensation of 10710 yuan from the gym has factual and legal basis, and the court supports it. Finally, the court ruled that the gym would refund Ms. Li's remaining service fee of over 3500 yuan and triple the compensation of over 10000 yuan. The judge said that in reality, malicious breach of contract incidents such as losing contact with gyms and barbershops, taking away large prepayments from consumers, have occurred frequently, becoming pain points in the minds of consumers. However, there is insufficient evidence to prove that companies such as gyms are objectively unable to continue fulfilling contracts when collecting prepaid fees. In addition, these companies often have situations of running away and losing contact, and case trials require public notice and delivery, which increases the difficulty of consumer rights protection. Some companies even transfer funds
Edit：Jia jia Responsible editor：Yi Yi
Source：GMW.cn
Special statement: if the pictures and texts reproduced or quoted on this site infringe your legitimate rights and interests, please contact this site, and this site will correct and delete them in time. For copyright issues and website cooperation, please contact through outlook new era email：lwxsd@liaowanghn.com
Recommended Reading Change it 
Home
