Anytime Fitness found to have misled customers in Australia

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal has ruled that Anytime Fitness engaged in misleading conduct regarding its ‘any gym’ claim in Australia. The tribunal found that the gym chain failed to clearly disclose that accessing different locations could result in increased membership fees.

Under the company’s franchise model, individual branches set their own pricing. The case was initiated by Reginald Yakob, a long-term member who moved from Campbelltown to Parramatta. While Anytime Fitness advertises that members can access any of its more than 600 Australian locations, Yakob found that transferring his membership to a new branch resulted in a weekly fee increase from $19.95 to $25.95.

Because the company’s protocol automatically transfers memberships to the branch a customer uses most, members moving to areas with higher operating costs—such as inner-city locations—face higher rates. Members who wish to avoid these increases often face significant cancellation penalties, which the tribunal found breached Australian consumer laws.