I wish to highlight an incident overlooking the matter of a fitness centre infringing on a consumer's rights. The following is a letter of complaint I have sent to the management of Celebrity Fitness after someone tampered with my lock and broke into my locker at the gym, stealing RM1,500 worth of cash and property.

I have since lodged a report to the Federation Of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca), and a police investigation is pending. I am interested in opening a civil case in court on this matter, and I hope that by sharing my story, others will learn to make better decisions when joining a gym.

My name is Sara Chan, I am a postgraduate student studying in the United States. I am Malaysian and currently a member of Celebrity Fitness. The following details my experience with the gym management after a thief broke into my locker.

On Aug 13, I went to my local gym, Celebrity Fitness at One Utama for a workout at approximately 11.30am. I used the locker facility and followed the rules and regulations of the locker room stating that everyone must use a lock otherwise the gym would not be responsible for whatever happens to your property.

I locked within my locker, among other things a mobile phone (Sony Ericsson W705) and my purse within which had RM750 in cash as I was about to make a payment after my gym session.

When I returned to my locker at 2.30pm after taking a shower, I realised that my lock had been tampered with and my cash as well as my cell phone was stolen. I immediately lodged a report with the management of Celebrity Fitness. I also discovered in the process that another gym member had fallen victim to the same thief, having only her cash and her cell phone taken after her lock had been tampered with within the same time frame.

When asking about the compensation that I will received, I was informed by the gym manager that the gym will bear no responsibility, and despite there being a witness who observed a female behaving suspiciously in the locker room during the time where both lockers were broken into, the gym manager replied that she will ‘try her best to find the culprit’, and that Celebrity Fitness is ‘not responsible for whatever damages or losses incurred when using their locker rooms’.

She told me that the lock I and the other lady had used were either a small lock, or a combination-type lock, which is easier than other locks to break into, and chided me for using a small lock.

I was extremely taken aback by her insensitivity, given the current situation where I had lost such a grand amount of losses. I also feel conned, as I was led to believe by the staff of the gym prior to signing up as a member that my belongings will be in a safe, protected area while I use the gym facilities.

Apparently not.

She also promised to give me a call on the same day for a follow-up regarding the progress of the ‘investigation’. There has been no follow-up from her or anyone from Celebrity Fitness regarding this issue.

I have lodged a police report on the same day as the incident, and my case is pending a police investigation. This entire ordeal was not only traumatising because I am about to leave the country in four weeks, but because of how this issue was dealt with by the management of Celebrity Fitness.

The female locker room location in the gym is directly facing the staff counter, which is manned at all times by at least two staff members of the gym. Despite the cooperation that the witness has showed in apprehending the criminal, none of the staff members of the gym is able to pinpoint any details about the suspicious female character who entered the locker room or how she entered the gym in the first place.

I have not received any word either about whether or not the culprit is a member, or how she entered the gym. To my understanding, only members are allowed to enter the gym. Non- members are escorted at all times. If that is the case, how did a criminal break into the gym's ‘security-laden policy grounds’?

I am absolutely flabbergasted to have been told that it was my fault that I was robbed of my property, by the gym manager no less. I demand that the gym bears responsibility for the event that has happened, and that I and the other lady as paying customers of the gym receive fair compensation from the management.

I also demand an immediate no-frills termination of my membership, as this entire ordeal has been traumatising enough for me and I never want to step foot in Celebrity Fitness again.

Here is the latest update on my case for your readers:

To date, I have been granted immediate termination of my gym membership, there has been no compensation for the breaking in of my locker and the loss of my property.

The gym management insists that they bear no responsibility as their policy states that members who use combination or small-lock-and-key type locks are not entitled to any compensation should there be any occurrence of damages or stolen property.

I have told them that I have definitely not been informed of such a policy. Not only has this piece of 'policy' not been made publicly known to gym members, but there are also many other members who themselves use combination and ‘small’ locks.

I have asked a number of random female gym members in the locker rooms if they are aware of such a policy, and I realised that I was not the only one left in the dark about it as the six other women were not aware of such a thing either.

If I had known that I was required to use a specific type of lock to ‘qualify’ for compensation if I were robbed, I would have used that lock! It is clearly negligence on the part of Celebrity Fitness that allowed for this situation to happen.

Further discussion on the topic with some ladies at the gym led to the discovery that this incident was only one of many that have already happened a number of times in the past. Another lady's gym partner too was robbed of her belongings, and another's husband lost not only money and property, but credit cards as well not more than six months ago.

I also have been informed that because I will be leaving the country in three weeks (at that time) back to the US for my studies, I will not be able to physically show up in court to press charges against Celebrity Fitness. Ergo I would not be able to take my case to court.

This event has been nothing but traumatising on my part. Not only was I robbed in a place I was led to believe was safe, I was also reprimanded by the manager, denied compensation and denied the right to fight my case in court.

Celebrity Fitness has been irresponsible and negligent in their handling of my case, and I certainly do not wish for anyone to fall trap to negligent policies and clauses.