Contracts

There has been a lot of negative publicity about gym membership contracts, particularly over people being locked in to long-term contracts after they wanted to cancel.

Like any contract, your agreement with your gym is legally binding. Make sure you fully understand the agreement before you sign it. Can you put your membership on hold or cancel it, or are you bound to keep paying for a particular term? If you do put your membership on hold, is there a fee? What happens if you change jobs or move towns - can you transfer the membership to another person or another gym? (There is usually an additional fee for this.)

Try to avoid long-term commitments until you've used the gym for several months and feel comfortable it will meet your needs. Once you've signed a long-term contract, you can't just stop paying if you decide not to keep using the gym.

According to Richard Beddie, President of industry organisation Fitness New Zealand, there is sometimes confusion about what happens at the end of a contract. The problem arises when you sign a 12-month contract and assume (quite reasonably) that at the end of 12 months your payments will stop. Many gym contracts state that you have to give written notice to end your membership. Otherwise the gym will keep taking payments from your account even after the contract period has ended.

While contracts are binding, they can't take away the rights you have under the Consumer Guarantees Act or the Fair Trading Act.

The Consumer Guarantees Act ensures you get the service you signed up for. For example, if your gym discontinues its classes and you use them regularly, the Act has been breached. In addition, the Fair Trading Act makes sure consumers are not misled about any aspect of their purchase, including fees and special offers.

Adfit

In many cases, your contract will be managed by Adfit, which collects membership fees for more than 130 fitness centres around the country.

One advantage of an Adfit contract is that you may be able to transfer your membership to another Adfit gym if you shift towns - although there'll be a charge of $25. The gym may also charge a fee.

Your Adfit membership also lets you use other selected Adfit gyms for free when you are on holiday or away on business for up to 10 days. To be eligible for this, you'll need to pick up a Fit-pass from your gym before you leave.

Like any contract, if you stop paying Adfit before your minimum term is up, it'll chase you for the outstanding amount.