Rise in Consumer Damage from Gym Membership Termination due to COVID-19

- Sign as short-term member if possible & minimize damage by paying in allotments with credit card -

Amid the spread of COVID-19, access to indoor training facilities are limited and avoided, and as a result consumer dispute over membership termination are rising. Special precaution is required for consumers, as there are also many cases where consumers are falling victim to businesses closing down or not responding.

To this end, Korea Consumer Agency (KCA, President Lee Hee-sook) found that applications for damage redress related to fitness centers amounted to 1,995 from January to August 2020. The figure which rose by 53.7% year-on-year (2019: 1,298 cases) started to hike since February when COVID-19 proliferated in earnest, and is fluctuating according to the government’s social distancing measures and other reasons.