Misleading Sales Tactics & Unjustified Charges – Virgin Active

I joined Virgin Active in November on a Black Friday special. The consultant advised that to qualify for the deal, I had to join as a National member and could later downgrade to my preferred club. I explicitly stated that if the activation fee was R1,400, I would not proceed. He assured me the activation fee at the time would be R200 (I stand to be corrected) – which I paid.

When I downgraded my membership, I was charged an admin fee as per my contract, which was communicated to me, and I had no issue with that. However, to my shock, a full R1,400 was debited from my account on the 1st Feb. Upon inquiry, I was told my Vitality membership wasn’t activated and that I needed to pay R900 to activate it something that was never disclosed during sign-up and not in my contract. The consultant, Kamo, then advised that the R900 was for Vitality activation, which is completely misleading.

I have since reversed the R1,400 until this matter is resolved. I feel like every time Virgin Active calls me, there’s a new fee I have to pay this is totally unacceptable. The lack of transparency and the constant surprise charges make this entire experience frustrating and *************.

Virgin Active needs to take accountability and resolve this issue immediately.

I expect a response and resolution ASAP.