California Wow in Pattaya Skips Town - Takes My Money with it

[TotallyOz]

I have finally gotten setteled into Pattaya and went to California Wow this AM to work out and I was surprised to find it was closed. I had seen it open a few months back but have been told it was closed for a couple of months.

 

That does not leave many choices for Pattaya for working out.

 

And, I am pissed to have lost the money I gave them for a 3 Year membership. It sucks they can do this without any reprucussions. Anyone heard of anyone getting their money back from this scam?

[Guest jomtien]

I know exactly how to get your money back. Give me 10,000B and I'll tell you.

[Up2u]

There is a long thread on Thaivisa about the California WOW saga. They filed for bankruptcy and tried to reorganize but sorry to say it does not look promising for you. I use Fairtex.

[kokopelli]

What better excuse to stay home and have your ass pampered? For downtown Pattaya the other option is Tonys gym.

 

Gym closing are common even in the USA, it's called bankruptcy. I have had this happen twice, show up at the gym and locked. I doubt there is any recourse. One time I had signed up for a membership one day and gym was closed the next day so I was able to contact American Express Credit Card and they did not charge me.

[Guest fountainhall]

Seems they closed several BKK branches earlier in the year when the Bangkok Bank wanted their loan of Bt. 75 million back..

[Guest thaiworthy]

Ailing California WOW Club Facing Criminal Charges

 

The nearly bankrupt California Wow Xperience company is facing criminal prosecution in addition to civil lawsuits seeking nearly 100 million baht. The case is being examined by the Department of Special Investigation for consumer fraud. The company is in bankruptcy reorganization.

BANGKOK – November 11 [PDN]; a spokesman for the consumer protection agency said the fitness firm California WOW Xperience may be liable for criminal prosecution, because of the large number of customers filing complaints and the amounts of money involved.

More than 600 irate customers have filed complaints, and 300 of them are seeking monetary compensation that could total more than 20 million baht, said Mr. Jirachai Multhongroy, the general secretary of the Office of the Consumer Protection Board of Thailand (OCPB).

In addition, there are also lawsuits from Thai banks seeking to collect $72 million in loan repayments. With another $3.97 million in interest, creditors are seeking nearly $76 million from the ailing fitness company. California Wow has filed for bankruptcy reorganization, which was granted by the court. The company shut down all but two branches as it struggles to survive.

Mr. Jirachai said the OCPB had a recent meeting of the law bureau of consumer protection regarding complaints by consumers. Many said they had suffered from the closing of California WOW branches. They had paid costly long-term membership fees and want to recover their money.

The branch closings are also an issue in the lawsuit that the OCPB has filed against the company. During the preparing of gathering information by the law bureau of the consumer protection agency, they had also co-operated with the criminal prosecutor, Mr. Jirachai said.

“For the commercial case, we will sue the company with the consumers, but for the criminal case of defrauding people, we have sent the case to Mr. Tharit Pendit, the president of the Department of Special Investigation, under the policy of OCPB,” Mr. Jirachai said. “Then we will follow the application of rehabilitation and compensation to consumers closely.”

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2012/11/12/ailing-california-wow-club-facing-criminal-charges/

[Guest]

There's always the option of an early morning jog up the beach.

[Rogie]

That raises an interesting point Z.

 

Jogging on the beach sounds nice, especially early morning, but what about those living in Bangkok for example? (assuming you don't want to go to a gym)

 

I think I would head for one of the parks. Lumphini Park is a good one and although I haven't done so would be good for jogging I imagine. I've seen people there doing the organised dancing-on-the-spot thing and the atmosphere always seems fun.

[Guest fountainhall]

If I had had my long-term membership cancelled as a result of the bankruptcy, I would be livid. But I wonder what is the point of joining a legal action - simply because if there is any money left in the company, it is likely to be in the form of fixed assets like gym equipment which is hardly likely to cover more than a fraction of the bank loans. And the banks surely will have first call. The chance of defrauded members getting anything must be zero.

[Bob]

From (in August) Not the Nation: http://notthenation.com/2012/08/california-wow-owner-sentenced-to-10-years-of-non-stop-dance-music/

 

(Remember, this is not a REAL newspaper story)

[Guest Astrrro]

What better excuse to stay home and have your ass pampered? For downtown Pattaya the other option is Tonys gym.

 

 

Tony's on 3rd Road is a beautiful gym, parts of it open 24/7, and a beautiful pool.

 

But Tony cheated me. I bought a two year membership which included 4 freezes.

 

They had a problem with some guy selling phony memberships so they used that as an excuse to retroactively change their freeze policy. I had to fight hard with them to get 1 freeze but had to agree agree to give up 3 others.

 

But at the right price I might join again as it's a short walk from where I live. Anyone know of any specials, sometimes they run a great one day special?

[Bob]

Okay, I'll bite. What's a freeze?

[Guest]

As a comparison, businesses like furniture retailers & travel companies seem to go bust fairly frequently, so it's prudent to take sensible precautions like paying deposits on credit card, or only handing over your cash when you can leave the store with the merchandise.

 

Maybe gyms need to be regarded the same way. Perhaps the risk of long term advance payments risk is just too high.

[Rogie]

Okay, I'll bite. What's a freeze?

 

Just a guess - you pay for a two year membership but if you are going out of town for a few weeks or months you can put it on hold. Then resume when you get back, so a 2 year membership might end up lasting a lot longer.

[Guest Astrrro]

Just a guess - you pay for a two year membership but if you are going out of town for a few weeks or months you can put it on hold. Then resume when you get back, so a 2 year membership might end up lasting a lot longer.

 

Yup, that's it!

[TotallyOz]

California Wow owner Eric Levine says he is innocent.

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/California-Wow-founder-pleads-innocence-30213182.html

 

I totally accept his innocence the day I get my money back from these "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"

 

[NIrishGuy]

I don't quite get it as the directors statement to the press states clearly that a) he / they didn't steal the money and run when things were looking bad and also b) that their accounts were fully audited ( I'm assuming by some reputable one of the big three accountants like PWC etc as opposed to jimmy tons accountancy services ltd - we cook your books for 10,000 baht service:-)

 

As if the above IS the case then it WOULD surely have been quite difficult ( but not impossible I accept) for them to siphon off over half the company's yearly turnover in just two or three lifts ( as alleged) and all in the one accounting period without it standing out like a sore thumb in their accounts, as even if he used a (few) bogus companies to assist in that the transaction(s) would still have shown up like a lighthouse in the audit trail if anyone undertook even the most basic oversight check  - surely ?

Although I did laugh at his "actually it's all the fault of the shopping centres for locking us out and the power company for cutting us off, if they hadn't of done that we'd have been fine" - yeah, how dare they refuse YOU service when THEY don't get paid, whatever were they thinking !

[zombie]

Levine is Thailand's answer to B. Madoff...say no more