flex gym closing ?

The chicken has come home to roost. Flex VI has been embroiled in a legal lawsuit for non-performance of a promissory note to the owners of Powerhouse Gym. They not only owe monies to the party at Powerhouse Gym, they also owe a ton of money to the Landlord of the shopping center who is also suing them for non-performance. This has nothing to do with the Hovensa situation but rather is an indictment on the character and mindset of the owners of Flex VI. They have shown themselves to be the lying, thieving low life everyone was suspicious of. Now things have come to light, their true colors have been revealed. They are closing their doors permanently because of their total lack of respect for the people of St. Croix and a total absence of basic business acumen. Good riddance.

Its very common for fitness centers of this nature to fail after a few years and I've seen many come and go in the various cities I've lived in over the years. The MO is always the same. These operations rely on the constant churn of new clients, especially after New Years Day to stay afloat. Once the monthly fees start to dwindle by mid-summer, that when the trouble starts.

As a rule, never, ever agree to have your monthly fees withdrawn directly from your account or agree to anything other than a month-to-month, pay as you go plan with this type of fitness center. Depending on the fine print you've likely never read, even once closed they can continue to bill you until your agreement term is up.

Its not surprising that they failed, and so will the next one that comes along to replace it.

vicanuck
Obviously, your statement doesn't apply to Beeston Hill gym. I was a member at Flex first then moved to Beeston weeks after. I left the island for a year and just now came back and Beeston is still running as well as it did before I left. It has been on St Croix for 30 (or 25?) years. They don't look like they're going anywhere. And they gave me my membership back with no fuss. People there are all nice and friendly.
On this island, if you're going to be roped into a contract, I suggest we all look at how long the company's been here. Gotta weed out shady businesses. Flex has been shady from the beginning.

My comments definitely do not apply to Beeston Hill Rehabilitation Center/Caribbean Health & Fitness.

This is a first class operation with a long track record of professional management and stability.

Additionally, the rehab/medical component of their operation is a real benefit to members as is the pool and other anenities the competition does not have in place.

The FlexVI business model is the same "churn and burn" plan common back in the late 80's and early 90's.

Many jurisdictions put consumer protections in place during that period to try to protect unwary customers.

vicanuck
I work in the medical/healthcare industry and I see what you're saying. I wonder if the VI has in place any form of the 'consumer protection' you're talking about. Shouldn't the Dept of Licensing be responsible or in charge of this?
I almost went into a partnership with a mother/son here on STX over 2 years ago. All that was left to do was signing the contract. Then by chance an acquaintance who worked at a private detective's office saw me shaking hands with the woman. He then told me of this woman's MO (who also did the same thing on STT). This mother/son once rented a house on STX for over $3k/month, then later refused to pay the rent because of 'cockroaches and mold', which, after investigation and thousands of dollars by landlord, proved to be untrue. And then the process of eviction also cost the landlord over $10 in legal fees plus trips back and forth to the island. Needless to say, rent was never collected tho they were eventually evicted (after a year). She also offered to take over a restaurant, cleaned the place up, then charged the landlord $6k, threatened that if they don't pay, that she would call the Health dept on violations. Too many similar occurences. The private detective was hired due to a pending lawsuit. I was lucky to get out of the agreement before anything was finalized. And when I came back, I just run into her in a restaurant.
What can we do to protect ourselves from people like these?

vicanuck
I work in the medical/healthcare industry and I see what you're saying. I wonder if the VI has in place any form of the 'consumer protection' you're talking about. Shouldn't the Dept of Licensing be responsible or in charge of this?
I almost went into a partnership with a mother/son here on STX over 2 years ago. All that was left to do was signing the contract. Then by chance an acquaintance who worked at a private detective's office saw me shaking hands with the woman. He then told me of this woman's MO (who also did the same thing on STT). This mother/son once rented a house on STX for over $3k/month, then later refused to pay the rent because of 'cockroaches and mold', which, after investigation and thousands of dollars by landlord, proved to be untrue. And then the process of eviction also cost the landlord over $10 in legal fees plus trips back and forth to the island. Needless to say, rent was never collected tho they were eventually evicted (after a year). She also offered to take over a restaurant, cleaned the place up, then charged the landlord $6k, threatened that if they don't pay, that she would call the Health dept on violations. Too many similar occurences. The private detective was hired due to a pending lawsuit. I was lucky to get out of the agreement before anything was finalized. And when I came back, I just run into her in a restaurant.
What can we do to protect ourselves from people like these?

Naming them would help!

I just run into her [the con artist] in a restaurant.

I hope you were driving! JK

I don't know any particulars about the business practices of Flex. I can say that during our membership the owner was there constantly and seemed to be doing her best for both the business and her clients. I often wondered how they managed to pay their WAPA - the cost of air-conditioning that place must have been enormous.

was this a person who was going to open a restaurant where zebos used to be. if so, i have heard bad things about them too.

Its very common for fitness centers of this nature to fail after a few years and I've seen many come and go in the various cities I've lived in over the years. The MO is always the same. These operations rely on the constant churn of new clients, especially after New Years Day to stay afloat. Once the monthly fees start to dwindle by mid-summer, that when the trouble starts.

As a rule, never, ever agree to have your monthly fees withdrawn directly from your account or agree to anything other than a month-to-month, pay as you go plan with this type of fitness center. Depending on the fine print you've likely never read, even once closed they can continue to bill you until your agreement term is up.

Its not surprising that they failed, and so will the next one that comes along to replace it.

While this doesn't apply to all, it's certainly more rule, rather than exception. I had 3 memberships in the past that closed abruptly and kept my money. (What can I say? I'm a slow learner.) Your general advice is spot on.

I have no knowledge of or relationship with the owners of FlexVI and I'm certain they're nice people.

However, the monthly gym membership business model is well known and so are the difficulties and risks of running a business like that.

When the monthly fees dwindle in the summer and the rent, salaries, leases on the equipment and WAPA stay the same, failure is almost a certainty.

vicanuck
I work in the medical/healthcare industry and I see what you're saying. I wonder if the VI has in place any form of the 'consumer protection' you're talking about. Shouldn't the Dept of Licensing be responsible or in charge of this?
I almost went into a partnership with a mother/son here on STX over 2 years ago. All that was left to do was signing the contract. Then by chance an acquaintance who worked at a private detective's office saw me shaking hands with the woman. He then told me of this woman's MO (who also did the same thing on STT). This mother/son once rented a house on STX for over $3k/month, then later refused to pay the rent because of 'cockroaches and mold', which, after investigation and thousands of dollars by landlord, proved to be untrue. And then the process of eviction also cost the landlord over $10 in legal fees plus trips back and forth to the island. Needless to say, rent was never collected tho they were eventually evicted (after a year). She also offered to take over a restaurant, cleaned the place up, then charged the landlord $6k, threatened that if they don't pay, that she would call the Health dept on violations. Too many similar occurences. The private detective was hired due to a pending lawsuit. I was lucky to get out of the agreement before anything was finalized. And when I came back, I just run into her in a restaurant.
What can we do to protect ourselves from people like these?

Naming them would help!

I wish I can name them. I checked and was told that these people have rights too and I can be sued. So let's just practice due diligence, broaden our network, because eventually one of these people we run into will have valuable information that can save us from painful and expensive mistakes.

was this a person who was going to open a restaurant where zebos used to be. if so, i have heard bad things about them too.

I don't know about that but I will check. I was told they always operate as a twosome - an elderly woman and a younger man - and I don't even know anymore if that's her son.

if it is the same, i had thought they were together. it seemed she had a dog also.

if it is the same, i had thought they were together. it seemed she had a dog also.

I can say this much - the woman is fit and tall.