Police receive more than 80 complaints over Jyväskylä fitness centre

Police in central Finland have received more than 80 criminal reports concerning a fitness centre in Jyväskylä and its owner, Yle reports. Customers say they were pressured or misled into signing costly contracts, and police are investigating suspected fraud and usury.

One customer, identified by Yle as Juha, signed a contract worth 2,400 euros after believing he was joining a gym. He later discovered the agreement covered two years of coaching, including 12 sessions with an exercise instructor, but did not include access to a gym. He had to find one himself.

Juha says a salesperson invited him to a free body composition assessment last winter. During the appointment, held in a basement room in an apartment building in Kaakkolampi, the salesperson allegedly told him his internal fat percentage was worryingly high and putting strain on his liver. Juha says he checked the result online at home and found that the figure was actually very low.

The salesperson also said physiotherapy normally cost 398 euros per session but offered it to Juha for 199 euros. Juha says he had never been to a gym before and thought the agreement would be a way to get started.

He tried to cancel the contract the next day, but the company said he would still have to pay. It later told him by email that he could not terminate the agreement unilaterally. Juha has attended one coaching session in more than six months and has paid about half the invoices. He has also complained to the Consumer Disputes Board, but says he has not received help.

Police began investigating the fitness services last March and continue to receive new reports each week. The most common suspected offences are fraud and usury, according to investigation lead Toni Peuha. Police are assessing each report separately; in a few cases, they have decided not to open a preliminary investigation, while decisions are still pending in others.

Peuha says police aim to complete the investigation before the end of the year. The company and its owner have not been named while the preliminary investigation is ongoing. Yle says the Jyväskylä company has for years attracted customers with free wellbeing assessments that lead to expensive membership contracts that can be difficult to end.