Jyväskylä gyms accused of misleading customers into costly contracts

A gym in Jyväskylä, Finland, has been accused of pressuring customers into signing expensive membership agreements that do not grant access to the facility, according to a report by Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

Oskari Kumara, a local resident, signed a two-year gym contract for nearly €1,700 last year, only to discover it did not include access to the gym itself. Instead, the agreement covered only personal training sessions, a fitness program, and body composition measurements.

Kumara told Yle he was initially contacted for a free wellness consultation but felt pressured into signing the contract. “The representative kept pushing and manipulating me,” he said. He later terminated the agreement by paying a €400 cancellation fee.

The case is not isolated. Yle reports that similar incidents have occurred in Jyväskylä for years, with gyms operating under different names but allegedly linked to the same owner. Customers have been lured with free health assessments, only to be sold costly memberships that are difficult to cancel.

Central Finland Police have launched an investigation into potential fraud involving gym services in the area. Authorities have not confirmed whether the case is connected to previous reports by Yle, which revealed in 2022 that a Jyväskylä gym had pressured and intimidated women into memberships. In 2025, Yle also reported that elderly individuals were misled into signing contracts worth thousands of euros, believing they were dealing with a hospital.

The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority has received around 20 complaints about the new gym in recent months. Despite warnings on social media, customers continue to report suspicious calls and offers for free wellness checks.

Business bans, which prohibit individuals from operating companies for 3–7 years, are issued annually to about 700 people in Finland. However, police note that such bans often fail to stop professional criminals, who find ways to continue illegal activities.