HUNDREDS of people
across Inishowen are fuming after the Platinum Gym
in Derry closed down without warning last weekend.
Gym users arrived at the fitness facility in the
city to find staff standing outside with the
shutters closed and all the machines removed.
The Inishowen Independent was inundated with
complaints from members here, who forked out
thousands of euro in the days before the closure.
Members and staff have claimed that Platinum was
promoting special ‘Diamond Membership’ and ‘Mother’s
Day’ deals for £200 stg. right up until close of
business on Friday.
One woman from the Burt area paid around €250 just
two weeks ago for the ‘Diamond’ package, which
included membership of the gym’s hair and beauty
clinic, Cabelo.
“I am absolutely angered and disgusted by what has
happened. I arrived into Derry on Friday morning for
a hair appointment and couldn’t believe it when I
saw all the staff locked outside the building. I
feel completely cheated,” she said.
“A lot of businesses are in difficulty at the moment
but I think the Platinum owners handled the whole
situation terribly."
A Bridgend man said he ‘felt sickened’ after paying
£40 for membership just last week.
“I would love to know where all the fitness
equipment went. I was really looking forward to
getting back into training,” he said.
Another gym member, from Muff, said he feared the
gym would close because its prices were unrealistic.
“I knew Platinum would close eventually because it
was too good to be true. They were offering
membership fees £150 cheaper than anyone else,” he
said.
Shocked staff from the gym and adjoining Cabelo hair
and beauty clinic learned of the closure by a text
message from their boss at around 7am last Friday
morning.
Employees initially believed it was an April Fool’s
prank. The gym owner recently told reporters in
Derry he was sorry and stressed at having to close
and said he, too, was out of pocket to the tune of
tens of thousands of euro. |
