Fitness One Owner: John Wheeler Fly By Night Operation, Con artists and fraudsters, Would not pay wages...or bills; hydro was cut-off for non-payment. Toronto, Ontario

This begins with and e-mail that has been received by John Wheeler, and goes on to describe the terrible practices these people partake in. 

Hi Shannen,

I'm writing you in regards to the telephone conversation we had earlier today. I would like to reiterate the conversation in writing so John can read this and become aware of his employee's actions. Beginning earlier today, I was instructed to falsely tell clients that there's construction or
renovations happening in the club, while our hydro was shut off for non-payment and continue to sell memberships upstairs. I mentioned to George that I felt uncomfortable with the whole situation and concerned about my own pay cheque also.

I mentioned,if the bills aren't being paid, how will I? He then said it's not a good time to discuss this because he has other things to worry about. I then stated I need a guarantee that I will be paid tomorrow, he then said it would be saturday when the cheques come in and sometimes the pay cheques come in late but he always gets them to his employees. After that, I mentioned that I was aware of former employees had left their positions in reception/sales and trainer or instructor positions due to non-payment of wages. George's answer to that was denial of wage non-payment.

I have seen the dishonoured cheques of instructor's that have come and gone, and the daily barrage of client complaints of double and triple charges for their monthly club fee. That is when he became enraged and said that people who have caused him problems before have had a major delay in receiving their pay cheques, and if they had just listened to him and cashed it how or when he instructs them to that the cheques wouldn't bounce. He also used foul language towards me, which was completely uncalled for.

I was having a normal conversation with him...as normal as a conversation in the dark (no hydro) could be. and when I informed him I became aware of certain issues in the club (the above stated issues) he completely lost it and began swearing and saying how he has 30 expletive resumes on his desk and he can have someone there in the morning, so I should leave.

So I left, and a few hours later i received a phone call from a police constable questioning me about an incident that I had caused and was under the impression that I had caused quite a scene before I left. I then explained what really happened (see above) and he (the constable) then stated it was a civil matter and was not going to charge me, but I had to return the key I had left with when I was told to leave the gym by George.

To sum it up not only did George kick me out of the "gym", threaten not to pay me, used foul language, he then lied to the officer by trying to have me charged with disturbing the peace and theft of the key, and that the pay cheque would be there on Monday and he would mail it then, not Friday or Saturday like he previously stated.  Granted, I have been there less than three months so he doesn't need a good reason to let me go, this is not the way to conduct business. Now I have been informed by payroll (Shannen) that George has yet to submit my payroll information.

I also have a concern about the accuracy of the hours that have been logged in for my own shifts. Until the second week of my employment I was not aware of a sign in sheet being used, so I kept track of my hours myself. As I was informed that the third week of my employment would the pay week and from both Georges actions and yourself today telling me that my information for payroll has not been submitted and you(shannen) informing me that you would not be sending me a cheque until next pay on November 5th, I will wait until tomorrow, which was my original expected date of pay, to file a grievance with the Ministry of Labour.

Please be sure that I will take action to receive the money I worked for and to inform the proper authorities on the horrid business practices and possibly illegal practices to ensure the safety and well being of other possible club members and staff. This is a shameful con of a business.

Also, I did not receive proper training on how to use or instruct others to use equipment, there were no personal trainers but there was a ballot box for a draw to win free personal trainer lessons. The draw has never happened; moreover there are many other instances of false advertisement, including what is on the mission statement, and the "packages" that are being sold to unsuspecting clients.

They sell a boot-camp package that includes: written instructions for a meal plan (which is a sample plan printed from a website), a list of generic health tips (again, from a website), and a work out routine that was supposed to be tailored to each client's specific goal and health conditions. The work out routines were nothing but a set of repetitions on a few machines. The instructions on what to eat and how to exercise were given out by both George and his wife, Wani.

Deeply Concerned,
R.