If you wish to make a complaint about a fitness centre or health club, we recommend that the first step you take is to complain directly to the facility concerned. If they do not reply, or you are not satisfied with their reply, then you may be able to lay a formal complaint with either FitnessNZ or the New Zealand Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs).

Laying a complaint with FitnessNZ Firstly the facility must be a member of FitnessNZ to be able to complain to us. Most FitnessNZmembers display a red white and blue FitnessNZ door decal. You can also email us to check if a facility is a member. Once you have established that a club is a member, you should review the FitnessNZ code of ethics (shown to the side of this paragraph), and identify which part of the code the have breached (it is important that the club has breached the code, not just done something you don't like).

You can then complain to FitnessNZ outlining
(1) What your complaint is about, and at which facility
(2) What part of the FitnessNZ code of ethics is being breached
(3) What communication you have had with the club in the past about the issue, and what their response has been
(4) What outcome you would like as a result
(5) Your details (full name, contact details)

Complaints should be made in writing to FitnessNZ, PO Box 22114 Christchurch

Laying a complaint with the NZ Register of Exercise Professionals.
To complain to REPs, the facility or person must be registered with REPs. REPs operates an online search engine, so it's very easy to see if a facility is registered. Click here to go to the search engine. The search engine also lists Personal Trainers, however there are many more individuals registered that the search engine shows, so you can also email REPs to check if an individual is registered.

If a person or a facility is registered with REPs you can complain on one of two grounds:
(1) That an individual has broken the REPs Code of Ethical Conduct (this document can be found here)

(2) That a facility has unregistered staff (all registered facilities agree to only use registered staff in all exercise roles)

Put the FitnessNZ small Code of ethics next to this text, and if clicked on it opens up the larger file (both files are attached in the email)

Complaints should be made in writing to:
FitnessNZ, PO Box 22114 Christchurch or to REPs PO Box 22374 Christchurch

In all cases complaints will be acknowledged in writing, and you kept fully informed about the process and outcome. In most cases FitnessNZ (or REPs) is able to assist in successful resolution of matters. In extreme cases, for serious breaches, where a complaint is able to be upheld against a facility or individual registered with REPs the individual or facility could be struck of the register.