Alexander group faces lawsuit

The Consumers' Foundation (消基會) vowed yesterday to file a lawsuit on behalf of consumers against the Alexander group (亞力山大集團) should the fitness company fail to allow members entry to retrieve their personal belongings within the next five days.

The gym's sudden closure last month came before members could collect their personal effects from the lockers, which is completely unreasonable, foundation chairman Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏) said.

"Many members have important or valuable items in their lockers. Not only are consumers losing their gym privileges, they also have to suffer the frustration, inconvenience and worries over the security of their personal effects," Cheng told a press conference yesterday.

The foundation made three additional demands of Alexander: that it provide a complete list of the banks that have received membership fees within five days; that the new owners of the Alexander brand name be made responsible for all existing members rights; and that company financial details be fully disclosed to prevent individuals profiting from the transfer of ownership.

"Litigation is the last resort, but the Consumers' Foundation will not hesitate should these demands be ignored," Cheng said.

"The purpose of the bankruptcy action is to force Alexander into full financial disclosure in court," he said.

The court will make a ruling within seven days of receiving a bankruptcy filing by the Alexander group.

During that time period, the court will obtain the actual financial status of Alexander, which may then become public through the Consumer's Foundation, said Jenny Hseu (許珍珍), a lawyer at the Tsar & Tsai law firm (常在國際法律事務所).

If the foundation obtained authorization from a majority of members to act on their behalf, it could proceed with the legal process, she said.

In response, Alexander said it would respect any such action by the consumers, said Liu Li-An (劉立恩), a lawyer for the group.

It could be difficult to satisfy these demands within five days, but the company will do all it can, he said, except imposing future responsibilities on the new owners.

"Whether new owners will take over all existing membership responsibilities is out of our control," Liu said.

The health clubs are locked in order to protect the new owners' assets from theft and vandalism, Liu said, not purposely to keep members from retrieving their belongings.

Liu said the company would do its utmost to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.