More Will’s Fitness outlets have closed down following previous closures of some facilities last month. Customers have been complaining about failures to get refunds for memberships.

At least three more gyms in downtown Shanghai, including one in Hongkou District and another in the central Lujiazui area, have closed in addition to the four closures in previous months.

One gym user called PJ complained on social media that it hadn’t occurred to him that the Will’s gym in the Shanghai Tower building would close. He had just renewed his membership for three years.

A Will’s outlet on Kaixuan Road in Changning District said in a notice on Monday that it is suspending operations while negotiating rental issues with a property management firm.

A notice on Will’s WeChat account on Tuesday said it is merging some outlets to optimize its network. Users can transfer their membership to nearby gyms and it will follow contract provisions to provide refunds with a specialist in charge.

However, customers remain dubious.

A customer surnamed Hu said she had failed to get a response from the firm’s customer service channel for several months.

She said some sales representatives were still trying to persuade her from time to time to sign new contracts and extend her membership.

Will’s has over 70 outlets in the city and over two dozen have suspended operations.

City authorities are reminding people to be cautious of long-term gym contracts and the credibility of vendors who sell prepaid cards, especially those for very long periods.

The city has set an upper limit for each anonymous prepaid card at 1,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan for a single identified prepaid card.