When I joined a gym in Taipei (Fitness Factory) they asked me to fill a physical (on paper) Credit Card Authorization form. It had my name, card number and signature. But it did not have mention of how much I will be paying per month.
Per month fees was on another form (contract with gym).
I noticed that they don’t deduct money from my account on specific days of month. Sometimes it’s the first day of month, sometimes third etc. So I think money deduction is not an automatic process.
Recently they asked me to fill that form again since they could not deduct money last month (I confirmed with bank website, true enough, no money had been deducted for the latest month).
Questions -
How do this authorization forms work? Where does the gym take them?
Is the money withdrawal process automatic or manual?
Is it safe to give card number on paper like that?
It looks seriously shady, I know, but it seems legit. For whatever reason, Taiwan does not have access to (or doesn’t use) the secure systems used by credit card companies for automatic repeated billing.
If you’re really worried, you could try doing one-off annual payments? Most gyms seem to be happy with this.
I opened a second bank account just for my gym membership. I just emptied out the account and pay the gym in cash when they cry enough about not being able to process my bank payment.
Never been double charged or anything and usually my card is charged on the 28th but sometimes it has been on a different date.
When I went back home they froze my account so I didn’t pay for that month, you just go in and tell them then bring proof of your plane ticket when you get back and you won’t pay for the next month after proving it.
