Power Of Fitness, Palm Springs, CA And Liu Kapulani Chow, Ikaika Koa Fitness
Unlicensed trainer Lui Chow ripped me off for $125 when Power of Fitness set me up with him for orientation

On July 13th at 11 A.M. I reported to Power of Fitness to meet Lui Chow for a free member orientation. On a previous day, John at the front desk of Power of Fitness had given me Mr. Chow's name and number to arrange a time, and said the gym recommends him especially to people with injuries.
I was expecting Mr. Chow to show me how to exercise using the machines. After forty-five minutes of Mr. Chow extolling his virtues to me as a personal trainer, I felt dizzy. He said it would be impossible for someone with my injuries to make any progress without someone knowledgeable like him.
He wrote down $375.00/10 sessions on a piece of paper and asked me if my future health was worth this figure. I said my fixed income could not possibly allow that. I wouldn't have enough to live on the rest of the month. He said I could pay him $125 that day and make out a $250 postdated check he would cash on August 1st when my retirement check came in. That way we could start the very next day at 2:45 P.M. If I would just go out to my car right then and get my checkbook.
Part of me wanted to believe that Mr. Chow could really help me. Another voice said I was being hustled by a con man. I was simply exhausted from listening to him go on and on. After he took my checks, he spent 5 minutes showing me two machines. He hurt me on the very first machine. He pushed down the rollers on top of my bad knee (where the surgical knee components have separated), and even when I pleaded with him to remove them because they were hurting me, he said. "Calm down, I will adjust them if necessary. I have them in the right place. They are lined up with the circle right there, can't you see?" I continued to cry out that I was in pain, but he ignored me, until I raised my voice, and said "Get these off me NOW!" "Oh, you get too excited. I know what I'm doing. We have to line up the side of your knee with the yellow circle. Calm down. You have to trust me." He was so unconcerned with my pain, even smiled sadistically. Finally, he removed them and adjusted my seat, and told me to lift my leg again. Five repetitions twice. After that, he moved me to an adjacent machine, also to work the femur muscles, another two sets of 5 reps. That was it. I doubt if he spent five minutes total with me. He showed me nothing else.
That night and the next morning I tried calling Mr. Chow's cell phone to cancel with him. I got a Verizon recording that the phone had been disconnected. I reached him later that morning on the phone at Power of Fitness.
When he heard that I wanted to cancel my 2:45 session and get my money back, Mr. Chow said, "No, we can't do that. I have already cashed the $125 and you have already started sessions with me." When I questioned what did he mean, he said that the day before we had gone over the time for a free orientation and that he had already worked with me for a personal session and needed payment for that time. I was shocked! What a con artist! The truth is all he had done was sell himself to me, con me for money, then hurt me for 5 minutes."
As it turns out, Mr. Chow has not been licensed as a Personal Trainer since October. He is in collections with the City of Palm Springs. I have informed the Assistant Manager of Power of Fitness, Tiffany Jones, of this today.
Mr. Chow owes me $125.00. He went to my bank and cashed the check the same day and now says he cannot pay me back because he used it to pay a bill. He returned the postdated check, however, for $250, which I had already stopped payment on.
Power of Fitness would take no responsibility for my loss of $125, even though they recommended Mr. Chow to me and have allowed him, an unlicensed person, to work daily at their gym since October with people who have serious injuries and are at great risk. I saw him working with one man in a wheel chair just today. It was at Power of Fitness that they allowed Mr. Chow to waste my time and con me and hurt me.

Company: Power Of Fitness, Palm Springs, CA And Liu Kapulani Chow, Ikaika Koa Fitness
Country: USA
State: California
City: Palm Springs
Address: 170 S. Sunrise Way
Phone: 7603277979

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