Personal Trainer Took Your Money and Disappeared? Get Your Refund

You paid $1,200 up front for 20 sessions. You did four. Then the trainer “went through some stuff”, moved gyms, stopped replying, and finally blocked you on Instagram. You feel embarrassed for trusting them, and you have no idea how to get $960 back from someone who will not even read your messages.

Take a breath. This is a simple debt, and the law is very clear on it.

You paid for a service. They did not provide it.

Under the Australian Consumer Law, a service must be supplied within the time agreed or, if none was agreed, within a reasonable time (section 62). When a trainer takes your money and does not deliver the sessions, that is a total failure of consideration. In plain English: you paid for something and got nothing. You are entitled to that money back.

It does not matter whether:

• They are a sole trader working out of a park
• You paid by bank transfer or cash
• There was no written contract, only Instagram DMs
• They say they are “going through a hard time”

Sympathy is fine. It does not cancel a debt.

Work out exactly what you are owed

Do the maths and put it in writing:

1. Total paid: $1,200
2. Sessions promised: 20 (so $60 each)
3. Sessions delivered: 4 ($240)
4. Refund owed: $960

If they also sold you a meal plan or an app subscription that never arrived, add that too.

Why a Letter of Demand works on ghosters

People who ghost are counting on you being too awkward to push. A Letter of Demand is not awkward. It is formal, it is calm, and it lands in a place they cannot block: their email, their postal address, or their gym. It says:

• What you paid and when
• What was promised and what was delivered
• The amount you demand and the section of the ACL that supports it
• A 14-day deadline
• That you will file in the small claims tribunal, and that a judgment will follow them

A tribunal judgment can be enforced against their bank account or wages, and they know they cannot run a fitness business with that hanging over them.

Finding them when they have vanished

You need a name and an address or email. Check the ABN lookup (abr.business.gov.au) for their registered business name. Check the payment reference on your bank statement. Ask the gym they worked from. If you paid to a PayID, your bank can confirm the account holder name. A first name and an Instagram handle is not enough for a tribunal, so do this legwork first.

If they still ignore you

File at NCAT, VCAT, QCAT or your state’s small claims division. Filing fees for claims under $10,000 are typically $50 to $150. You bring your bank statement, the DMs, and your letter. There is no lawyer on the other side. It is you, a member, and the facts.

You worked hard for that $960. Ask for it back in writing this week.

Claim Done drafts your Letter of Demand for $49. Done in about 5 minutes. You approve it before it is sent.