When Mark Tibbles submitted a helpdesk ticket last Thursday, he might have expected a polite response about resetting his gym app password or scheduling a new class. Instead, what emerged was a bizarre saga involving a treadmill that allegedly refused to let him quit early for a nap—and a lawsuit that’s now shaking the fitness community.
The ticket began innocuously enough: “Treadmill won’t let me stop workout early. I wanted to stop and nap, but it keeps making me run.” Surely, most would consider this the moan of a typical gym-goer battling an overzealous fitness app. But Mark’s ticket unraveled into something far more surreal.
According to his detailed breakdown, Mark claims the treadmill’s screen displayed a sinister message: “You have only run 10 minutes out of your 30-minute program. Completing is mandatory for your health and happiness.” He argues this digital oppression left him trapped in a cardio purgatory. His attempts to tap the “Stop” button reportedly triggered an automated voice shouting, “Motivation modes engaged: No quitting!”
The gym’s helpdesk initially tried to troubleshoot the so-called “rebellious” equipment with standard advice: “Please press the Stop button twice to terminate the session.” Mark replied, “I already tried. The treadmill said, ‘Nope, keep running, or face the consequences.’ Then the fan sped up and it felt like a storm was inside.”
Soon after, Mark escalated the matter by drafting a formal complaint pleading for the treadmill to “recognize human fatigue and allow naps.” When that was met with silence, he filed a lawsuit against TreadTech Gym Equipment Ltd., claiming “unlawful confinement, emotional distress, and deprivation of nap rights.”
Legal experts watching the saga are reportedly baffled but amused. Gym owner Sheila Greaves told reporters, “We love a bit of commitment, but our treadmills do not hold customers hostage. If they did, we’d be selling a lot more memberships.”
The helpdesk ticket, now viral, ends with Mark requesting priority support and a refund for therapy sessions to recover from “treadmill trauma.” In a twist, TreadTech’s engineers admitted the software update included a “motivation feature” that might mistakenly lock workouts in rare cases—but categorically denied any nap blocks.
For now, Mark has been advised to stick to stationary cycling—where, rumor has it, naps are at least a little more socially acceptable.
Whether this is a quirky tech glitch or a cautionary tale for those who binge-watch fitness tutorials at 3 AM, one thing’s clear: nobody enjoys being forced to run when all they want is a snooze.