HELP!!! Cancellation of David Lloyd Gym!

stellamanella · 22 November 2007 at 1:58PM

Hi, this is my first post & not sure if I’ve posted it in the right place, but here it goes...
Basically I joined the gym around Feb 07 at £58per month. Anyway shortly after I received a letter from David Lloyd saying this was going up to £60per month in October. I phoned and they said I had to write to them on 29th May to cancel the membership as I was moving away, but might be moving back to the area sometime in the future so I would rejoin then. (In their T&C's they have a 3months cancellation policy). I moved house and after 3 months I cancelled my direct debit.

In September I received a letter saying they hadn’t received the payment and unless they received the next 2 months (totaling up to £181.50) they would forward it to debt collectors. :mad:

I phoned them up to say I'd sent them a letter on the 29th may to cancel and they said that I should have got a receipt for it either proof of postage from the post office or a receipt at reception if I handed it in, and as stated in their terms and conditions I needed to receive a receipt from them to acknowledge this. I wrote to them again (Original letter attached) saying I as far as I was concerned I had already paid the 3months I owed, my financial situation had changed & couldn’t pay another £181, and I didn’t even live in the area now to use the gym. They got back to me basically saying exactly the same thing, "as stated in their t&c I should have got a receipt. I wrote to them again saying I couldn’t afford this and is there anything they can do as It seemed to be their mistake for misplacing the original letter.

I then received a letter from the debt collectors asking for the £181 or they'd take me to court and it would affect my credit rating. I gave them a ring and explained the situation they said they'd give me a call in a week to see what had happened.

I need to know what to do next, DL just keep giving me the same excuse of "as stated in their T&C's" etc. Does anyone know what the laws are for this? Is there anyone I can make a complaint to? As far as I was concerned I paid the 3 months they were asking for and didn’t even use the thing for those 3months. I really cannot afford another £181 just before Christmas, they are being really unreasonable and when I try to phone them there is either no answer from the manager (I can only speak to him apparently) and they are quite rude on the phone.

I’ve googled cancellation problems for David Lloyd Gyms and it seems a lot of people have this problem with them. Either letters going missing, and having to fork out another 3 months or they say (if you've sent the letter near the end of the month) the manager is on holiday and he's the only one who can acknowledge these letters, therefore it carries on to the next month (it can only count from the 1st of the month) and you have to pay 4 months notice instead of 3. :mad:

Someone has suggested I offer to pay them £1 per month a duration of x years and they have to accept this and back off, does anyone know the law on this?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated and the sooner the better please!!!

Thanks in advance! xxx:D

SmileBeHappy · 22 November 2007 at 2:07PM

so hang on.... you joined, and paid £58 a month, they then asked for £60 a month and you cancelled

Now when you cancel you have to pay the next three months regardless (i.e if i quit now id have to pay november december and january anyway)

if you have written to them and paid these 3months then they are in the wrong.

However unless you have proof that you have sent this letter.... then there could be an issue

However im assuming by your bank statements you have proof you've paid the additional 3months fees?

And no... this isn't in the right place, but someone will move it

EDIT- what branch is this may i ask?

stellamanella · 22 November 2007 at 2:35PM

Sorry for posting here, Im a bit new to this :-)

Yes, they increased the membership (not just to me, but for everyone), but that wasnt the reason I cancelled, and havent mentioned this to them only that I moved from the area. I did however send them a letter and carried on with my direct debit for 3 months, after this I cancelled my direct debit.

They have a 3month cancellation policy, so if you cancelled today, you'd have to pay off November, and then your 3months would start, so you'd have to pay December, January, February.

I'm really sorry to say i was naive enough to send this original letter via regular 1st class post so I don't really have proof, except a copy of the original letter on my computer. They know I have paid the 3months I say, but I still have to pay an additional 3months as they say they never received the original letter. I'm really shocked about the way theyre handling this and they don't waste any time in getting the debt collectors in. They don't even want to listen to me, just that they want £181 and that's that. Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks x

SmileBeHappy · 22 November 2007 at 2:42PM

The sensible thing to do would have been to wait for a response, or harrassed them for a respsonse to get them to clarify they received ur letter

There is a good chance they never did receive your letter, and it was the fault of royal mail

Your reason for cancelling was becuase you were moving away.... can't you just use that david lloyd if you still want the gym usage?

I would suggest arranging a meeting with the head of membership, and if that fails, the general manager.

Do not agree to see another manager, they could be, quite likely, the head of hospitality etc, and know little about your issue.

stellamanella · 22 November 2007 at 2:58PM

Looking back at it now I should have chased it up more, but i was moving from the area (from Liverpool to Wales and there is no DL gym for 60 miles) I had a lot on my plate with the move and didnt think much of it, basically I thought it was a gym and there shouldnt be too much problems if ive done my bit. I also mentioned to them when I move back i'll rejoin, (I now have no intention to do this as i do not like the way they do things here.) But basically it's only the general manager Im allowed to speak to as he's the one that makes these decisions but he's having none of it. i don't think actually arranging a meeting will solve anything, ill just end up hitting him ;-). Basically in every letter they quote "as stated in their T&C' It seems they are used to these situations. I've googled cancelling David lloyd gym and there seems to be a lot of people out there who have the same problems with letters going missing, no sense etc.

I think the next thing i'll do is offer them a £1 per month for x amount of months, but does anyone know if there's any kind of law about this? Someone told me there is, but I'll have to have backup incase they reject this. I can then write them a letter saying "as stated in blah blah blah law" here's a £1 for x months. Anyone have any idea if this is true? of if anyone has any better idea's....?

emmaruston · 19 December 2008 at 7:24AM

hi
i am having the exact problem. i actually have moved to thailand and have provided them with all the relevent documentation but they are not accepting this based upon the fact that this is my second move. as far as i am aware it is a free country and i can move as much as i like, and secondly that i doesn't actually stipulate in the agreement that the max amount of times you can relocate is once. i am awaiting a reply after basically telling them my next port of call would be head office (but judging from previous posts this usually leads to a dead end too), but failing this i am tempted to say 'see you in court' as i feel i have done everything required of me in cancelling this membership. i am just waiting for them to send me a copy of the contract i signed (misplaced mine in the move), where i will read the very small print before saying the imortal words. wish me luck. will keep you posted with my progress as it may help future problems for other posters.
emma

Fire_Fox · 19 December 2008 at 10:59PM

Most commercial gym chains are this bad. At the end of the day it is a money making enterprise not a service. If the manager knows you are unlikely to ever use their gym again (e.g. moved out of the area) they will try to screw you for every penny. Some gyms operate that the member of staff who gets you to pay up gets a percentage. So they will ring constantly and lie to you about the consequences.

As always noted on the Debt Free Wannabe board (you can post this kind of stuff on there, a lovely bunch) DO NOT do anything by telephone. Write and always send by recorded delivery. They are using the 'broken record' technique on you - do the same to them. Repeat the facts and repeat that you dispute the debt. If the worst happens and bailiffs contact you DO NOT let them into your home and DO NOT speak to them by telephone. Post on the DFW board for more advice on debt collection.

Yes they could take you to court, but they won't necessarily win. If you can prove the date you moved (e.g. tenancy agreement at new home) and that you continued to pay for a full three months without attending the gym once (esp. if you have previously attended regularly) that is circumstantial evidence that you followed procedure and cancelled.

lhi2i · 2 July 2010 at 9:35AM

My experience over 10 years of membership at David Lloyd is that their admin is a mess and they reach for debt collectors before they try to sort their problems out. They chased me twice - first time they ended up paying me £500 and the second £2000 (I had a founder membership)! Their debt collection people, ARC Europe last time, must know their client has suspect admin but ignored the evidence I produced to them.

I have now left David Lloyd (more like a factory than a club) and joined an independent friendly cheaper local gym and have written to the OFT about David Lloyd's practices and the lack of duty of care of the debt collector.

I recommend that you use the small claims court to sue both David Lloyd and the debt collection company whenever they wrongly pursue you and sort out a damages claim which could include Harrassment under the protection from harrassment Act. The more claims they recieve the more likely it is they will work out they need to rethink their approach.

spoil_sport · 19 August 2010 at 11:25AM

Hi

I'm new to this site also. I was looking for offers and promotions for DL using google and this thread appeared.

Not sure if I should join or not now. The visit I made this week showed a lot of happy customers enjoying the facilities. It's got everything I would want to use rather than the cheaper alternatives who either don't have a pool or dont have courts.

Is the 3 month notice scheme still in place - that's shocking. I would understand 1 month but 3 is a joke.

kermitfrog · 19 August 2010 at 11:55AM

This is the Site Feedback forum - it's a forum about this site.

Suggest you find a more suitable forum such as 'Consumer Rights' or similar.

HELP!!! Cancellation of David Lloyd Gym!

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