Gym Membership - Credit rating and legal issues?
Bluntbanana
Posts: 4 Newbie
Hi,
So i joined a gym seeral months back on a one month renewing contract. (Not tied in for 12 months basically).
The deal works that i dont pay until the date set, so 25th i think my payments go out, even though i may have signed up 10th for example.
Problem came when i decided to cancel to save money, as i went for a few months and didnt have any opportunity to go again for the forseeable. I cancelled through my bank, closing the direct debit. All was fine until i started getting texts saying im overdue which i thought was fine its just them trying to get me to join back or something. But then after a few texts i was curious as to why they were still chasing, and i looked at their site and ive incurred a 45 bloody quid late payment charge. Now, it didnt state anything about late payment charges but ive recently checked and seen they do mention giving a months notice prior to cancelling.
So, my question, will this effect my credit rating and can they have any legal grounds for the late payment charge? It seems ridiculous to me personally. They state they will pass this on to their debt collection department should i not pay.
So i joined a gym seeral months back on a one month renewing contract. (Not tied in for 12 months basically).
The deal works that i dont pay until the date set, so 25th i think my payments go out, even though i may have signed up 10th for example.
Problem came when i decided to cancel to save money, as i went for a few months and didnt have any opportunity to go again for the forseeable. I cancelled through my bank, closing the direct debit. All was fine until i started getting texts saying im overdue which i thought was fine its just them trying to get me to join back or something. But then after a few texts i was curious as to why they were still chasing, and i looked at their site and ive incurred a 45 bloody quid late payment charge. Now, it didnt state anything about late payment charges but ive recently checked and seen they do mention giving a months notice prior to cancelling.
So, my question, will this effect my credit rating and can they have any legal grounds for the late payment charge? It seems ridiculous to me personally. They state they will pass this on to their debt collection department should i not pay.
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Comments
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If you didn't cancel directly with them, then you probably owe them a notice period.
In terms of your credit file, do the terms say that they will report to it?0 -
Nothing mentioned about my credit file in their terms0
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Then settle the bill with them before they instruct a DCA and further costs are added.0
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Also make sure you contact them to cancel if you haven't already. You will have another month to pay from the date you cancel, of top of the charges and missed payments to date.0
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Maybe it will affect your rating but only you can see your rating, if it will affect anything it will be your history.0
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A gym membership is not credit based as you normally pay monthly in advance rather than monthly in arrears like a phone contract. The only time it would hit your credit rating would be if they took you to court (highly unlikely) and you got a issued a ccj.0
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Why did you cancel "through the bank"? This will only have cancelled the Direct Debit, not the contract you still have with the gym.
Most gyms have a one month notice period (some three), but you can't escape this period by simply cancelling the DD.
You'll now have to pay the Late charges and STILL provide notice for the period agreed in your contract!0 -
Bluntbanana wrote: »Hi,
So i joined a gym seeral months back on a one month renewing contract. (Not tied in for 12 months basically).
The deal works that i dont pay until the date set, so 25th i think my payments go out, even though i may have signed up 10th for example.
Problem came when i decided to cancel to save money, as i went for a few months and didnt have any opportunity to go again for the forseeable. We have all been there :-)
I cancelled through my bank, closing the direct debit. You cannot cancel through your bank. What you did was stop making your monthly payments. You cancel your membership by contacting the gym. Until you do so the membership fees continue to be due. All was fine until i started getting texts saying im overdue which i thought was fine its just them trying to get me to join back or something. Perhaps you should have ready them properly. But then after a few texts i was curious as to why they were still chasing, and i looked at their site and ive incurred a 45 bloody quid late payment charge. Now, it didnt state anything about late payment charges but ive recently checked and seen they do mention giving a months notice prior to cancelling. The cancellation policy and any additional charges will be detailed in the contract that you signed.
So, my question, will this effect my credit rating and can they have any legal grounds for the late payment charge? It seems ridiculous to me personally. They state they will pass this on to their debt collection department should i not pay.
Whether is impacts on your credit standing depends on whether the gym reports to CRA's. I am struggling to see why you thought that you could 'cancel with your bank' or that stopping payments cancels the contract. The legality of the charges will be established by your contract with they gym.
As others have suggested. Pay up and learn from the experience.0 -
Yeah my bad. Consider me educated!0
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Oh and it was a presumption i made - cancelling dd i presumed cancelled my membership.
On reflection, a bad decision.0
This discussion has been closed.
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