Credit Resolution Services gym letter

melxv535 · 10 August 2014 at 9:50AM

Hi
I'm a newbie here looking for some advice.
I rejoined my local gym in Jan '13, I moved house in March and it was difficult for me to continue going, I last went in April '13.
In March this year I wrote to the gym and cancelled my £25 a month DD.
Today I received a letter from Credit Resolution Services saying I owed £200 +£108 fees for them.
As far as I am concerned I have fulfilled my 12 month contract and able to cancel.
Their letter stated I had been sent letters but at no point have I received any previous communication from either the gym or the CCA, also my contact mobile phone number has remained the same and I have had no phone calls.
I have seen various posts on here and other forums with a template letter to send to them asking for an original contract agreement, a statement of account and their instruction from the gym, I was just wondering if there is an up to date template following the changes to which governing body is responsible from April this year?
Any advice appreciated, thanks in advance
Mel

BELLE2014 · 2 September 2014 at 5:21PM

Hi.
I am in a similar situation! I cancelled my gym membership in may and had it acknowledged etc from the gym. Apparently then missed the last payment of 9.99, which I didn't know, bear in mind I had never missed a payment for the year and a half I was with them. I then moved house and didnt think of it again. Until last week when I got a letter from CRS saying I owe them 162.49!!! I rang and questioned it, spoke to an absolute idiot on the phone who said the full amount needed paying, I point blank refused! Said I would pay the 9.99 but not a chance would I be paying 162.49!! I then rang the gym and the man I spoke to agreed how disgusting this was! I am awaiting a phone call back from someone in their finance department tomorrow but any advise or help would also be muchly appreciated!
Thanks

sourcrates · 2 September 2014 at 5:37PM

Depends how long your initial contract was for, may of had a minimum term, also the small print regarding cancellations.
Do either of you have your original agreement/contract ?
did you even sign one ?.
This has been discussed on her before, many times, and seems to be a common problem.

Advice here :

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/scotland/consumer_s/travel_leisure_and_food_e/consumer_gym_membership_e/cancelling_a_gym_membership.htm

mrb1984 · 8 September 2014 at 10:02PM

hi, i was signed up to a gym for a few months cost £9.99 a month, then i got a new house which was over 25 miles away, i then sent a letter to gym confirming i would be moving house and wanted to cancel my membership, i then cancelled my direct debit as i didnt think i should be paying, there terms stated that if you lived more than 15 miles away you could cancel, after about four months a got a letter at my new address from crs i now owed them £208, i rang them up and spoke to a person he said no letter was recieved from me but if i sent it again with proof of new address i would only owe a small cancellation fee, great i thought so i sent letter off with proof, i got a reply from crs my letter was accepted and contract cancelled from august not from febuary when i first sent letter to them, and i now only owed the £198, i then rang them again and told them i thought this was unacceptable and that i dont see how i owe these charges the man on phone said if i payed £112 there and then the debt would be sorted, i refused again, also the gym in question closed down during all this time, thankyou if you have taken time to read my ramblings hope they made sense i just dont know now what i should do, im not going to pay them anything but iam worried about court action, i have offered to just pay 3 payments of £9.99 but they have refused, any advice would be welcome

Hugo234 · 11 November 2014 at 11:02PM

Hi I have never posted on any of these forums but have recently had the misfortune of dealing with CRS and so did some online research on them and found this thread.

I was appalled on how I was spoken to. I was given no option to justify my side of the story and was even told by the representative that he was not interested in my opinions.

It appears that the story of them sending two letters before you actually receiving one is a common theme as this happened to me too. It's bizarre really as I have moved home and have redirect service in place.

In all from the unclear messages I am getting for CRS, I am being charged in the region of £200 for what they say is a £100 debt.

They say in their letter that they are regulated by the FCA and given all the coverage lately on unfair charges, I have taken it upon myself to report CRS to the FCA in the hope that they will look at the strong arm approach that is being adopted.

I suggest that if other people are experiencing the same, and the same run of events that lead to the excessive charges then they should also contact the FCA. This approach should not be allowed in this day and age.

There will be people out there who will be encountering this company and not knowing where to turn. I'm sure that if enough people bring this to the FCA's attention then they will investigate.

This is my opinion.

I am due to contact the gym in which I took out the membership and see if I can deal with them direct.

Thanks

1d0L1s3 · 24 November 2014 at 11:09PM

Hi have recently just received a letter from credit resolution services or CRS claiming I owe them £267.41.

It turns out I cancelled a direct debit with my gym xercise4less in Bolton. I remember cancelling the direct debit as I couldn't work out what it was for, as it came under the name Harlands instead of xercise4less.

Within 2 months I received no letters, emails or phone calls to aware me of this and arrange payment. The only contact made was when CRS said I now owe them money.

My gym membership is only for £9.99 / month and I missed 2 payments since cancelling the direct debit. So they have increased the amount I owe by 1238.4% within a two month period.

xercise4less said their is nothing they can do since it has been passed over to credit resolution services. When I contacted CRS they said the best they could offer me is to pay £40.50 every month for the rest of my membership instead of £9.99.

I was more than willing to pay my membership fees, as it was an honest mistake and I wanted to remain a member - But CRS are clearly only concerned with scamming as much money out of people as they can.

Also when I spoke to Harlands, they said CRS are based in the same office. It seems like something fishy is going on and they are working together to try and add as many fees as they possibly can, by selling on the debt to the firm in the same building.

I have also just noticed in the footer of my letter it says: "Credit resolution services is a trading title of Harlands Services Ltd" So CRS and Harlands are the same company? And within the space of a month they have sold the debt onto themselves and added £102.5 in fees by doing so!

1d0L1s3 · 24 November 2014 at 11:21PM

On searching it turns out CRS are really just Harlands. And they boast on their website how they provide direct debit systems for "Budget Gyms" with low transaction charges to the gyms. Harlands also creates the software to manage the gyms memberships - so essentially they have control over all the "Budget Gym's" members and if for whatever reason you miss a payment they can then charge you whatever fees they like.

They then pass it to their department next door under the pretence they have sold the debt on to another company ( CRS ) , when really this is just the same company and a way to add additional fees.

At this point, I would alert everyone to get in touch with the FCA and report Harlands. They are scamming honest, decent people to charge as much fees as possible through a network of "Budget Gyms" they control. Many people are going to be put through this if they are allowed to continue.

LCampbell92 · 25 November 2014 at 4:37PM

Hi i am also looking for advice.
I joined curves in June 2014, i think it was meant to be £34 a month or so.
Only after a recent visit to the bank i noticed that my direct debit had never been set up from Curves end, which i am now being hassled for £300 odd pound for breach of contract. does anyone know my position here whether i can appeal against this as I believe it to be there fault and not mine as i signed all the paperwork required and they have not set it up.

lolly3fh · 13 January 2015 at 2:35PM

I am having a similar problem with this company.

InNovember, I discovered I may have missed a direct debit payment (this was acouple of days after it was due). I told a member of staff I thought I hadmissed it and that I would like to settle it by card. She informed me that Ihadn’t missed it and my account was up to date. Unfortunately, I took her ather word and carried on using the gym as normal.

Ihave now received a letter from Credit Resolution Services telling me I oweHertsmere Leisure £443.00. They tell me they have sent letters previously, butthis is the first I had received. I checked my bank statements immediately andfound that November’s payment had indeed been missed (as I had suspected!) andas a result, so had December’s as the direct debit had been cancelled.

Bletchley Leisure Centreadvised me to phone Harlands, who handle their direct debits, but they won’tspeak to me; they refer me to CRS. I spoke to CRS who advised that they hadsent several letters to 23 **street name**. This address does not exist; thelast odd number on our street is 21, and I live at 22. Dean at CRS tellsme there is nothing he can do, and that I still owe £443.00. He has emailed“the club” (he wouldn’t tell me who “the club” is, I don't know if this is Bletchley LeisureCentre, Hertsmere Leisure or Beaumonts???) to tell them they have the wrongaddress for me, but I still have to settle this balance.

Ithink, in view of the fact that I TRIED to settle my outstanding balance justdays after it became outstanding, and the fact that I haven’t (through no faultof my own) received a single letter from Harlands, Bletchley Leisure, HertsmereLeisure or Beaumonts Health Club (whoever is going to take responsibility forthis), this outstanding balance of £443.00 should be written off. I still verymuch want to pay for November and December, and reinstate my direct debit.

I have sent an email statins all of the above to the leisure centre, as no one else will speak to me and it's about time I put something in writing. I tried to resolve this problem literally days after I thought I had missed the payment (£38 at the time, 2.5 months later they want £433.00!!), I have been fobbed off time and time again, I was even fobbed off when I told them I had missed a payment. Who can I escalate this to, will FCA or Trading Standards back me up?

lolly3fh · 16 February 2015 at 11:22AM

Further to my last post, I nearly got this resolved. Hertsmere Leisure admitted they had the wrong address for me, and that I tried to settle my outstanding payment with them days after it was overdue. All I had to do was pay for Nov, Dec and Jan and that would bring me up to date, they would scrap the rest of the "debt" as it was their fault. Sounded fair to me so I paid for those months and continued using the gym.

Saturday just gone, 14th Feb, I swiped in at the gym as usual, and was told my membership was cancelled in October and that I owed £5.80. I have written to them, telling them that if my membership was cancelled in October, I want to be refunded for Nov, Dec and Jan.

I am worried now, as that £5.80 could shoot back up to £450 like last time within days. I know I'm over exaggerating now but they are really making me feel victimised, I just want to pay for my membership and use their gym, and all they are doing is causing me grief and distress. I have emailed absolutely anyone who I could get an email address for and sent a copy by recorded mail. Always cover your back in writing, never simply accept a phone call!

jackhe · 20 January 2016 at 4:14PM

Hi there, was this ever resolved?

I am currently having trouble with Harlands/ CRS. I mistakenly cancelled the direct debit with 3 months left on my contract. Over two months later they are now demanding around 280 pounds which of course includes +100 pounds of excess fees.

If you could let me know how/if you resolved this it would be great. Thank you.

Credit Resolution Services gym letter

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