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Cancel gym membership after only 10 days since joining

sezmcd
Posts: 22 Forumite
Hiya,
Can anyone give me any adice please. I have been trawling the site for 2 hours now!
I got a flyer thru my door 10 days ago offering cheap gym membership, so I went ahead with it, paying £41 join up fee. It was only on my induction that I found that I couldnt use the pool at any other times than 9-10am and 2-4pm each day, plus pool exercise classes were an additional £5 per session on top of my membership, plus the gym is closed on Sundays (weekends are my only 2 days off a week). So I phoned them today asking to cancel it & have been told that i cant & that I'm stuck in the agreement for the next 36 months!!
The pictures on the flyer showed a wonderful gym, but the equipment is actually in a conservatory (its the same place as in the picture, just a clever camera angle), the weights area is tucked away into a corner with only 1 weights bench, & there is only 2 mats to do sit-ups etc, that are virtually on top of each other!! The flyer lead me to believe that I would get personal training, but I've been told that I've got to go for at least 2 weeks before they'll design a personal programme for me. I havent even used the gym yet!!
I havent received any T&C's from them so cannot check that, & cannot get hold of a copy from when i paid & signed up online (they also accepted a tick box as my signature).
Surely I am within a cooling-off period, but they told me that there is no such thing?!
Any help or advice would be much appreciated! Thanks,
Sez
Can anyone give me any adice please. I have been trawling the site for 2 hours now!
I got a flyer thru my door 10 days ago offering cheap gym membership, so I went ahead with it, paying £41 join up fee. It was only on my induction that I found that I couldnt use the pool at any other times than 9-10am and 2-4pm each day, plus pool exercise classes were an additional £5 per session on top of my membership, plus the gym is closed on Sundays (weekends are my only 2 days off a week). So I phoned them today asking to cancel it & have been told that i cant & that I'm stuck in the agreement for the next 36 months!!
The pictures on the flyer showed a wonderful gym, but the equipment is actually in a conservatory (its the same place as in the picture, just a clever camera angle), the weights area is tucked away into a corner with only 1 weights bench, & there is only 2 mats to do sit-ups etc, that are virtually on top of each other!! The flyer lead me to believe that I would get personal training, but I've been told that I've got to go for at least 2 weeks before they'll design a personal programme for me. I havent even used the gym yet!!
I havent received any T&C's from them so cannot check that, & cannot get hold of a copy from when i paid & signed up online (they also accepted a tick box as my signature).
Surely I am within a cooling-off period, but they told me that there is no such thing?!
Any help or advice would be much appreciated! Thanks,
Sez
0
Comments
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Surely the contract you signed specified it was off peak membership?
If you joined the gym without seeing it first.......
Distance selling regulations allow you 7 days to cancel.
I take it you are over 18? Did you pay by credit card?
If you signed up without seeing the terms and conditions you could have agreed to anything!! have you got a link to the website? Are the terms not displayed on there?
Rather unusual for a gym to be closed Sundays.,or is it that your membership package doesn't allow it?
It is fairly normal to charge for some classes,it was up to you to check that,unless the leaflet was specifically misleading I don't see what you can do.0 -
You say you signed online, in which case as hollydays states the DSR come into effect and you have 7 days to cancel which unfortunately doesn't really help you as you say its been 10 days unless of course you tried to cancel within the 7 days and they refused.
36 months also seems an excessive amount of time to sign for.
I would suggest getting in touch with Consumer direct or Citizens advice would be useful for you if you get nowhere with the gym they will have current OFT guidance on gym terms and get a lot of complaints about gyms !"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
Bertrand Russell. British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 - 1970)0 -
OFT warns consumers: exercise your judgement when signing up to a gym
5/09 19 January 2009
The OFT is warning consumers carrying out New Year's resolutions of joining a gym to beware of potentially misleading sales tactics and check carefully before signing any contracts.
In some cases consumers have received unsolicited phone calls, leaflets or pop-ups on websites claiming they have won a free 'gift' of gym membership. However, once they have called up a number they discover that their so-called 'gift' requires them to pay a monthly fee and to sign up to a credit agreement. When they have tried to cancel the agreement members are pressurised into continuing making payments.
Separately, the OFT has worked over recent years to secure undertakings with Fitness First, Topnotch, Bannatyne, Esporta, David Lloyd Leisure and LA Fitness to improve their terms and conditions on issues such as cancellations and clarity under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations which ensure contracts must not be unfairly weighted against consumers. However, the OFT is warning that once a gym contract has been signed it is usually for a set period of 12 or 24 months and cannot be simply disregarded if you no longer wish to use the services.
Before signing up for gym membership consumers are advised to:- shop around to make sure you are getting the best deal
- ask specific questions such as 'what happens if I'm ill or injured and unable to use the facilities?
- ask if they offer any trial periods or short-term memberships
- if the salesperson makes verbal promises such as 'you can cancel your membership at any time', ask them where this is set out in their terms and conditions or, if they are not, to confirm the point in writing
- only join up if you are sure you can afford the payments and commit to the time involved
- look out for terms that automatically extend the official membership period without consent
- check for exactly how long you must be a member and the circumstances in which you may cancel your membership, and
- if you are told you have won a gift or a prize from a competition, be careful and ask yourself if you have actually entered any competition - and investigate the terms thoroughly before signing any documents.
Mike Haley, OFT Director of Consumer Protection, said:
'While joining a gym is a positive step with a huge range of benefits, consumers should carefully consider the terms of joining before signing up to the service and only do so if it is right for their circumstances. It is often when members try to end a contract with their gym that they realise they have committed to paying for a service over a long period of time and they cannot cancel without paying a charge.'
NOTES
1. Consumer Direct is a telephone and online consumer advice service, supported by the OFT and delivered working in partnership with Local Authority Trading Standards. It provides clear, practical, impartial advice to help resolve problems and disagreements with suppliers of goods or services. Contact 08454 04 05 06 or visit the Consumer Direct website.
http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2009/05-09"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
Bertrand Russell. British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 - 1970)0 -
Thank guys.
The gym is actually closed on Sundays - which I also thought was odd! Havent received a hard copy at all of the T&C's. When I joined online there was a statement saying that they would accept my tick in a box as my signature. Now I cant get the T&C's off the site without joining again!
Looks like I'll be moving out of the area!! Thanks once again.0 -
I joined LA Fitness a couple of years back and they said free parking that was my main reason for joining. The first day I went to a class I couldn't get a parking space because the sainsburys customers next door were using the spaces:mad: I tried to get LA Fitness to terminate the contract but they said no way Jose. I contacted the trading standards and they sorted it out for me:beer:0
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omg i didn't see you had signed up for 36 months!
Keep the leaflet-or get hold of another one,I think you should be combing that leaflet for any misleading statements.0 -
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Hiya,
Can anyone give me any adice please. I have been trawling the site for 2 hours now!
I got a flyer thru my door 10 days ago offering cheap gym membership, so I went ahead with it, paying £41 join up fee. It was only on my induction that I found that I couldnt use the pool at any other times than 9-10am and 2-4pm each day, plus pool exercise classes were an additional £5 per session on top of my membership, plus the gym is closed on Sundays (weekends are my only 2 days off a week). So I phoned them today asking to cancel it & have been told that i cant & that I'm stuck in the agreement for the next 36 months!!
The pictures on the flyer showed a wonderful gym, but the equipment is actually in a conservatory (its the same place as in the picture, just a clever camera angle), the weights area is tucked away into a corner with only 1 weights bench, & there is only 2 mats to do sit-ups etc, that are virtually on top of each other!! The flyer lead me to believe that I would get personal training, but I've been told that I've got to go for at least 2 weeks before they'll design a personal programme for me. I havent even used the gym yet!!
I havent received any T&C's from them so cannot check that, & cannot get hold of a copy from when i paid & signed up online (they also accepted a tick box as my signature).
Surely I am within a cooling-off period, but they told me that there is no such thing?!
Any help or advice would be much appreciated! Thanks,
Sez
You need to be very honest with yourself, did you actually read the terms and conditions in full before signing up? What misleading statements can you recall from your initial online contact? How much of the above is down to you not checking what you were paying for?
From where I am sitting, some of these issues are because you didn't do your homework - I cannot believe you signed up to a 36 month contract without a tour of the club! :eek: DO NOT stop paying or 'move away' until you have a valid reason for doing so as they may get the debt collectors involved.
Personal training ... two weeks to wait is not much out of three years membership. Most places wouldn't give you an induction or one-to-one sessions. Find out what exactly what qualifications (name, level, awarding body) the instructors have and post them here or PM me, and also PM me the exact wording on the flyer. It's only personal training if you are being instructed by a appropriately qualified personal trainer: if it's free, they probably aren't.Declutterbug-in-progress.⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️0 -
Which gym is it?0
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I got a flyer thru my door 10 days ago offering cheap gym membership, so I went ahead with it,
People seem to not be aware of the DSR cancellation times:
1 - It is 7 WORKING days (so 9 days) and for services, it is seven working days from the day after that on which the consumer agrees to go ahead with the contract. Total = 10 days from the date on the contract.
2 - If the company doesn't provide confirmation in writing of the contract and relevant info, the cancellation period can get extended up to 3 months + 7 working days. (if info is provided within those 3 mths, then it's that period + 7 working days).
Write a letter now. Date it today. Drop it off to the gym tonight, even if they are closed, they'll have a letterbox. Take someone with you to take pictures of you dropping the letter there who will be ready to testify witnessing you doing it if need be. Make sure you quote the DSR as I explained it in 1- so there can be no misunderstanding.
If they try to play silly !!!!!!s, you can fall back on 2 -. Either way, you should be covered, but act fast.0
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