Debt collection help!

MissDVL

Another day, another letter.

This time they are acknowledging receipt of my letter, and asking me to send them a £10 fee for the data, however they cannot supply me with all information required under the Data Protection Act!! It's ME the information is about! Utterly ridiculous.

As you can imagine...I will not be sending them this fee unless they give me the information I have asked for

MissDVL

Forgot to mention, today's letter was from ARC, not Trevor Munn.

If they do write to me again I will respond saying I will have no further communication with them as it was Trevor Munn I wrote to in the first place!

loopylou55

Hi all,

I'd like to thank Miss DVL for adding this thread about David Lloyd. I too am having a total nightmare with this gym (Cheadle branch near Stockport).

I prepaid for 12 months and my contract was due to expire at the end of Feb 2009. On 07-January I made a phone call and left a message in Mships for someone to call me - in the meantime I typed a letter (of which I still have evidence on my pc and thus proof I created said letter on the same day) and posted it. On 08-January the gym called me back and I told them that my cancellation letter (albeit early!!!) was already in the post. Next thing I knew ARC became my new No1 penpal claiming I owed 3 months of unpaid membership fees!!!! I was fuming! I spoke (well .. kind of yelled!) at a girl at ARC and also stated that I am happy to take this to court because I've done ntohing wrong.

MANY attempts to speak to the branch manager of the Cheadle gym have been fruitless. How many meetings does one person have?! I have, however, been in "email comms" with one of the office staff there (on the managers behalf) and all I'm ever quoted is the T&C's and how I need PROOF OF POSTAGE in order for them to waive these fees and that it was my responsibility to ensure I received an acknowledgment of my cancellation!

In my defense they DO have a record of my call on 08-January and I believe that the onus was on them to contact me if said letter was not received. That is ... IN THE REAL WORLD!!!!!

Today I received a further phone call from ARC trying to scare me with CCJ hearings - I was quite calm and accepted the details and took a ref number I need to quote to the court in any commmunucations I may have. ARC were rather helpful though - they did suggest that if I was to contact Northampton Court they MAY be able to transfer my hearing to a court closer to home for me!!!!

Shocking!

I then spoke to HQ and was clearly told that NOBODY in David Lloyd (at all apparently!) has the authority to stop such proceedings once they are in the hands of ARC. I don't believe that and have since sent ANOTHER email to the Regional Director : Richard Saunders. I also commented to him how strange it was that so many cancellation letters appear to go missing!! I'm looking forward to his reply becuase FURTHER that that I used the above legal template (thanks!!) and sent it to both the Cheadle branch and Richard Saunders.

I will NOT let these people bully me into paying when I have done nothing wrong. In their world I "apparently" owe them just under £400 (it was a joint membership with my boyfriend).

I have also threatended them with Watchdog - has anyone here already approached Watchdog about this? I think I ill start new thread and try and get a few people in support of this.

Phew - feel a bit better after that bit of a rant!!

Louise

Fire_Fox

Every branch of every commercial gym has tens of people every month who simply cancel or bounce their direct debit: every excuse you can think of they have heard a hundred times before.

Cancellation letters go missing simply because
(a) they are never sent or
(b) they are sent to the wrong place.
Most gym chains ask for notice to head office or a special cancellations department but always in writing. This is to make the system run efficiently for everyone - better the organ grinder than the monkey!

If you have ever worked in a gym (I have for several years) you will be shocked by the sheer volume of members expect to cancel by simply telling the receptionist in passing, phoning to inform you that they have already cancelled the DD, or scribbling out an illegible note - name but no address - on the back of a flyer to hand to the receptionist. The vast majority of those people get really narky when you ask them politely to put it into writing to the appropriate person.

I know this probably sounds like I am on the side of the gyms: I am not, in fact I won't work for commercial gym chains as I hate their high-pressure sales and underhand collection practices. I am sorry for those of you who have been caught out, but I hope you will help others who read this thread avoid the same mistakes.

kiltonga

I cancelled my DD for David Lloyd Leisure within the 12 month period they stipulate. Of course soon after I have ARC (Europe) Ltd and Trevor Munn Solicitors demanding payment of £464 or be taken to Northampton County Court (I live in Northern Ireland). The reasons I left are for genuine personal reasons and I even sent them a lovely letter explaining my personal situation, however they are bullies and don't care about individuals only their money as I have now learnt.

I got out my original Membership Agreement and noticed I had not signed it (happy days), I therefore wrote to David Lloyds asking for a copy of my Membership Agreement. Eventually some weeks later I received a copy through ARC (Europe)Ltd and hey presto my signature had been forged onto the agreement, it is not even a good copy.

I have now sent a Subject Access Request and the £10 fee to ARC asking for all documents held on me to accertain who forged my signature, I have also reported it to my local CID.

I thougtht £10 was worth paying just to see what they do send me.

I have also written to Watchdog reference ARC's tactics.

Watch these people very carefully!!

MissDVL

loopylou55 wrote: »

Hi all,

I'd like to thank Miss DVL for adding this thread about David Lloyd. I too am having a total nightmare with this gym (Cheadle branch near Stockport).

I prepaid for 12 months and my contract was due to expire at the end of Feb 2009. On 07-January I made a phone call and left a message in Mships for someone to call me - in the meantime I typed a letter (of which I still have evidence on my pc and thus proof I created said letter on the same day) and posted it. On 08-January the gym called me back and I told them that my cancellation letter (albeit early!!!) was already in the post. Next thing I knew ARC became my new No1 penpal claiming I owed 3 months of unpaid membership fees!!!! I was fuming! I spoke (well .. kind of yelled!) at a girl at ARC and also stated that I am happy to take this to court because I've done ntohing wrong.

MANY attempts to speak to the branch manager of the Cheadle gym have been fruitless. How many meetings does one person have?! I have, however, been in "email comms" with one of the office staff there (on the managers behalf) and all I'm ever quoted is the T&C's and how I need PROOF OF POSTAGE in order for them to waive these fees and that it was my responsibility to ensure I received an acknowledgment of my cancellation!

In my defense they DO have a record of my call on 08-January and I believe that the onus was on them to contact me if said letter was not received. That is ... IN THE REAL WORLD!!!!!

Today I received a further phone call from ARC trying to scare me with CCJ hearings - I was quite calm and accepted the details and took a ref number I need to quote to the court in any commmunucations I may have. ARC were rather helpful though - they did suggest that if I was to contact Northampton Court they MAY be able to transfer my hearing to a court closer to home for me!!!!

Shocking!

I then spoke to HQ and was clearly told that NOBODY in David Lloyd (at all apparently!) has the authority to stop such proceedings once they are in the hands of ARC. I don't believe that and have since sent ANOTHER email to the Regional Director : Richard Saunders. I also commented to him how strange it was that so many cancellation letters appear to go missing!! I'm looking forward to his reply becuase FURTHER that that I used the above legal template (thanks!!) and sent it to both the Cheadle branch and Richard Saunders.

I will NOT let these people bully me into paying when I have done nothing wrong. In their world I "apparently" owe them just under £400 (it was a joint membership with my boyfriend).

I have also threatended them with Watchdog - has anyone here already approached Watchdog about this? I think I ill start new thread and try and get a few people in support of this.

Phew - feel a bit better after that bit of a rant!!

Louise

You're welcome Louise Anything I can do to help others who are also at the hands of these idiots at the moment is my pleasure!

I *touch wood* haven't heard from ARC or David Lloyd or Trevor Muppet for a couple of weeks now. This could just mean they are beginning legal proceedings but w/e! Nice to have peace and quiet for a bit

The last letter I had was from ARC asking me to send them a cheque for £10 to cover the cost of a Subject Access Request, which I obviously didn't do because I'm not paying them another penny.

Louise, re Northampton County Court, the only reason they use this court as a medium is because they have online facilities, so the proceedings can take place over the internet rather than you having to attend a court hearing as such. You wont have to physically attend Northampton Court (if they actually take it that far, which is doubtful!)

And with regards to Watchdog, during my extensive research on this matter I have found quite a lot of people have complained about it to Watchdog but unless they get in excess of hundreds of complaints they won't investigate. It's worth complaining about if you have faith in them but I personally haven't bothered!

Let us know how you get on.

Danni x

kiltonga

MissDVL wrote: »

Forgot to mention, today's letter was from ARC, not Trevor Munn.

If they do write to me again I will respond saying I will have no further communication with them as it was Trevor Munn I wrote to in the first place!

I too have now adopted this practice of responding to Trevor Munn directly at his real practice address and not the PO Box one as stated on ARC's letters.

He has yet to personaly respond to information I have requested from him and ARC are still replying for him and asking me to respond only to the PO Box address for Mr Munn.

I have now informed ARC that I will be pursuing Mr Munn continually to his real practice address until HE and NOT ARC respond to my justifiable questions in regard to my apparent debt and the County Court threats.

This whole saga to date has been very enjoyable and I would sincerely hope nobody in a similar situation feels worried or intimidated by these faceless individuals.

TWI_2

Well, I have just received my first letter from Trevor Munn. I live on the continent now, which is why I cancelled my UK gym membership when I moved at the beginning of this year. All my post is forwarded and I get it quite a while after it is sent. I do notice nothing from Arc/Tmunn is sent recorded so I have no idea what else they may have sent me that has not reached me.
The last letter I sent them was the one that MissDVL kindly supplied in this thread. It did not stop the phone calls, which come via my UK number and so as well as being unpleasant, also cost me money. They did send me another letter with a photocopy of my gym membership form but that is all. They certainly have not provided any other details regarding calls or correspondence between us. I guess I will just wait and see what happens next or resend the previous letter again direct to Trevor Munn asking for all the details they have on me.
I was originally very reasonable with David Lloyd as I offered to pay 3 months despite moving abroad, they disagreed, then agreed and then Arc got involved and since then I decided to be less prepared to pay up. Will be very interested to hear how things progress for other people who are prepared to fight this intimidation. I am certainly prepared to take it as far as I need to.
One interesting point is that a couple I know who moved abroad leaving the same gym, under the same contract as I have 6 months before (also before it was bought by David Lloyd) were allowed out of their contract simply because they were moving abroad. Which would be the reasonable response. Maybe this is a precedent, actually I am wondering if the contract I have, which is with the company previous to David Lloyd taking ownership is even valid with David Lloyd.

MissDVL

TWI wrote: »

They certainly have not provided any other details regarding calls or correspondence between us. I guess I will just wait and see what happens next or resend the previous letter again direct to Trevor Munn asking for all the details they have on me.

They sent nothing at all to me, just kept sending letters threatening court action.

To date I have had no court proceedings begun against me, and the last letter I received was about 5 weeks ago, so I consider the matter closed on my account.

A note of irony: about five minutes ago I received a phone call from David Lloyd (didn't answer, went to voicemail). I listened to the message, and it was someone from the members department asking how my membership was going, and would I like to attend an open day with friends and family this weekend!!! How funny.

kiltonga

I then spoke to HQ and was clearly told that NOBODY in David Lloyd (at all apparently!) has the authority to stop such proceedings once they are in the hands of ARC.

Louise[/QUOTE]

Absolute rubbish, I have just received today an email from Trevor Munn solicitors stating.... quote

"My Client has been instructed by David Lloyd Leisure (DLL) to withdraw its claim against you, so I have now closed my file".....signed Trevor Munn

Bombard Trevor Munn at his real address as listed by the law society and ARC (Europe) Ltd with letters but send them recorded post. Ignore all requests by ARC not to write or email Trevor Munn direct. Also email continuously. In my case someone in David Lloyds had forged my signature onto the "Membership Agreement" as I had not been asked to sign it when I joined, so maybe I am lucky, however keep at them folks the good guys always win in the end.