Fitness First have sent in muscle men

sue_marie

S signed a contract with Fitness First, agreeing to pay £27 a month for 12 months. CARS stands for CreditLink Account Recovery Solutions. They sent a letter addressed to my son last week demanding £132.80 for Fitness First "thereby avoiding more formal debt recovery actions".
I assume Fitness First handed them the file with my correspondence saying that my son was in NZ.
If only he hadn't asked me to open all his mail while he's away...

LittleVoice

sue_marie wrote: »

Over the next two months, I went in three times to try to sort this out, rang their head office (my calls were ignored), wrote them letters and sent emails but, apart from one letter saying they couldn't discuss it with me because of data protection, all my other comms were ignored. My son's membership fee was taken from his account until he cancelled the DD in June.

Other than going in to "try to sort this out", did you actually try to use the membership which should have been transferred to you? Who was then meant to be paying the subscription? What was wrong with the paperwork completed when your son was in the UK? Someone should have been paying for the membership, so why not pay it?

Do FF have an automatic renewal - so that unless your son can prove he gave notice, then it will be renewed and the money continue to be due?

It seems your son has to be involved in sorting this out, halfway up a mountain or not.

sue_marie

Hi. I went into Fitness First a few times in March/April until it became obvious that I wasn't a member. Son and I signed the forms to transfer membership to me, including the direct debit. FF continued to take money from son's UK account, making him overdrawn because he had no income going in there. I asked Fitness First to tell me what the problem was with the forms - which, don't forget, their manager had checked before we left the gym - but Fitness First say they can't discuss it with me because of data protection (i.e. I'm not the member!). Argh. Now they've sent in the debt recovery heavies, for a debt that only exists because of their incompetence in checking the paperwork in March.
Son has no internet access ... miles from nearest internet cafe ...middle of winter there ... deep snow ... transport issues.

KeithP

So, what are 'the heavies' going to do?

You are not responsible for the alleged debt.
You have just told us (again) that your son is uncontactable, so 'the heavies' have nowhere to go.

Forget it.