Gym Membership Fee's

StaceO_2

Hi im new to the Money Saving Forum! :j

Can someone please help me with where I stand with cancellation of a 12 month gym membership.

The story......

I joined a gym (Rushden Fitness) in Febuary 2009, i signed a 12 month contract. In late july i received a letter saying that gym was changing management and i had to re-do my direct debit and if i renewed my membership i would receive 2 months free.
I decided to take this opportunity to cancel my membership and join the new gym in my town. I called the current gym to inform them i wouldnt be renewing and the telephonist said this was ok, and woud let the manager know.
I didnt hear anymore so joined my new gym and paid my last payment to the old gym in August as it was changing hands in September. Now i have received a letter stating that i owe my membership charges up until January 2009!! :mad:
I called the gym to say i didnt understand as i thought i had cancelled, he was rather rude and said that i had to honour the 12 months contract or he would take me to court and claim back the money plus expenses and i would receive a black mark on my credit rating!!

I dont know where I stand and im scared t I might be taken to court!!

Anihilator

You might be.

If you had a valid contract and that was ending in January 2009 you are then liable either for the membership til then or the cancellation costs (If they have them).

If you dont pay this then they are entitled to take you to court and ask for a CCJ if you dont pay.

isplumm

StaceO wrote: »

Hi im new to the Money Saving Forum! :j

Can someone please help me with where I stand with cancellation of a 12 month gym membership.

The story......

I joined a gym (Rushden Fitness) in Febuary 2009, i signed a 12 month contract. In late july i received a letter saying that gym was changing management and i had to re-do my direct debit and if i renewed my membership i would receive 2 months free.
I decided to take this opportunity to cancel my membership and join the new gym in my town. I called the current gym to inform them i wouldnt be renewing and the telephonist said this was ok, and woud let the manager know.
I didnt hear anymore so joined my new gym and paid my last payment to the old gym in August as it was changing hands in September. Now i have received a letter stating that i owe my membership charges up until January 2009!! :mad:
I called the gym to say i didnt understand as i thought i had cancelled, he was rather rude and said that i had to honour the 12 months contract or he would take me to court and claim back the money plus expenses and i would receive a black mark on my credit rating!!

I dont know where I stand and im scared t I might be taken to court!!

I'm confused .... you signed a 12 month contract in Feb09 & then decided to cancel in August ... ie. 7 months into a 12 month contract ... so why don't you think you owe the other 5 months? ....

I'm not surprised that he was rude ... I wouldn't be happy if someone signed a 12 month contract & then decided half way through that they didn't want my services ... I'd sue as well ...

All you can do is try & see whether he will allow you to get out of the contract early .... but it doesn't sound like .... maybe tell him you are broke or something ... don't mention the other gym ...

Mark

m_13

Did the old gym change management or ownership? You suggest management at the beginning of your post (which would suggest the contract would continue) but then say 'changing hands' at the end of the post

If it's changed hands - and having to reset up your direct debit would suggest that's the case - then I'm not sure your contract will still exist if you didn't sign up with the new people (no doubt why then offered two months free if you signed up with them).

StaceO_2

m_13
It said in the letter that it was changing management, and they provided me with a new direct debit mandate.

Ipslumm
I would normally totally agree, but as the letter wasnt clear, the way i understood it was that i had to renew membership my completing the new DD mandate. I did also call the gym to tell them i wouldnt be renewing and claiming the 2 free months. Some where along the line wires have been crossed......

Anihilator

Well not really.

You had a membership which you still had five months to run of. The new manager offered people 2 free months to renew i.e to guarentee income.

You didnt take this but it doesnt allow you to get of the contract.

Tbh I don't think you have a leg to stand on here.

pinkshoes

Anihilator wrote: »

Well not really.

You had a membership which you still had five months to run of. The new manager offered people 2 free months to renew i.e to guarentee income.

You didnt take this but it doesnt allow you to get of the contract.

Tbh I don't think you have a leg to stand on here.

I would tend to agree, but...

...if you weren't "renewing" i.e. getting the 2 months free, then what on earth was the other option??

If they were making current memberships continue (as they are suggesting by making the OP pay up), then giving 2 months free would be idiotic and a bad business decision; why give something away free when you could make them pay?

ihatecaptcha

pinkshoes wrote: »

I would tend to agree, but...

...if you weren't "renewing" i.e. getting the 2 months free, then what on earth was the other option??

If they were making current memberships continue (as they are suggesting by making the OP pay up), then giving 2 months free would be idiotic and a bad business decision; why give something away free when you could make them pay?

Because although existing memberships were continuing, they needed new DDs because of the change of management. They offered the 2 free months to get people to return the DDs and save having to chase them. That's my guess.

Anihilator

ihatecaptcha wrote: »

Because although existing memberships were continuing, they needed new DDs because of the change of management. They offered the 2 free months to get people to return the DDs and save having to chase them. That's my guess.

Or they didnt think a lot of people would renew without an incentive and wanted to tie them into a new 12 month contract by giving an incentive.

bingo_bango

Seems fair enough that new DD mandates were needed as obviously the bank accounts would be different.

Unless there were going to be significant differences in the terms of the contract then I don't see that you could cancel. From your post I would have to assume that there was to be no change to terms, and therefore no reason to allow you to cancel.

That said, you have of course a verbal statement from them (the receptionist) stating that you wouldn't be continuing with the contract and that was OK. If you think this is sufficient, you could write stating that you will continue to pay under protest and take small claims action on the basis of that statement. I don't see any other course of redress that won't involve you having the possibility of a CCJ hanging over you.

This is really a 'he said, she said' situation, and would need a legal opinion to decide.

Good luck with taking this on, but remember that if the service they offered when you initially took the contract out isn't changing, then getting a judge to release you from the contract could prove difficult.

StaceO_2

Thanks everyone. I think im going to just pay up, but make it clear that im not happy with the communication between the gym owner, his staff and myself. I would never have thought I was not a member if it wasnt for the receptionist.