Gym membership

Light1

I started gym membership with Fitness First at the begininng of December 08, I got the first month free as part of the offer of signing up with them. Towards the end of October I wrote to them saying that I would be cancelling my gym membership at the end of the minimum 12 month period of the contract. I have just received a letter from them saying that I am in a 12 month contract and cannot cancel till the end of December 09, with them stating that "this is when the 12 payments will have been made". As I got 1 month free and have now paid them for 11 months am I not right in thinking that the 12 months have been served. I just wanted some objective opinions on this.

The_Pedant

Ok, lets go back to the basics.
1. What do the terms & conditions say? Do they simply mention a 12 month agreement, or do they cover any sort of introductory ,free period, prior to the commencement of the contract?
- If they simply mention a 12 month agreement, then the fact they gave you a month free should count towards those 12 months, as that was their decision not to charge for that month.

2. Most importantly, when did you sign the agreement?
Provided there isn't any clause to cover that free month, then a reasonable person would expect it to end in 12 months from the date you signed. If however, you only signed at the end of the free month then you may well unfortunately have an extra month; that would also be the case if it (for example) states that the contract will start at the end of the 'introductory month'.

It is worth bearing in mind that the interpretation on the wording of consumer contracts tends to mean what an average, or reasonable person may conclude. Therefore if there is ambiguity, then the law tends to side with the consumer.

Take a look at your agreement & see where you stand.

Light1

The contract states that membership is for a minimum of 12 months and that membership started on 2/12/08, the terms and conditions dont mention any sort of introductory period.

4743hudsonj

Light1 wrote: »

The contract states that membership is for a minimum of 12 months and that membership started on 2/12/08, the terms and conditions dont mention any sort of introductory period.

i would say that you are tied in, they have used the term membership to tie you in, and seeing as it states membership began in December, and it lasts 12 months "any reasonable person" would see that the contract ends in December

sorry op