Gym membership

pool-hustler

Help!

I have been a member of a gym for 6 months and my wife was made redundant since, so we could no longer afford to go.
It is a one year deal I signed but should they not take into account a change in circumstance?
During asking/argueing for a "payment/membership holiday" we were banned but they still want the 3 months money whilst I was complaining to head office - Director etc.
Basically they gave me a 3 month amnesty but still want the 3 months money for when I didn't pay but was also barred from going. The manager was awkward and the complaints procedure took over 2 months before they agreed a 3 month "holiday" In that time i was barred for non payment but they still want the money even though I wasn't allowed in.

What are my rights here, if any?
Can I get out of the contract at all?

I don't actually see what I have to gain by agreeing to be a member for one year. Could I not just pay the difference if it was dearer month to month? How does it all work legally?

McKneff

Dont think you have a leg to stand on legally, you signed a legally binding contract for one year. They banned you for non payment, you were the instigator of them banning you. It will all be in the contract which you signed.


You need to look carefully and the terms and conditions, they are usually pretty well binding so there is no get out under any circumstances.

To be fair, i think they were pretty generous in giving you a 3 month holiday to sort your finances out. Not many would do that.

DVardysShadow

Difficult one. If they take you to court, a lot would depend on exactly what they claim, but I think you could quite successfully argue that as you did not pay for 3 months, their remedy is either to deny you entry or to have 3 months money, but not to have the money without rendering service to you. But beware, the T&C's might allow them to do what they are doing - in which case you have a harder job of arguing that this is an unfair term. But you need to check it out.

Are you allowed in now and what are you paying?

pool-hustler

i am under the 3 month gap where i don't pay or go at the moment, which is fine.
The issue is, I told them I couldn't pay and had problems but it took 2-3 months to argue this out. in the mean time I could not use the facilities.
So they want 3 months money despite not allowing me the use of facilities..

McKneff

But they denied you access because of something YOU had done (or not done)
ie pay them.

pool-hustler

They denied me access after the first missed payment, of which i told them the issue. The next 2 months was argueing that I needed a reprieve and that if they are denying me access they shouldn't be charging me.
So basically, even tho they knew I couldn't afford the paments they continued to charge me, did not suggest a payment altternative and did not allow me to use the facility they want paying for!

Amistoso_2

in all fairness mate, you did sign a contract for a year so you would expect to have to pay for a year. If they let everyone off who said they couldn't afford it any more they'd be out of business and it's a well know fact that most people go to the gym for a few months and then get fed up and stop going. Of course they were going to refuse you entry, YOU HADN'T BEEN PAYING!!! did you stop paying everything else you felt you couldn't afford any more? mobile phone, broadband, sky tv, the list goes on. The long and short of it was you were at it!! trying to get out of paying something, you can't justify your actions you owe them the money...

pendulum

Gyms are usually pretty good at enforcing contracts through the courts from what I've seen. Usually pretty successful too. You signed up for a years contract and a contract's a contract. They expected to have your custom for a year so they gave you discounted rates, a good deal etc, which you made use of by visiting the gym in the beginning. You can't just cancel now when it suits you.

pool-hustler

i see your points and thanks. However, There is no discount for signing for a year. It is sign for a year or nothing.
It still means they should have let me use the place if they want the money. They can't have it both ways surely? What about that point alone?

savemoney

There seem to be rather a lot of gym problems lately

I wish people would read the contracts and or perhaps a cooling of period before joining

Idiophreak

Normally gyms want a year's payment up front...it's the only way they can make money, as everyone joins in January then wants to quit by March...to make things easier, they sometimes offer a direct debit payment method instead (normally slightly more expensive) but they're pretty fierce at enforcing this - if word got out you could just cancel the DD ad get away with it, they'd be out of business in no time.