Unfair gym advrtising

ian1979_2

I joined Arena fitness cityside gym in Belfast in October, the websites FAQ's explicitly stated that there was no minimum contract and I only wanted to join for three months so I signed up. I signed what I thought was just a direct debit mandate but which I later found out was a 12 month contract. of course I should have read what I was signing properly but I would not have joined if the website had not been misleading, the club have accepted that the website was inaccurate and have taken down the website but they are insisting that the contract will stand up in court despite the fact that I feel the service was sold using a deception. I have contacted the trading standards service and sent them a link to the website which they managed to see before it was taken down. It would appear that this is a breach of the 'Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading regs 2008' but my reading is that I cant enforce this without the government taking a case. I am tempted to stop paying but the club are threatening me with debt recovery if I do so. Can anyone advise me what my next step should be. Thanks in advance. Ian

4743hudsonj

Your next step, unfortunately for you should be to pay up and learn from the experience. The contract will stand up as you had a chance to read it and agreed to it.

They made a mistake with the site and rectified it promptly so TS wont be that interested. Nothing illegal in their mistake.

Not what you want to hear but its too late now, worst thing you could do is stop paying, you would be liable for more charges then.

Edit: i see Tozers point, he might be on to something but looks very difficult to prove you didnt have knowledge of what you were signing! so i still think it will end up you paying unless you can prove it?

Tozer

From what you say you have a case for negligent or fraudulent misrepresentation. If you can prove it, you are entitled to have the contract rescinded (i.e. set aside).

Hintza

Pay up (monthly) and then take them to the small claims court. Hope you saved a copy of the ad!

hollydays

In addition,a bit of press exposure locally,or the threat of it, might do the trick.
I think the gym are being incredibly unreasonable not cancelling,so the threat of bad PR may do it.

If it was me,I would write out my own press release and send it to the Manager asking if he had any comment to add before you send it to the newspaper.,adding, you will sent a copy to their head office too.If you need help,I am sure we can assist.I think they need "encouraging" to do the right thing.

ian1979_2

4743hudsonj wrote: »

Your next step, unfortunately for you should be to pay up and learn from the experience. The contract will stand up as you had a chance to read it and agreed to it.

They made a mistake with the site and rectified it promptly so TS wont be that interested. Nothing illegal in their mistake.

Not what you want to hear but its too late now, worst thing you could do is stop paying, you would be liable for more charges then.

Edit: i see Tozers point, he might be on to something but looks very difficult to prove you didnt have knowledge of what you were signing! so i still think it will end up you paying unless you can prove it?

I'm not sure if I agree, the 'mistake' was a very explicit point (see below) from the website's FAQ's and was on the website for at least 3 months, probably alot longer so it was neither a mistake nor promptly rectified. I like the idea of a press statment if anyone has any suggestions about wording I would be grateful.
Membership enquiries
How long does my membership run for?
Unless you have paid in advance for a pre-specified number of months, your membership will continue month by month for as long as you wish. There is no minimum period of membership and no annual contract.

Equaliser123

ian1979 wrote: »

I'm not sure if I agree, the 'mistake' was a very explicit point (see below) from the website's FAQ's and was on the website for at least 3 months, probably alot longer so it was neither a mistake nor promptly rectified. I like the idea of a press statment if anyone has any suggestions about wording I would be grateful.
Membership enquiries
How long does my membership run for?
Unless you have paid in advance for a pre-specified number of months, your membership will continue month by month for as long as you wish. There is no minimum period of membership and no annual contract.

Keep away from press type stuff. I always think it smacks of desperation. Ultimately, if you are right, go to Court.

Totally agree with the misrepresentation point. You were induced to enter into a contract on the basis of an untrue statement of fact (the legal definition of misrepresentation).

bazster

My guess is that a statement on a website, where you don't actually purchase anything through the website, has the same status as any advertising i.e. it is "an invitation to treat" and is not contractually binding on anyone.

Equaliser123

bazster wrote: »

My guess is that a statement on a website, where you don't actually purchase anything through the website, has the same status as any advertising i.e. it is "an invitation to treat" and is not contractually binding on anyone.

See above comments regarding misrepresentation...

Takoda

If you only want to join for 3 months in future. Pay for the 3 upfront and sign a cancellation form when you join.

Otherwise they WILL get you.

bazster

Equaliser123 wrote: »

See above comments regarding misrepresentation...

Nope, I don't think so. If I see an advert on the telly that tells me something is green and the price is £10, then I go to the shop and it turns out to be red and the price is £20, that is not misrepresentation, because the advert is nothing more than an "invitation to treat". The ASA might take a dim view of the advert, but misrepresentation it is not. I very much suspect that the same principle applies here.

Suppose that the gym in question has a number of different contracts available, but they only bothered to describe one of them on their website. Does that then mean that they can't sell a different one? No, of course not.

So, unless someone at the company actually told him that there was no minimum period in the contract, whilst getting him to sign a 12-month contract, I don't think he's got a leg to stand on.