Ashbourne Management

Silmaril

Back in may my girlfriend cancelled her payment to her gym and sent them a letter informing her that she was moving. She was told by a receptionist that this was the process to take. she was then contacted by the gym where she sent the letter and informed she should contact ashbourne management in order to cancel, she then sent the same letter to them and was informed she needed proof of address.

she sent the letter again, including a copy of the tenancy agreement only to receive a letter requesting two forms of address ID, this letter was sent to the new address, which is outside of their catchment area. she then sent a further letter with two forms of ID and was informed she needed three forms sending.

She sent this, and had no response. Sent this again, and had no response. Since then ashbourne management have been charging £30.50 every month, which is above the £20.50 monthly rate. She has payed this sum twice, and sent letters of cancellation again. Now she has received another such letter of a 30.50 charge, closely followed by another letter claiming that £650 is owed on the account. This is entirely unrealistic as the membership was only for a year, which is due to expire in November.

So even if she hadnt already proved she was outside of the catchment area and within her rights to cancel the figure appears to have been pulled out of thin air. Within the terms and conditions there is nothing about the potential to charge her, nor anything on the need for multiple proofs of address in order to cancel.

The letters have been threatening in nature, implying that her health and credit status are at risk if she does not pay up. I am working on formulating a letter to attempt to resolve this, could any one point me in the right direction?

i have considered adapting some of the points from the bank charges claim, which i was sucessful with at the time but i wasnt sure if there are any other letters floating around for this kind of occurrence?

could any one suggest what language i should be using to resolve this?

Thanks in Advance

Dave

Silmaril

Could anyone give me any info at all that i can use? i dont know what regulates companies like this and what references i can include in the letter, kinda stuck as what to say

Silmaril

T&C's state that she can cancel with 1 months notice, and says nothing about proof of address ID being given, they just arent cancelling. Are they governed by the consumer credit act do you think? could an ombudsman be used if req?

fluffnutter

Does she have copies of the letters she's sending? Have any been posted recorded delivery? How are the payments continuing to be taken? Is it by DD? I'm also a bit confused why the payments are for £30.50 when the monthly fee is £20.50. How is this happening? What does the £650 charge refer to?

Need more info, Silmaril. But if she's confident that she's done all she needs to do to cancel, in accordance with the T&Cs, and she can prove this, she could always try just refusing to pay and seeing what happens. The company will probably send in debt collectors and possibly take her to court. But if she's confident that she can cope with the stress and has not broken the contract, then why not just let them?

hollydays

http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2010/25-10

djdave

I had to take Ashbourne to court. Long story short I cancelled due to health as allowed in their T&Cs, several months later they started bombarding me with demands and placed a default on my credit file. They're a nightmare, they need closing down.

If you're not worried about getting a default I'd say let them do their worst - the most they can do is send you demands. If they tried taking you to court they'd get laughed out of the building.

Personally I'd be reporting them to Trading Standards and the local media, and letting them know you're doing this. If they persist and place a default on your file, you'll have to consider court action. They settled with me after the 1st hearing and removed the default. I've still got a copy of their cheque to put in a frame!