Bannatyne's Health Club

atsaaa

Hi all,

I had a look around but I didn't find any similar situation to mine.
I have a month-to-month membership with Bannatyne's in Manchester and when you sign the contract they say that they require one month's notice to cancel it. The DD is paid at the first of each month. So, yesterday March DD was paid and as I was away the previous week I run into the gym today (2nd of March) to give my notice.
The guy in the reception said: You have to pay for April as well. You should have given your notice at around 20 of Feb so as not to charge you for April. I said: Hold on, it's one month notice. why I should have given it on February? The answer was: It is in the T&C.

The T&C state:
'The member may cancel the membership by giving one month's written notice to terminate the membership, and such notice may be given at any time.'

I said to the guy that I am leaving the country because of work and I will have no bank account etc in my name and he said:
If you don't pay April we will send you a letter and if you don't pay even then, the letter will go to the court and it will ruin your credit score.

I sent an e-mail straight afterwards to the general manager but I don't have any response yet. Probably the answer will be that I have to give one month paid notice. which means from the moment of the notice I have to pay one month. Any ideas of what I should do??

Thanks

DVardysShadow

atsaaa wrote: »

...Any ideas of what I should do??

Yes, pay up. It is mean of them, but they are within their rights.

It is quite revealing that their business methods include an early use of a threat to ruin your credit score. Not the kind of company I would do business with.

halibut2209

sirmarcus, could you venture over to the Disney Store thread. You may be able to help

RichyRich

To me the T&Cs read that you can give your notice at any time - can't see any reason why you should have to pay for an extra month - maybe you might need to pay a pro-rata'd amount for a partial month but certainly not a full month.

If they take you to court, defend the claim.

halibut2209

I thought that RichyRich, but it was a selective quote from the T&Cs. There may well be a subclause that says that any partial month needs to be paid in full

sirmarcus

halibut2209 wrote: »

sirmarcus, could you venture over to the Disney Store thread. You may be able to help

Thanks...done, dusted and donald ducked !!:rotfl::rotfl:

atsaaa

halibut2209 wrote: »

I thought that RichyRich, but it was a selective quote from the T&Cs. There may well be a subclause that says that any partial month needs to be paid in full

Well, march is paid in full. From today since the end of March is 30 full days.

halibut2209

That's not the point. You cancelled on the 2nd March, and from the T&Cs you've provided, it says "one month's written notice". Nothing about 30 days. Plus you didn't give written notice which is required. Please post here the FULL T&Cs with regards to cancelling, not just one sentence.

pinkshoes

1 month notice = 1 month notice, not a random 30 days.

So cancelling on the 2nd March means the last month you pay for would be April.

Personally I'd just pay them, but make sure you put it in writing that the membership is now terminated.

confusedandannoyed

I am in a similar position
Termination of Membership
a) Irrelevant here. Basically how they can terminate your membership if you commit breach ie drunk, antisocial behaviour***
b) In the even of termination of the membership of any Member in accordance with paragraph 6(a) above the Member will be liable to pay reasonable compensation to the Club in respect of any monies which at the time of such termination are owing to the Club in accordance with the contractual agreement, alternatively, if money has been paid in advance, under this agreement, to retain a proportion of the money so paid to cover any reasonable costs or losses incurred
c) the membership is for an initial period of 6 months ... and shall continue thereafter
d) the member may can the membership by giving one month's written notice to terminate the membership and such notice may be given at any time after the end of the fifth month from the date of commencement of membership
6e) Irrelevant here - what happens if you've paid in advance and you quit
6f) the member may terminate this agreement on 30 days notice in writing if she is unable to use the Club through serious injury to preclude him/her from using the Club for a period of at least two calender months.

It doesn't explicitly state anywhere in the document that one month's notice cannot be prorated which I think is what one of the other posters wanted to know?

DCFC79

richieb001 wrote: »

Quite simply add your own clause to the contract.
Just sign with "I agree to abide by these terms and conditions when reasonable and practicable". Do not be bound by legalese and threats.
Do not pay when threatened, I have already told one gym to go and flip themselves, i advise you to do the same.

the OP has most likely sorted it after 3 months