Loophole to get out a gym membership?

Lettuce91

i stupidly signed up for a years contract with a gym in november. Its out of my reach and too expensive for my budget :mad:
im sure when i signed up they told me it was a minimun of a years contract and i was wondering if anyone knew of a way i could get out of it as im stuck paying for a gym that ive used twice since november
i dont want to just stop the direct debit as it will affect my credit rating but i really cant afford it.:eek:
any help would be appreciated!
:A

PZH

colettef09 wrote: »

im sure when i signed up they told me it was a minimun of a years contract...

You really need to read the contract that you signed and check the Terms & Conditions and see if there is an exit clause.

Failing that, simply try asking nicely and explain the situation to them.

nicolax

some gyms will let you pause your membership for a few months, and pay something like 50p a month just to keep the DD open - then reopen the membership when moneys better. you still have to do the full number of months in the min contract though, even if you have a break
my old gym did this - not sure about other gyms though

may be worth asking though just incase

esuhl

The whole point of a contract is to make a commitment for a certain period of time. You'll have to read the terms of the contract to see if there are any "loopholes" or methods to end the minimum contractual term early... but if the gym want you to commit for a year, they're hardly likely to include a term that says "actually, if you change your mind, just say the magic word and you can stop paying us".

Why would any gym bother with contracts if if its members could just use a "loophole" to subvert the agreement?!

mttylad

Have a look here

What it is saying - to me says that you can cancel and they can whistle.

I joined a local gym and signed a membership application form for a 12 month membership yet was told when I joined that I could give 2 months notice to cancel it.

I'll be using the info in the above link.

paddyrg

Gyms know full well people go three times a week for the first fortnight, then never show up again - so they sign you up for long term contracts as opposed to letting you PAYG. This is their core business model, frankly you're probably lumbered with the contract so may as well use the gym...

Gavin83

You could try faking your own death.

DVardysShadow

mttylad wrote: »

Have a look here

What it is saying - to me says that you can cancel and they can whistle.

I joined a local gym and signed a membership application form for a 12 month membership yet was told when I joined that I could give 2 months notice to cancel it.

I'll be using the info in the above link.

Interesting article. The section on 'Breach of Contract' indicates a rather rocky path out. But you need to be cautious about this, some gyms actually sign you up for a year up front but give you a credit agreement with monthly payments. If you tell the gym to whistle after a month or 2, they will not be bothered, they have their money for the whole year already. And if you don't pay, you will just trash your credit record.

mttylad

Mine is a simple membership application form, hardly looks like any form of contract and certainly has few terms and conditions on, certainly no mention of any fees for cancelling etc.
And I was verbally told that I could give 2 months notice to cancel within the 12 month so thats what I'm standing by - I did that.

Equaliser123

mttylad wrote: »

Have a look here

What it is saying - to me says that you can cancel and they can whistle.

.

Have to say, I think that is really dangerous advice.

halibut2209

Indeed

"The problem is they can’t do this. If they say you’ve breached your contract, they can only claim for their losses and they need to prove these losses; they must also try to minimise these losses."

This is not true at all with a signed contract