Gym Withdrawal Problem

wangtastic

Hi all,
I was hoping somebody could help me...

I have been a member of a small local gym for a short time now and I have had number of problems which have led to me wishing to leave the gym,

I am wondering if I am "within my rights" to request to leave my contract early, or, whether I am being unreasonable .

I drafted a letter to the company explaining the problems I have faced which are as follows:

1) when purchasing my membership they took the payment 5 times from my account, which caused a fraud marker to be put on my account and subsequently meant I was unable to use my card for a week while awaiting a replacement.

2) Young children running around the changing rooms, making lots of noise and behaving in an inappropriate manner. To recall one instance where two young girls were naked standing on the bench in the changing room’s screaming and singing. (This was a very uncomfortable and inappropriate situation when you are trying to get changed yourself.)

3) Female members of staff consistently enter the changing rooms while I am getting changed, making me feel extremely uncomfortable!

4) Children running in the corridor during weekend school classes, the reason this is unacceptable is because the corridor is very narrow and there was one instance where a young child ran out of the female changing room’s and I knocked him over; he banged his head badly and I felt terrible but there was nothing I could do.

5) Gym equipment not working and has not been since we have been members.

6) Drinks dispenser, cups and apple stocks not being kept up together on regular occasions, on one instance I went up stairs to let them know there were no cups and I was told to “wait there, I’ll get some cups and you can take them down”.

7) Swim school in the pool on weekend’s, the reason this is a problem is because I was sold a gym membership on the basis of limited membership number’s and an exclusive experience this is not in keeping with this.

I realise some of these points are trivial but I am paying a rather sizeable amount each month to be member here.

I have logged several complaints, only one of which received a response
(the fraud marker complaint).

upon sending a letter to the manager my gym partner recieved the following response:




I am unsure as to how to proceed now?

I apologise for the length of this post but I felt it was important to include as much detail as possible.

Thank-you in advance for any help

wealdroam

I don't think any of the points you have raised are serious enough for you to be able to teminate the contract early.

You say only the fraud marker issue has been addressed.
They appear to have addressed the paper cups issue, the apples issue, the children running issue and the female staff in the wrong changing room issue.

They have explained your options in the second page of their letter.

I am surprised that they didn't give you the opportunity to pay up your subscription to 15 Oct 2011, thus allowing you to leave now.
Perhaps you could pursue that route?

Outpost

I don't know. My first reaction is that this gym/leisure centre is a place that appears to cater for the entire family and therefore children being present are, realistically, going to be part of the course. What you describe as children 'acting inappropriately' by making noise and running around just sounds like children being children to me.

As for a female member of staff being present on what appears to be one occasion judging by the letter, I can't really see what a massive issue this is. I can accept that you may be shy about being seen naked (which is quite ironic given your modest choice of user name Wangtastic) but I very much doubt she was paying any attention whatsoever to anything that you may or may not have, particularly if there was a male member of staff present with her. No reason to hide round the corner or anything, I can't see her being very interested if I'm honest.

Admittedly there are issues surrounding equipment not working that should without question be addressed by the facility. Whether these are a good enough reason for you to be released from your contract with the facility I'm not sure.

somethingcorporate

I agree with Wealdroam, none of your points appear serious enough to get out of the contract.

wangtastic

I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

I agree that the issues may seem minor, but I just feel the attitude of the staff at the gym is very poor, especially considering the amount of money I pay to be a member.

The female member was NOT accompanied by a male member of staff, unfortunately this is something that seems to have been miscommunicated at their end.

I did think it was a bit of a long shot but I was hoping I could leave early and find a more suitable gym to attend.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

dreamypuma

wangtastic wrote: »

I just feel the attitude of the staff at the gym is very poor, especially considering the amount of money I pay to be a member.

To be honest you seem to have been offered a ten day money back cooling of period, on your contract when you joined.

I'm sure that this would have given you enough of an opportunity to establish if you were happy with the service, attitude and quality of the gym.

wangtastic

Yeah I should have really raised the issues then.

I will attempt to find someone to transfer the membership to, thank-you for the help.

Outpost

wangtastic wrote: »

I will attempt to find someone to transfer the membership to, thank-you for the help.

I'm sure they'll appreciate that given how you found the conditions at the gym unacceptable to the point where you wish to leave...

wangtastic

I'll make sure it's someone I don't like