Spent £500 on Gym Membership - Didn't even know I was a member

Davidtube

Every month I've seen £30.99 go out of my bank account to "Debit Finance". I've been in my overdraft all that time and assumed it was some kind of crazy bank charge. I called up to find out the details of the charge and discovered it wasn't my bank at all. It was the gym I stopped going to 16 months ago.

I know I really should have checked it out before but as I didn't think I had any contracts that weren't accounted for, I thought it must be bank charges. "Debit Finance" sounds like something a bank would charge, not a gym.

I thought I'd cancelled the membership. Maybe I did and it's their mistake. Either way I've got no evidence to say I stopped it.

I'm not hopeful but is there any possibility I'll see any of that money again?

sharpy2010

Davidtube wrote: »

I'm not hopeful but is there any possibility I'll see any of that money again?

Zero, unfortunately.

Without proof of cancellation, they won't give it back to you.

Best bet is to try to get a piece of their headed paper and type out a letter of cancellation and show it to the people in the gym.

Bit naughty, but thats the only way you'll have a chance of getting something back.

Tixy

Hi David

Only if you could prove you had cancelled it, which I guess it sounds like you can't.
Its likely that the agreement states that you have to cancel in writing - would you have done it in writing?

That said I guess there is nothing to lose by speaking to the gym company and seeing if you get anywhere.

Oregon

Don't beat yourself up for not noticing. I have done a v similar thing. Not sure if it's the same for you but I was so deep in for a while I didn't know what was coming out. Nor did I care. I had over £600 of stuff come out that I should have claimed back (fraud) but felt so helpless I just ignored it.

It's def a downward spiral.

FireWyrm

It's worth a call to the Gym. Surely they have some sort of electronic check in and out and can see that you havnt set foot inside for quite some time? It's a long shot, but worth a punt. Also, you can ring your bank and dispute the charges for the last 3 months at least, it might even be 6. The Bank will stop the charges and may even credit them back again while you are in dispute. Again, a long shot, but worth a try.

tearose

How annoying. Looks like Debit Finance is the name of a company handling Direct Debit collections... The name make sense in that context, but it helps if DDs payments actually have the name of who you are paying on it and not the middle man!

Last time I had to cancel my gym membership I had to do this in writing. I don't suppose you saved a copy of the letter you sent saved somewhere..? This along with an explanation that because of the vague name of the company taking out your DD you did not realise you were still a member might get you somewhere. But I would expect they have probably had the same complaint before.

I wonder what % of gym's profits are dependant upon unused memberships...

sharpy2010

tearose wrote: »

I wonder what % of gym's profits are dependant upon unused memberships...

A large proportion... its the very reason they don't charge £x.xx per visit... They know they wouldn't make any money.

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

Hope it's cancelled now!!! How did they get you to cancel this time?

Have a check of your sent e-mails, see if you cancelled via e-mail the first time.

If they rely on people cancelling in branch, what cancellation proof would they expect you to have?

I guess you could write to say that you were sure that you cancelled it in person 16 months ago.

It's not likely that you'll get anything but if you did honestly did cancel before and they have any kind of note on the system, then they need to pay you back!

Davidtube

Thanks for your advice everyone. You certainly helped me feel less stupid. I'm sorry to say I don't think I'll be attempting to get any money back. It think it's too unlikely. What probably happened was that I thought my partner had cancelled the membership (it was actually for her) and she must have thought I had cancelled it. So I don't have a leg to stand on and I just doubt the gym's owner could care less.

Oregon

that's too bad

Davidtube

Actually my partner did remember me making the phone call to cancel the membership. In fact she reminded me that we called up twice and were told both times that it would be canceled. So I've sent the gym a letter. I'll let you know if we have any luck.