Contract/membership agreement?

costless

Hi everyone, i could do with some advice.

Recently i joined a well known gym/fitness club, i have been there for just over 3 months an have paid my joining fee an am up to date with my monthly payments an still i have had no contract, i havent even signed anything, my son who is also a member of said gym an joined at the same time as me has recieved his contract by email.
I have repeatedly asked for my contract only to be fobbed of with some computer print out that is not a contract but merely a record of my joining dates an looks nothing like the proper contract my son recieved which has all the terms an conditions on it , the piece of paper i was handed on two occasions now has no terms an conditions an doesnt even state that its a membership agreement.
Is this legal, withholding my contract?
The company of gyms who i am dealing with appear to be notorious for things like this along with many other numerous unprofesional practices according to all the complaints ive read online both here an over in America.
They have a customer help line:rotfl:that realy is a joke, coz when you ring up you just get a loop message of their opening times an never seem to be able to get thru to anyone.
In view of all the complaints an my own experiences with this company i am in favour of leaving myself but according to the complaints ive read it is very hard to get out of it, even tho they tell you that they have a cancellation policy, people are complaining of being ripped off where they have been charged more than the cancellation fee, an also others where their contract has run out but the company delay or say they havent recieved notification in time an either sqeeze another month or two out of you or they renew your contract automaticly for another year so then you have to go thru the proceedure of cancellation which costs around £150
So i want my contract so i can read the terms an conditions an know my rights, but they either sense that im considering cancelling my membership an dont want me to know my rights or their just too lazy to print one out an give it to me, i think the former is more likely. So i would be most grateful if anyone knows if there is anything i can do? Surely if im a paying customer then im entitled to a legal contract with terms an conditions?

somethingcorporate

Next time you go to the gym why not ask to speak to the manager?

Wait until you have problems before assuming your gym suffers from all the worst experiences you can find online!

bris

Contracts come in different forms, although it's normal to have everything written down and signed, verbal and actions can be legal contracts.
I.e the fact you paid a joining fee and are paying by monthly instalements means your actions form a contract.
If you want to alter this by no longer paying the monthly fee then the ball is back in the clubs court. They can then produce the contract or convince a judge you had one by your actions. The club would then need to prove that your actions were normal to the clubs T&C's and that you were well aware of them before you joined. The biggest problem that occurs in gyms is the fact people want to stop paying after 3 months. If it's normal for the gym to only have 12 month contracts then the judge would take this into consideration. This would assume that the gym would take it this far. Most of the time they just harras the client before giving up if the harrasment doesn't work.

costless

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Next time you go to the gym why not ask to speak to the manager?

Wait until you have problems before assuming your gym suffers from all the worst experiences you can find online!

Thats what im sayin, i have had problems an asked to speak to the manager but he seems to be very elusive an always too busy but i will keep on trying, the reason i tend to 'assume' is because some of the posts/complaints ive been reading online are things ive seen an experienced in my own gym.

costless

bris wrote: »

This would assume that the gym would take it this far. Most of the time they just harras the client before giving up if the harrasment doesn't work.

well, according to what ive read they always follow up with a debt collecting agency, they are a big international company an have no qualms about taking one to court if necessary. Thinking about it I will most probably see my yearlly contract through coz i dont need the hassle, but i still would like to recieve my agreement.

somethingcorporate

Can you just not take a copy of your sons?

arcon5

I'd be inclined to tell them your leaving and have cancelled your DD, if they say you cannot then ask them to prove you agreed to a minimum term -- they will soon pull their finger out and find it