Virgin active esporta takeover

jandl70

hello this is my first post.

my wife and i were members of esporta gym... we have been for 9 months athlough we havent been for about 5

we were driving by and saw that virgin active had taken over our gym, i dont have a good experience with virgin and was angry that we werent even informed. I decided to cancel the direct debit as i am very unhappy as i joined esporta NOT virgin and feel this is a liberty them just think they can use us as commodities

tonight got a phonecall from a girl introducing herself as on behalf of virgin active... my wife had a heated discussioin saying we have no dealings with virgin active so after a while the girl tried to backtrack saying she would phone back and say she was from esporta!!! we werent accepting that and i said we had bad delings with virgin before and had no knowledge of the takeover and werent happy.

she tries to say that we are still bound under the esporta terms and conditions but surely if esporta isnt exisitng there now this is under virgin now and i think i have my right to say no i dont want to go to virgin active

whats other peoples thoughts on this please??

will they chase us for three months money? shoulkdnt i have the right if its not the same gym??

thanks

mo786uk

Your contract will have been sold to Virgin by Esporta and would have been in the contract you signed.

Lets get one thing straight - you ARE a commodity!

Legally your contract stands and you owe the money.

There are 2 ways out that I can see.

If Virgin change what they offer significantly then you rgue that they are not offering what you originally signe dup for.

Ask Viegin politley if you can leave due to rpevious experiences.

If you have canceleld your direct debit and they still want the money they will probably get debt collectors involved tochase you for it.

DVardysShadow

mo786uk is essentially correct. The contract will be transferable between providers unless it says it is not. Have a look through the small print carefully. It might say that the contract is non transferable. If that is not qualified in any way, then you could argue that esporta are in breach. but you need a good grasp of the law to carry that one off.

tomwakefield

You could always stop going, refuse to pay, and argue that any charges over actual costs incurred by you not going are unenforceable penalties

Art_2

Firstly I should say I am a member of Virgin Active. I used to be with Esporta until VA took them over. How anybody can have failed to know about the takeover is beyond me. It was advertised all over the clubs as well as in newspapers before it happened.

Secondly, since VA has been involved things have improved in many ways as well as the cost of my membership being reduced. They have made a big impact on facilities in a very positive way.

I assume you signed up to a 12 month contract so if you fail to honour the contract they will sue you. If the boot was on the other foot what would you do?

Regards,
Art.

lateandlive

OP - you'll probably find the reason you weren't informed is because you haven't, by your own admission, been to the gym for 5 months!!

Whatever the name over the door, don't forget that it's effectively the same club with the same staff and the same facilities (probably) as before.

Virgin took over Esporta and their assets - including their members. If they wan't to change their fascia of their gym then they're perfectly entitled to. They've breached no moral or legal code by doing so.

Walking in and asking nicely might be hampered by your wife, for no obvious reason, having a go at some poor member of staff who phoned a registered member of her place of employment. It's not YOUR gym, it's Virgin Active's gym. You're hardly a regular, are you!

The indication she gave as to you being bound under the Esporta terms still is actually useful to you. I would imagine there's a clause in your contract saying the terms can be updated with due notice. You signed up to that contract, so if Virgin Active want to update them then your chances of cancelling become even slimmer.

Seriously. It's not the end of the world. Also, don't tar 'Virgin' companies with the same brush. Me and Virgin Media aren't best of friends - but their train services are exceptional. Each company is run individually, so may I suggest you go and look round (as you're paying anyway) before you make a final decision?