Treatment by Gymbox!

LeMoore

Hi all,

I am wondering what your advice is for me... i have a situation with Gymbox.

Ive been a member since October, and as an avid gym goes i was using the facilities five days a week without fail. About five weeks ago i got a back injury and my chiropractor told me not to train at all for at least two months while we try and sort it all out. Gymbox agreed to freeze my membership during this time. However, i have now been advised that i should never again do heavy weight training or aggressive MMA type exercise (which is what i do!) for fear of serious lifelong injury. Pretty devastating news for me! Anyway, i wrote a nice email to the membership guy at Gymbox asking if there was any way Gymbox would allow me out of my contract under these circumstances, and he assumed it would not be an issue as i have a serious injury. He said they may need a letter from the chiropractor, which i said would be fine. He then spoke to his manager and he flat out denied the request! How is that for customer care? He said all i can do is transfer it someone else and i should put an ad out of the web! Charming.

This has really, really peed me off, as you can imagine!

Why don't these companies know how to treat people?

Is there anything i can do? I was going to try and find the email address or postal address of the CEO and write to them about it.

Any ideas welcome!!

Thanks all

unholyangel

You can cancel. Effectively if you breach your contract terms, it just means they can claim consequential loss for those they incur as a result of your breach......basically one months membership *should* cover it seeing as they'll probably get a new customer and effectively, that new customer negates their future loss.

You may wish to contact consumer direct or trading standards before taking any action though as - regardless of qualifications we hold in life - none of us can give legal "advice" here.....just advice on what your options may be

How long was your contract for? When did you sign it? Were you given a copy of the contract? What do the terms and conditions say about cancellations? Do they make any reference to cancellation in exceptional circumstances? Do they make any reference to early termination charges? If so, what exactly do they say?

LeMoore

It is a year contract, i signed in October. Yes i was given a copy of the contract. I am trying to find it the copy now, although i have also emailed them this morning asking for a copy. So i will be able to answer the other questions a bit later. Thanks a lot for your response

LeMoore

OK so their T&C's state the following about cancellation... i can't find anything further about it in their T&C's, which can be found on their website, at the bottom under T&C's (sorry i can't post a link as i am a new user)

So it doesn't say anywhere that i will be liable for any monies if i cancel before the end of the period, or what consequence there will be. So how can they impose an arbitrary punishment which i was not informed about?


4. Cancellation
a) Any annual or monthly Member can cancel his/her membership after the completion of 12 months continuous membership by giving one calendar month’s advance notice in writing to the Club Manager. As monthly membership is a contracted commitment to membership for a minimum period of 12 months a Member may only cancel his/her membership on or after the first anniversary of their joining the Club.
b) Where the chosen method of payment for monthly dues is direct debit it is the responsibility of the Member wishing to cancel his/her membership to instruct his/her bank in writing to cancel the monthly direct debit. All subscriptions and dues must be fully paid up to date including the appropriate notice period at the time of cancellation. GYMBOX is not obliged to refund any membership dues where the Member has not cancelled their direct debit instruction with their bank in accordance with this clause and does not hold a written acknowledgement of membership cancellation signed and dated by their Home Club.
c) Where the chosen method of payment for monthly dues is recurring credit card the Member can only cancel their membership by written notification to GYMBOX. The member must hold written acknowledgement of Membership cancellation signed and dated by their Home Club.

unholyangel

LeMoore wrote: »

It is a year contract, i signed in October. Yes i was given a copy of the contract. I am trying to find it the copy now, although i have also emailed them this morning asking for a copy. So i will be able to answer the other questions a bit later. Thanks a lot for your response

No problem, since you've asked them for a copy of the contact, you could also be cheeky and ask them specifically for a "genuine pre-estimate of their loss" if you were to cancel your contract.

unholyangel

LeMoore wrote: »

OK so their T&C's state the following about cancellation... i can't find anything further about it in their T&C's, which can be found on their website, at the bottom under T&C's (sorry i can't post a link as i am a new user)

So it doesn't say anywhere that i will be liable for any monies if i cancel before the end of the period, or what consequence there will be. So how can they impose an arbitrary punishment which i was not informed about?


4. Cancellation
a) Any annual or monthly Member can cancel his/her membership after the completion of 12 months continuous membership by giving one calendar month’s advance notice in writing to the Club Manager. As monthly membership is a contracted commitment to membership for a minimum period of 12 months a Member may only cancel his/her membership on or after the first anniversary of their joining the Club.
b) Where the chosen method of payment for monthly dues is direct debit it is the responsibility of the Member wishing to cancel his/her membership to instruct his/her bank in writing to cancel the monthly direct debit. All subscriptions and dues must be fully paid up to date including the appropriate notice period at the time of cancellation. GYMBOX is not obliged to refund any membership dues where the Member has not cancelled their direct debit instruction with their bank in accordance with this clause and does not hold a written acknowledgement of membership cancellation signed and dated by their Home Club.
c) Where the chosen method of payment for monthly dues is recurring credit card the Member can only cancel their membership by written notification to GYMBOX. The member must hold written acknowledgement of Membership cancellation signed and dated by their Home Club.

Is this the link you mean?

http://www.gymbox.com/IMG/pdf/Ts_Cs.pdf

LeMoore

Yep thats the one

unholyangel

Interestingly in those terms and conditions is also the following:

9. Physical Condition of Member
a) The Member warrants and represents on the date of his/her
application and repeats such warranty and representation each
time he/she uses the GYMBOX facilities that he/she is in good
physical condition and that he/she knows of no medical or other
reason why he/she is not capable of engaging in active or passive
exercise and that such exercise would not be detrimental to
his/her health, safety, comfort or physical condition

Effectively they're saying if you're at risk by exercising, they will not allow you to exercise (liability probably), yet they're not allowing you to cancel the contract.

So which is it? They cant deny you access to the gym AND keep you in contract.

LeMoore

Ooooh very interesting. I have items in my locker, so i am going to the club later to clear it out. Do you thin kits worth have a sit down with the manager and talking it out?

unholyangel

LeMoore wrote: »

Ooooh very interesting. I have items in my locker, so i am going to the club later to clear it out. Do you thin kits worth have a sit down with the manager and talking it out?

Always worth a try! But remember, if you are cancelling.....get something in writing. Either put your notice of cancellation in writing to them and send it recorded delivery or write it by email and save it (so you can reproduce evidence you did cancel - i'm cautious but i'd rather be cautious than out of pocket!).

Always be polite though and don't try to go into the "I know my rights" kind of talks as usually, people who head down that road end up demanding they have rights that don't exist and it just makes them look silly and gets the retailer/suppliers backs up.

You should ask him about the genuine pre-estimate of loss though. Specifically that phrase if you can remember it. If he has any brains at all, he'll click that you've been looking into your rights and may be more amicable.

Is there nothing you can use at the gym at all? Or just nothing you're interested in?

LeMoore

Basically my chiro has advised swimming, cycling and ashtanga yoga. They have no pool and no ashtanga yoga. I would never join a gym just to use a bicycle, so no not really. Whats annoying is i actually love this gym, but am being told for medical reasons i should not do the exercises i basically signed up to the gym to do. They have olympic lifting platforms, sled pulls, all the good stuff! I have spondylosis and was also told i fractured a vertebrae two years ago which i didn't even know, so consequently my body has compensated for those injuries in ways which are now causing serious issues.

Would they have to give me a pre-estimate of loss if i asked for it?