Gym Membership - Standing Order not cancelled

ChrisL81

Hi All,

First post EVER, so hope someone out there can assist.
I know that the Standing Order cancellation is the responsibility of the member (namely Myself) however on this instance i think i am entitled to a full refund of my membership.

I cancelled my gym membership, by email as instructed, way back now in Aug 2011.
They then responded and said my last payment would be on the September 2011. (no mention of cancelling S/O, i'll come back to this point.)
I then received an annual statement from my bank in December 2012, and on reviewing it, noticed i was still making payment to the Gym (cancelled S/O instantly)
I then obviously contacted the gym to advise on the situation, and have gotten nowhere since. I've been offered 3 months free, and 10 PT sessions (this does not interest me, as i no-longer work close to this gym, and this was the reason i cancelled).
The owner adivsed in this reply that it is their policy to remind members when cancelling they have to cancel their S/O, however as i mentioned earlier this is not mentioned in the email from his employee.

I've since replied to his latest email, and am awaiting a reponse, as in my eyes he has effectivly admitted error (offering me something as opposed to the money), however i just want the full 15 months worth of payments returned.

Do i have a leg to stand on here, and can someone/anyone confirm if he has to pay this money back?

Thank you all in advance.

ValHaller

Yes, the money was sent in error. Write a polite letter asking for it back within 21 days. Then send a 'letter before action', then take it to the small claims court. Make sure you have evidence of having cancelled.

ChrisL81

Ok, thanks for this, can you clarify though what a 'letter before action' is and should comprise of?

So basically, put this in writing, other than email.
Detail the action i want taken
then advise if action not taken to the satifactory close of this matter, i'll then take this to small claims? Is that correct?

Mollymoonlight

Did you actually pay by order or by DD? Because I would say you stand a better chance under the DD guarantee. If it is the latter, I would chat to your bank and tell them it was taken after the membership was cancelled and I believe they will help you.

ChrisL81

Unfortunatly it was definetly by S/O. So not covered by DD guarantee in this instance, however was hoping for the S/O you would expect that paying for a service in error, you'd be entitled to a full refund from the company.

McKneff

I have to agree with everyone else.

As an aside, although it wasn't in the email, it would/could possibly have been stated in the original documents.

Good luck with it.

dalesrider

ChrisL81 wrote: »

I cancelled my gym membership, by email as instructed, way back now in Aug 2011.

I then received an annual statement from my bank in December 2012, and on reviewing it, noticed i was still making payment to the Gym (cancelled S/O instantly)

Thank you all in advance.

As others have said letter before action is the way forward.

But as someone who works in banking. Why have you not checked your account for over 13 months.
A fraudster could have wrung your account dry in that time.....:eek:

Even FOS takes a stance that anything over 13 months cannot be claimed back as the account holder has to take responsibility for monitoring their account.

M&S have even added a clause to the T/C of their new account that you have to check the account each month.

somethingcorporate

ChrisL81 wrote: »

Ok, thanks for this, can you clarify though what a 'letter before action' is and should comprise of?

So basically, put this in writing, other than email.
Detail the action i want taken
then advise if action not taken to the satifactory close of this matter, i'll then take this to small claims? Is that correct?

Yes, short and to the point.

Provide the amount you are claiming for and why (no waffly detail or emotion) remember you are almost entirely to blame for this situation so not point trying to apportion blame where it is not due.

Give them a date by when they need to pay by (and provide some bank details so they can do it). Be reasonable with the date, so 14 days as a minimum I would suggest.

Finish the letter by saying if money is not received you will be pursuing the money through the courts.

If they do not pay then go here and file a claim: https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

wealdroam

ChrisL81 wrote: »

...can you clarify though what a 'letter before action' is and should comprise of?

I can help with that... click here.

ValHaller

Before jumping off to the letter before action, I strongly suggest sneding a polite no waffle and no threats request to have the money back. Mainly for the file.

ChrisL81

dalesrider wrote: »

As others have said letter before action is the way forward.

But as someone who works in banking. Why have you not checked your account for over 13 months.
A fraudster could have wrung your account dry in that time.....:eek:

Even FOS takes a stance that anything over 13 months cannot be claimed back as the account holder has to take responsibility for monitoring their account.

M&S have even added a clause to the T/C of their new account that you have to check the account each month.

I've just been nieve i suppose on this instance. In terms of this instance, when you get the email and move on to new things, you kind of forget whats going out. :-/ my bad i know.
If it's only 12 months i get back, again, i'll be happy, i'll keep you all updated.

thanks again.