£50 Debt

Captain_Charisma

Hi

I have had a phone call from Arc(Europe) Ltd regarding a debt of roughly £50 I owe to a gym. I disagree with this an have absolutely no intention of paying it. Up to now I have ignored letters from the gym in question but I plan on going in and speaking to them later (I no longer use the gym and haven't done since cancelling the direct debit) Should I not get the response from the gym I am looking for, what further action will the debt collector take given that the charge is only £50?

FYI the issue with this payment is that when I joined the gym in January 2012 and filled in the relevant paperwork, there was a problem processing the paperwork (on there part not mine) that affected all new customers that month, I ended up signing all the paperwork again in February and my first payment was cash. I cancelled my direct debit in January this year - as far as I am concerned this was the end of my 12 month agreement signed in Jan 12. Going back through my bank staements, I think I may owe at the most £20 - one months membership which is all I would be willing to pay when I go and speak to them later.

NinjaSavingKat

Hey there... I used to work for a well known fitness company and I will tell you now that you NEED to go in and sort it out in person. If you ignore them they will chase you all the way to the bailiffs knocking at your door....

A sweet smile, a kind word and a simple explanation to them might write off the £30 you believe you do not owe but they will not stop until they have what they believe is their money.

If your contract says 12 months they may argue that it will be from the day you signed. Some of them have differing cut off days so you need to check what day it was...

Example.... if you joined on the 3rd January you pay for the rest of the month in cash on the day and the DD starts the beginning of Feb 2012. They may class your first DD as the contract starting - Feb. This means your last payment with them is Feb 2013 - IF you gave them the adequate time to cancel it for that date. They will usually say you MUST tell them you are cancelling, despite it being a 12 month contract it will roll into a month-by-month payment unless YOU specify you want it to physically end at the end of the 12 months.


The cash you paid at the beginning for the rest of January is rang in on the till and therefore technically un-traceable or they gave it to you for free to lure you away from a competitor. EVERY gym is desperate for a new client in January and it depends on the calibre of gym you joined to determine just how underhand they were to get a sale.

If however your membership started straight away in January and your contract ( with date entered by the sales advisor written clearly ) then you stand a good chance of explaing your way out... especially if it was their error that your payment was not taken. However it sounds like since you re-signed everything the contract re-started, or the date was changed. What actually happened? And what reason was given to have you sign MORE paperwork?? This is probably why they are after you!

Bank cut off dates are usually the 8th of the month - so all papar work - including cancellations - have to be with the gym by that date. If you did not cancel your membership on the 8th December for the last payment to come out in January etc.. they are legally allowed to take the last months payment as they require cancellation in writing - ALWAYS. If you cancelled your DD this shows as a default and a refusal to pay.

So - what date did you join and what is written on your contract??

Hope this clarifies things regarding what they will say to you in order to fight their own corner.. check your contract, the dates and everything else - then go in there, meek and sweet and pay whats owed. Trust me they are not worth losing credit score over, but they will fight you tooth and nail and you will ultimately lose if you don't know what you signed however answer my questions above regarding a re-signing of the contract as it sounds like you may have something to fight with..

Sorry for waffling but these places infuriate me. I was always SO clear in telling people what they were signing I eventually resigned because of the dubious ethics.

Anyone wanting to join a gym - pay in three monthly installments - never given them your bank details. Simples.

Captain_Charisma

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I didn't keep a copy of my contract so I'm not sure of exact dates.

When I joined and set up the DD in January, in my eyes everything was fine and I paid £11.xx for the rest of January and was told my first DD would go out on 1st February. However, I recieved a phone call at some point in February stating that due to an error on there part I would need to pay for February ASAP and then set up a direct debit to run from 1st March and re-submit the paperwork. This affected all customers that joined within a week or so of myself.

NinjaSavingKat

Ah I see. In that case since it was so late in the month of January your contract will have started on the 1st February. It was too late in the month of Jan to set up a DD for Feb and they should have taken a payment in cash for Feb as well and the DD would then start in March ......OR give you the option of a monthly payment on the 15th of each month which would have gone through okay.

Your contracted last month would be February 2013. If you cancelled your DD after the month of January was taken they would still be expecting the last month to be paid - which now shows as an arrears as they couldn't take it. If you then did not submit a cancellation they might be trying to take March as well.

Why is it £50 though if a monthly payment is £20? At a push it would be £40..?

Captain_Charisma

The extra £10 is a 25% fee from the collection agency

thewhiteavenger

Captain_Charisma wrote: »

Should I not get the response from the gym I am looking for, what further action will the debt collector take given that the charge is only £50?

I think I may owe at the most £20 - one months membership which is all I would be willing to pay when I go and speak to them later.

Unlikely to take court action for £50.

If you think you owe £20, offer that in full & final settlement and only pay if you have their agreement in writing.

Captain_Charisma

What would be the potential consequences of just ignoring them?

Thrifty_Pixie

as previous posters have said - this is because your actual contract with them ran from Feb-Feb after your initial one-off Jan payment in cash with the invalid contract. who made that initial mistake doesn't matter at this point, as you signed the contract in Feb. so it appears the debt is valid (whether it's ethical or not is a moot point).

potential consequences - a default on your credit record which lasts for 6 years. if you think that's worth it?

NinjaSavingKat

Hey there.. it looks like you should go in there and clarify things. They will keep adding each month if you ignore them as it looks like they have added March to the amount as you have not cancelled with them as per the contract you signed.

Ignore it and the £50 will be another £140 by the end of the year for not cancelling properly plus more fees from the bailiffs. If you approach them to cancel - they will say - "Okay, pay us what you owe first".. and if you don't cancel the membership "legally" continues and they have a right to demand the money.

You are the loser here I am sorry. You owe this money and will have to pay it to stop it where it is. And yes - they will chase you for £50, because it clearly won't stay at £50 will it?

Not what you want to here I know - but you signed the contract. You wouldn't buy a house without reading the contract would you?

Cut your losses, swallow your pride, pay it and get them out of your life. Next time pay in cash installments only..