DL Gym 'arrears' now passed to debt collector :-/

Araboo27

Hi everyone, not sure if I'm posting this in the correct place?

I joined David Lloyd on 09/02/13 on their 'Flexible' contract (Can only be ended on 1 month's notice. Cannot be ended during the first 3 months).

So in my mind, I joined the gym on 09/02 and I could provide notice to cancel my membership on 09/05. On approx. 03/04/13 (I do have a receipt for this to check the date but haven't got it to hand at the moment) I handed written notice in to end my membership.

I thought that was that and cancelled my direct debit after my April payment had been taken out and planned to pay the rest of my fees by card (pro rata payment to take me from 01/06 to 09/06 = £41.72) as I know DL are a nightmare and would have taken a full month's payment out for June!

Anyway, my dropped the ball a bit and didn't contact them to make the pro rata payment and I'm not getting hounded, by David Lloyd initially and have now received one letter off a debt collection company. They are saying that I owe a full month! I have checked my contract and in theory they are correct -

"Your notice will run from the first day of the month following the date when we received your notice"

So according to this my notice period runs from 01/06 - 01/07 which means, yes - I do owe a full months fees of £141. (None of this was explained to me prior to joining, but I know I should have read the contract :-/)

However, further on in the contract is this -

"Flexible membership lasts indefinitely until you give us one calendar month's notice. There is an initial period of at least three months. This means that you are committed to paying us at least three months' fees. You can end your membership to coincide with the end of the three months by giving us one month's notice so that we receive it no later than the first day of the final month. We will write to you to remind you of this deadline. If we do not receive notice by then, your membership will continue indefinitely until you give us one month's notice"

*They did not write to me regarding this deadline*

I really don't know what to do! I am not getting credit anytime in the next however many years so my credit rating doesn't particularly worry me but I can't exactly ignore the debt collector forever...

Any advice?!

Jack8171

Wow, £141 a month??

For the sake of £100, I would honestly just pay it if you can possibly afford it. I think if it's in the contract, and they told you about the one month notice, they are probably legally sound enough. It's really annoying when this sort of thing happens, but big companies aren't necessarily sympathetic.

Araboo27

Yes :-/ hence the reason I'm in debt!! Very silly with money.

I've never heard of the notice period only beginning the following month? I gave more than a months notice but that stupid clause !!!!!!s it up. Technically I guess I am at fault as it was my responsibility to read through the contract prior to signing but how many people actually do that?! I will be from now on, lol...

Due to the fact that they didn't write to me, they've also broken the contract I'm tempted to put it all in writing and send a cheque for the pro rata fees. If that doesn't work then I might just leave it...am I right in thinking it would go to the small claims court?

Thanks

Jack8171

You could try ringing them up and saying you never received the letter and they might take the pro rata fees. Write doesn't necessarily mean a letter through the door tho, it's only a courtesy so an email would suffice, and your spam filters might have blocked it. Or the royal mail might have lost the letter, they're good at that.
I signed up for LA fitness on an initial £25 a month offer, and blow me, over a year later it's still £25, they've never had the nerve to raise it.
LA fitness isn't a great gym tho, I'm not sure i'd recommend it to a friend. The showers are truly awful, I shower at home now.
But coming back to you. I wouldn't just send a partial cheque, no, I would either ring DL and get agreement over the phone or send a cheque for the full amount to the DCA.
You do know if it goes to court you get charged the court fees? Unless you think you might win, it's a waste of money.

ValHaller

This all hinges on their definition of a membership month. Does the contract contain a relevant clause? Does it start on the 1st of the calendar month or on the date of joining?

As I see it, if the membership month is from the date you joined, you have complied with the second clause to leave at the end of your 3rd month - 08 May - and you owe nothing.