Virgin Active Membership - Cancellation refused but not tied in ??

runner20k

I have a virgin active gym membership which is passed the 12 month period and i am not ties in any more so can leave at any time.

I was unable to pay last months fee and the club are looking to take double this month. I cannot afford to pay double and have explained this to club bu they not interested.
I asked to cancel membership and i will settle the account over 2 months ie missed payment plus payment for the 1 month notice etc.

Virgin are refusing to allow me to leave as my account is in arrears. how am i supposed to leave if i cannot pay double and bring the account back in line. I am stuck in a never ending circle.

Can they do this, i have already cancelled the direct debit. Any advise.

ilovelondontown

Are we talking like £60 per month? To be honest if you can, I'd borrow the money from someone else and pay them back and get out of the contract asap before the arrers start to become defaults.

I had a similar problem ending my 02 contract they claimed I still owed £26 and I was adament that it wasn't the case but in the end the principle of not paying became more stressful than it was worth and I paid it just to get them off my back, to close the account and to avoid penalising myself on my credit file for the sake of £26.

runner20k

Hi

The amount is £140 its a family membership. I dont have any one to borrow the cash from and simply dont have it to pay out.

ilovelondontown

Was the discussion you had with Virgin at the gym where you are a member or was it someone at head office?

I'd get something in writing - on the club website it says

"
If you are on a contracted membership and still in the commitment period, we will do our best to help. We all know that circumstances change, so we try to be as accommodating as possible. Discuss your circumstances with your club and we’ll do everything we can to help."

or email them - [EMAIL="info@virginactive.co.uk"]info@virginactive.co.uk[/EMAIL] and explain exactly as you have here, you're willing to pay this off but you need to do so over a 2 month period while ending your contract as agreed at the end of your 12 month period.

Depending on the small print when you signed up to the gym they may be able to reinstate the direct debit if you are in debt to them, so I'd definately check this as well to avoid making payments you can't afford.

runner20k

Discussions so far are with the club, everything is in writing i never discuss verbally as have been caught out before.

Have it in writing that i can leave.

They cannot take any more money from me as i have changed bank accounts this month so details they have are for closed account.

Thanks for the email address i will give it a go as well as writting to head office.

ilovelondontown

What you need to remember is that a lot of people want to leave gyms after a few months of using them, and being tied into a contract is how gyms make their money.

Once they see you're not just trying to avoid paying them and that you can't afford to give them any more than you can at any one time they'll be more inclind to help you as they just want their money back.

natlie

Hi
I had to give 3 months notice to end my membership with Virgin Active - even after the 12 months contracted period, I think this is standard, I don't think you can leave at anytime? give your 3 months notice and ask if you can spread the costs over the 3 months. Definitely put it in writing - they made an error with mine and I ended up being given an additional 3 months free membership when my contract had ended.