Received a letter confirming last day of membership now gym is wanting an extra month

UKCodeMonkey

My partner had signed up to a gym which had a 3 month minimum term, she then decided she didn't want to continue with the gym; she phoned to ask when she could leave and was told that she needed to give her notice before the end of September for membership to end on the end of October. She did so and had received a letter from the gym confirming the last day of membership as the end of October. The gym has since phoned claiming that the 3 month minimum did not include the 1st free month and see she has to pay for November too and that my partner had signed the contract agreeing to this. When my partner signed up this was not made clear and we have the confirmation from the gym that the last day is the end of Oct. Where do we stand with this? Can the gym force my partner to pay for November? We don't want to as we've had nothing but grief from this gym (after signing up we were then told there was an admin fee, again not explained at the time she signed up but we did pay plus other issues).
Thanks all.

ThumbRemote

Just write back and request they show you where, in the terms and conditions you agreed to, it states this.

McKneff

If she signed the contract surely she has a copy of this.

If she hasn't, ask them for a copy.

Made clear in words is irrelevant because its not provable.

wealdroam

UKCodeMonkey, there are two phrases in your post that need further exploration.

Firstly you say that it was not made clear that the first free month was not part of the three month deal.

You then say that it was not explained at the time that an admin fee was involved.

Are both these points stated in the agreement?
Did your partner have an opportunity to read the agreement before signing?

If so, then in my opinion they have done nothing wrong.

unholyangel

Pretty sure similar circumstances were taken up by the high court in ashbourne management v OFT. Where they had to have 12 months membership before they could cancel but had been told 12 month minimum contract. Courts ruled that the term was unfair as it effectively made the minimum term 13 months and not 12.

At least I'm guessing it must have been ashbounre v oft, I'll try get on my laptop after kids are in bed and see if I can find it.

UKCodeMonkey

wealdroam wrote: »

UKCodeMonkey, there are two phrases in your post that need further exploration.

Firstly you say that it was not made clear that the first free month was not part of the three month deal.

You then say that it was not explained at the time that an admin fee was involved.

Are both these points stated in the agreement?
Did your partner have an opportunity to read the agreement before signing?

If so, then in my opinion they have done nothing wrong.

The other issue we have is my partner phoned the gym to ask when the 3 months was up and when she could hand her notice in and the gym advised her the end of October is the 3 months and then sent a confirmation letter stating the last date is the end of October. Surely with the letter stating (and signed by the gym) that the last date is end of Oct they can't then come back and say we actually owe for November too?

The gym is sending a copy of the contract and we'll find the copy my partner has to double check all the wording.

Thanks for all replies!

Buzby

They can, if they made a mistake. Incompetence does not modify a pre-existing contract, but you would have been bound by what you agreed and signed for.

The Govt is currently looking at restrictive gym contracts and the various gotchas, however if may be too soon to do you any good.

ValHaller

This one seems to amount to the difference between

• A contract plus an initial free month
• A contract of which the first month is free

Look out not only the contract but also any introductory material which might indicate one way or the other. But remember too that it is for the gym to prove their point, not for you to disprove it.

Zandoni

I'd point out the letter they sent you and tell them it's too late to change their minds. If the letter was a mistake, it's theirs not yours.