Pruhealth gym loophole Article Discussion

camaj

adamt wrote: »

As you done a 'trial' and they have charged you, i wouldnt be suprised if they have a sly process of automaically signing you up after the trial, UNLESS you confirm you dont want to.


4) i signed with boots, and the membership pack and card arrived on the day my policy started.
If your policy has already started which i assume it has, give them a call and ask.

3) That's exactly what happened. At first I though cancel it now (even though they basically say you can't) and then I thought why not just transfer that membership (the healthforce/grazia/thegymwebsite) over to Pru and cancel the one I set up via Pru. I'm just wondering if that would be better than trying to cancel the first one outright.

4) You realise I'm talking about my boots reward card and not my Boots insurance card. The insurance card came with the membership pack, I'm still waiting for the reward card.

andymac238

Sorry lads, wasn't about yesterday, lookit all the questions! I'll try and help...

Cam - several things here. Did you get any sort of contract or agreement from the Grazia/Healthforce trial? Are they or have they been taking payments from your bank? They will have needed you to actually sign an agreement and not just a DD for them to hold you to a 12 month contract. To answer the points that Adam missed -

2) You'll need to phone up Grazia/Healthforce if they are a separate concern as you may be signed up under some kind of affiliate membership program (like PruHealth). You could just cancel the DD with the bank but they get a notification and might start sending you nasty letters, so best to ring them first and find out what the score is.

3) If it was a normal LA Fitness membership then I believe you can switch over to the Pru deal by speaking to the Pru about it, but I'm not sure with this because as I said in 2), it sounds like you've been given some kind of affiliate membership and I wouldn't think you can just transfer from one affiliate to another?

Getting out of a standard 12 month gym contract where you don't think you've actually signed a contract is hard but not impossible, but you need to invoke a few pieces of law. If you just cancel the DD, they'll refer it to their debt collection company who will start harassing you and may eventually file for court action so I think you're better off speaking to this 'Healthforce' or whoever they are before you do anything else to find out where you stand....

Adam - all measurements, no cardio (at least, mine wasn't) - just idle measurements and it takes about 30-40 minutes

PPowers

if i sign with Pru, am I held into a twelve month contract via the gym???

adamt

PPowers wrote: »

if i sign with Pru, am I held into a twelve month contract via the gym???

yes you are im afraid.
The contract with pru is also 12 months, but you are allowed to cancel at any time with one months notice.

camaj

Thanks again Andy. I think my best best is to talk to Pru about it and see what they suggest. I only signed up online but I don't necessarily think that helps matters.

At the moment I'm annoyed at myself for forgetting to cancel and angry at them for the cynical "cancel or be dammed" approach which I feel is particularly unfair.

Obviously I don't want them sending debt collectors after me but I don't want to pay either!

andymac238

camaj wrote: »

Thanks again Andy. I think my best best is to talk to Pru about it and see what they suggest. I only signed up online but I don't necessarily think that helps matters.

At the moment I'm annoyed at myself for forgetting to cancel and angry at them for the cynical "cancel or be dammed" approach which I feel is particularly unfair.

Obviously I don't want them sending debt collectors after me but I don't want to pay either!

No probs.

Here's the Health Force site - http://www.health-force.co.uk/ if you need it. Can understand your frustration, been there before myself - good luck and hope you manage to get it sorted...

adamt

andy, or anyone whos been visiting LA for a while..

I started going LA a week ago, and have been 3x so far, however on my vitality statement online, theres no record of any visits?

each time ive been ive heard the beep when ive scanned in, and also made a point of them confirming ive been signed in, and then said yes.

but the last two times ive been, the receptionist's have scanned it through, and then looked puzzled, then asked me if i was a new member, then when i said yes, they said 'oh thats ok then'???


im worried im not getting scanned in correctly, as they are having to question me???

QQuaver

I've joined up via Quidco yesterday. It says Boots Health Insurance on the acknowledgement email:eek:
How did it happen? Would it be tracked?_pale_

andymac238

adam - seems to take a while with LA. My first ever visit is the only one that's showed up without me contacting them to tell them there are missing visits. They reckon the gym automatically reports to them every 2-4 weeks with your visits though, so probably a bit early to be worried after a week. They put all my visits on manually, no problem, after I messaged them from my online account area.

As to the puzzled looks you're getting, you're probably best to ask them what's showing on your account and then phoning head office to get it sorted. I was showing as a 'Pending Member' - might be the same for you, a couple of calls to LA Head Office got it sorted.

QQuaver - yes I remember people saying on here that the Quidco link now goes straight to the Boots deal, so on that basis you should be OK, but I didn't do it that way myself so perhaps someone else here can clarify???

redwin11

First post - have been scanning the forum for ages and thought i should eventually post about my positive experiences of the deal.

I signed up in July (through TopCashBack) and went to Cannons a few days after getting the confirmation through.

They were excellent, going through the forms with me, showing me round the gym, and then booking an appointment for my assessment - very crucial if you're looking to build up your vitality points.

Once that was sorted, I began attending 3/4 times a week to ensure i built up enough visits so my payments would drop after three months.

It's now been two months and i have already reached 1000 vitality points (which is Silver) and am halfway to reaching the Platinum status which gives you the biggest discount off your premiums next year.

The website generally takes a week or so to update, but it is an excellent site full of great information. Meanwhile, the people on the end of the phone when i have called Pru have been extremely helpful, very chatty and forthcoming in tips to help improve your status.

At the same time, i feel that i am treated no differently to regular gym members at Cannons - the staff are friendly, i have all facilities available to me at any time and have not had any problems with swiping in at any point.

All i need now is for TopCashBack to pay out the £155 (paid a ridiculous 120 days after you join), which is due at the end of next month and the whole impressive process will be complete!

And this doesn't even include the fact that I am a gym member and am for the first time setting myself continual targets to improve my fitness and well-being in time for my next free assessment - talk about motivational!

Admittedly, the actual medical insurance is currently almost worthless, as i have a high excess on a basic plan, but this is something i can look to upgrade once my premiums go down next year.

All in all, very very happy.
I know people are struggling with their plans, but stick with it, as it quickly becomes very worthwhile - good luck!