Pruhealth gym loophole Article Discussion

Libertarian

sporty wrote: »

I joined via pru health just over a week ago thoguh i have not recieved my membership pack I was keen to join my local gym LA Fitness Woking however on 3 occasional of calling the gym they did not return my phone calls maybe its because im getting reduced rate membership?
Finally I speak to someone who tells me you have to join online and then take the direct debit membership reciept to the gym when you first go...
I did this at 830 am today at 915 I arrived at the gym and was asked to fill out a questionaire. I listed i had asthma I was then told you can not use the gym till you have had a medical with your doctor which i would have to pay for.. also this is would take me 3 weeks to get a non medically urgent appiontment with my doctor.
at the thoguht of not being able use the gym I said cancel it i will go back to my old gym I am 36 and very fit having used the gym 3-4 times a week for the last 7 years they didnt even listen to this they said sorry you can not use the gym for health and safety reasons.
I asked them to refund my membership but was told sorry you will have trouble cancelling and getting back the fees and administration fees I paid only 45 mins earlier!!! you have a contract for a year I said I have a right to cancel i was again told sorry another 5 times you can not cancel finally I as given a phone number to call I did that from the gym phone as i said i want to speak to someone they LA fitness told me its nothing to do with them its corparate memebership which is to do with Pru health and not LA fitness - ***** I joined and used my credit card on LA fitnesses web site I said they said sorry speak to pru health they can not cancel it
Pru health said they have never heard of anyone being told they can not use the gym? after joining however they are unsure how or who has taken my money funny that... PS please visit my new web site http://www.LAfitnessSucks.co.uk :T
and stop LA Fitness ripping you off I have not used the gym as they say I can not but they will not return my money!!! - LA Fitness watch out I am on your case!

When I joined LA Fitness on a one month trial I completed that questionaire. Obviously an exercise in corporate !!!! covering. Getting a 'Doctor's letter' would absolve them of any responsibility if the unlikely happend.

In these circumstances I would cancel my gym DD with the bank, meaning its just the £25 activation fee at stake. I would be surprised if the Pru would not sort this out.

One point I noticed when joining via the LA Fitness / Pru link (after they finally sorted it out on Friday) is that you are contracting to both the Pru and LA Fitness in terms of membership fees.

Prior to that point I had understood that my gym contract was with the Pru (who are contracting with LA Fitness) and hence I could cancel the gym membership by cancelling the health insurance. Since the Pru conditions allow you to cancel on the health insurance, it begs the question of what happens to the gym membership if you do so. Since the LA Fitness terms are 12 months I'm sure they would argue that you have to stay the duration and pay their standard rate.

Being able to avoid the 12 month lock-in was attractive, but it appears that it will take something of a fight to achieve this, although I would try if it becomes necessary since it contradicts the Pru membership documents.

Pound

lcooperdesign wrote: »

1 x £25 Joining fee = £25
3 x £25 Cannons fee = £75
12 x £21.88 Pru Health Cover = £262.56
Total for year 1 = £362.56 :think:

I think that's quite expensive IMO, I'm not really a gym person and I signed up but I'm having second thoughts when I'm looking at that figure (your quote is about the same as mine).

One way of looking at is that your quote will be about £390 next year, if you get platinum status you would only be paying £30 for the year next year.

gsmmad

costs me about 25 a month ...something like 300 quid an a bit

but im getting 115 from quidco and 100 quid jjb vouchers which i can sell for 85 .....300-200 = 100 LOL

100 / 12 = 8.3333

8.50 a month for gym membership at oxford circus .....As they wud say at mc donalds ...IM LOVIN IT

PMISpecialist_2

Pound wrote: »

I think that's quite expensive IMO, I'm not really a gym person and I signed up but I'm having second thoughts when I'm looking at that figure (your quote is about the same as mine).

One way of looking at is that your quote will be about £390 next year, if you get platinum status you would only be paying £30 for the year next year.

'Quite Expensive' - i'd have to disagree. Cannons is normally £660 a year and a Private medical insurance policy usually around £500, so getting both for £390 (this year) and as you rightly say around £30 next year sounds like a cracking deal to me.

PMISpecialist_2

Pound wrote: »

I think that's quite expensive IMO, I'm not really a gym person and I signed up but I'm having second thoughts when I'm looking at that figure (your quote is about the same as mine).

One way of looking at is that your quote will be about £390 next year, if you get platinum status you would only be paying £30 for the year next year.

'Quite Expensive' ? - i'd have to disagree. Cannons is normally £660 a year and a Private medical insurance policy usually around £500, so getting both for £390 (this year) and as you rightly say around £30 annually next year etc sounds like a cracking deal to me. Pru are not a charity after all, although it would be very nice if they could do both for free! moneysavingexpert.com hits the nail on the head again IMO :beer:

Pound

Expensive is subjective. It's definitely a not expensive if you pay for gym membership and health insurance anyway or even just gym membership. But I don't have either and like I said I'm not really a gym person so I personally would have to think twice about shelling out £350 as it is a lot of money for me.

lcooperdesign

gsmmad wrote: »

costs me about 25 a month ...something like 300 quid an a bit

but im getting 115 from quidco and 100 quid jjb vouchers which i can sell for 85 .....300-200 = 100 LOL

100 / 12 = 8.3333

8.50 a month for gym membership at oxford circus .....As they wud say at mc donalds ...IM LOVIN IT

Will it really be 8.50 a month? Have you considered the £25 joining fee + the gym fees that you have to pay for the first 3 months. Have a look at my calculations apparently they're correct for my quote, so just tweak them:

Month 1:
£25 Joining fee
£21.88 Pru Health Cover
£25 Cannons fee
Total: £71.88

Month 2:
£21.88 Pru Health Cover
£25 Cannons fee
Total: £46.88

Month 3:
£21.88 Pru Health Cover
£25 Cannons fee
Total: £46.88

Months 4 through 12:
£21.88 Pru Health Cover
£0 Cannons fee ( I visit or swipe twice a week)
Total: £21.88 p/m

1 x £25 Joining fee = £25
3 x £25 Cannons fee = £75
12 x £21.88 Pru Health Cover = £262.56
Total for year 1 = £362.56 :think:

PS. How exactly do we get the £100 JJB vouchers?

Woodyrocks

Ooh got my paperwork through today Yipee! The cashback still isn't showing up on quidco though ???

alant1000

lcooperdesign wrote: »

Will it really be 8.50 a month? Have you considered the £25 joining fee + the gym fees that you have to pay for the first 3 months. Have a look at my calculations apparently they're correct for my quote, so just tweak them:



PS. How exactly do we get the £100 JJB vouchers?

YEAH how did you get the voucher?? I just did the same via quidco but it didnt track at first because i went via MSE to view the deal details, then via quidco and it got tracked to MSE as i didnt delete cookies.. but quidco linked it in the end :j

alant1000

sporty wrote: »

I joined via pru health just over a week ago thoguh i have not recieved my membership pack I was keen to join my local gym LA Fitness Woking however on 3 occasional of calling the gym they did not return my phone calls maybe its because im getting reduced rate membership?
Finally I speak to someone who tells me you have to join online and then take the direct debit membership reciept to the gym when you first go...
I did this at 830 am today at 915 I arrived at the gym and was asked to fill out a questionaire. I listed i had asthma I was then told you can not use the gym till you have had a medical with your doctor which i would have to pay for.. also this is would take me 3 weeks to get a non medically urgent appiontment with my doctor.
at the thoguht of not being able use the gym I said cancel it i will go back to my old gym I am 36 and very fit having used the gym 3-4 times a week for the last 7 years they didnt even listen to this they said sorry you can not use the gym for health and safety reasons.
I asked them to refund my membership but was told sorry you will have trouble cancelling and getting back the fees and administration fees I paid only 45 mins earlier!!! you have a contract for a year I said I have a right to cancel i was again told sorry another 5 times you can not cancel finally I as given a phone number to call I did that from the gym phone as i said i want to speak to someone they LA fitness told me its nothing to do with them its corparate memebership which is to do with Pru health and not LA fitness - ***** I joined and used my credit card on LA fitnesses web site I said they said sorry speak to pru health they can not cancel it
Pru health said they have never heard of anyone being told they can not use the gym? after joining however they are unsure how or who has taken my money funny that... PS please visit my new web site http://www.LAfitnessSucks.co.uk :T
and stop LA Fitness ripping you off I have not used the gym as they say I can not but they will not return my money!!! - LA Fitness watch out I am on your case!

i went into Virgin active in Staines today to do the same, cancel, and i was honest and told them i was reapplying via Pru (no point in lying as they were going to see me anyway). They got in a bit of a huff and told me i shouldnt cancel yet in case Pru refused me cover (i'm 28, male, non smoker, 3 times a week gym) so thats obviously well unlikely!! Then they said as i was on an old Holmes place contract the notice period is longer... bottom line is the sales people in the gym hate this deal. LA fitness is Woking.. thats an interesting one... i'm local to Woking and know someone who worked there... you should try peak fitness in Woking, by best freind Paul Edwards owns it, they will look after you. Health quesitonaires are pretty standard in gym joining to be honest though.