Gym fees problem

sherimax

Hi there,

I have a query. I joined a gym in January and at the end of February got a letter to say my direct debit hadnt come out and so my membership had been cancelled. I went into the gym in March and asked why this was, they tried to pin it on my bank but when I called the bank it said it definitely didnt come from them. So I explained I definitely wanted the membership and paid for feb and March together and reinstated my membership. I hadnt been back since.

Last Friday I went to book into a Yoga class to be told that I hadnt paid 4 months membership so my membership had been cancelled. It turned out that after paying Feb and March, the gym stopped taking payments from me from April onwards AGAIN!! After looking into it, the gym admitted fault as they say they did not put the correct debit code on my account.

Despite being at fault they have said that I cannot use the facilities until I clear the debt. I went to head office about this, as our contract stated that they would take the money from my account but they failed to do that and instead cancelled my membership, so surely this renders the contract void? To be honest I would rather just leave the contract altogether if this is an option.

I have just spent 600 pounds on emergency surgery for my dog which is going to leave me short for next month. But they are telling me that I cannot use the gym until I pay the full amount. They have conceeded that they were at fault and have taken some money off, so that instead of it being 99 pounds in total which sees the payments to the end of August, it is now 75 pounds. I still dont see why I should have to pay for their mistake? Can anyone lend me some advice?

dealme

Maybe you can look at some other gyms in your area?

saker75

Definitely get pet insurance if you haven't already.

DomRavioli

No, you still have to pay what you owe - you had the option to use the facilities, and to be fair they have knocked some off as it was their fault.

sherimax

Hi Dom, I didnt have the option to use the facilities as my membership had been cancelled. Sorry if I didnt make that clear.

Country_Cousin

I don't understand you said you had not been back since - through choice I believe, until you decided to book the Yoga class. At which point the mistake was discovered and put right. If you had attended during the period you chose not to attend, the mistake would have been discovered then and sorted out then. The facilities have been there for you to use (regardless of this error - as it has been sorted quite quickly now it has been raised) it is just you chose not to attend and use them.


And I would also echo the need for pet insurance if you have a dog at home and there is any chance that you would be unable to cover vet bills should they arise.

unholyangel

sherimax wrote: »

Hi Dom, I didnt have the option to use the facilities as my membership had been cancelled. Sorry if I didnt make that clear.

I thought that was back in february/march? What about the 4 months after that? You only said that they hadnt been taking the money (which read - to me at least - that your membership was available at that time).

stevemLS

Maybe you could also look at your bank statements?

sherimax

unholyangel wrote: »

I thought that was back in february/march? What about the 4 months after that? You only said that they hadnt been taking the money (which read - to me at least - that your membership was available at that time).

Ok, I think I need to explain further. As I dont think the point Im making is coming across...Yes in March I solved the problem the first time it happened, as they had sent me out a letter to let me know that they had not received payment, which they were attributing to me but was actually their fault.

At that point they didnt fix the debit code issue unbeknownst to me, but also never sent me out a letter to inform me that there was a problem with my payments, unlike the first time. This time they simply cancelled my membership and didnt inform me that they had cancelled it.

They stopped taking payment and deleted my membership, so they have broken the contract I signed with them. Whether I wanted to go to the gym or not is irrelavant. The contract between myself and the gym was broken due to an error carried out by the gym itself.

If my membership was cancelled for 4 months, what am I actually paying for? I should pay for a membership that was cancelled? That cant be right? Hopefully this explains what Im trying to get across!

unholyangel

sherimax wrote: »

Ok, I think I need to explain further. As I dont think the point Im making is coming across...Yes in March I solved the problem the first time it happened, as they had sent me out a letter to let me know that they had not received payment, which they were attributing to me but was actually their fault.

At that point they didnt fix the debit code issue unbeknownst to me, but also never sent me out a letter to inform me that there was a problem with my payments, unlike the first time. This time they simply cancelled my membership and didnt inform me that they had cancelled it.

They stopped taking payment and deleted my membership, so they have broken the contract I signed with them. Whether I wanted to go to the gym or not is irrelavant. The contract between myself and the gym was broken due to an error carried out by the gym itself.

If my membership was cancelled for 4 months, what am I actually paying for? I should pay for a membership that was cancelled? That cant be right? Hopefully this explains what Im trying to get across!

But was it actually cancelled for 4 months or did they only just cancel it more recently? Was there a minimum term in your contract? Was it provided under a finance agreement (sometimes this isnt made clear so checking T&C's should shed some light).

Do they have a record of your payments in cash from the first time?

In short i'm thinking the following.

That under breach of contract, they are responsible for direct losses incurred as a result - of which there doesnt seem to be any (you would've paid the membership had they not breached the contract so that is not a loss due to heir breach).

Basically you're entitled to be put back in the same position you would have been in had the breach not occurred - and ironically that position would be of having paid for the months - despite not using the services.

They have (from the sounds of it) offered a resolution. The fact its taken 4 months isnt down to them so imo a court would likely hold that if you had visited earlier, they would have offered a resolution then.

They seem to even have compensated you for the inconvenience by reducing the amount owed.

Sorry its not what you want to hear but I'd rather give you an honest opinion.

Poppie68

Did you not consider keeping an eye on future payments after the first mess up? I would also be thinking about your 'commitment' to exercise if you had been possibly paying for all these months and the only service you had made an effort to attend was one yoga class...what a waste of money. The money would of been better spent on pet insurance.