help please,re cancelling gym membership

ipswich123

Hello all,new here.
As title suggest,my daughter has gym membership which expired yesterday 31-1-2015.She went to tell the gym that she will not be renewing her membership,and they are saying in the small print in her contract she has to pay a 3 month notice period.Basically a realease clause.Now im under the impression that she had a 12 month contract not a 15 month contract.What can she do, or do she has to just pay up.

ipswich123

Yes I have just seen wrong place to put 1st post,sorry all

eddddy

In general, if your daughter signed a contract saying she would have to pay during a 3 month cancellation notice period - that's what she now has to do.

The only way out might be if the gym had breached the contract in some way, or misrepresented something (e.g. they told her before she signed that there was no cancelation notice period. But it would still be her word against theirs.)

shortcrust

It must be annoying, but it doesn't make it a 15 month contract. She could have ended at the 12 month point if she'd given them notice three months ago. Sky TV do the same sort of thing, but they need one month's notice rather than three.

I think her only option is the give notice now and pay for the next three months. That's what she's already agreed to do by signing the contract.

I don't pore over terms and conditions, but knowing when and how you can cancel something like a gym membership is really important. I know that's not helpful at this point!

chattychappy

If she's on a DD or Continuous Payment Authority, they've probably already taken the money.

If not and she is sure of what she was promised, she could cancel any DD/CPA and see what they do. If they complain, tell them that nothing is owed because of what she was promised. Ultimately they could sue, but I doubt whether they would bother because of the costs and uncertainty involved. Even if they did, and it goes to a hearing (ie you don't agree something beforehand), then it's a simple matter of telling the judge the story. If she loses she'll have to pay for the court fees, but as it's small claims she won't have to pay crazy lawyer fees for the other side.

Just because something is "in the small print" doesn't make it legally binding if it is "unfair" (in the legal sense, not in the layman's sense), if there was a misrepresentation or there was some sort of overriding assurance. Sometimes T+Cs are unenforceable because it can't be shown you agreed to them in the first place.

But if she literally signed on the dotted line, it is difficult to overcome a presumption that the print applies.

Nick_C

chattychappy wrote: »

... she could cancel any DD/CPA and see what they do. If they complain, tell them that nothing is owed because of what she was promised. Ultimately they could sue, but I doubt whether they would bother because of the costs and uncertainty involved.

I doubt they would sue. They would probably just place the debt with a collection agency, and your daughter will have a bad credit rating for the next six years.

Your daughter should do the decent thing and give the required three months notice. She could even use the gym for three months!

thebritishbloke

Wasn't it deemed unfair if there was a cancellation clause longer than one month on service contracts?

grumbler

There were some MSE news that are worth checking:
More gym-goers will find it easier to cancel - Money Saving Expert
Tens of thousands can cancel gym - Money Saving Expert
Gym giants to give users better cancellation - Money Saving Expert