Money back from personal trainer

Hilton12

I recently signed up to a personal trainer at a nationwide gym who I had a positive introductory session with. He has his own website and twitter page and so I felt comfortable signing up with him for quite a few sessions. I didn't sign a contract with him but I have our email and text message communications outlining I had paid the full amount up front for the sessions.

It started off well but then he did not turn up for one of our sessions and was not in contact for a few days, saying he had personal issues he was dealing with. I was very patient and waited for him to reply; a week later we started up again and he gave me 2 free sessions to apologise. This weekend, the same thing happened again with him not turning up to a session and he is not responding to my messages (I have sent 5 in the last 2 days).

I am now very angry at the lack of communication and just want to end our agreement with my money back.

I know he works at the gym but obviously my agreement was with him and not the company. I am going to demand my money back but I don't have a lot of hope in him responding as he hasn't responded to anything else.

Does anyone know if I can take him to small claims court and if you know anyone who has been successful doing so?

Any help would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks!

alleycat`

Personally I'd speak to the gym in the first instance.

Explain the situation and that you are not chasing them but trying to find out if their are circumstances going on that would explain the current behaviour.

If he is genuinely having issues they will know if he is missing work, is off sick, etc.

Based on that response would dictate my next move.

Hilton12

ok, thanks for your quick response

parking_question_chap

Agreed, complain to the gym first.

It is in their intrest as well that anybody working on their site delivers a good service.

ShaunParker

You might find that this chap has legitimate personal issues, I know of one PT who was trying to help his mother who was dying from cancer and still run his PT sessions, he had to try and earn a living but was struggling to be reliable. The emotional toll was so great he had problems communicating to his clients the real reasons for unreliability. He lost a couple of weeks when she passed away and now is more organised and reliable than ever.

I guess don't jump to conclusions because he may not be able to tell you why. Talk to the gym and see if they still see him about.

macman

Why did he ask you to pay upfront for these sessions? I can't see why that should be, or why you would agree it?
You can use the small claims process if you wish, but an LBA should be the first step.

parking_question_chap

macman wrote: »

Why did he ask you to pay upfront for these sessions? I can't see why that should be, or why you would agree it?
You can use the small claims process if you wish, but an LBA should be the first step.

They often give discounts for multiple sessions booked in advance, and as people often give up after a few sessions, they can make money for doing very little (some of the time).

purpleshoes_2

parking_question_chap wrote: »

They often give discounts for multiple sessions booked in advance, and as people often give up after a few sessions, they can make money for doing very little (some of the time).

Or, speaking as a PT myself, the reason I would give someone a discount for block booking is because its often better to commit to a certain number rather than book from session to session, as in if someone books 5, they are making that commitment. As someone who does exercise myself, if I pay for a bootcamp, I do the bootcamp, I might not do so well if I was just doing drop in sessions on a weekly basis.

I wouldn't keep someones money if they gave up after a few sessions, but I'd try and get them to see out the programme they've booked up for.

UKTigerlily

My PT has packages available that give some discount, for me it's better as I pay less and know i'm signed up to it and it's paid no matter what might happen and I guess for him, being self employed he knows he has that income for that time. I really do prefer knowing it's done with for a while

ShaunParker

I appreciate it is slightly off track but if I go to the dentist now I always am asked to pay up front for the appointment, this is so that if you miss it they are recompensed for that booked slot.