David Lloyd Cancellation Nightmare!

pittatoast

Hi all,

I've been reading some horror stories regarding David Lloyd cancellations and I desperately need some advice.

At the end of February I got a massive hike in my housekeeping which I pay my step-dad. This made the £59pm membership with David Lloyd impossible to pay. This came into effect from the beginning of March and I needed to cancel my contract.

The issue is I signed the contract back in October to commence in 2015 on an early start type thing. 2 months free if I recall. I read there are OFT rules saying you can terminate a gym contract if it isn't affordable anymore and they have to let you go.

I was given a letter by my step-dad explaining the new housekeeping amount. I called and spoke to someone in membership at my club and they said if I bring the letter in I would be able to cancel under a "change in circumstances". I took the letter in and was made to feel like a liar - with her implying anyone could have written it and it was bogus.

Obviously I strongly protested and I was told she would pass it on to the manager. Generally they need a "legal document" she tells me. I then get a phone call from her male colleague explaining the situation and that I am unable to cancel as it's not deemed "suitable" for them.

I then spoke with the manager who explained they need something "letter headed" or "legal". I explained I am unable to provide anything but the letter I already have and that my step-dad does not have letter headed paper... why would he?!

He went on to say it's not satisfactory to them and that I need to take in my personal bank statements. I said I would consider it due to fact it is a full overview of my finances which I don't feel comfortable sharing.

I later emailed the local membership email to explain that I decline to show them all of my banking statements as it's personal. I went on to quote their contract saying that under exceptional circumstances they need something "satisfactory" the exact details of what is satisfactory are not defined anywhere on the contract. I said I have provided the only evidence I have available to me to prove the DRASTIC change in circumstances and that the term "satisfactory" is just designed so they can continually change the goal posts on me. I said if I don't hear back within 7 days then I will assume the matter is appeased.

Someone in the department assured me I would be contacted. This email was on the 19th of March. Not hearing anything - I assume they've understood the awkwardness of the situation and shown some sort of compassion.

WRONG!!!! I get a call on Friday 10th from ARC Europe saying I owe them £79 for unpaid membership. I assured the person on the phone that he is wrong and to check his facts with David Lloyd as my understanding is that it is a resolved matter. He asked who I spoke to and said the account will be suspended. I called David Lloyd that same evening to demand to speak to someone in membership to see if the matter was still ongoing and was assured I would be called this Saturday just gone. That never happened.

I called them this evening asking to be contacted as a matter of urgency and I'm assured a phone call tomorrow - which I doubt I will receive.

Please please please can someone advise me what to do as this is stressing me out quite considerably and I'm panicking.

Thanks in advance.

hollydays

I wait for someone with more knowledge but I think the change in the law related to people who were for example made redundant or injured so I'm not sure that your circumstances will exempt you

lucy03

pittatoast wrote: »

Thanks in advance.

The terms and conditions allowing you to end your membership early read as below (and these are noted to be the new terms agreed with the OFT which minimises any claim of them being considered unfair IMO).

Your situation, as you suggest, seems to fit into the last one and to be fair I can't see that a letter from a family member is going to convince them, otherwise that would allow many people to just leave early. The vagueness in the condition doesn't IMO necessarily work to your advantage, I'd suggest that a court would just want to see that this condition has been treated reasonably by the company.

They've mentioned the paperwork they'd like to see and you're refusing to show it. Perhaps ask for them to consider sending you a statement of means to complete to show the change in income and expenditure. Perhaps agree to show them redacted bank statements to show these changes.


• you are suffering from a medical condition which means you are unable to use your club’s
sports facilities (this does not include pregnancy, but does include a medical condition that
arises during pregnancy);
• you lose your employment or are declared insolvent;
• you are being relocated in your employment to a location which is more than 10 miles from a
David Lloyd Leisure club;
• you are moving home to a location which is more than 10 miles from a David Lloyd Leisure
club; or
• we are satisfied that there has been a change in your personal circumstances, other than
those listed above, which means that it is no longer reasonable for you to use your club’s
facilities or to continue being a member.

pvt

Pittatoast,

On the basis of what Lucy has posted as their Ts&Cs it does look as if the onus is on you to convince David Lloyd that a change in circumstances means you can no longer afford your membership. With the best will in the world, a letter from a relative would seem inadequate to me.

Have you considered asking your Step-Dad if he will reconsider the huge increase in housekeeping he has requested from you, as you clearly cannot afford it?

hollydays

You can't really blame the gym for saying that you could make up a letter to say your outgoings had gone up to try to get out of your contract.

pittatoast

Thanks for the advice so far. I do understand where you are coming from in terms of the legitimacy of the letter - but it is all I was given. Housekeeping is hardly a formal arrangement; but if I stop paying not only am I out of pocket, I'll have no roof over my head.

If I were to take a bank statement of February - April, then all it will show is a change in the CASH withdrawal I have made to pay my step-dad at the beginning of the month. He now lets me pay weekly however to accommodate the change in cost.

What's to say they won't change the goalposts again and say that it's not enough - what then?! That's what I predict will happen. It's a system designed to work for them, and nobody has any common sense or compassion. It seems money is like blood to them.

I feel highly embarrassed showing my bank statements to strangers as I'm a low earner. Why do they want to see the ins and outs of every single transaction? Can I provide them with a photocopy of them with non-essential information blacked out?

Thanks again.

LostAndAshamed

They need to see the ins and outs of your bank account because you are asking them to terminate the contract early based on you being unable to pay. They need to assess whether you actually are unable to pay.

Is your housekeeping amount reasonable? If it's cheaper than or at least comparable to a one-bed flat, you could take your bank statements in and show the payments, explaining that this leaves you with X amount for food and bills.

Remember that you are asking DL for a favour, though. Legally, you are not covered under the guidance, so anything they offer you is a goodwill gesture and will lose them money. The more difficult you make it for them to assess whether you can afford going, the less likely they are to cancel the debt.

soolin

pittatoast wrote: »

Thanks for the advice so far. I do understand where you are coming from in terms of the legitimacy of the letter - but it is all I was given. Housekeeping is hardly a formal arrangement; but if I stop paying not only am I out of pocket, I'll have no roof over my head.

If I were to take a bank statement of February - April, then all it will show is a change in the CASH withdrawal I have made to pay my step-dad at the beginning of the month. He now lets me pay weekly however to accommodate the change in cost.

What's to say they won't change the goalposts again and say that it's not enough - what then?! That's what I predict will happen. It's a system designed to work for them, and nobody has any common sense or compassion. It seems money is like blood to them.

I feel highly embarrassed showing my bank statements to strangers as I'm a low earner. Why do they want to see the ins and outs of every single transaction? Can I provide them with a photocopy of them with non-essential information blacked out?

Thanks again.

To be frank you can't be that low an earner if you could afford £59 pm gym membership - so I'd take the statements in and not be embarrassed.

However, I honestly don't think that David Lloyd are going to allow cancellation of this based on cash withdrawals given to a family member. Imagine it from their point of view- everyone who takes out a contract could wander in with a bit of paper from their parent, spouse or whoever saying that 'x is going to have to pay more for housekeeping in future' and be allowed to walk away from a signed contract.

haras_nosirrah

pittatoast wrote: »

The issue is I signed the contract back in October to commence in 2015 on an early start type thing. 2 months free if I recall.

so essentially you have had jan and feb free and now have realised you can't afford the contract so want to leave early?

How much has your step dad increased your housekeeping by? Are you able to get a second job? How long is your contract for?

David Lloyd have you by the short and curlies here so you either need to pay and cancel when it comes to the end of the contract or convince them to let you cancel now in which case you will need to give them everything they ask for and hope for goodwill. They are in the right here so getting all upset at them won't work

lucy03

In the first instance I'd send them a statement of means so they can see clearly what the situation is (and explain what has changed since you took out the contract). If they can see that your income is low they might not be too interested in anything else as they can see your claims might well be genuine. Ask what evidence they need and you can redact the elements that aren't relevant to them.

At the moment you're in the position of signing up very recently to a contract, refusing to supply paperwork they've suggested and issuing an arbitrary deadline to them to resolve the matter which they don't really IMO legally need to resolve.

pvt

eetnas, I've reported your odious and totally inappropriate posts.