Gym contract issue

gmx00

Hello

I served my 12 month contract with my gym and continued paying on what I assumed was a rolling contract after the 12 months. However. when I cancelled my direct debit last week as I no longer wished to continue my membership at the gym, the gym has contacted me to say I still owe them money because I'm supposed to give them 30 days notice.

Is this fair? I believed that after my contract was up, I could simply cancel at any time. I already paid for the last month even though I didn't use the gym and I don't like the idea of having to pay another 30 days with no use! It's seems like daylight robbery.

gmx00

AND apparently they are also charging me extra charges on top of the 30 day notice period! An extra £40 for trying to receive the direct debit from me?

StuC75

30 days notice sounds quite reasonable once outside of the contract, its just the same with Mobile phones etc.. its usually covered in the contract small print that you signed upto, covering your rights to cancel that there rights if they wished to terminate the contract.

In the past I was a member at Virgin Active, and the 'platinum' membership had a fixed price for life, but you were signed up for 12 months at time with a 'fixed window' around the time of renewal of when you could cancel before being tied in again.

At the time it was all explained and understood..

If you've cancelled the direct debit then the contract may also advise of what charges they would look to make for collecting payment by other methods..

Not saying there process of fees are fair, but its worth checking if they match what you signed up to?..

gmx00

I admit that it might have been best to officially send them a letter to cancel my membership in advance as my contract officially states and on second thought I am prepared to pay them 30 days of membership. However, I do not agree with the idea of paying additional fees on top of this and have made this clear to them. I think my offer of a month's payment (for nothing!) is fair.

Could this affect my credit score? Or does that require court action?

DomRavioli

It all sounds above board. Pay the fees and move on.

And next time, read the contract, where I'm guessing all this will be written.

gmx00

Why should I pay their extortionate fees?

Paying the 30 days notice is fair. Paying this plus double the sum in a failed DB fee is not fair and obviously should not be part of any contract. I was literally due to pay it 3 days ago! No court in the land would uphold such a ludicrous penalty.

What I am interested to know is can their chasing of me (via debt collectors or otherwise) affect my credit score without it going to court?

Mr_Singleton

gmx00 wrote: »

Why should I pay their extortionate fees?

Regardless of what the contract says the charge still has to be fair and proportionate to the actual costs incurred.

What you do next depends on how much time you want to spend on pursuing it.

Richard53

To be fair, most companies will charge a fee/penalty for trying to collect a DD payment that has been cancelled. The gym are not unusual in this. Have a good look at what you signed up to. If they are making any charges you haven't agreed to when you signed the contract, then you can challenge them all the way to the High Court. If, as I suspect, it's all there in the small print which you didn't read, then take it as a lesson and move on.