Charges £800 to leave kids karate club?

Marktheshark

I would say that trading standards are now involved and they have told you to demand a copy of the contract and when they have seen the contract they are coming out to take a statement from you so they must only put things in writing now.
You might just scare them off.

[Deleted User]

I have a feeling they have done it a lot before, but I'm happy to try anything at the moment.

POPPYOSCAR

assj wrote: »

I'd be happy to message you the name, but I dont want the name to feature in the thread or google search terms thanks.

Yes please send me a PM

hollydays

I'm absolutely certain the op has been treated unfairly , and I don't think they should be pushed to publish anything on here that might identify them

naedanger

assj wrote: »

I have a feeling they have done it a lot before, but I'm happy to try anything at the moment.

My suggestion:

Send them a written letter (with proof of sending) and send them a copy by email. (If they don't have email then send the letter with registered delivery.)

In the letter state that you cancelled the contract on [date you sent letter].

State that you believe the requirement to give 3 months notice (or pay for 3 months service) is an unfair contract term under the The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 as the reason you cancelled the contract was solely because of their unilateral increase in charges. State that you believe their ability to increase charges without giving you the opportunity to cancel the contract penalty free causes a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment of you, the consumer.

Also state that the OFT issued guidance "Unfair contract terms guidance" in September 2008 that states this is also their view (see pages 57 and 58 of that guidance which can be found on the internet).

I would end by saying: Please ensure any further correspondence on this matter is in writing so we both have evidence of what is said. I will accept no further telephone calls on this matter.

Then see what they say.

Ultimately I would let them take me to court. I would NOT be certain of winning but if you lose you will not be much worse off than if you agree to their demand. (You will very probably have to pay some court fees if you lose but these should not be too great e.g. c. £100). In practice I would hope they would eventually drop it.

Do not ignore any letters they send. You want to be seen to have behaved reasonably if they do take you to court. However subsequent letters can be brief e.g. Thank you for your letter but my views are still as set out in my letter of [date]. (Assuming they don't say anything terribly significant.)

Obviously if anything I have said is not the case then you need to modify your reply.

POPPYOSCAR

assj wrote: »

I'd be happy to message you the name, but I dont want the name to feature in the thread or google search terms thanks.

Thank you for the PM.

[Deleted User]

Thank you so much to all here, will keep you updated :-)

[Deleted User]

I have just sent the letter, so we will see what response comes back, they don't provide any email address unfortunately. Thanks again all and I'll be back to post what happens next :-)

LABMAN

assj wrote: »

I have just sent the letter, so we will see what response comes back, they don't provide any email address unfortunately. Thanks again all and I'll be back to post what happens next :-)

Please don't do the what Marktheshark suggests regarding TS...TS don't do any of that and you will look like an idiot if they know that.

[Deleted User]

I must admit I was tempted, but then did as said in post 26 - thanks to everyone and I hope I'll make some progress. I also told the newspaper because I felt like people should know what they are doing - that was my emotions though not me! :-)