Problems With DFC Finance

unholyangel

Hoob87 wrote: »

Even though the intial cancellation email did not send, I have made an effort to prove (without actually having it) that I intended to send it and was under the impression I did send it.

I can't prove I did, and at the same time they can't prove that I didn't.

In my opinion, they should have stopped all late payment fee's the minute I got in touch with DFC and explained the situation. I requested cancellation there and then. I fully understand the first £15 fee, as they did not know it had intended to be cancelled. I kindly asked if the £15 was taken off, I could probably make a payment that day to settle the account.

They didn't want to know.

As far as they are concerned, it was cancelled the day I told DFC directly it was cancelled, forget about the gym, I understand now that is probably irrelevant, but it's the fact I have asked them cancel, they have not acknowledges my request to cancel and are still charging me fee's.

Thanks

T

Intending to send it isn't the important part. Its whether it actually sent or not.

You don't have to specifically say "i want to cancel the contract under the CCRs" - as long as the intent to cancel is clear - but the intent needs to have been communicated to them (iyswim).

Were you provided with any terms and conditions at all prior to signing up? This isn't going to be a clear cut one from the sounds of things - but in my experience, despite the high court judgement against ashbourne....gyms still haven't learned their lesson.

Hoob87

unholyangel wrote: »

Intending to send it isn't the important part. Its whether it actually sent or not.

You don't have to specifically say "i want to cancel the contract under the CCRs" - as long as the intent to cancel is clear - but the intent needs to have been communicated to them (iyswim).

Were you provided with any terms and conditions at all prior to signing up? This isn't going to be a clear cut one from the sounds of things - but in my experience, despite the high court judgement against ashbourne....gyms still haven't learned their lesson.

Thanks for the reply

I have been doing some digging, and taking a look at the confirmation email I received and also I went through a "mock" sign up just to see what info was actually available before "clicking the button".

Yes, it appears they have included all of the information that is required by them however I may have found a couple of easter eggs here...

Firstly during the sign up, I was presented with a section that says DFC are only responsible for collecting my DDs and that the agreement is between me and the provider (the gym).

The gyms terms and conditions state that a missed payment means the agreement is terminated by the provider (the gym).

It also states that late payment fee's will be charged, but it does not say how much, the frequency or that they will be issued by or payable to DFC.

Cancellation must be made within 30 days to DFC by email or post. (I'm pretty sure it was within 30 days that I did finally inform DFC of cancellation, so if they are still charging me, they are wrong)

All gym members must complete the PARQ and undergo an induction session at the joining site. (This never happened)

*Confirmation Email*

Now here is the interesting part

It has my payment dates and amounts, followed by the terms and conditions of the provider (the gym) and DFC.

It says "THE CONTRACT COMMENCES ONCE YOU HAVE INDICATED YOUR ACCEPTANCE IN THE DECLRATION SECTION OF THIS CONTRACT".

It goes on to state some more terms and conditions, cancellation terms, the full late payment fee amounts and the frequency and all that jazz.

However, there is no Declaration Section shown within that email, nothing to say I have agreed with the terms and conditions given, nothing with my name saying I _____________ agree with the terms and conditions mentioned above and nothing to show that I had previously accepted them, electronically or in person.

No option to confirm that I had actually agreed and accepted the terms and conditions laid out in the email. Just a thank you for using FastDD to set up my Direct Debit.

After reading it all, I can confirm that I do not agree with those terms and conditions, but unfortunetly it did not advise me on how to inform them that I did not accept them.

Second to that, I was told that DFC were only responsible for collecting my DDs, because I cancelled my DD, there was nothing to collect. I was not informed that late payment fee's would be payable to DFC until after signing up yet there was no option the decline those terms and conditions.

So as far as I was told, the agreement was between myself and the gym, not DFC, and that the gym should be applying the late payment fee's and not DFC. Seems a shame that the gym don't wish to speak to me about it in that case.

I think what I am going to do now is contact DFC again, highlight the above to them, ask them why they are charging me late payment fee's when that is not part of the gyms terms and conditions, ask them for proof that I confirmed and agreed to those conditions as stated in the missing Declaration Section, that didn't have my name written on anywhere. That the membership was terminated by the gym when the payment failed to reach them and that any late payment fee's there after should not be incurred by me and certainly not payable to DFC. Call or write to the gym and offer them the first months membership payment and to inform DFC to stop contacting me because as stated, DFC are only responsible for collecting my Direct Debits and the agreement was between me and the provider.

I did not agree to allow DFC to handle my account, I was only informed that they were the company that dealt with my DD's.

I am also going to present all of this to CAB, and once this has finally been resolved in whatever form, launch an official complaint to DFC's head office informing them that they should not have been asking me for late payment fee's because it was not in the providers terms and conditions that they should be doing so, and that I never gave my consent for DFC to handle my account on behalf of the provider.

I am not going to let them treat me like this, I will seek help and go through every piece of documentation with a fine toothed comb.

Thanks again for your help unholyangel, hopefully I am onto something here

T

unholyangel

The part about cancelling with DFC is slightly off. The OFT v Ashbourne management judgement stated that its an unfair term to make consumers cancel via a third party - although perhaps a moot point in your case as from what you've said, there was no actual cancellation with the gym itself prior to your contact with DFC. I'm mentioning it on the off chance that perhaps you realised the email hadn't sent and resent it before also cancelling with DFC.

Just to be clear, the £130 they are asking for, whats the breakdown? And what exactly did you sign up to (ie 3 month rolling contract @ £30 a month or a 1 month rolling contract @ £30 a month) and whats the notice period once outside of the cancellation policy. And whats the timeline involved? Specific dates, signed up x date, confirmation email x date, cancelled with dfc x date etc.

When contacting DFC just keep it simple. There is no contractual provision for the late payment fee of £15 and in any event, their own agreement states that the contract does not commence until you have expressed your acceptance and until you receive their proof of this, you consider the matter concluded and any further communication from them will be treated as harassment. Thats all you really need to say (except for your contact details & account reference if any).

I have a habit of long posts on here (as do you it seems ) but when writing to companies, never say more than absolutely necessary. It helps ensure that any important points you make doesn't get buried in a sea of text and makes it easier for anyone else reading to follow.