Disputed gym bill, what can I do?

darrnan

At freshers I was offered a free 7 day trial with no obligation to continue but asked for my name address and bank details (yes that was iffy) I gave them but signed nothing and was told I would be contacted about the trial, when I didn't hear a week later I rang and said I had no plans to join since they were too busy to give me the trial (they wont let you join till you are "assessed")

A few weeks later got a letter stating my direct debit had failed so they were charging me a £25 bounced payment fee and a £25 admin fee, I tried contacting them but the manager was never available, then got another £50 of "fees" and threats of taking me to court.

Now a few things there, first they said within first 14 days you can cancel and only pay for the time you used minus the free trial on their terms for actual contracts, and since they "blocked" me going in within a week of "signing up" I had no access anyway which they charged for.

What can I do? If they had been more polite and not tried charging me admin costs I may of just gone for the month and cancelled.

Sanctioned_Parts_List

My old uni had a "Campus Law" workshop, where the third year law students got some practice by helping students resolve limited scope civil issues like this. The advantage for the student was that it was completely free of charge.

Might be worth seeing if your uni has a similar service, or one provided by the student's union, to go through your gym contract and determine whether you actually owe the money or not. If you do - pay it. If you don't, they'll help you write the appropriate "go forth and multiply" letter.

Kitten868

Contact your student union. They are there to help you and also would have organised your freshers fair. There's probably more people than just you that's been affected. £125 when you haven't used the service is awful. X

another_casualty

Years ago, I was with l a fitness( replace the first letter with s and. H and you'll see what they are really like .
I was on a corporate membership from the company I worked for .

Anyway , the staff there were incompetent and I had a row with a rude member of staff .

I refused to pay ( I had another 4 months membership left).
The result being , I got a letter from a debt collection agency and had to pay the amount that they requested.
I knew if I didn't I would get a bad credit rating and the fee would only get bigger .
Hope you get it sorted

homelovin

You said you didn't sign anything? Did you get any paperwork at all? If you did, read it so you know what you agreed to. Sometimes, a requirement is that you have to cancel, if you don't cancel then it is assumed you agree to the DD. (Amazon Prime and free credit check companies do this for some of their free trials, so beware going forward!)

Go into the gym and nicely tell them you never came at all, you never accepted the 7-day trial and were not given instruction how to cancel the DD within the 14 days as you never spoke to anyone. I say ask nicely because you always get further with sugar!

Cancel DD with bank - if you can do it yourself online then do this, but stop them trying anymore and it possibly getting through if you have some cash your bank at any point.

See what they say. They may be able to completely remove all charges etc. If not, take further advice. Speak with the uni because at the least they should have their invitation to the freshers' fair stopped if they are being unreasonable to students.

Petra_70

I really feel like joining the gym sometimes, but the problems that some people have when they try to leave (and DO leave,) really puts me off.

My cousin left her gym back in the summer, (after 2 years,) and they sent her an email confirming it. Yet 3 months later, she got a letter from a debt collection agency, (representing the gym,) saying she owed over £200! 2 missed payments of £28 each, and £150 'admin fee.' The letter also said 'despite several reminders we have sent you you, you have still not paid!' This was the first letter she ever received!

She got it sorted fairly quickly, but for a few days, it worried her sick. She thought she was going to have a black mark on her credit record.

Apparently, this happened quite regularly when people left that gym.

It's not on, it really isn't! :mad:

FinallyGettingFree

Definitely tell your SU - they won't invite them back if they're scamming students like this.

sourcrates

darrnan wrote: »

At freshers I was offered a free 7 day trial with no obligation to continue but asked for my name address and bank details (yes that was iffy) I gave them but signed nothing and was told I would be contacted about the trial, when I didn't hear a week later I rang and said I had no plans to join since they were too busy to give me the trial (they wont let you join till you are "assessed")

A few weeks later got a letter stating my direct debit had failed so they were charging me a £25 bounced payment fee and a £25 admin fee, I tried contacting them but the manager was never available, then got another £50 of "fees" and threats of taking me to court.

Now a few things there, first they said within first 14 days you can cancel and only pay for the time you used minus the free trial on their terms for actual contracts, and since they "blocked" me going in within a week of "signing up" I had no access anyway which they charged for.

What can I do? If they had been more polite and not tried charging me admin costs I may of just gone for the month and cancelled.

Hi,

Have done a little fact finding on this matter.

It seems this is a common complaint amongst gym users.

Your first step should be a written complaint to the gym in question, mark your letter "complaint", and set out your concerns, and what you would like them to do to resolve your complaint.

Also ask for a copy of there complaints procedure.

They then have 8 weeks to investigate your complaint, and give you a final responce.
Because they attempted to take a payment from you by direct debt, this puts the matter under the remit of the financial ombudsman service.

Should the gym not respond to you, or, you are unhappy with there responce, you can then take the matter to the FOS for them to resolve for you.
It may take a little while, but I think you have a good chance of getting the debt quashed, and possibly some compensation for your trouble.

darrnan

Sorry, I decided to ring the debt collectors direct who claimed it was a 12 month contract (which I will update thread in a few with what the website claims is 1 month) and now they want £290!!!

They claimed I signed an agreement, refused to show me evidence of this alleged agreement and said they sent email with the terms when I signed up so I can't dispute it!

So contact the original company by letter is best? What shall I say to debt collectors if they call me etc.

Does say 12 months online but phoned the company that said 1st month free, so if thats the case why did they try and charge me £9.99 in the first month then charge me £50 in fees.

Either way they have screwed up.

greensalad

Send them the Prove It! letter first and foremost. I bet they can't prove you signed anything. In which case they will go away.

The key part of the Prove It letter is this:

You are prohibited by Law from continuing any collection activity until you have [proven the debt]. Failure to obey the Law in this regard will render you liable to prosecution for harassment

They have to provide evidence of you signing up. Don't be intimidated. If you truly haven't signed anything, there is no way they can charge you for this.

Also do not talk to debt collectors / gyms / anyone you're disputing with over the phone. Write them the Prove It! letter and also state you will not accept phone calls, only written letters. If they call, politely say that you requested not to talk via the phone and hang up. If they email, write back saying you only accept contact by letter (or ignore and write to them yourself).

It costs you in stamps yes, but it will save a lot of headaches.

sourcrates

darrnan wrote: »

Sorry, I decided to ring the debt collectors direct who claimed it was a 12 month contract (which I will update thread in a few with what the website claims is 1 month) and now they want £290!!!

They claimed I signed an agreement, refused to show me evidence of this alleged agreement and said they sent email with the terms when I signed up so I can't dispute it!

So contact the original company by letter is best? What shall I say to debt collectors if they call me etc.

Does say 12 months online but phoned the company that said 1st month free, so if thats the case why did they try and charge me £9.99 in the first month then charge me £50 in fees.

Either way they have screwed up.

Ringing a DCA is seldom productive, that's why best advice is to write or email.
They will tell you any old garbage on the phone, remember, they don't give two hoots if you owe the money or not, all they want is there investment back.

Do as advised before, send the provit letter, see what comes back.

Then if they persist, continue to dispute it in writing, but please stay off the phone.
Without evidence there's nothing much they can do.