gym cancellation - moneygrabbingexpert

spencer999

My missis joined a gym and NEVER WENT... and never noticed the £10 a month dd for two (2) years. She passed a note in to the branch (no proof of this sadly) and cancelled the dd. You can guess the rest - the demands for "admin" and cancellation fees are now over £100.

The gym's head office is in Leeds. After a bit of research I believe they are notorious for this - the gym, the dd handling firm, and the debt collectors, are all allegedly under one roof. Speak to head office, they say speak to branch, the branch say speak to head office, and the handling firm say ve are only followink orderz.

The fact that she's paid well over £200 for a gym membership she never used once is of course immaterial. Any advice or a pointer to a thread where this is already discussed will be most gratefully received.

And yes it really is my missis who did it, not me!!

chuckley

the simple fact is there's no record in writing of a cancellation. This is no-ones fault but your wife.

and no way did she not notice for two years. unless she never checks account ever.

you should be more concerned with what's on her credit file regarding default...

jenniewb

If gyms refunded on no-shows they'd all be out of business within months! So you're right to say it's immaterial OP, it would be great if companies worked like this but they don't and there wont be anything you can do about that.


When it comes to cancellations of orders like this, you really need to make sure you keep some sort of evidence when you do cancel. Either a signed or stamped letter from the gym that you have put in a request to cancel and/or a reference number and name of who you spoke to. It will be difficult tracing back anything for evidence and there will be as with all contracts a minimum term before you can cancel if outside of the initial X days (which can vary depending on the company and how lenient they are).


You could try contacting your bank and see what they can advise, if you feel the money was taken by fraud (eg you have evidence that your partner requested to cancel and that they still took money despite the request to cancel being confirmed) then you can make a claim for this but I'm not sure if there is anything you can do outside of take the gym to a small claims court and this could easily end up with it costing more than it gets back to you and you may end up having to pay the bill.


I can understand your anger and frustration with what has happened and sorry that you may have lost out. By all means chase it as far as you can because you have little to lose but time and letter-writing energy. Make sure when it's cancelled this time you have evidence from the company that states they have your request and know exactly what the cancellation means for you (eg outstanding payments and when the contract actually ends). You could try contacting the CAB to see if they have any links for other companies or groups to contact (as the CAB tend to be a little busy they may be able to signpost you to other groups or charities) but be prepared to not get back anything or the full amount and that it may be from the point of a good will gesture rather than because they admit fault even if they were at fault.

spencer999

she had a lot of dds on her account and we did a clearance/review. She'd put it off for ages.

I don't want a refund, I know that would be fantastically unrealistic, but I don't expect to be bombarded with threatening letters with mounting "admin" charges. I've discussed it on my local facebook community page and a lot of people are saying they've had the same experience with the same branch of this gym - trying to cancel and getting tangled in the small print money extraction clauses.

jenniewb

If your partner is being hounded and feels unable to cope with this then my best advice would be to contact the CAB but the only problem with that is they do tend to have waiting lists which can mean it may take a while to get anywhere and in the mean time your going to need to sit through warning letters and it could make things feel worse.


There are ways around things like this though and if the firm is understanding enough (though it doesn't sound like it in this case) they can normally be settled with some sort of IVA payment, but if they are unhelpful this is where the CAB can help as harassment is unnecessary and can cause other issues. But safe as to say there are things that can be done, they just don't always happen as fast as you may need. It could be worth trying to talk to the company about setting up some sort of payment agreement to get them off your back but if they don't agree to this it may mean contacting the CAB as they can carry more clout and will know the law better.


I would also ask the CAB if they can signpost you to any other organisations in your area who can help as they will have details for this but they can also help too if it is possible to get an appointment with someone.

spencer999

in days gone by when parking companies sprang up in place of the old clamping goons, people could safely ignore demands for money - now that's no longer the case. With this profiteering gym my feeling is that I should brazen this out in the hope that a judge would find the charges grossly unfair and throw their claim out on the basis that they've already had a ton of money for nowt.

[Deleted User]

spencer999 wrote: »

in days gone by when parking companies sprang up in place of the old clamping goons, people could safely ignore demands for money -

While I have some sympathy, you can't really compare your situation to someone who parks their car unknowingly and then gets charged.

Two things stand out;
One is that a DD left your account for two years without any question,
Second is that a "cancellation" was apparently requested, but no receipt was kept as proof.

You'll just have to pay up if you want the debt collectors to stop.

luiskvargaslvg

Now there is nothing you can to except paying the debt. For long two years your wife didn't noticed the DD that's really weird. Everyone should check their account once in a month for sure.

spencer999

thanks chaps. Although I'm not sure "paying the debt" is accurate as I maintain there is no debt. Just because a firm of shysters writes a letter claiming I owe them imaginary "admin" fees does not automatically mean I actually owe them.

dacouch

Xercise4less and their dubious cancellation practices were exposed on BBC Watchdog last year.

Here is their statement in response to Watchdog

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1FHmSPgHcrJrrNwwsPgPQy4/company-response

Try contacting them on social media eg Facebook & Twitter

spencer999

thanks dacouch. Their facebook reviews seem to be peppered with 1* reviews for this sort of thing. I don't think they care. They make money with no effort so if they have no morals why should they?