Gym Membership Increase..Less than months notice!

NurseMoneySaver1122

Hi all

Reposting this in this section in the hope for some advice.


I have a gym membership whereby I have to provide one months notice to leave. I currently pay £24pm but received an email on 2nd Feb confirming a price increase from March 1st to £30!

I'm pretty sure I'm leaving for another gym but noticed that I'll have to pay the new price increase regardless as they haven't even provided a months notice! That seems pretty tactical on their part, as many of us are talking of going elsewhere yet they will still get the increased fee from every one of us!

Is there any guidelines that say they shouldn't do that? I don't know where to look because I didn't get given paperwork or anything so I'm not sure if they should have provided a bit more notice?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

da_rule

Unfortunately it should be contained in their terms and conditions. They may be available on their website. If not then you can ask for a copy and a copy of the form you signed when signing up with them in case it was on there.

It should state how much notice they have to give and may also state how much they're allowed to increase it by and how they can serve the notice (email/post etc).

There's nothing really in law that sets any minimum or maximum notice periods. If there isn't anything in the contract it would just have to be 'reasonable' and 'fair'. They've given about 27 days notice of the change.

The only thing that comes into play (and only if you pay by Direct Debit) is the Direct Debit guarantee which sets out that they should give you at least 10 working days notice of any change to the amount that will be requested. In this case they appear to have done that.

timbstoke

They can't unilaterally increase the price without your agreement - this is basically the same argument as the mobile phone operators increasing tariffs mid-term.

You need to reply to that email advising that you reject the new price, and giving them the option to either allow you to terminate your contract at the end of February, or agree to maintain the already contracted price during your notice period.

If they refuse to do either, you have a choice:

1. Give your notice anyway and accept one months higher payment (least hassle, but the minor irritation of letting them win)
2. Give your notice, telling them that you do not agree to the new terms and that they are only authorised to take the standard amount for your final month. If they take the higher amount, reclaim it using the Direct Debit Guarantee (tell your bank that the incorrect amount was taken - this is DDICA Reason Code 7), then cancel the Direct Debit. When they complain, ask for their bank details to pay the correct amount by standing order, or pay by cheque if you still have such a thing. This carries a fairly high risk that you'll be refused access to the gym during your last month and will then have to initiate a claim against them for a refund of the membership fee paid when you were not allowed to use the gym.
3. TELL them that you decline the new contract and are therefore cancelling immediately due to THEIR breach of the agreed contract. They'll probably complain a bit, but with a few strongly worded letters, it's unlikely that they'll take it further, since you have a clear defence to any claim.

da_rule

timbstoke wrote: »

They can't unilaterally increase the price without your agreement - this is basically the same argument as the mobile phone operators increasing tariffs mid-term.

You need to reply to that email advising that you reject the new price, and giving them the option to either allow you to terminate your contract at the end of February, or agree to maintain the already contracted price during your notice period.

If they refuse to do either, you have a choice:

1. Give your notice anyway and accept one months higher payment (least hassle, but the minor irritation of letting them win)
2. Give your notice, telling them that you do not agree to the new terms and that they are only authorised to take the standard amount for your final month. If they take the higher amount, reclaim it using the Direct Debit Guarantee (tell your bank that the incorrect amount was taken - this is DDICA Reason Code 7), then cancel the Direct Debit. When they complain, ask for their bank details to pay the correct amount by standing order, or pay by cheque if you still have such a thing. This carries a fairly high risk that you'll be refused access to the gym during your last month and will then have to initiate a claim against them for a refund of the membership fee paid when you were not allowed to use the gym.
3. TELL them that you decline the new contract and are therefore cancelling immediately due to THEIR breach of the agreed contract. They'll probably complain a bit, but with a few strongly worded letters, it's unlikely that they'll take it further, since you have a clear defence to any claim.

Unless the price being paid was an introductory price or the contract makes mention of planned increases.

Also, and I'm happy to be wrong, but my understanding was that this applies to mobile phone/broadband contracts etc because OFCOM have said it should. Obviously OFCOM don't regulate gyms so standard contract rules would apply? Therefore if there is a term that says they can put the price up by giving X days notice (and as long as the increase and notice period is fair) then it would apply.

timbstoke

If you have a contract, the price forms part of that contract. Yes, it's possible to specify in the contract that the price can vary, but it must be fair. Of course, you can have an introductory rate that then reverts to a standard rate, but in that case the standard rate would be part of the contracted price.

You've actually got it the wrong way round. OFCOM ruled that phone companies COULD increase prices in line with the Retail Price Index, as long as they included a clause to that effect in the contract. That decision could be used as a basis to argue that a similar increase is also fair for consumer contracts in other industries - but the RPI is 1-2%. A 25% increase would almost certainly be considered unfair even if the contract allows for increases.

NurseMoneySaver1122

Thanks everyone

unholyangel

da_rule wrote: »

Unless the price being paid was an introductory price or the contract makes mention of planned increases.

Also, and I'm happy to be wrong, but my understanding was that this applies to mobile phone/broadband contracts etc because OFCOM have said it should. Obviously OFCOM don't regulate gyms so standard contract rules would apply? Therefore if there is a term that says they can put the price up by giving X days notice (and as long as the increase and notice period is fair) then it would apply.

The reason ofcom ruled as they did is due to unfair term legislation (at the time it was the UTCA & UTCCR but the latter has since been replaced by CRA although afaik, they've been directly transposed/remain the same, just the relevant legislation has changed).

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/450440/Unfair_Terms_Main_Guidance.pdf

First of all - consumers cannot be bound to hidden terms, terms they had no awareness of at the time of entering into the contract (so the only terms that matter are the terms that OP was provided with - terms don't apply to a contract by default simply because they exist somewhere).

You cannot unilaterally alter the terms once they have become agreed. Price variation clauses are also at high risk of being found unfair unless its within very narrow limits for reasons that are specified in the contract (as timstoke said, it forms part of the contract providing the terms were brought to the consumers notice at the time of entering the contract), terms which permit increases in line with a relevant published price index (like the RPI), or the customer is given the opportunity to escape the effect of the variation and not be any worse off for having entered the contract (for example allowing them to cancel without paying any penalties and without paying the increased price).

It was the above that shaped ofcoms ruling.

So even if there was a term permitting them to vary the price, given that the OP doesn't seem to have been given enough notice to enable them to escape the effects without being worse off, that term would be at high risk of being unfair (and unfair terms and legally unenforceable/void).