Considering Taking Personal Trainer to Small Claims?

Jaqua2_2

In July 2014 I found a PT online through Facebook. We discussed cost of sessions and I met him in person. I purchased 10 sessions for £500 and got 2 sessions free (got receipt). I used up 4 sessions and health deteriorated. I suffer from chronic pain and fatigue and Osteoarthritis among other things. My PT knew of my health conditions at my assessment. I told him I was in too much pain to continue the sessions and asked for a refund for the remaining sessions which he declined and said he doesn't do refunds even for medical reasons. I did try multiple times to tell him I was phyically unfit to continue the sessions but still I faced the same response. Due to my health going down hill I left it for a while as I thought it was a loosing battle. As time went on my health never got better and in fact I am 100 times worse. Now in 2017, I contacted him again because I don't want to let this go and I think its unfair. But also I need the money. I am disabled, unfit for work, claim disability and I am in a wheelchair. I gave the suggestion for me to sell my unwanted sessions to someone else which he agreed too. It was much harded thing to do because I had no contacts. Even tried to sell on eBay! I asked him to mention them to his exisiting clients and contacts as I have no way of selling these on. I wanted initially wanted £400 for the remaining 8 sessions. He said he would try and sell them for me. Its been months now and still nothing. I told him to reduce to £320 to get rid of them and he said that he will try. I personally think he isn't making much efforts because he kept saying I don't refund and sessions are supposed to be used and not transferred to someone else and this is not normal practice. He had the nerve to say to me that the sessions are still there for me to use, I am in a bloody wheelchair HELLO.. He is showing no compassion and if he was to refund me a long time ago this would be over with. So thinking of taking him to Small claims, I'll claim all the fees off him too. Do you think I have a case it shall I cut my losses and move on? This is having a negative affect on my phyical and! mental health. I have a phone number and email address for him. No postal address as he moved

BorisThomson

Compassion isn't going to get you anywhere in court. He is not in breach of contract and he has given you options, albeit none that work for you.

He doesn't have to resell your purchase for you. If he can get clients at the full rate he's not going to sell yours for less.

Also you'll need an address in order to issue a claim. You know he's not at his old address so that will not be valid.

Write it off as a mistake. That's going to be far better for your health than pursuing a fruitless claim.

ssparks2003

You knew you were not well before you started, seems like you just want him to pick up the cost of your misguided judgement. You have no claim and he has no reason to refund you.

Fosterdog

Is there any reason why your sessions couldn’t just be adapted to be more suitable for your condition? Obviously I don’t know the cause of your chronic pain but I have suffered from osteoarthritis and hormone related fatigue for years and physical exercise has been clinically proven to improve both conditions. It’s perfectly possible that if you hadn’t given up the sessions but adapted them to be more suitable you could have at least continued to the sessions already paid for.

LilElvis

Sorry, but, unless you have it in writing, its a bit unreasonable to expect that 2 of the 4 sessions you did use were the free ones.

BorisThomson

Fosterdog wrote: »

Is there any reason why your sessions couldn’t just be adapted to be more suitable for your condition? Obviously I don’t know the cause of your chronic pain but I have suffered from osteoarthritis and hormone related fatigue for years and physical exercise has been clinically proven to improve both conditions. It’s perfectly possible that if you hadn’t given up the sessions but adapted them to be more suitable you could have at least continued to the sessions already paid for.

A good point. We have wheelchair users at my gym. I do seated yoga with a friend who has little mobility after a stroke.

I guess the issue now would be the breakdown in the relationship between trainer and Jaqua2.

Sarastro

I don't think you're going to get anywhere with small claims because he's fulfilled his end of the deal - to supply the sessions, the fact that you are unable to use them isn't his fault. Unfortunately you didn't discuss refund arrangements if you weren't able to use the sessions in advance, so I don't think he's necessarily wrong to say that he doesn't have to refund you. I think you will have to let it go. Sorry.

unholyangel

I think some posters replying here forget this is a consumer rights board.

Where one party is in breach of contract (thats OP in this case), they are liable for losses incurred by the other party as a result of their breach. However, the other party has a duty to take reasonable steps to mitigate their loss and not take unreasonable steps to increase it.

Situations like this are covered by CMA's Unfair Term Guidance:

For
example, a charge for wrongful termination that requires payment of the
whole contract price, or a large part of it, is likely to be unfair if in some
cases the business could reasonably reduce (‘mitigate’) its loss. If, for
example, it could find another customer, generally, the law would allow it to
claim no more than the likely costs of doing so, together with any difference
between the original price and the resale price.

Where customers bring the contract to an end without any justification, and
the trader suffers loss as a result, they cannot expect a full refund of all prepayments. But a term under which they always lose everything they
have paid in advance, regardless of the amount of any costs and losses
caused by the termination, is at risk of being considered an unfair financial
sanction

Fairness is more likely to be achieved for such a term by ensuring that it
does not go beyond the ordinary legal position. Generally, where the
contract comes to an end because of the fault of the consumer, the
business is entitled to hold back from any refund of prepayments what is
likely to be reasonably needed to cover either its net costs or the net loss of
profit resulting directly from the default (see paragraph 5.14.3 below on the
need to avoid double counting). There is no entitlement to any sum that
could reasonably be saved by, for example, finding another customer.

However if you're planning on sending him an lba and filing against him at court, you'll need an address for him. This can be his last known address if he won't provide an up to date one. If you don't have any address for him at all, then you're going to struggle.

He should have provided you with certain information (including their geographical address) before you entered the contract also - although exactly what info he should have provided and how he should have provided it will depend on how the contract was formed (ie face to face at the gym, face to face in your home, over the phone, online etc).

Quite simply, you cannot have a blanket "no refunds" policy. If he has terms & conditions and he states that, he's acting illegally.

lincroft1710

At best OP is only entitled to a refund of £300, they have used 4 of 10 sessions, free sessions would only happen if they had attended all 10 paid for sessions.

A warning to OP, even if you got a judgement in your favour at court, the PT may simply not pay you and trying to enforce payment without an address will not be easy.

TrickyDicky101

unholyangel wrote: »

I think some posters replying here forget this is a consumer rights board.

Where one party is in breach of contract (thats OP in this case), they are liable for losses incurred by the other party as a result of their breach. However, the other party has a duty to take reasonable steps to mitigate their loss and not take unreasonable steps to increase it.

Situations like this are covered by CMA's Unfair Term Guidance:



However if you're planning on sending him an lba and filing against him at court, you'll need an address for him. This can be his last known address if he won't provide an up to date one. If you don't have any address for him at all, then you're going to struggle.

He should have provided you with certain information (including their geographical address) before you entered the contract also - although exactly what info he should have provided and how he should have provided it will depend on how the contract was formed (ie face to face at the gym, face to face in your home, over the phone, online etc).

Quite simply, you cannot have a blanket "no refunds" policy. If he has terms & conditions and he states that, he's acting illegally.

I must have missed something = how has either party breached the contract?

OP bought 10 lessons. OP has 10 lessons which PT will supply (and has supplied in part). Fact she hasn't used all of them isn't a breach?

Diamandis

I think you need to move on. This guy hasn't done anything wrong here.