Gym lied about how to cancel membership 14 November 2017 at 12:57AM in Sports & fitness MoneySaving 12 replies 3.3K views

Sphinx13

Hi all,
Last year I joined a gym run by the local council, I had student membership. I attend a few times but then I was unable to go as I was in my third year at uni and the majority of my time was spent out of town on placements or in the library till stupid o’clock. After a couple of months of paying for membership and being unable to attend I called the gym and asked to end my membership, however I was advised that this could not be done over the phone and that I would need to attend in person to enable this. Another month or so passed and I was still unable to go to the gym, again I called to try and cancel again I was told the same. I kept on paying the membership fee and the following month I tried calling again only to be told the same.
Today I went in person to cancel in person, I said exactly what I had on the phone and instantly with the click of a button the receptionist said it was done, took less than 30 seconds, no questions asked !!
I was so annoyed, obviously I asked why this couldn’t have been done over the phone and the receptionist said she had been instructed by her manager to tell the clients that attendance in person was essential.
The manager was about and heard our conversation she came over and basically said that’s the way it is and we don’t care if you’re not happy about it! Asked why this could have been done months ago over the phone and she tried to spin me some line about we need to know who you say you are, well I wasn’t asked for any ID so that’s a lie! I told her this and she was like we can check on our cctv if you are the same person!! Well I’ve not been the gym in over 8 months how you gonna check that!!! I could see she was talking out of her a*se so I asked about the complaints procedure and she was like just fill out a feedback questionnaire !!!!!!! Arghhhhhhhh!
I be looked at the website and found the complaints procedure, is it possible to have a refund for the last few months from when I first notified them of my intention to terminate my membership?
Ta in advance

McKneff

Why didnt you just cancel it in writing

Did you read the term and conditions about cancelling...

Refund.. no chance.

Learn from it,,, do every thing in writing, signed and dated, keep copies...

Money_maker

Does the website specify how you are to give notice to terminate the agreement? This may indicate if you have a genuine grievance or not. For future reference, if you had gone in the same day/week as you first rang then you could have saved yourself the hassle.

moneyistooshorttomention

Might well be something they've thought up deliberately - precisely because they figure it will take some people a while to get around to going in in person and meanwhile the gym keeps taking the money.

Followed by a handy lie to tell if someone does come in in person as to why this is "necessary".

Check the paperwork to see exactly what it says about how to cancel membership in case it's more reasonable - but my guess is that they've written that "do it in person" requirement down there, with maybe a 2nd (ie "do it in writing") requirement as back-up.

Sphinx13

I was told the only option was to cancel in person.

Sphinx13

I have found the contract and it clearly says notice needs to be in writing, thee is no mention of having to go in person ! so the Gym is not following the terms of contract, rather it is misleading to prolong the membership.
i intend to write a letter of complaint and state that I expect a refund as i was misinformed and misled. i have been paying via direct debit, if the Gym continue to be awkward would I be able to request the refund under the direct debit guarantee?

Fosterdog

Sphinx13 wrote: »

I have found the contract and it clearly says notice needs to be in writing, thee is no mention of having to go in person ! so the Gym is not following the terms of contract, rather it is misleading to prolong the membership.
i intend to write a letter of complaint and state that I expect a refund as i was misinformed and misled. i have been paying via direct debit, if the Gym continue to be awkward would I be able to request the refund under the direct debit guarantee?

Is there a reason you didn’t read your contract sooner to find out what terms of cancellation you agreed to when you signed up?

They do not have to allow cancellation by phone and it is not their fault that you didn’t either go in person sooner or read your contract to realise you could cancel in writing.

I can’t see you having a valid case or claim for a refund.

Sarastro

I don't see why you think you should be given a refund. You should have read the contract when you first wanted to cancel. Granted, they should have told you to write the first time you called, but they didn't.

Manxman_in_exile

Sphinx13 wrote: »

I have found the contract and it clearly says notice needs to be in writing, thee is no mention of having to go in person ! so the Gym is not following the terms of contract, rather it is misleading to prolong the membership.
i intend to write a letter of complaint and state that I expect a refund as i was misinformed and misled. i have been paying via direct debit, if the Gym continue to be awkward would I be able to request the refund under the direct debit guarantee?

So why didn't you write to them then? Being a student means you should be brighter than your peers...


(ie you didn't write to them. It's not the 'gym' that isn't following the T&Cs - it's you. Being a student is really not an excuse!)

Sphinx13

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

So why didn't you write to them then? Being a student means you should be brighter than your peers...


(ie you didn't write to them. It's not the 'gym' that isn't following the T&Cs - it's you. Being a student is really not an excuse!)

if you read the posts properly you MIGHT realise I didn't write because I was informed that the only way to cancel was to attend the gym in person and make a verbal request! I had no reason to question or suspect the information I was given by the gym, I only set about finding my contract after I realised I had been misinformed to prolong my membership.

i haven't used my student status as an excuse, it was simply stated to make the point that I had other priorities.

(Text removed by MSE Forum Team)

jenniewb

OP is it possible that others who were able to cancel by other routes did so and then rules were changed subsequently? It may have been the case that a phone-cancellation was possible and then they decided it was preferable to have the person in question or by other means.


If you do have clear evidence that they lied and you suffered financially as a result then sure, take them up on it but be aware if they do have this written in your contract and it seems as if someone else was able to slip through the net not because the rules were different but because they were able to find someone on a good day and skirt the rules.


If the reason for your complaint is because they didn't stick to their contract by someone else, it could end up with you wasting a lot of time and energy and if it's already taken a lot of time and energy to just get to the gym to cancel, you are likely to waste a lot more time on a complaint, on chasing it up and on getting a satisfactory response. If you are short of time, spend it on your studies unless you are very sure the contract has not been adhered to in your respect.