David Lloyd's gym offering vouchers but no refund

ksm203

I recently recieved an email from David Lloyds about how they would credit me for the days lost at the start of lockdown and the first few days in July (when they plan to reopen), which is about 3 weeks.
They are currently giving me 3 options:
1. Foods and drinks voucher 
2. Club donation
3. Guest passes

They have given me until June 24 to select one of these options, otherwise they will autoselect option 3 for me.

My question is, can they do this? I have recently cancelled my membership with them so none of these options are worth anything to me. Is there anyway I can get my money back or are david Lloyd's in their right to do this?

Liverpool101

I was wondering this too. However, they are adamant that they will not be offering alternatives. I would like to know if they can do it? Because if they charge July too then it will add up to a lot of money each.

mattyprice4004

The Government forced them to close, I'd imagine this is covered by some clause in their T&Cs. 
I'd just take the one you'll get the most use from; seems they're doing more than they need to. 

guestyuk

It's unlawful. Under there contract if a facility is unavailable more than 7 days and they cannot offer alternative then they are breaching that contract and no fees are due. They are bullying people into accepting offer of voucher, same as it was illegal for holiday companies to do it is illegal for DL to do it. They aren't even answering questions, guranteed food voucher will have T&Cs and minimum spend etc which hasn't been published. They offer guest voucher but will be restricting numbers in clubs for social distancing so you can guarantee there will be restrictions on their use!. refund or credit the days to peoples memberships

guestyuk

also there is no clause about act of god or government forced closure. they never foresore that.

Vega4

I think the most annoying part of this is that they have given us a tight deadline to reply and when you try and call the club directly it just rings out. So its impossible to find out how much you are due in monetary terms. I'll probably take the food vouchers but its the principle of not having the money offered. I also noted that the kids memberships werent part of any crediting process. Which is annoying as i have 3 kids! I did almost spit my tea out when i saw that they were asking for donations! I've worked for DL in the past and left on perfectly good terms but they do not treat staff as well as they make out by a long stretch and if you ever try to leave as a customer it can be a nightmare!!

worried62

I don't think they can do this.The Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") says

The statement covers a range of consumer contracts and different situations. It includes that, in most cases, the CMA would expect a full refund to be offered if:

• a business has cancelled a contract without providing any of the promised goods or service

• no service is provided by a business, because this is prevented by restrictions that apply during the current lockdown or

• a consumer cancels, or is prevented from receiving any services, because of the restrictions that apply during the current lockdown

The CMA also takes a dim view of double dipping where a business gets public money for furloughing staff and is also charging customers. If a lot of people complain to the CMA then I am sure they will do something.

unholyangel

worried62 said:

I don't think they can do this.The Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") says

The statement covers a range of consumer contracts and different situations. It includes that, in most cases, the CMA would expect a full refund to be offered if:

• a business has cancelled a contract without providing any of the promised goods or service

• no service is provided by a business, because this is prevented by restrictions that apply during the current lockdown or

• a consumer cancels, or is prevented from receiving any services, because of the restrictions that apply during the current lockdown

The CMA also takes a dim view of double dipping where a business gets public money for furloughing staff and is also charging customers. If a lot of people complain to the CMA then I am sure they will do something.

They can't - even with it being outwith their control. 

I'm feeling like a broken record with how often I've said this over the last few months but it being outwith their control simply means they aren't liable for additional losses caused by their breach. It does not mean they can still expect payment for services they aren't providing.