Bannatynes gym membership

ASCMAYTREE30

Hi there, wonder if you can help.
On 6th May 2020 I emailed a cancellation form for my gym membership at Bannatynes. This was due to being pregnant at the time and also lockdown. At the time I received a bounce back email saying all staff were currently not in the office. I've now had contact from them requesting I reinstate my direct debit which I had cancelled (they tried to take payment at the beginning of this month). I explained I had emailed them back in May to cancel my membership, but they are now saying that because they didn't receive this notification until this month and their policy states they need one calendar month notification, I must pay this months membership before they cancel.
Can they request this? Surely it's not my issue that due to Covid they didn't receive my notification. 

jimkelly

Yes, it's never a good idea to just cancel direct debits - as this is what usually happens.  You think you don't owe them anything, but there's always a partial payment for the month or similar to consider.

On your specific point, it's a technicality (and a nonsense) that they didn't have anyone in the office to deal with your cancellation.  Surely, they didn't have all secretarial staff in the entire company on furlough?  On that basis, you should push them for some recompense.

onwards&upwards

Was the notice you gave correct as per the contract you signed? 

ASCMAYTREE30

The notes on the cancellation form stated the following:

Notes:

● In accordance with the Terms and Conditions of Membership, you are required to provide not less than 30 days’ notice, which shall expire at the end of a calendar month.

● We shall acknowledge receipt of this Cancellation Form within 7 days. If you have not heard from us by this time, please call us on 0344 477 4777. This Form shall not take effect until Bannatyne has acknowledged receipt of it.

● Bannatyne is not responsible for any Forms that are lost, delayed, mislaid, incomplete or damaged.

● If you are within your minimum period of membership, you will still be liable for the membership fees until the end of

the minimum term.

But in the bounce back email they say ‘Our Customer Service Centre is currently closed. Whilst closed, our team will not have access to the Membership systems. We would kindly ask you to please be patient at this difficult time but at this moment we are not in a position to answer any enquiries. However we would strongly encourage you to contact us when we are open, so as we can support you fully.’ 

I’m not sure where I therefore stand as I cancelled over 3 months ago now and how could I chase/query this if there was nobody to contact? It is unprecedented times and unusual circumstances. It seems unfair they are only acknowledging it now and not choosing to honour the date I originally submitted it.

onwards&upwards

If you gave notice on 6th May then according to that agreement your membership ended on 30th June, assuming you were out of your initial minimum term, were you?

I'm not sure that clause about cancellation not taking effect until they respond would be enforceable in court as in theory they could just not let anybody cancel by refusing to respond! 

ASCMAYTREE30

onwards&upwards said:

If you gave notice on 6th May then according to that agreement your membership ended on 30th June, assuming you were out of your initial minimum term, were you?

I'm not sure that clause about cancellation not taking effect until they respond would be enforceable in court as in theory they could just not let anybody cancel by refusing to respond! 

Yes I was out of my initial term from January 2020. I was always intending to cancel due to my pregnancy and the affordability of the membership moving forward whilst on maternity leave from August 2020. It just so happened to coincide with lockdown which is unfortunate. But yes it does seem by that logic that nobody would be able to cancel from lockdown onwards and they are only acknowledging cancellation forms from this month. I will go back to them and see what they say, thank you.

silver_badger_man

Hi Ascmaytree30,

I'm glad you posted this, I'm in the same boat. Seems totally unreasonable that they would cannot take calls or receive emails so you can't cancel your membership. Did you have any joy arguing your case?

Waxy666

Did you pay Ballantyne for May / June (i.e. your notice period) or was your membership suspended?  This is pretty key to the situation.

I suspect (like most gyms) it would have been suspended, and in most contracts you can't cancel whilst suspended - you have to re-instate then cancel (i.e. you have to pay for your notice period).  If they have given a very clear message that the facilities and back office are closed, all memberships are suspended for the period and they haven't been taking money from customers then I think their stance is reasonable.  Also you have completed a form which explicitly states it doesn't take affect until acknowledge and that Ballantyne aren't responsible for loss, delay etc - by signing / completing the form you have effectively said you agree to abide by those terms.  All looks above board to me.

Different kettle of fish if you have been paying them throughout the period - but if that is the case I'd say you've got a bigger complaint to make that they've been taking funds without granting you any access to the facilities as required per the contract.

silver_badger_man

Thanks for the info Waxy666. That's useful to know. 

jfinnie

I don't think it is OK for companies to unilaterally decide to extend contracts by putting them to sleep when it suits them.  This doesn't take account of whether it suits the other party.

Take the example of someone moving to a location for a year and agrees to a membership for a year.  COVID happens and they can no longer go to the gym as it is closed.  Gym suspends contract and seeks to keep it going for the full 12 months once they re-open, but leaves you with them wanting to supply services into a time period where you can't use them, because you've left the area.  Sure, you'll end up paying the same, but you'd have had the use of the service one way, and the other way you've paid for it but you won't get the use of the service, they're not supplying the service for the period you both agreed.

These companies need to realise that they can't just strongarm their customers into unilaterally changing their terms.  Not able to provide service = those months are lost to them.  They're trying to transfer the risk of something they should have insured against to the consumer.

unholyangel

Waxy666 said:

Did you pay Ballantyne for May / June (i.e. your notice period) or was your membership suspended?  This is pretty key to the situation.

I suspect (like most gyms) it would have been suspended, and in most contracts you can't cancel whilst suspended - you have to re-instate then cancel (i.e. you have to pay for your notice period).  If they have given a very clear message that the facilities and back office are closed, all memberships are suspended for the period and they haven't been taking money from customers then I think their stance is reasonable.  Also you have completed a form which explicitly states it doesn't take affect until acknowledge and that Ballantyne aren't responsible for loss, delay etc - by signing / completing the form you have effectively said you agree to abide by those terms.  All looks above board to me.

Different kettle of fish if you have been paying them throughout the period - but if that is the case I'd say you've got a bigger complaint to make that they've been taking funds without granting you any access to the facilities as required per the contract.

No you don't. That might be the case if the gym was open for business and you had frozen your membership under the terms of the agreement. Not so when its the gym in breach though. Even if that breach is outside of their control, that only allows them to potentially (not always) escape liability for damages (in you sourcing an alternative supplier for example). It doesn't allow them to be indemnified or to place any detriment resulting from their breach onto the consumer. 

They weren't able to provide services during the cancellation period, therefore they lose the right to charge for that period. They cannot displace it onto another period.