12 month gym contract - now being extended due to lockdown - is that allowed?

boots_babe

Hi all,

Just after some advice please. I joined a gym in February last year at the recommendation of my physio to help with post op rehab - so coronavirus was in the news but not at all a big concern in the UK at the time, certainly no clue of the upcoming lockdowns etc. 

Of course the gym has ended up being closed as much as open, no one's fault. I'm now coming up to my 1 year anniversary, so as I've now recovered from my op (mostly via alternative exercise at home whilst gym is shut) I emailed to give them 1 month's notice that I would not be renewing at my 12 month anniversary.

They've responded to say that for each period they were closed (and hence didn't charge) they will be adding that onto the end of my contract. Is that allowed?

If it is I'll just have to pay up ,but it would be very frustrating. At the time I signed up I had no inkling that it would be shut for large portions of the 12 months, and my specific purpose for joining to complete my post op rehab, has now passed. I searched the board but only found one other similar question, but that was from someone who joined a gym in Oct last year i.e. when they knew there were likely to be lockdowns. So I'm thinking this scenario is a little different.

Any advice or pointers to applicable legal info would be much appreciated, thank you.

tripled

It would depend on the wording of your contract. Is it clearly for a fixed term (e.g. until X date)? Does it say anything about unplanned/forced closures? You may need to post the gym company or the t and c for more help.

If it is clearly for a fixed term and doesn't say anything about extending if there is an unplanned closure, then you would seem to be in the clear. You just make sure you have served notice in whatever format the contract mandates and then cancel the DD once paid up to the end of your contract. In the unlikely event they decided to pursue you in court for the additional months they claim you owe them for, the onus would be on them to prove the contract allowed for that.

Thrugelmir

Have they only just announced this policy a year later?  Be somewhat surprising you weren't informed previously. 

PixelPound

would you have preferred they still charge you for when they were closed?

boots_babe

Goodness, a couple of unnecessarily aggressive replies there. As I said in my original post, if I am obliged to pay legally then I will do. I just don't want to just assume that their email is correct, as it's not something I have heard of before.

Clearly I wouldn't have preferred them to charge me for being closed no, but equally I'd hope you could see why it will be a little frustrating that from my side I signed up to what I expected to be a period of 12 months, which would nicely cover my post op recovery period, but I'm now being asked to continue being a member for what is going to be an indefinite period of elapsed time as nobody knows when the lockdown will end.

I have no issue if the answer ends up being that yes, I do need to pay. If that is the case, then of course I will do. I only posted for advice as it's not a situation I've come across before, so please try to be friendly in your replies.

Thank you.

Grumpy_chap

I think, on balance, the gym is being reasonable.
The OP agreed to pay 12 x £x in return for 12 months' use of the gym.  The circumstances are unfortunate, but the gym are only requesting the OP to pay 12 x £x and to receive in return 12 months' use of the gym.  The difference is the OP (and the gym) expected that 12 months to be in one continuous block whereas the extreme circumstances mean that 12 months block is now in fits and starts and drags out over 18 months (or whatever it will be) in total.

Reasonable may not be the be-all-and-end-all.  The OP asked about what the legal position is and, for that any comment can only be made by reference to the contract.  It may include a clause that covers force-majeure or alternative wording for the gym being unable to open and provide service.  While global pandemic would never have been foreseen, the risk of forced closure by other causes, e.g. fire damage to the building, is quite likely to have been included somewhere.

It may not be much help for the OP to say "read the contract" but that has to be the starting point.  If the OP can find any clauses that seem to relate to this "forced closure" scenario (for any reason) but the clause is unclear, then people may be able to help with interpretation if the OP can put the wording up for comment.

Thrugelmir

boots_babe said:

Goodness, a couple of unnecessarily aggressive replies there. 

Merely trying to confirm the facts. Over the years I've learnt that people often never bother to read things until after the event. 

mac.d

boots_babe said:

Clearly I wouldn't have preferred them to charge me for being closed no, but equally I'd hope you could see why it will be a little frustrating that from my side I signed up to what I expected to be a period of 12 months, which would nicely cover my post op recovery period, but I'm now being asked to continue being a member for what is going to be an indefinite period of elapsed time as nobody knows when the lockdown will end.

If it is for a 12-month contract, can you not equally see why its reasonable that the gym should expect to get the 12 monthly payments from that. As they've been forced to close for part of that period & didn't charge you for those months, it's not costing you anything extra, therefore neither you nor the gym is losing any money out of it. Seems reasonable? But it'll all depend on the terms of what you signed up for, exactly as Grumpy_chap has said. 

boots_babe

mac.d - yes of course, absolutely I can. I work for a retailer so I most certainly understand the devastating impact on businesses of the multiple lockdowns. Having said that, in most other areas (such as hotel and flights) the businesses involved have taken the tone that although it's not their fault, it's not fair to penalise the customer either, and have acted accordingly. So I was rather surprised when I had the response from the gym that I did.

Re the comments about the contract, yes I have read the contract, I had already gone through it before I posted on here. I cannot see any special clauses around force majeure or similar. That's why I thought I post in case there was some overarching ruling that was being applied curing Covid for such instances. It seems as though nobody has heard of anything though, so it looks like I'll have to politely try to discuss further with the gym, and if I don't get anywhere will have to just continue paying the monthly fees when they reopen.

Thanks for all the responses. 

lcc86

I think that one of the reasons gyms have taken a different approach to airlines etc is because most people want to continue attending the gym when they're able to, so it makes sense from their side to pause a membership, plus it stops them having loads of contracts coming to an end during lockdown and not being renewed. Obviously it's unfortunate that you couldn't get use of the gym at the time you perhaps needed it most, it's always worth contacting them to see if they will consider releasing you from your contract to see what they say. They might say no but you never know.