Reclaiming boxing gym membership

jimfitz81

Hi Guys,
I'm after a bit of advice. My wife enrolled my 2 kids into a boxing club on a 6 month agreement at a cost of £120 per month for both of them. 
During the second lockdown, both my wife and I had to stop working however, we continued to pay for the boxing membership even though the gym was closed and there were no online sessions etc (supporting local business etc).
About 2 months ago, my wife messaged them to advise we could no longer afford to pay the last month - when the gym reopened and neither of the kids had attended - as the mortgage was more important.

Since then, we have received correspondence from the gym saying they have sent the account to a debt collector for the missed months payment.

So I have 2 questions:

1. How enforceable is the payment that was missed even though we gave about 8 weeks notice?

2. Given their aggressive stance, would we be entitled to a refund for the 2 months membership we paid even though the gym was closed without even offering online sessions?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks

Aylesbury_Duck

I'd get onto them for a chat, because it sounds like their systems have jumped in where human common sense might not have been so hasty.  Remind them that you supported them throughout lockdown and that by not providing the service you were paying for, they were in breach of contract and you are entitled to that sum back.  You may wish to roll over that as credit to pay for future months and if they agree, that's fine.  If they don't, then ask them to deduct the missed payment from the overall amount they owe you (your two months' subscriptions during lockdown) and return the balance to you.

jimfitz81

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, their correspondence says the matter is now out of their hands as it has already been passed over to the debt collectors.
My wife has sent them an email but just awaiting a response.
I'm fuming to be honest.

Aylesbury_Duck

The enforceability of it depends on the contract, but if you're (rightly) cross and don't want to do business with them, you could simply submit your own written claim for the two months' subs you paid for which you received no service.

davidmcn

jimfitz81 said:

Unfortunately, their correspondence says the matter is now out of their hands as it has already been passed over to the debt collectors.

Eh? It was them who passed it to their debt collectors. I'm sure they could get it passed back if they wanted.