Consumer rights: Physical Trainer

harbor

Hi Everyone,

I have a complex issue with a PT as it dragged over the whole covid period. Is it legal for them to just change the prices and services cost as they see fit? 

I paid her 600 for a 3 month plan, just before the first lockdown (March 2020). She was an instructor at my gym and I attended most of her group classes. She was going to have weekly calls with me where she would assess what I needed, advise the classes and exercises I should take up and also advise on diet etc. I asked her to assess my posture and workouts in the gym group classes. The last was the most important for me.

The gyms shut down 4 days after I paid her. Because of the lockdowns and my imminent move out of my previous flat(April 2021), we never got to train as I intended to. It changed from online classes to mobil app instructions etc. So, the initial plan was of course, modified which I don't have a problem with; but when I asked her to give me a breakdown of the modified charges (Sept 2021), she finally sent me the following in (Dec 2021):

• Initial Sign Up and Registration Fee for Nutrition & Training Support with Hub Access, Supplements and Initial Plan

• Covid at Home modification and Ongoing Support April & May - inclusive of 2 calls

• 1-1 In person Meeting Post Lockdown 1 - Plan Review and Changes to Structur

• 1-1 in person Meeting August 2021 - Plan Revise and Running Plan Set Up with App Access for 12 weeks

She said I had paid 500 which meant that she had provided me more services than intended. Her charges for the above services were:

1-1 in person: £100 60mins<br>App Access 12 weeks: £72<br>Covid at Home: £50 per month<br>Calls during covid: £50 per call (60mins)<br>Supplement pack: £230 <br>1 month coaching Online: £150

I then replied saying that I had not received a supplement pack and that I had paid 600. I also asked her which month she referred to by '1 month online coaching'. I thought this was August 2021 She then stopped replying. I sent her a reminder once in Jan 21 and then in Feb 21. In Feb, I said that I want this to be fair so will speak to other PTs about it. 

That seemed to trigger her off as she sent me a lenghty email listing how she had tried to help me through the pandemic and how I kept changing my plans and wasnt consistent. She changed the supplement pack fee to a setup fee. She also asked me to stop messaging her as I was harassing her and causing her anxiety. 

All I wanted was a fair deduction of her charges and a conversation about it, where necessary. I have written proof of everything as all our conversations were mostly whatsapp. Have I tried to wrong her or been wronged? 

Many thanks in advance...

harbor

Apologies for the bad formatting of her charges in the post above. I have just copied it again below:

Coaching RRP Breakdowns.

1-1 in person: £100 60mins

App Access 12 weeks: £72

Covid at Home: £50 per month

Calls during covid: £50 per call (60mins)

Supplement pack: £230 

1 month coaching Online: £150

pinkshoes

I would list what you DID receive, compare this to what you paid for, then ask for a refund of £X and ask her to refund within 14 days otherwise you will take court action.

Did you agree to a change in the plan due to Covid?

user1977

You're entitled to get the services you originally paid for, or to get a refund for those not provided (or, at your option, for the balance to be used for whatever she's proposing as an alternative). 

Grumpy_chap

harbor said:

Coaching RRP Breakdowns.

1-1 in person: £100 60mins

App Access 12 weeks: £72

Covid at Home: £50 per month

Calls during covid: £50 per call (60mins)

Supplement pack: £230 

1 month coaching Online: £150

Did the original offer have something that gave an hourly rate? 

£100 per hour is quite an expensive rate for PT but if that was clearly the rate from the outset then that part cannot be challenged.

It makes little sense why 1 hour of 1:1 time is different for in-person compared to remote contact.  Assuming that the PT is relatively near to the OP, the cost of travel etc would be negligible.

Does the OP have a postal address for the PT?
It may be nonsense, but the PT has claimed the OP is "harassing" her and there should be an effort to respect that.  However, simply putting the claim out of feeling harassed cannot be used to prevent a valid objection being communicated.
If the OP can write by post (recorded delivery) to the OP and set things out as others have said and set out the resolution sought and give 21 days to respond.
Then, if that is not satisfactory, send LBA, then small claims.
If the OP does not have postal address, then small claims cannot proceed and there is likely no route of recourse open to the OP.

It may, of course, be that once the OP sets things out in detail, the situation is that the OP accepts they received the £600-worth of value, or near enough and decides to simply move on.

Was the £600 for the original 3-month plan purchased from the PT directly, or via the gym?  Quite often, instructors linked to a gym are not permitted to take gym members as Clients directly but only through the gym.  Does the OP have any route of redress via the gym rather than the PT direct?

harbor

pinkshoes said:

I would list what you DID receive, compare this to what you paid for, then ask for a refund of £X and ask her to refund within 14 days otherwise you will take court action.

Did you agree to a change in the plan due to Covid?

Thank you for your reply pinkshoes.

No, we never agreed to any of the plans or the costs beforehand. It was always, lets do this and if it doesn't help lets do that. I didn't know until she emailed me (in Feb 2021) that her 1:1 in person would cost 100, for example.

She seemed nice and she worked at my gym, so I just always assumed it'd be fair.

I'll do what you have suggested, thanks again! 

harbor

user1977 said:

You're entitled to get the services you originally paid for, or to get a refund for those not provided (or, at your option, for the balance to be used for whatever she's proposing as an alternative). 

Thanks for your reply user1977. 

That's what I thought, so I was only asking her to clarify, where I couldn't understand her charges. She got upset when I said I'll confirm with other PTs what a fair change of charge should be.

harbor

Thank you very much for your detailed reply @Grumpy_chap.

I have answered your questions inline. 

Grumpy_chap said:

Did the original offer have something that gave an hourly rate? 
It did not. She was charging me 200 per month, for weekly assessments over call/in-person, and coaching in the gym's group classes. None of this was documented, just verbal.


£100 per hour is quite an expensive rate for PT but if that was clearly the rate from the outset then that part cannot be challenged.
It wasn't agreed on. I only got that from her in her last email where she claims harassment. I also pointed to her earlier, that no action had came out of that 1-1 call. As in, she didn't give me any plans, exercise etc. It was just a chat!


It makes little sense why 1 hour of 1:1 time is different for in-person compared to remote contact.  Assuming that the PT is relatively near to the OP, the cost of travel etc would be negligible.
I went to meet her at the gym both times. No cost of travel etc. for her 


Does the OP have a postal address for the PT?
It may be nonsense, but the PT has claimed the OP is "harassing" her and there should be an effort to respect that.  However, simply putting the claim out of feeling harassed cannot be used to prevent a valid objection being communicated.
If the OP can write by post (recorded delivery) to the OP and set things out as others have said and set out the resolution sought and give 21 days to respond.
Then, if that is not satisfactory, send LBA, then small claims.
If the OP does not have postal address, then small claims cannot proceed and there is likely no route of recourse open to the OP.
I found one business under her name. Will use that. But she's using multiple business names, some which don't even exist.

It may, of course, be that once the OP sets things out in detail, the situation is that the OP accepts they received the £600-worth of value, or near enough and decides to simply move on.
I was happy to move on if she had answered my questions. I don't want to be taken for a ride.

Was the £600 for the original 3-month plan purchased from the PT directly, or via the gym?  Quite often, instructors linked to a gym are not permitted to take gym members as Clients directly but only through the gym.  Does the OP have any route of redress via the gym rather than the PT direct?
From the PT. I foolishly never even asked for a receipt. I haven't contacted the gym yet as I didn't want to slander her name. But I might drop them an email.

She is claiming harassment for something that is my right to know. I asked her to clarify her charges which she had never explained to me before. 

harbor

Thank you everyone for your replies to me. I know what to do now. Very grateful for this forum and you  


Just FYI (for context, if you're interested), attached below, is a screenshot of my whatsapp communication with her. After she gave me her breakdown of charges, I sent her questions on it. She never replied and then sends me lengthy email in Feb explaining how she's done everything she could, changes the prices and then claims I'm harassing her.

pinkshoes

harbor said:

Thank you everyone for your replies to me. I know what to do now. Very grateful for this forum and you  


Just FYI (for context, if you're interested), attached below, is a screenshot of my whatsapp communication with her. After she gave me her breakdown of charges, I sent her questions on it. She never replied and then sends me lengthy email in Feb explaining how she's done everything she could, changes the prices and then claims I'm harassing her.

Your messages hardly constitute harassment!

Sounds more like someone who hasn't provided a service, is well aware of that, but doesn't want to refund.

Grumpy_chap

I can't see whether the OP has every said whether they are male or female.

The OP has stated that the PT is female.

The OP may think their choice of language is "friendly", however a string of messages opening:

• "Hi Lovely..."
• "Happy New Year Love, hope you had a good one!"
• "Hey Love! Hope all well!"
• "Hey lovely, been a while"

Might very well be read as "unwelcome" and, depending how that interfaces with other behaviours might be considered as threatening / harassing.  It is certainly not the choice of language of a purely professional business relationship.

So, I don't wholly agree with @pinkshoes and the OP needs to carefully review their own behaviours before taking any further steps.  If the OP has acted in a way that could be interpreted by the PT as "harassment" or even generally "inappropriate" behaviour, even if no offence was ever intended, then tracking down the PT's home address to write LBA and small-claims actions may simply veer towards further misunderstandings of intent.  It may be that the best course of action is then to simply let things be and make no further contact with the individual.