Is there a healthclub ombudsman?

newdriver101

Hi All, is there an ombudsman or body I can go to with a gym membership issue/complaint.  I have reached an impasse with the club (the club is at fault + now ignoring me) and wondered if there is a body/regulator to turn to for resolution.
Thanks in advance

la531983

If the issue is financial you can consider the small claims court, but more details would be ideal.

Wonka_2

Depending on size do they have a complaints procedure and have you exhausted it ? Or is there any finace involvement (paid by credit card or installments via finance agreement ?)

But as above more details are needed

Grumpy_chap

newdriver101 said:

Hi All, is there an ombudsman or body I can go to with a gym membership issue/complaint.  I have reached an impasse with the club (the club is at fault + now ignoring me) and wondered if there is a body/regulator to turn to for resolution.
Thanks in advance

If you can share more details of the issues experienced, type of club (large chain or local independent), how you paid, what you have done so far and what you would like to happen now, it may be possible for people to give suggestions on next steps.

newdriver101

Thanks all.

@wonka_2 Yes, I have exhausted the company's complaint's procedure. @Gumpy_chap It’s a large chain.  

Paid the year in advance.  Couldn’t use the gym for the final 2 months because of injury/surgery and the manager said these 2 months would be available when I returned.

I tried to return to the gym about 6 months later.  The gym will not acknowledge that I’m owed 2 months.  The manager I dealt with has since left the company but I have email confirmation that 2 months would be available when I returned.  I have followed the company’s escalation process all the way to the top and everyone at each stage has completely ignored the previous manager’s email.  They just keep saying our records show you are not owed anything and have blocked my pass and engaged a debt collection company for the time I've been off!  Hence my question whether there is a body/regulator that can defer to to look at this matter logically/objectively.

born_again

What do their T/C say about being able to recover months where you have not been due to illness or holidays? Which would be very generous clause.

Maybe this is the reason the manager is no longer there, as he was offering way above what they should have been.

Unless they are listed on any ADR process, then their complaint process is the end of the road.

Wonka_2

newdriver101 said:

Thanks all.

@wonka_2 Yes, I have exhausted the company's complaint's procedure. @Gumpy_chap It’s a large chain.  

Paid the year in advance.  Couldn’t use the gym for the final 2 months because of injury/surgery and the manager said these 2 months would be available when I returned.

I tried to return to the gym about 6 months later.  The gym will not acknowledge that I’m owed 2 months.  The manager I dealt with has since left the company but I have email confirmation that 2 months would be available when I returned.  I have followed the company’s escalation process all the way to the top and everyone at each stage has completely ignored the previous manager’s email.  They just keep saying our records show you are not owed anything and have blocked my pass and engaged a debt collection company for the time I've been off!  Hence my question whether there is a body/regulator that can defer to to look at this matter logically/objectively.

OK - that explains it more but maybe it's time for the actual words used in case there's ambiguity/misunderstanding.

You bought a 12m contract ? or you paid 12m up-front for a rolling contract ?
You used M1-M10 but not M11 & M12 through illness - what was the email wording used the the (then) Manager ? As an example if someone did that at my gym they'd be offered M13/14 - if they didn't use that without having requested a further extension it'd be lost.

From your final paragraph I'm assuming that this is a rolling contract (otherwise why would they be engaging a DCA - they've nothing to recover) - is it that you've lost M11/12 and they've not had payment for M13-16 whilst you were still in contract but have neither paid nor used the facilities ?

Can you summarise what they're claiming for and the actual wording used by the ex-Manager ?

sheramber

Perhaps I have misunderstood but  if they have 

engaged a debt collection company for the time I've been off! 

Did you not ay for the two months when you were off?

 If you didn't why would you be due two months when you returned?

Jonboy_1984

The gym I used to be part of previously allowed all memberships to be frozen in the event of injury upon presentation of reasonable medical evidence. It was common to most of the local gyms at the time as part of their sales and marketing process.

Their current terms now only allow it once the minimum membership term has expired, and charge a monthly £5 fee for the privilege.

OP have you checked what the terms you agreed with at the time of joining state?