Leisure centre membership end date issue

Baled

Hello

On January 2nd this year I signed up over the phone for a 12 month contract with my local leisure centre starting immediately and paying by monthly DD. There was a special offer on at the time where January was free of charge so the first payment actually collected was on February 1st.

Whilst I have been attending classes throughout the year unfortunately I've not been able to get there often enough to offset the monthly cost so I've decided to cancel the monthly membership and switch to pay as you go instead. 

The person I spoke to on the phone yesterday is insisting my contract ends 31 January 2025 and I will be charged at the beginning of January whereas I think my last payment should be December 1st 2024. I've given them the requisite 1 months notice and to my mind January to December fulfills the 12 month contract.

I checked the email I received when I signed up and it states the renewal date is January 1st 2025 so this means my 12 months contract ends on 31 December 2024? After this point it would switch to a rolling contract. I forwarded this email to them yesterday and asked them to confirm December should be my last payment.

I will call them tomorrow as I received an email from them today confirming my membership has been cancelled but that the end date is 31 January 2025 according to their records.

I don't think I should be charged for January 2025 but I'd appreciate any input on this please.

Thanks.

DullGreyGuy

Ultimately need to see the exact terms of the contract including the promotion. 

Having signed up on the 2nd Jan you'd have expected the current 12 month contract to expire on 1st Jan at 23:59:59. 

Some companies run billing every day so your last payment is 2 Dec that covers the last month of the contract year. Other companies dont want the cost of running up to 31 billing events a month and so do whole months only and so the contract isn't 12 months but up to 12.9999 months so the last payment is due to take you to the end of January. 

eskbanker

Baled said:

On January 2nd this year I signed up over the phone for a 12 month contract with my local leisure centre starting immediately and paying by monthly DD. There was a special offer on at the time where January was free of charge so the first payment actually collected was on February 1st.

Do you still have details of the offer terms?

Just wondering if it was definitely one month free out of 12 (i.e. a discount) or if January was perhaps a freebie before starting the 12 chargeable months (i.e. a longer period at no extra cost)?

Baled

I don't have details of the offer terms unfortunately. From memory I was told over the phone that if I signed up for the 12 month contract I would get January free. It wasn't explained that I would still be making 12 monthly payments post January.

The email confirming sign up has a click button for the T&C's which were last updated 25 November 2024 but doesn't mention promotional offers. Currently it says 12 month contracts require 12 monthly payments.

I don't know why the email gives a renewal date of 1 January 2025 as that suggests the contract ends 31 December. It's just frustrating to get conflicting information.

When T&C's are updated, is it the T&C's that were in place at the time of sign up that count or is it the T&C's in place at cancellation point that prevail?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Typically would be the T&Cs at the time of the contract, trader's right to vary terms are very narrow and in most instances changes would likely be classed as unfair. 

The CRA says where a term can be viewed in more than one way the most favourable to the consumer is the one that is applied. 

If you have a renewal date of 1st of Jan I'd focus on that and say you are only paying until the 1st of Jan. If you cancel the DD and don't pay they'd have to take you to court for the extra month which is unlikely (although possible).

As a side note, I'm not sure if missed gym membership payments can affect your credit score.

Ergates

eskbanker said:

Baled said:

On January 2nd this year I signed up over the phone for a 12 month contract with my local leisure centre starting immediately and paying by monthly DD. There was a special offer on at the time where January was free of charge so the first payment actually collected was on February 1st.

Do you still have details of the offer terms?

Just wondering if it was definitely one month free out of 12 (i.e. a discount) or if January was perhaps a freebie before starting the 12 chargeable months (i.e. a longer period at no extra cost)?

Both seem equally likely:

Sign up for 12 months and get the first month free.

Sign up for 12 months and get January for free on top.

sheramber

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

Typically would be the T&Cs at the time of the contract, trader's right to vary terms are very narrow and in most instances changes would likely be classed as unfair. 

The CRA says where a term can be viewed in more than one way the most favourable to the consumer is the one that is applied. 

If you have a renewal date of 1st of Jan I'd focus on that and say you are only paying until the 1st of Jan. If you cancel the DD and don't pay they'd have to take you to court for the extra month which is unlikely (although possible).

As a side note, I'm not sure if missed gym membership payments can affect your credit score.

But the OP wants to continue to use the gym. 

They may exclude him if he doesn’t pay.

Baled

Spoke again to the leisure centre, the lady apologised if it wasn't made clear at the time of sign up but she insisted all 12 month DD contracts are a minimum of 12 monthly payments so looks like I'm stuck with it for January 25 too.

Time for a change after that I think - there's a chain gym a bit nearer to me and whilst their class timetable isn't as varied they are a good bit cheaper on a PAYG basis as well as being half the walking distance.

I also finally got around to completing the satisfaction survey for my current place and they certainly didn't score too highly.

HillStreetBlues

Baled said:

Spoke again to the leisure centre, the lady apologised if it wasn't made clear at the time of sign up but she insisted all 12 month DD contracts are a minimum of 12 monthly payments so looks like I'm stuck with it for January 25 too.

Time for a change after that I think - there's a chain gym a bit nearer to me and whilst their class timetable isn't as varied they are a good bit cheaper on a PAYG basis as well as being half the walking distance.

I also finally got around to completing the satisfaction survey for my current place and they certainly didn't score too highly.

If they have admitted it wasn't clear at the time then they can't hold you to paying for January.