Fitlife Ltd - Associated Members Club

ann.may

my friend and i have also been caught up in this,after contacting consumer direct via a website on the internet we have been told that the only possible way of getting out of the contract is by telling fitlife that we were mislead as we were not told this was a non cancellable contract and to quote them the misinterpretation act of 1967.

my concern is fitlife are getting wise to our escape routes as time goes by and are constantly covering themselves by adding new clauses, as seems the case.They are still catching people out and need to be exposed.

we are in Gloucester.

lilmissnoodles

I'm in gloucester too, they try it on from town to town and, like you said they do change it a bit each time to try and get away with it. They never used to have a Pre Contract sheet at all, now they do, but hide it away under the credit agreement. This is still a breach of the consumer credit act-as i said they MUST give you this sheet before you sign, and should discuss with you that you are entering into a credit agreement.
I've cancelled mine so i'll let u all know whether i start getting debt collectors letters or not. If i do, i will just show them the letter that i sent cancelling my agreement, and tell them i will complain to the office of fair trading that their debt collecting guidance has been breached if they keep harrassing me! Honestly, they haven't got a leg to stand on, it won't go any further than that.

ann.may

hiya, i wrote to associated asking them to cancel my contract, i have received a reply from them this is what they have written...

we write in response to your recent letter.

The associated members club gold card membership which you were offered is the best membership available at your health club and would normally cost 750.00 plus service contributions for the health club which work out at approximatelt 3.81 per week.

When you were offered your membership you were not asked to pay the 750.00 but only the service contributions,This would have been explained to you on the telephone[or on the internet] before you were invited to visit the health club.[trust me, none of that was explained to me before hand]

When you went to the health club, our representative would have again explained to you that you did not have to pay the 750.00 for your associated members club membership but that you would still need to make the service contributions.

The credit agreement which you have entered into provides the facility for you to pay these service contributions over the period of your membership.The basis of this agreement is that you have requested Fitlife to pay these service contributions in full on your behalf[ which i knew nothing about]and have promised to repay this amount by an initial payment of 16.53 and then 23 monthly payments of 16.53.

We feel its worth pointing out that although Fitlife have provided finance for your service contributions, they have not charged any amount for credit.If you refer to your agreement you will note that the APR is 0%.

We regret that we have no influence over your credit agreement with Fitlife and we are therefore unable to cancel it as requested. We should point out that Fitlife have a very strict policy whereby their credit agreements are non-cancellable and that your payments should be maintained in order not to be in default.

ann.may

Hi its me again , ran out of room writing that letter. so just wanted to ask you all what you think of it and what do you think i should do now, thanks

creditexpert

important Information For Anyone Who Felt Conned Into Signing A Credit Agreement With The Above Companies

you Can Cancel Your Credit Agreements Without Penalty Due To The Company Breaching Consumer Credit (pre Disclosure) Regulations 2004- In That When They Sign People Up They Do Not Give Them Prior To Signing A Pre Contract Information Sheet- This Is Either Given After Signing Or Not At All. In Either Case You Should Cancel Your Standing Order Immediately And Write To The Compaines Stating You Have Cancelled. There Is Nothing They Can Do. You May Get A Few Debt Collection Letters But Ignore Them, They Are Just Trying To Frighten You Into Paying Up. Debt Collectors Are Liable To Lose Their Credit Licence If They Hassle A Customer Who Has Legitimate Reason For Stopping Payments. The Credit Act Says Breach Of The Regulations Means The Agreements Are Unenforceable Without A Court Order- Which Could Never Be Given Due To The Customer Being Unaware It Was Credit. There Is No Grey Area Here- I Have This Info Direct From A Trading Standards Officer Who Is An Expert In Credit Matters. She Also Told Me That Any Survey Uk Fliers Received After 26th May 2008 Saying You Have Won Something Are A Criminal Offence Due To New Laws Just Brought In To Outlaw Scams.

KayKay21

Hi.

Im to from Gloucester and cant belive how bad the associated members club is. :mad:

I wont go into too much detail but like the rest of you i was un aware that this was non cancellable. I even told them when i was signing up that i hate going to the gym i have no motivation at all lol. But i guess they didnt grab my hand and scribble my signture they just did not make it clear what the contract was. I dont know how these people manage to sleep at night, i really dont.

The links below prove how they go from town to town and scam people.

http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspages.nsf/LookupWebPagesByTITLE_RTF/Sportivo+Gym+Press+Release?opendocument



http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/council_gov_democracy/news/30725.aspp


Maybe all us victims from gloucester could contact the citizen and get them to speak to one of the associated members club representitives at Everybodies Gym as they are there most days during the week. At least then we could prevent this from happening to anymore people and reveal the scam! :beer:

But for now i dont know what to do Has any from gloucester contacted the trading standards? i have through email but havent had much luck they want me to come into there offices but unable to. Id be very very very gratefull if anyone has any advice on this.

Kayleigh xx

lilmissnoodles

Hi Kayleigh
Read the above posts from myself and Creditexpert - that should help you out!

KayKay21

Thanks!

So i shouldnt get into any trouble for cancelling my dd?

The non existent pre contract sheet I imagine i would of had to of signed it?

Kayleigh xx

pete1210

Hi all,

My wife & I joined up for this prize three weeks ago. We only had 24 hrs to decide, so I got Michelle to enrol us both ASAP to avoid missing out.
My wife said the rep was very quick with her & she felt pressured to hurry up & sign! He basically told her about the repayments (which we were happy to pay per month as this was still a saving compared to any 3yr membership elsewhere). He then told her to sign a white standing order type mandate form.
We since realised, that the gym opening times, plus the lack of a cresh, meant that Michelle could not attend the gym due to looking after our 2-month old son & 3yr old daughter. We simply decided that to cancel was the best option...I on the other hand wish to continue. This is when we discovered the 'non-cancellable' note on the credit agreements.

It is quite obvious that the 'pre-contract info' sheet is a carbon copy of the top 'credit agreement', but more importantly, none of which was presented, nor explained prior to signing!

Do you think:
A) Michelle has a leg to stand on?
I should cancel also in repsect of being scammed (considering that I actually want to continue?)

The other problem is we do not know which standing order reference applies to which person!?

Thanks for reading

Pete

I found this info on google. It's 2002, so may no longer apply?:
Associated Members Club (AMC) Ltd & Fitelife Ltd share the same registered address in Cheltenham. Doriana Smit is the boss!

lilmissnoodles

Hi again
Kayleigh the pre contract sheet was supposed to be given to you before you signed the agreement-you say you weren't given one at all? Mine, like pete's, was a carbon copy of the credit agreement so i didn't get it till after signing - either way it is still a breach of the consumer credit act, which is why the agreement can only be enforced via court order.

Anyway, just to update you, as i cancelled my standing order (it was due to go out tomorrow), and i sent them the letter cancelling my agreement(it's actually the same letter that is provided on your first link kayleigh) all on the advice of a trading standards officer, well i got a letter today from fitlife basically saying that they are sorry that i feel i was misled but they don't agree blah blah blah, and that they have revised their agreement on the advice of trading standards so the repayments will still be due.

I've sent the letter on to the trading standards officer, mainly to find out what they mean by 'revising the agreement' so hopefully i will hear back in a day or two, and will post on here what he says. Im sure he will say just to ignore it and not to worry though.

These scumbags are making me really angry:mad: and i am not giving them a penny!

BTW, i was told that i might get a debt collectors letter, but just to ignore it as they cant enforce it, but does anyone know whether there is a risk of being blacklisted just by it being passed on to them?