Holmes Place - Haven't cancelled my gym membership yet

Malmo

I am writing to vent my annoyance at Holmes Place (Warren Street) for not having cancelled my membership with them yet. I personally handed in a written notice more than 2 months ago (sometime in July) to terminate the membership. This was more than sufficient notice as they only require 30 days notice. I specifically stated that I wanted September to be the last month for which a fee should be debited. I can't really make that any clearer if I tried.

I got a phone call from them aswell shortly after just to clarify my reason for terminating (moving away from London). So I thought all was OK...

Until I paid my last visit to the gym on Thursday 29th Sept for old times sake (I was at the gym for more than 4 years after all). I asked at the desk if they could confirm that my membership had been cancelled.

NO...it hadn't. Interesting, seeing as though I delivered a letter in good time to sort this out. So the lady I spoke to (Rebecca) said that she "would just have to take my word for it" that I notified them by letter, which I thought was a bit cheeky given that they lost the damn thing! She said that she would cancel it for me on the system and I was also advised that I should cancel my direct debit ASAP as the next fee (for October) was due to leave my account in 2 working days. I did this by phoning HSBC, and having just checked my online statement, it worked.

So I phoned Holmes Place just a few moments ago to confirm that they had done what they said would...NO...the system still has me as a member. I was told that I would be phoned tomorrow to let me know that they had done it. I can hardly wait.

This is one of many incompetent things that I've had to deal with in the last few weeks as I make my big move to another part of the UK. Sixt botched up my rental van for the move and Ikea botched up my delivery (for which they have redeemed themselves now), but they're separate "vent" threads!

Lucie_2

It all depends as to whether the membership administrator at the club can cancel the membership or whether it's controlled centrally by a membership team at head office. The club may have done their job by passing the details onto the central membership people, but if they haven't got around to doing it or have lost the details it may not be Rebecca's fault.
As long as you've cancelled your DD then they can't take any more money from you, unless you're tied into a contract with them (& as a 4 year member this is unlikely).
The health & fitness industry is one of the worst paid areas to work in, which often explains why the staff aren't up to the job.
Sadly the only thing to learn from this is to send cancellation letters by recorded delivery or get a receipt from reception or the membership administrator if you deliver it by hand.

Stonk

A related note.

An important point that bears repeating is that you paid by Direct Debit. This is the safest way to pay for a recurring transaction like this because YOU are in control and can cancel it at any time, preventing them from taking any more money. Also, if they take an unauthorised DD, quote the DD Guarantee to your bank and you will claw it back. Of course, don't go cancelling a DD if you are required to pay it as part of a contract.

Contrast this with if you had paid by credit card. You CANNOT cancel a recurring transaction to your credit card: you are at the mercy of the payee to stop taking it - which in this case clearly would not have happened. Ultimately you'd probably be able to get it back, but it would take longer and more hassle, particularly if there was a dispute about whether you had cancelled as might happen here.