Gym cancellation advice
Discussion
Hi all,
Looking for some advice. My OH and I joined a gym (a big chain) about a year ago and paid for membership upfront, for a year. Recently, our membership expired and the cost quoted for next year is quite a lot higher than last year (30%+).
We both emailed the gym, giving them our cancellation request. They've acknowledged this, however...
We both now have to apparently pay almost £220 each to cover a 3 month notice period. Unfortunately I don't have the original paperwork to remind me of this 3-month period, suffice to say that it wasn't clearly explained whatsoever. £440 is also quite a lot of money which may be difficult to come up with.
If both myself and the OH aren't going to attend the gym for the next 3 months, do we have to pay? I'd have thought that by paying upfront for a year, that after a year is when our 'contract' with the gym ended...
Thanks for any help offered..
Looking for some advice. My OH and I joined a gym (a big chain) about a year ago and paid for membership upfront, for a year. Recently, our membership expired and the cost quoted for next year is quite a lot higher than last year (30%+).
We both emailed the gym, giving them our cancellation request. They've acknowledged this, however...
We both now have to apparently pay almost £220 each to cover a 3 month notice period. Unfortunately I don't have the original paperwork to remind me of this 3-month period, suffice to say that it wasn't clearly explained whatsoever. £440 is also quite a lot of money which may be difficult to come up with.
If both myself and the OH aren't going to attend the gym for the next 3 months, do we have to pay? I'd have thought that by paying upfront for a year, that after a year is when our 'contract' with the gym ended...
Thanks for any help offered..
I'm surprised you have to even notify them of a cancellation. If you paid for an 12 month subscription, and now that's finish shouldn't it just lapse? It's not like you are on a rolling direct debit contract.
Best thing would be to find someone in the customer service/membership department and try and contest it. £440 cancellation fee is ridiculous expensive. Even if that is their T&C's you've signed, I would of thought it has to be a more reasonable fee.
Which company was it?
Best thing would be to find someone in the customer service/membership department and try and contest it. £440 cancellation fee is ridiculous expensive. Even if that is their T&C's you've signed, I would of thought it has to be a more reasonable fee.
Which company was it?
I'm not sure I can "name and shame" unfortunately, though it may make this easier!
It appears that we could have given 1 month notice within the initial 12 months, yet after that we have to give 3 months, and are being billed accordingly. Apparently they should have explained this clearly to us both when we joined, and when we reached the minimum notice period. Might be able to contest them on this...
It appears that we could have given 1 month notice within the initial 12 months, yet after that we have to give 3 months, and are being billed accordingly. Apparently they should have explained this clearly to us both when we joined, and when we reached the minimum notice period. Might be able to contest them on this...
Default and the debt will go to a collection agency (after a couple of internal letters)
It'll be a company like Silvermans then who pursue the debt and keep a percentage of what they recover.
They'll threaten small claims court but won't go that far.
It depends on your stance, if you shout and say you were mis old and told quite unequivocally that you were told you could cancel after 12 months without notice or penalty at the point of sale by the membership consultant, they will say sorry for troubling you, if you say we didn't realise we had to do this we are sorry, the agency will smell blood and up the ante.
It's your call.
It'll be a company like Silvermans then who pursue the debt and keep a percentage of what they recover.
They'll threaten small claims court but won't go that far.
It depends on your stance, if you shout and say you were mis old and told quite unequivocally that you were told you could cancel after 12 months without notice or penalty at the point of sale by the membership consultant, they will say sorry for troubling you, if you say we didn't realise we had to do this we are sorry, the agency will smell blood and up the ante.
It's your call.
mrfunex said:
Unfortunately I don't have the original paperwork to remind me of this 3-month period, suffice to say that it wasn't clearly explained whatsoever.
It never ceases to amaze me why so many threads have this as a common feature. Why do people sign a contract which they then forget where they put or lose it? It's a legally binding and enforceable agreement. Failure to read it can be costly. Have a look at these links
http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/problem/im-...
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-2...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21712728
http://www.independent.co.uk/money/spend-save/savv...
And lastly, this one - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
You may have grounds if there was any misrepresentation or obvious lack of clarity by the gym at the outset. It will be down to you to show on the balance of probabilities that this is so.
Snollygoster said:
...It's not like you are on a rolling direct debit contract...
If he's signed a continuous DD authority, that's exactly what he might just have.Snollygoster said:
...£440 cancellation fee is ridiculous expensive. Even if that is their T&C's you've signed, I would of thought it has to be a more reasonable fee.
But it's not a cancellation charge - it's the three months notice due under their Ts & Cs. If it says you have to give 3 months notice of termination, that's what they're entitled to.*would have*, btw...
Megapixels83 said:
They don't have your bank details
Wanna bet? If it's a DD, I'll wager they do, as above.Thankyou4calling said:
Default and the debt will go to a collection agency (after a couple of internal letters)
It'll be a company like Silvermans then who pursue the debt and keep a percentage of what they recover.
They'll threaten small claims court but won't go that far.
It depends on your stance, if you shout and say you were mis old and told quite unequivocally that you were told you could cancel after 12 months without notice or penalty at the point of sale by the membership consultant, they will say sorry for troubling you, if you say we didn't realise we had to do this we are sorry, the agency will smell blood and up the ante.
It's your call.
Good luck with that one!It'll be a company like Silvermans then who pursue the debt and keep a percentage of what they recover.
They'll threaten small claims court but won't go that far.
It depends on your stance, if you shout and say you were mis old and told quite unequivocally that you were told you could cancel after 12 months without notice or penalty at the point of sale by the membership consultant, they will say sorry for troubling you, if you say we didn't realise we had to do this we are sorry, the agency will smell blood and up the ante.
It's your call.
The time to dispute the charge is before it goes to a debt collection agency, surely? Why complicate things with two lots of potential grief?
mrfunex said:
Just to clarify, I paid upfront for a year's membership on my credit card.
And I know I'm a doofus for losing the paperwork... :-(
there is very clear case law stating such unexpected clauses should be highlighted in red with a big arrow pointing at them.And I know I'm a doofus for losing the paperwork... :-(
Ask for them to send you over the signed contract, and make sure it is VERY obvious about the 3 month cancellation notice.
edit, here is the case law and the bit you care about...
"I quite agree that the more unreasonable a clause is, the greater the notice which must be given of it. Some clauses which I have seen would need to be printed in red ink on the face of the document with a red hand pointing to it before the notice could be held to be sufficient."
J Spurling Ltd v Bradshaw [1956]
Edited by Efbe on Wednesday 8th October 21:37
Having to give a specific period's notice to terminate is not an unexpected or unusual clause.
Don't ignore it. Gyms seem very keen to enforce their contractual rights; my ex-wife and I found an unsatisfied CCJ against her name from a gym, to whom she validly gave notice and who simply made a mistake and then made a further mistake by sending proceedings to an old address. It's a hassle to sort this sort of thing out later, when you've got a CCJ against your name. Sort it out now.
Don't ignore it. Gyms seem very keen to enforce their contractual rights; my ex-wife and I found an unsatisfied CCJ against her name from a gym, to whom she validly gave notice and who simply made a mistake and then made a further mistake by sending proceedings to an old address. It's a hassle to sort this sort of thing out later, when you've got a CCJ against your name. Sort it out now.
littleredrooster said:
Snollygoster said:
...It's not like you are on a rolling direct debit contract...
If he's signed a continuous DD authority, that's exactly what he might just have.Another word of warning. Always use DD for memberships, rather than a debit or credit card. You may well be unwittingly giving a CPA (Continuous Payment Authority). This is not only more difficult to stop than a DD but you don't have the same rights that you do under the DD Guarantee
http://moneyfacts.co.uk/guides/banking/what-is-a-c...
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/recurring...
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