Update: I just had an email from Harlands, im shocked!! We can confirm your membership has now been cancelled, therefore no further payments are due and your details have been cancelled accordingly. If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us. Im so happy, do you think its safe to cancel the DD now???

Hi Slick, Ok i joined the Gym on the 8th August 2016 but at this time it was using a company called Go Cardless and i wasnt in a contract and could cancel at any time. On 4th of October 2016 we were transfered over to Harlands and the email i got then said "You are committing to a single £0.00 Joining Fee payment and a further £150.00 per month for a minimum of 9 months." Around Jan/Feb this year the gym started to get really busy and gradually i was missing more and more sessions due to my anxiety until i completely stopped going, i must have used the gym maybe 3 times in feb, and not been once this month. They took £150 for feb and march and i knew this is too much money when im unable to attend. I went to the Doctors on 13th March and he wrote me a letter "This is to confirm that Miss **** suffers with Social Phobia and struggles in group settings with her anxiety. She has required Psychological treatment and medication to help her cope with her symptoms, i will be grateful for whatever assistance you can offer" and i stuck a note in with that saying that my panic attacks are at an unbearable level making me very ill and unable to attend the gym anymore, i told them i informed my gym of this and asked them to review the cancellation. (I dont know if i was to nice and polite to them!!) I sent it off recorded delivery. I have had no reply from them by letter yet but an email did come through on the 15th which said Cancellations for medical reasons are only permissible upon the grounds of long-term medical incapacity. Such incapacity cannot be pre-existing and must prevent you from attending the gym. In order for Harlands to review a cancellation upon the grounds of medical incapacity, a completed accident & sickness form is required to be returned to the address listed below, in order for the review process to commence.One which can be issued from our offices upon request. This form can be returned to Harlands via the post, by fax and can also be attached to an e-mail. Our full address is: Harlands Group 2nd Floor Rockwood House 9-17 Perrymount Road Haywards Heath West Sussex RH16 3TW Our fax number is 01444 449 152. Your membership payments are required to be paid up to date irrespective of whether your request for cancellation proves to be successful. Please note that requests for cancellation are not formal until Harlands are in receipt of a completed accident & sickness form in order to review the request. Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further information, or to request an accident & sickness form to be sent to your address. We look forward to hearing from you soon." I replied asking if they got my Doctors letter and did i need sickness form to fill in and ive not heard anything back since then, and i know the next payment is due out on the 4th April £150. My membership ends in July but another 4 months paying £150 for something i cannot attend is crazy, i dont know what the correct thing to do is? Do i really need this form? they said its not formal untill they have review the form!! Yet it says in the Terms and Conditions they can ALSO accept a doctors letter. Edit: I forgot to add once i told my gym instructer i would not be back he removed me from the V.I.P support group so i have no access to this even though im still currently a paying member!! Thanks for you help

Im not sure in one email they said "In order for Harlands to review a cancellation upon the grounds of medical incapacity, a completed accident & sickness form is required to be returned to the address listed below, in order for the review process to commence.One which can be issued from our offices upon request We are able to accept a letter or note from your Doctor/GP stating your medical condition and why you are unable to attend the gym." And in another email it says " In order for a cancellation upon the grounds of medical incapacity to be reviewed, an accident and sickness form (which can be issued from our offices upon request) must be completed with your GP and returned to our offices. We are also able to accept a letter or note from your Doctor/GP stating your medical condition and why you are unable to attend the gym" So its not very clear to me. Slick.. i will answer these tomorrw once im on the pc and can get all my dates up. Thank you

I have sent in a doctor's note and this was the reply via email.... Cancellations for medical reasons are only permissible upon the grounds of long-term medical incapacity. Such incapacity cannot be pre-existing and must prevent you from attending the gym. In order for Harlands to review a cancellation upon the grounds of medical incapacity, a completed accident & sickness form is required to be returned to the address listed below, in order for the review process to commence.One which can be issued from our offices upon request So is that them refusing the doctors note? Because I won't be getting my doctor to fill in the form they are asking for as I will not let them have anymore of my personal information.

Thanks for the quick reply! I feel a little better, but also i just noticed the gym instructor removed me from the gyms V.I.P support group, because he found out i was trying to leave, i told him he couldnt do that as im still a paying member and he replied saying its just a free group yet on the home page it states the package includes: Unlimited 24/7 Support from our team of personal trainers in our private members area, support is on hand when you need it most. So i dont have access to this anymore! is this something i could also use?

Hi all looking for some advice here as im really stressed out with Harlands and not good in these situations. I joined a local womans only gym last year, its not a normal Gym as the training nights are only on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm. I have confidence problems, servere anxiety and suffer panic attacks so i thought this womans only gym would be good for me. The first half of the year was ok, it was very quiet and i could cope, but recently the owner has taken on loads of new woman and i started having panic attacks and not being able to cope, i was hiding and had to stop going. This gym is £150 a month as you get nutrition plans etc ( I know its a lot of money, i was very stupid ) i went to my Doctor and got a letter saying i suffer from anxiety and unable to cope and have acquired medication and psychological help to help me cope and group situations trigger my anxiety. It says in Harlands Terms and Conditions: 14. Long term (over 3 month) illness or injury: This agreement may be cancelled in the event of an illness, injury or medical condition which in the written opinion of a doctor or other suitably qualified medical practitioner prohibits exercise for 3 months or longer upon appropriate proof being provided. Which i have done, however i got an email back from Harlands saying: "Cancellations for medical reasons are only permissible upon the grounds of long-term medical incapacity. Such incapacity cannot be pre-existing and must prevent you from attending the gym." My condition is pre-exsisting but it does not state this in the Terms and Conditions at all, they have just added this 'pre-exsisting' part in the email to me. Can i use this against them? Also at the end of the email it also says "Your membership payments are required to be paid up to date irrespective of whether your request for cancellation proves to be successful." What should i do next? I cannot afford to pay £150 a month for a gym i cannot attend. My next payment comes out on the 4th April. Please can anyone help ~ L