Hello. Hope someone can help me. I did an online application in November 2013 for a 12 month contract at £9.99 per month. They sent me an email with a link which I haven't used. I cancelled my DD after 4 payments because I had never put a foot in the door. I have been receiving letters from Harlands on a regular basis and now I have received a letter from CRS claiming they have been employed by Xercise4 for less and I owe them £186.43 (including £66.50 in fees). Today I went to the gym to try and sort it out but they said it was out of their hands now because CRS had taken on the 'debt'. They also said if I had contacted the gym before receiving these letters they could have done something about my cancellation :-/.

I did offer to pay £60.00 to cancel my membership but they said the least they could accept was £96.50. Ithought as I have already paid 4 x £9.99 the offer of £60.00 would mean I had paid for my year's membership. Any advice gratefully received. Thank you.

Theyre wrong. DCA cant touch you. Neither can harlands. Although you did agree to stick to a 12 month contract with the gym.

You do NOT have to pay any of their silly charges. Write and tell them something along the lines of you are willing to pay what remains of the contract, but you will not be paying their charges. Tell them they have 14 days to agree, or you wont pay them anything.

One other bit of advice, ignore the DCA. Completely.

Hi Pargaluvva and welcome to CAG

I did an online application in November 2013 for a 12 month contract at £9.99 per month. They sent me an email with a link which I haven't used.

If you set up the m/ship and paid for it for 4 months, I'm not sure what relevance the email and link would have. Can you tell us anything about the email and link that affects your case.

I doubt that the gym would have helped you cancel even if you'd contacted them earlier.

You are committed to the m/ship agreement for the full 12 months. The only means of cancelling early are if you are made redundant, move away from the gym or cannot use the gym due to injury or illness. In any of these cases, Harlands would require evidence.

As Renegade says above, we do not advise paying any admin penalty fees added by Harlands or CRS, who just happen to operate from the same office !!

I think you have 2 options :-

1. If you want to use the gym for the remaining 4 months, you'll have to pay the missed 4 months fees. But you need to tell Harlands that you'll only pay the missed and future fees if they agree to waive all admin penalty fees.

2. Tell Harlands that you dispute their admin penalty fees and they will not be paid. Furthermore, you consider the imposition of unlawful penalty fees to be a breach on their part and you therefore consider the agreement to be terminated. If they agree to waive the penalty fees, you will pay the fees for April to July to end the matter. If they are unwilling to accept this offer, then you will pay them nothing.

In either case, confirm to Harlands that you have never set foot inside the gym. Contact them in writing only - no phone calls. Read other threads here for examples of how others have dealt with Harlands.

Unless I've missed something, you are at a disadvantage because of the way you cancelled with no reason.

Let us know what happens.

Thanks for your replies. I know I'm probably at a disadvantage for just cancelling the DD. I did offer to pay the gym £60.00 to get out of the contract but they are saying it's out of their hands and I need to pay £90 odd pounds because the debt has been taken over by CRS. Should I send a letter offering to pay this and hope they leave me alone. It has cost me £150 for foolishly signing up on line

Something else that is worrying me; can they send a doorstep collector to my house!!!???

Hi Pargaluvva,

I think you are past the stage of being able to get the gym to help. You will have to deal with Harlands.

I suggest you write to Harlands as per Option 2 above. If they continue to insist their penalty fees are payable, you can use the breach of agreement argument to cancel the remaining time of the agreement.

Doorstep callers will not happen, nor will they put any adverse markers on your CRA records.

I wrote to CRS on the 14th August as follows:

Thank you for your letter dated 29 July 2014.

Since joining, I had never set foot in the gym so I cancelled my DD mandate after making 4 payments of £9.99 and I thought this was adequate notice of my cancellation.

I dispute your admin fees; these are unlawful and cannot be enforced by your company. Furthermore, the imposition of unlawful penalty fees is a breach on your part and I consider the agreement terminated.

I am willing to pay £9.99 for the months of May, June and July (£29.97) to cover the period I have been in dispute with

Xercise 4 Less/Harlands/yourselves in full and final settlement.

Please advise if you are willing to accept this offer. If this offer is not accepted, then I will pay you nothing.

I have now received a letter saying they believe I am in breach of a legally binding contract because I have not paid my membership or their fees. They may purse a claim under this this contract through the Courts.

The letter goes on and on about CCJ and also outsourcing the debt to an external agent.

I'm not sure that they received my letter of the 14th before there's was sent out on the 18th. Should I ring them?

"Should I ring them?" No !! Never speak to them on the phone - you'll hear nothing of any use to you at all.

Was this letter from Harlands or CRS ?

Their letter contains nothing unusual, threatening court action and/or DCA's. But they usually do not use the courts.

Wait a week or two. They will by then either reply specifically to your letter of 14th August, or make some further demand for payment. Then we can take it from there.

Thank you slick. When I first read their letter I was worried but after reading it again I think they hope they will scare people into paying their fees with regard to legal action and outsourcing the debt to an external agent. Hope I'm right. Going on holiday next week and my dad will be at our house; don't want anyone knocking on the door.

Sorry, forgot to say, the letter was from CRS and they are wanting me to pay £186.43

They use all kinds of threats, but its just words.

Ok, like I said, wait a week or two and see if they write to you again.

I'm subscribing to this thread as going through the same thing at the moment, cancelled DD because I didn't recognise Harlands, next minute they were trying to penalise me!

Hi Jhaw,

Please feel free to start your own Gym thread and give us details of your dispute.

Didn't: hear from them for a few weeks then received 2 letters; one quite threatening the other not so. I ignored them then about 10 days ago got a phone call saying I owed £186 and they would be taking it further if I did not pay. Challenged them and said their fees were not enforceable. Said if I paid £100 the case against against me would be closed. Should I pay; only got a few days til the deadline

. Thank you. 0 on'

Anyone any thoughts plz

Hi Pargaluvva,

No, you should not pay them. They are just chancing their luck.

If they wanted to discuss or argue properly about you owing fees or penalties, they should have replied accordingly, in writing, to your letter in August.

Do not discuss this by phone with them at all. If they call you, tell them to put anything they want to say in writing. Or simply don't answer calls from numbers you don't recognise.

Do not contact them further but let us know if they write to you again. Do not even bother calling them to say you will not be paying. There is no need as they have no power or authority.

Hi Par,

This thread should be an encouragement for you - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?417231-Looking-For-Some-Advice-Confirmation-Re-Harlands-Lifestyle&p=4632092&viewfull=1#post4632092

Thank you slick . CRS rang me again today. I said I was at work and couldn't speak. Expecting another letter from them. Will keep you posted.

Hi Par,

I hope you told them NOT to call you at all. They may be tempted to call you when you're NOT at work.

If they do, just tell them to keep it in writing only.

He asked when would b a convenient time to call back; I said in about half an hour. Rang back but I didn't answer. If he rings again I will ask him to put whatever he has to say in writing. Thanks again Slick.

Hi Par,

Haha !!

"When would be convenient to call you back?"

"Never, so put it in writing. All calls will be logged and recorded for evidence of harassment. Goodbye !" ........ CLUNK

;-)

Hello Slick. CRS haven't sent me a letter for a while but had a few phone calls.

Today, I received a letter from CRS

"We regret that despite our attempts to reach an amicable resolution to your account, you remain in arrears to Xercise 4 Less.

"We must therefore give notice that failing to reply to this letter within the next

10 days will result in your account balance being passed to Zinc Group Ltd,

one the UK's leading providers of debt recovery solutions.

We are still happy to listen to your reasons for not paying and will do whatever we can to reach an acceptable resolution for both parties. All that is required is for youn to call us on 01444 449 165 by no later than 27th November 2014 so we can discuss your account further"

What shall I do?

Hi Par,

No need to respond to this at all, because they have still not replied properly to your letter in August.

Next, you'll hear from Zinc and, when you do, let us know,

In the meantime, read through this thread which shows plenty of threats but no serious action - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?424491-Harlands-and-Xercise-4-Less&p=4534355&viewfull=1#post4534355

Hi Par,

 

No need to respond to this at all, because they have still not replied properly to your letter in August.

 

Next, you'll hear from Zinc and, when you do, let us know,

 

In the meantime, read through this thread which shows plenty of threats but no serious action - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?424491-Harlands-and-Xercise-4-Less&p=4534355&viewfull=1#post4534355

 

Thanks Slick. Worried because I just cancelled my DD without giving them notice