Hi,

Ill try to keep it brief.

I was a member of xercise for less Milton Keynes on a rolling contract paying £19.99 a month, never failed a payment but realised i wasn't using it,

i called them up to ask what the cancellation policy was and they said cancel your DD, simple as that!

I later got a letter from CRS saying i had not paid and there was a admin charges on there,

i discovered i had to do it online which i immediately did,

as i had no DD in place i called the gym explained what happened and that i wanted to pay my notice period.

The girl their that answered the phone said no don't worry about it as you were given the wrong information by us and even said this was the 3rd time it had happened this week that she knew about so she would pass on all the information to the manager and would write to head office and get the debt wiped out.

I thought nothing of it until 4 weeks later i got a letter to say my fees had gone up.

I called CRS who were rather rude and aggressive and said there would be court action if i did not pay even though i explained the gym were contacting the head office to get it wiped off.

I then called the gym again and got Sarah, again i explained what happened and she informed me that the manager had since left and has no way of tracing my case but insisted after taking everything down that she would contact the head office and ask them to recall the debt and thanked me for being so understanding, this was in January!

Last month i got yet another letter from CRS my debt had risen to £201

I must of got about 4 calls, voicemail's and texts a day from them

i contacted them and they agreed to put the case on hold for 30 days

i contacted the gym and i spoke to Sarah and told her after sending an email to customer services they replied saying i had to pay,

i argued the case again with Sarah who then became rude and said there is nothing further she could do i had to go by that email.

I asked her if she could send me a copy of the email she sent to head office so i could argue the case and she said she would do it when she had time.

I have since emailed her 2-3 times requesting this email and she is not replying or giving me the information.

I have now been sent a final 10 day letter from CRS saying they would pass my case to Zinc if not paid

I contacted them and they have agreed to put it on hold for a further 30 days.

I have been emailing customer services and they are flat out refusing to wipe the debt out.

GIve said the them and the gym i have no issue to pay the cancellation fee but this has been going on 5 months and i feel the unlawful fees being added on were not my fault as the gym was acting on my behalf and advising me all along.

Im so annoyed if they had just accepted the cancellation fee i would not be in this position!

Simply ignore everyone

There's nothing they can do to you

They are a dca and not bailiffs

They have zero legal powers

Hi PP and thanks for starting the new thread.

We've been dealing with X4Less cases here for many years and we've this same scenario many times. Gym staff give out wrong info and then leave you at the mercy of Harlands/CRS and their increasing demands.

From now on, stay OFF the phone. X4Less are not likely to help you sort out the mess they've caused. And Harlands/CRS will do nothing but keep making demands for increasing amounts.

Now for the good news - as DX said above, Harlands/CRS are just chancers who try to harass folk into paying but they have no power or authority and they don't take court action.

Hence our basic advice - ignore Harlands/CRS completely from now on. Stop calling anyone and send no emails.

Keep us posted and keep a log of all calls or texts from Harlands/CRS in case you need to complain to Trading Standards.