Hi, A quick update on this thread. Its now well over 2 years since I followed Slicks sound advice. Nothing heard at all since that time so keep the faith Thank you DF

Hi All Reading the endless posts on this company and the stress they cause made me feel i should update you on my situation. I received all of the standard threats i read about on here. Regurgitated month on month..you will often notice the same letter every other month. Following Slicks advice and holding a firm line...i have still had no communication since my letter in November and the response saying they had closed my account. Needless to eye i have not contacted X4less with any queries!! 7 months and counting...keep positive! DF

Hi All Just an update for the benefit of all those who are stressed about Harlands/CRS/Zinc etc.. keep following Slicks advice. Since my last reply telling me the case was closed I have heard nothing.. Nearly 3 months.. Of course it may continue but so far so good.... DF

Hi Slick Sent the letter as you suggested. We received the following email yesterday! Hi xxxxxxxxxx Thank you for your letter which we received on 3rd November. As we are unable to resolve this matter for you, I have closed your account. Should you have any further queries, please contact Xercise 4 Less directly. Kind regards, Kirsty Harley Kirsty Harley Customer Account Manager The Zinc Group Limited I expect it will now bounce back to Harlands,so we will do nothing and waited for the next round... We very much appreciate your help with this. DF

Hi Slick Latest letter today from Zinc thanking us for the letter etc and offering to assist in resolving this outstanding account. They would like us to provide the following details if relevant...details of dispute, proof paid, proof of cancellation out of contract, proof cancelled within cooling off period, medical documentation, redundancy Its very polite and states our assistance is much appreciated.. Ignore? Or politely say no. Many Thanks DF

Hi Slick, Today received an email from Zinc, introducing themselves and asking for my daughter to phone or email them urgent,y to discuss the account they have taken over. should she ignore or reply by email or post explaining situation and offering 1 month etc? Many thanks D5

ok thanks

Hi Slick Latest letter today Reads as follows- We regret that despite our attempts to reach an amicable resolution to your account, you remain in arrears to Xercise4less 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 of the Uk`s leading providers of debt recovery solutions. We would still like to resolve this matter We are still happy to listen to your reasons for not paying and will do whatever we can to reach an acceptable solution for both parties. All that is required is for you to call us on 01444 449 165 by no later than 31st August 15 so that we can discuss your account further Yours sincerely Rob Avery Collections Manager What do you advise next steps? Re-send previous letters.... Thanks DF

Hi Slick Just received a further letter dated August 3rd "Following our initial letter we are disappointed that your account with Xercise4less is still in arrears and our fee has not been paid We would still like to reach an amicable resolution but if you fail to respond to this letter we will have no option but to commence further action to recover the monies owed. The options available to us are: 1. Legal Action We believe you are in breach of a legally binding contract with Xercise4less because you have not paid your membership and our fees. We may pursue a claim under this contract through the courts. If so the following process will apply 1. We will write a formal letter explaining what we are demanding and give you a final opportunity to pay/reply 2.If this failed to settle the matter we would issue proceedings against you in the County Court 3. You could then either make payment, ending the legal process 0r dispute some/all the amount owed 4. if you dispute the amount owed the Court process will continue and at the end the Court will make a decision on our claim. 5. A strict Court imposed timescale will apply in relation to the court process. Were we to be successful in our claim, or if you ignore the claim, A CCJ may be registered against you requiring you to make payment. You may also be liable for our costs. If you fail to pay the amount in the CCJ we would take the next steps required to enforce the judgement 2. Outsource to External Agents Your account would be passed to another collection agency who will take further action to recover the monies owed. You can avoid this by contacting us in the next 10 days to arrange payment Yours sincerely Rob Avery" Should I resend the previous letter Slick or ignore and wait for the next one? Many thanks for advice DF

Hi Slick Reply received yesterday from CRS Saying if I advise them that we do not intend to pay they will continue with their collection procedure but will not enter into any further correspondence as their decision has been made! They are requesting payment in 7 days to avoid further action being taken. Please advise...

Hi Slick This is the transcript of the letter sent to the gym last week I refer to my membership at Xercise 4 Less in Leeds. I emailed to inform the gym of moving away on 31st May 2014 but now find I used the wrong email address. Accordingly, my effective cancellation of the membership was November 2014 when I cancelled the DD mandate. Grounds for cancelling was me leaving the UK for the USA. I should have paid a final payment in December 2014 and offer to pay this now.

Hi Slick Just about to send letter however because there has never been any correspondence with the GYM due to incorrect email address...i told my daughter to write to the gym telling them that the cancellation of the DD was notice of cancelling membership but that she was willing to pay 9.99 (i month) I suspected that even if we get this resolved Harlands would still say the membership was not cancelled properly etc and it could drag on. Today she received an email saying " Further to your letter dated 03/06/2015 we have attempted to contact youself however the number we have on file is no longer available. Can you please contact membership support team to make your final payment of 9.99 kind regards Membership support team. I am thinking of asking her to reply as follows; Further to your email i am in agreement to payment of the final sum of 9.99 in compete settlement of all arrears owed to Exercise4less, CRS/Harlands or any agents of Exercise4less. Prior ro payment please can you confirm that this is the case. On receipt of your confirmation i will forward the sum of £9.99 Knowing that i have not yet replied to last weeks note it looks as though there is little communication between the gym and CRS. What i dont want to do is pay the £9.99 and then still get chased by CRS/ Any advice very welcome DF

thanks will do

Hi Having sent the letter as discussed i have received the following reply by email. Please can you advise? They have reduced the amount considerably but seem to have invoked a legal precedent whilst not acknowledging the subsequent case you have mentioned before. Many Thanks From: "Credit Resolution Services" Date: 3 June 2015 15:31:05 BST To: Subject: CRS Dear xxxxx Re: CRS Ref No Further to your letter of 14th May 2015 (and prior emails); we have noted your permission to discuss this matter with Mr. Gxxxxxx. We note that you claim cancelling your Direct Debit was adequate notice of your intention to cancel at that time. We dispute this assertion as the terms of your agreement specifically state that you must give notice in writing, which you have failed to do as your email has been sent to an incorrect address, and no other attempt to notify the club in writing has been made. We are unable to accept your offer of £9.99 as sufficient to settle this debt because more than one month has passed without payment. The agreement between you and the club is legally binding upon both parties, meaning that the club has obligations just as you do. Until the correct cancellation procedure is followed, therefore, the club has a contractual obligation to hold your membership open. A service has therefore been provided during this time, at cost the club, whether you attended or not. With regards to your comments that our charges are penalties, it is our position that all charges applied to this balance are to cover actual and necessary costs and thus are not penalties. Lord Dunedin set out in Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage & Motor Co Ltd (1914) that: "It is no obstacle to the sum stipulated being a genuine pre-estimate of damage, that the consequences of the breach are such as to make precise pre-estimation almost an impossibility. On the contrary, that is just the situation when it is probable that pre-estimated damage was the true bargain between the parties ( Clydebank Case, Lord Halsbury; Webster v. Bosanquet, Lord Mersey)." The above applies to the charges of £25.00 applied by Harlands and also in regards to our own collection fees of £66.50. We believe, therefore; that these charges do not constitute a penalty and are thus fully enforceable. For the above reasons it must remain our position that the balance of £207.47 is correct and due. Purely as a goodwill gesture we shall be willing to extend our previous offer to accept the reduced sum of £132.47 as final settlement of this debt if paid in full within 7 days of this correspondence. Payment can be made by Credit/Debit card by calling us on 01444 449165. Alternatively, cheque/postal orders should be made payable to Credit Resolution Services and sent to CRS, 2nd Floor, Rockwood House, 9-17 Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 3TW. A payment plan can also be set up if you are unable to settle in full, although we do charge a little extra for this. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, there are organisations who offer free debt advice and assistance such as Step Change (0800 1381111), National Debtline (0808 8084000) and your local Citizen Advice Bureau. Please ensure a payment or response is received within the next 7 days, so we can avoid further action being taken. Yours sincerely, David Castle Collections Department

Ok thanks i will