Hi guys,

I know there are quite a few threads regarding people needing advice with cancelling their LA fitness contract and there was one thread which was very similar to mine but I thought I would open a new one to give my specific details.

Last September I rang LA fitness and the girl on the reception told me the price, joining fee and monthly fee. She entered my details and she said that I would have to sign the contract and sort all the paperwork out before taking my induction on my first visit.

On my first visit they gave me my card and said that one of the girls would sort my paperwork out and that I would have to sign when I left the gym. They did not give me an induction like they and the contract stated (do they not have to give an induction by law for safety etc?) and they never sorted out the contract when I left the gym on my first visit and have never sorted it out since, I have never signed anything.

Here are the details which they sent me regarding my contract:

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To arrange an induction of your club, please phone 08431701076 during normal opening hours, see for your specific club.

During your induction you will be requested to sign a membership agreement, this will allow you access to the club. Upon your first visit you will be able to pick up your membership card, please bring a form of identification.

If you have any problems, please contact our head office by phone 0844 770 7700, or email .Membership Type: Student - 12 month contract

Monthly Fee: £33.50

Initial Payment Taken: £51.00

Total Paid: £51.00

Ticked Accepted Terms and Conditions = True

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION

If you want to read the terms and conditions for this membership please click on the following link...

CANCELLATIONS

PLEASE NOTE: The normal cooling off period of 7 days does not apply as you were signed up in club by a sales advisor.

This is an Automated email. Please do not click 'reply' to this message, as emails to this mailbox are not read.

Should you wish to contact us regarding your order please email us at:

or call us on 0844 770 7700 to speak with a Customer Service Representative.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I cancelled my direct debit and they phoned me this morning to ask why. I stated that no agreement was in place but they said some "web" agreement was in place which doesn't make sense, and if so why would they (like they should have) of got me to sign a physical contract on my first visit, what would this be for if the web contract is somehow binding?

He also said that I agreed to the terms and conditions when I signed up. I replied by stating that I rang the gym up and she (the receptionist) put the details in, agreed to the t&c and clicked next from her side - so how could I possibly ready through and agree to the t&c.

He said that is the reason that they provided me (or anybody in my situation) with a cooling off period (he said 10 day) - in fact you can see from the contract details above it states:

"The normal cooling off period of 7 days does not apply as you were signed up in club by a sales advisor."

So how the hell can I agree to the terms and conditions when I have only seen them after she has sorted the contract out and I have no cooling off period, so I cannot even cancel within a period if I am not happy with the t&c?

Also what is "signed up in club" - doesn't that mean I was physically there to sign the contract with the advisor - it strikes me as meaning that, as if to say that I was there to read the contract so I did not need a cooling off period. If so, then that is also wrong. As I have already stated, I joined by phone.

Add on top of that another women from LA fitness who I spoke to prior to this, seemed surprised when I told her that i had not signed anything and told me to explain that in a letter to the head office. As if she knew they were at fault for not getting me to sign a contract. They are all contradicting each other and to me this comes across as tactics just to scare me into paying.

Can anybody please give me some advice (legal) with this - I would really appreciate it.

Hi Pepinho and welcome to CAG

What has happened since September 2010 and now:-

1. Have you been using the gym at all.

2. Have they been taking monthly DD's from you for £33.50.

3. When did you cancel the DD and why.

From what you say, you were intending to sign up at the gym in person but this was never done.

The details they sent you about your m/ship suggest this may have been agreed to on-line. Are they trying to pretend yours was an on-line contract, when in fact you never signed up on-line at all.

8-)

HI, just read your post and had to register quickly so i could reply.

I used to work at LA fittness (pleased that this is annonymous) temporarily in sales, however I did not work there for long as i was too honest for sales (P45). i feel that its a very good gym and would join myself but not under one of their "Membership" contracts. now for the reason I didnt get that many sales!

When you join any other big brand gym you enter a membership contract stating that you aggree to be a memeber and pay for 12months etc etc. but when you join LA fittness you enter a CREDIT AGGREEMENT so in theory you have paid your membership in full the day you sign but then borrow off of LA fitness under a 0% credit aggreement with repayments over the next 12 or so months.

they are the creditors so it makes it very flexible on their side. So when people decide that exercise is hard work and just cancel their direct debit, LA will seek payment as breech of a credit aggreement not membership.

They do this as people do lose interest in using the gym. Where other gyms have a harder case to gain the loss money, LA fittness have a more water tight case under this arrangement.

I explained this to everyone i signed to the gym and many seen my angle and decided against! hence my poor sales figures and P45!

Now this solely relies on you signing the credit agreement! not the little A5 health and safety disclaimer (which they need to make you sign before entering the gym under health and safety law)

but the A4 contract

how you go about this i will not advise as being an engineer by trade i would not know the best way around it but i hope that this helps!

hope you do well!

Hi Rubbertramp and welcome to CAG

Your input is both interesting and appreciated.

Can you confirm that these agreements were regulated under the Consumer Credit Act-also that the H.O. is in Doncaster ?

Thank you for the replys guys, much appreciated.

@ slick132 -

1. Yes I used the gym up until around christmas time so for around 3 months or so (quick irregular though).

2. Yes they have been taking £33.50 on the last day of each month.

3. I cancelled the direct debit on around the 20th of last month. I firstly sent a written letter explaining that I was cancelling my dd and explained why and about a week or so later I cancelled it. I explained that the facilities which had been promised when I signed up were hardly available (for example the jacquzzi), the price which it increased to (VAT) meant that the gym was not in line with the price of other gyms around offering the same services and the poor service I have received since I joined (no induction, advice, general service from staff etc).

@ rubbertramp - thank you for taking the time to post. Isn't LA's membership procedure that you were describing the same as 90% of gyms though, by making you commit to a 3, 6, 12 or 24 month contract so that they are guarenteed the monthly payments for that period, what make LA's different? I didn't know about gyms which you could pay monthly but you have no membership, that is pretty cool but saying that I am not sure if there are any (that I have heard of anyway) in my area.

@ Martin3030 - Yes the head office is in Doncaster. Erm, I probably come across as quick thick here but I am unsure about your question in relation to the consumer credit act.

On this subject. I gave the citizens advice bureau a call yesterday for some advice and there opinion seemed to conclude that if this case was taken to court that they would rule in the gyms favour due to the fact that I used the gym for 3 months or so after I joined. Even though they should have made me sign a contract (H + S) before I used the gym for the first and they should have given my an induction and that they definitely should have given me a cooling off period, even more so due to the fact I hadn't had the opportunity to look over the terms and conditions.

Hmmm - maybe I could write them a letter stating that I would have to cancel my membersip due to an injury I sustained whilst using the gym's equipment and that I was very annoyed as I felt that this would have been avoided if I was given the induction which I was promised in my contract (and also mention I didn't sign a contract on my first visit (H + S).

How does that sound.

Hi Pepinho,

I think Martin's post was directed at RubberTramp.

I see no reason for you to fib about injury, etc.

I see you say you didn't sign any contract on your first visit but did you sign any contract after that.

It appears they are implying that you signed up online - can you confirm that you definitely didn't do this on their computer when at the gym.

Hi, i have come across this before, the contract is not a finance contract/agreement and is not enforceable as such, given there comments did you take this out under distance selling, what did he mean about the web site? They are obliged by law to give an induction under H&S in the work place pending if it was distance selling, if i were you i would write a stongly worded letter, wouldnt bother calling them anymore. send it recorded delivery clearly stating as you never signed a contract it is therefore not reasonable of them in the pursuing of an amount that you are not contractually obliged to pay, and to that under H&S given you never had an induction on how to use the equipment you consider suing them for placing or leaving you in a dangerous situation, unless they of course they showed you around the gym. If you have insurance for your house/car some insurance policies normally cover for free legal advice, failing that there is always the legal section on the cag , or Cab

Hi Pepinho,

 

I think Martin's post was directed at RubberTramp.

 

I see no reason for you to fib about injury, etc.

 

I see you say you didn't sign any contract on your first visit but did you sign any contract after that.

 

It appears they are implying that you signed up online - can you confirm that you definitely didn't do this on their computer when at the gym.

 

No, I have never physically signed a contract. I rang my local LA fitness over the phone just to enquire about the price, the girl on the other end told me it was £30 (this was before the VAT increase) - and she proceeded to ask and enter my details from the other end. She stated that on my first visit I would be provided with the membership card, an induction and I would have to physically sign the contract - the latter two have never occured.

Now, a couple of questions which I am really interested to know the answers to:

1. Are gyms law abiding to provide new members with an induction? Surely they do have to provide this under health and safety laws, to show people how to use the equipment to cover themselves if people injure themselves. This is the first time I have joined a gym and used 90% of the gym equipment they have - surely they are law abiding to provide an induction. Now if so, can I ask what law specifically this breaks (as just health and safety is quite broad)

2. Do they have to provide a cooling off period by law? As I have already mentioned - I joined without being able to look over the terms and conditions, the girl on the other end entered my card details, agreed t & c (without explaining any of them to me) and then sent me the membership details by email which as I have posted above stated that there is no cooling off period. Surely this is against some law, how can they have me join without seeing the t & c - then send them to me only for me to be unable to cancel if I am unhappy with any of the t & c as there is no cooling off peiod (which I was unaware of - i assumed there would be a cooling off period). What law or part of law would the cooling off period be stated in?

3. I am interested in this web contract? Everyone seems to state the same thing, that it is not binding without me physically signing a contract. But the lady I spoke to at he citizens advice beareu said that these are similar contracts like when you sign up for a mobile phone? I am not sure if the same applys though.

I am not sure if to write to them, explaining what laws they have broken (if like I think, they have) and to explain that I am not happy with that plus a few other things. Surely the fact that if they have broker laws, it would get them thinking?

Again guys, thanks for the replys and help with this, it is much appreciated.

Hi Pepinho,

In answer to your Q's above:-

1. They should provide an induction for various reasons although I'm sure they haven't broken any laws by failing to do this.

2. If you had visited the gym and signed a contract there, you would not have had a cooling off period. However, you phoned the gym and the receptionist appears to have put you on the system, perhaps making it look like you joined on-line. So you should have had a cooling off period of at least 7 days.

3. If you had signed up to membership by going on-line yourself, this would have made a binding contract. But you didn't do this.

However, I think all this is irrelevant. You used the gym, or were able to do so if you wanted, for several months form September 2010 to April 2011. But because you didn't sign a contract at the gym, nor did you agree to m/ship on-line, there appears to be no enforceable contract.

Furthermore, even if you were in a contract, you are able to cancel if they fail to provide the facilities which were supposed to be available.

So I suggest you now write to the gyms' Head Office by Recorded Delivery saying :-

Dear sir or madam,

I will only deal with this matter in writing so please do not phone me to discuss anything.

It is clear that there is no membership contract in place for me. I called the xxxxx gym in September 2010 and the receptionist took certain details and a payment. I did not register on-line myself and was told I would have to sign a contract when I went to the gym.

On my first visit, I was not given any induction about use of the equipment or facilities. Despite being told there would be a contract for me to sign, there was none.

Although I used the gym a few times, I was still never given any contact to sign.

I contacted the gym explaining that I no longer wanted to attend because certain facilities were unavailable (jacuzzi for instance) and I was cancelling my Direct Debit.

I am not bound by any on-line agreement or signed membership contract and will not pay you anything more.

If you pursue payments or cause any Debt Collectors or solicitors to pursue payments, I will make formal reports to the FOS asking them to investigate any breach of the OFT Debt Collection Guidelines.

I am aware of the OFT's High Court action taken against Ashbourne Management Ltd and will also report you to Trading Standards and the OFT if you pursue payments.

Yours faithfully,

They usually ignore your letters and continue to seek payments, in which case you should report the gym and any debt collector to the FOS.

Let us know what happens.