Hi everyone. I could really use some help with this nightmare.

I opened a GymEtc membership about 4 months ago. Somehow during the process the membership application got duplicated and i ended up being double charged for 2 accounts.

I stopped the duplicate account direct debit, then get an aggressive letter from Harlands. I called them, explained the situation and they said they would close the duplicate account and refund the 2 payments.

4 weeks went by and I got no refund.

When I contacted them again they said it had been initially rejected by GymEtc, then processed but still didn't make it to me or my bank.

At this point I said i would collect the refund from my bank and contacted them to reverse the 2 direct debits on my duplicate account.

I was very specific and gave the references and dates.

They instead reversed 3 payments on the active direct debit then cancelled it.

After this happened I called the bank and they admitted the error and reactivated the correct direct debit.

I then called Harlands to pay the 3rd payment which should not have been refunded but they told me they could not take payment as this was not showing on the account.

They told me they would watch the account and now call me when they could take payment. They also stated they would mark the account to not be charged.

Another couple weeks go by and Harlands send aggressive correspondence. I call again to ask if i owe them and am told again that I don't own any money.

Today they send me a letter saying I owe 2 admin fees of £25 each plus a membership payment. If i don't contact their customer care then my account will be sent to debt collection.

I'm on my lunch hour, I have called them 7 times.

I waited 20 minutes at one point for them to pick up, when they did, the person cut me off just after I finished the above long explanation.

I am at my wits end and I now want them to terminate the contract with no fees. What are my options for resolving this now?

Stop panicking

Stop ring them!!

Theres nothing they can do

A DCA is not a BAILIFF

And have ZERO legal powers

Are you wishing to use the gym?

Nope, not after this. Can this not trash my credit rating if i ignore them?

Nope

Go read a few threads

Youll get the idea

I would also begin a formal complaint to the bank. I'm sure you will get a decent gesture of Goodwill from them for this error.

Are you recording all your calls? You seem to be doing a lot of this on the phone. Have you read our customer services guide

there is no point in giving up your gym membership if the only reason is that you are angry with them.

just because I make a mistake, there is no reason for them to damage your quality of life. Instead you should put a claim in to them as well for the problems they have caused and I would have thought it would be worth 2 or 3 free months membership although don't expect them to be happy about it all very co-operative but if you fancy a bit of fight then we will help you

I'm not and I haven't. I'll read the guide. I have noted the dates and times of events and I have some email correspondence with them. I did get a small gesture of goodwill of £25 at the time but their error has caused me all this mess.

I have some time to sort things this afternoon so in summary:

- Complaint to the bank

- Complaint to GymEtc

- Don't contact Harlands by phone anymore? Should i do anything with Harlands at this point?

- Should I attempt to cancel on any of the grounds in the gym cancellation articles? I could do moved jobs as I have changed jobs in the last 4 weeks.

Bank yes

Gym harlands

Unless you feel they owe you

Id leave well alone

You could cancel and then write to harlands with the usual slick132 letter offering 1 month but no fees

Ok, i'll do the bank. Tell me of this 'slick123' letter? Then I just ignore anyone they send? They cant come to the house can they?

Not sure where gou are getting the notion that anyone can just rap up at your door and demand money...

Only a court bailiff can do that after you lose a cohrt case

Which gyms dont do court

A dca is a powerless muppet

Slick132 letters are on the homepage of this forum

Hi Pam and Congrats for finally posting here on CAG 10 years after signing up

Bankfodder uses dictation software which often mistypes what is meant. I think the post above the post should read :-

just because they make a mistake, there is no reason for them to damage your quality of life. Instead you should put a claim in to them as well for the problems they have caused and I would have thought it would be worth 2 or 3 free months membership although don't expect them to be happy about it or very co-operative but if you fancy a bit of fight then we will help you

So you should write to the gym (if you want) saying you want to remain a member but need them to acknowledge the error they made causing you to be harassed by their agent, Harlands.

Tell them they need to get Harlands to stop making demands and threats about admin fees immediately.

Also tell them you want 3 months free membership to reflect their error and the threats and charges made by Harlands.

Ignore Harlands completely as BF says above and make written complaints to the bank and the gym. Post drafts here if you want them checked first.

Best advice for letters to bank and the gym is keep them short and very focused.

Oh, and about what DX says .........

There are examples of my draft letters all over this forum but they're not on the homepage or in the Stckies (yet).

Hi slick123, thanks for the response and thanks guys for your help with this. I called the bank last night who gave me £100 compensation for the issue. They opened a complaint and accepted liability as a banking error. They will be sending me a copy of the complaint in a couple days.

Regarding the gym and harlands. I do still owe the gym a payment of £23.99 which I’m totally fine with making to bring up to date but I do agree that 3 months free membership does seem like a nice idea. I’ll write the gym a letter tonight. In the mean time I’m concerned Harlands might just send the account to debt collectors anyway before they respond.

Ok, first draft below. Let me know what you think:

Dear GymEtc

Accounts relating to this issue

XXXX - Live

XXXX - Duplicate

I write to you to raise a complaint at the highest level regarding the treatment I have received from yourselves and your agent, Harlands.

I joined your Gym around may/June 2018 and after joining I became aware than an error had occurred during the sign up process and my account had been duplicated. I was then double charged for 2 months by Harlands, 2 sets of direct debit payments were taken from my account each month, one in 1st June, one in July. I cancelled the duplicate direct debit at which point I received a threatening letter from Harlands demanding I reinstate the direct debit. I contacted Harlands around mid July to request a refund and explain the issue. They accepted the fault and agreed to close the duplicate account and refund.

Five weeks went by and I did not receive a refund. I contacted Harlands again who stated the refund was rejected by GymEtc in the first instance, then agreed in the second. They then stated it was released on 27th July and I should continue to wait. I stated this was 3 weeks ago and clearly there was a problem with their refund procedure. I stated I would now take this up with my bank and get a refund through them. The agent I spoke to at Harlands was called XXXX.

I contacted my bank and asked them to refund 2 payments from the account XXXX on 1st June and 2nd July. I was very specific about the payments and dates. The agent mishandled my request and instead refunded 3 payments from account XXXX and cancelled the direct debit on my live account which i did not request.

I contacted my bank the next day and they accepted there had been a mistake. They reinstated the direct debit. I contacted Harlands and spoke to an agent who refused to give her last name but was called ‘XXX’. I explained the situation to XX and stated I wanted to pay the £23.99 blench immediately, she stated the account was not showing as in arrears so she could not take payment. She advised me she would mark the account to not receive any admin fees and watch the account until it was possible to take the payment. She said she would call me to take payment when payment could be taken. She also told me to ignore all threatening correspondence as this would not be acted upon. I was never contacted by XXX or Harlands by phone regarding this.

Another 2 weeks went by and Harlands sent me 2 threatening letters. At the second I called Harlands again to ask what was happening in my account and stated I owed £23.99, 1 months payment. The agent I spoke to told me my account was up to date and no action was needed. This was on 17th August, I did not get the name of the agent I spoke to. I was advised not to worry and there was no action to be taken and no arrears to pay.

On 19th September I received another letter from Harlands, threatening me with debt collectors if I did not pay 3 admin fees plus the £23.99 I owed. They threatened to send the whole balance of the account to debt collectors if I did not contact them and pay immediately. I attempted to call Harlands 7 times on the 19th September to rectify this. My first call i waited 10 minutes and was cut off, the next 5 calls would not connect the call to Harlands customer service. The last call I waited 20 minutes to speak to someone, when i finally got through I explained the situation and asked for their help, they asked to put me on hold, then hung up on me. I did not get the agents name.

None of the above is my fault. Harlands are now harassing and threatening me. I would like the following resolution:

GymEtc to stop Harlands harassing me and from making demands for admin fees from me immediately

The £23.99 payment I owe waved

3 Months free membership

The letter from Harlands state they will pass my account to a debt collection agency 3rd october. As such I would like this resolution in place by 28th September, 8 days and 5 working days from writing of this letter.

Regards

User's name removed

Edit: Removed a name

Far too much waffle

That will go straight in the round filing cabinet

Debt collectors are totally powerless

Why are you worrying about them?

Hi Pam,

Way too long - the Gym will be asleep before the end of it !

Shorter version :-

Dear sir or madam,

Formal Complaint

I joined your gym in approx 5 months back but your staff made an error resulting in Harlands taking 2 x DD payments from me each moth.

In trying to resolve this, Harlands have been useless and are now harassing me for admin fees I do not owe.

If you want me to remain a member, I require that you instruct Harlands to make no further demands for m/ship arrears and/or their admin fees.

I further suggest you provide me with 3 months free m/ship to compensate for the errors and harassment from Harlands.

Unless you intervene to rectify this matter, I will consider my m/ship terminated immediately although I reserve the right to seek redress against your gym and/or Harlands jointly.

Yours faithfully,

In the meantime ignore all comms from Harlands/CRS.

Thanks for the comments. Been at work all today so haven't had a chance to reply. I shall take your advice and use your letter slick as I defer to your experience in this matter. Will get it printed and posted tomorrow.

Letter in the post signed for and I’ve got the receipt

Hi Everyone.

Update on the situation.

I posted the letter on 21st.

I have the confirmation it arrived to them on the 24th (Which i have a receipt for and I've saved the page on the post office website showing it and the signature).

I've heard nothing further from them or Harlands since though I suspect I won't hear from Harlands until their deadline expires which i believe is 3rd October at which point they stated the account would be sent to debt collections.

What should my next move be if I get no response from the Gym?

ignore

as you should have done from day one.

Hi Pam,

Just to remind you, Harlands "pass" cases on to CRS but Harlands/CRS are one and the same. There's no separate debt collection company at all.

Wait for the gym to reply and let us know if/when they do.

Ignore all comms from Harlands/CRS for now but keep us posted.

Hey Slick

Today I got the letter from CRS demanding £490.09.

I see what you mean about them being one in the same.

Even the letter looks the same.

I've received no response from the gym at all.

They do have an old address for me on file but I gave my new one on the complaint letter.

I have the proof they received it.

Should I just continue to ignore and do nothing?

The Gym don't seem bothered about this.

I'm not bothered about going back, I've had enough of them and Harlands.

Pam

Edit:

I just noticed they have my most recent address on file which was listed as a different one for the account so somebody has made an update to my details.