Hi all. My gym is trying to chase me for money I don't owe. I have received a court letter today. I want to contest it as I am not in the wrong, my gym is. However, the letter says 'additional costs and interest may be added to the amount claimed if judgement is entered against you.' I know I'm in the right, but just in case the powers that be don't side with me, any idea how much my bill could go up to? Thanks.

hello guys First of all i would like to apologize if my english is not enough good to try to explain my situation but everybody knows we are in England to try to learn William Shakspeares language loool Well 6 months ago I signed a contract with DW gym but they had a problem with my bank account so I couldnt go inside and they didnt take my money out, now i would like to know what is gonna happen: Can they ask me for this 6 months contract? If i not cancel are they gonna increase the debt? What do u recommend me? They still didnt put in contact with me thank u very much for ur help and advices if u need any extra information please do not hesitate to tell me thanks

Hello, I am a first year university student and I recently cancelled the direct debit for my 12 month contract at the lifestyle fitness gym in Stoke 3/4 months into the contract because I was told at the gym that if I did this I would only have to pay a £25 fee for cancelling the membership and then my membership would be over. However, after cancelling this direct debit I received a letter saying I had to pay this £25 but when I rang up the number it gave to arrange this I was placed in a queue/hold for a significant amount of time which wasted my money and never went through to anyone. I then rang my the local gym I was going to who said they could not do anything about this and I would have to ring the number given. The number I have been given is for Harlands Group. I have rang many times now and every time I ring the number "places me in a queue". I find it hard to believe that there is somebody at the office on their phone all the time in Harlands and the call also always rings a few times first before it puts me on hold. I then recieved another letter in the post saying I now owe them just over £40 because I did not pay the first £25. Now when I rang the local gym they told me this fee will be a penalty for cancelling my direct debit and I will on top of this have to pay for my 12 month contract which is 16.99 a month. I told the local gym that I cannot get through to Harlands but they refused to help, they were very unpleasant to talk to and were not empathetic to my situation in any way, and they said I would have to keep trying the Harlands number. I have also now sent an email to Harlands about my situation but after 4 days they have not replied, but within minutes of sending my email I received a confirmation email. I am worried that my "penalties" for "breaching the contract" will keep increasing and I cannot pay these or reinstate my original direct debit as the only number that will enable to do this is forever on hold meaning I will just keep losing money as it is 10p per minute. I don't know whether I will still have to pay for the rest of my contract when the reason I stopped it in the first place was because I was told I'd only have to pay a £25 cancellation fee. This seems completely unfair and I feel like I can't get out of this issue and it will only get worse. Please give me some advice on what to do and what I should have to pay. Any help will be really appreciated. -Jak

I joined Fit4Less gym in Jan 2012. I signed up for the 'no contract' membership - although this was intended to mean 'not a 12 month contract'. They still wanted a contract signed - I scanned through the contract to find it still included a 12 month minimum period - perhaps they only have one form of contract. I deleted this section (put a line through it) before signing. The contract then, in effect, said I was able to give one month's notice at any time (once an initial 3 month period ended). All fine so far - although somewhat sneaky not to have a different version of the contract for those taking a monthly deal... In October I decided to move to a different club. On my way out of the club at the beginning of the month I told the guy at reception I would be leaving and to take this as my 1 month notice. He reminded me that it had to be in writing. Somewhat irritated by the stupidity of this, I asked for his pen and scrap of paper and I wrote something to the effect of 'I am leaving the gym. This is your 1 month written notice'. I also wrote my name. This, i should think, still constitutes written notice. Again, so far so good, I thought. In January I got a call from a woman at the club saying that I had cancelled my direct debit in October. I confirmed that this is the case. She explained that i couldn't just cancel because I had signed the contract. I explained the story above. She told me they had no record of notice. I explained the story again. She asked me who the person on reception was - quite honestly, I didn't really notice and certainly don't remember -they have a number of different people who work reception. She continued to say she doesn't have notice from me and I need to pay £120 or so - 3 months worth of gym fees. I refused, explaining that i had adhered to the contract. She told me she would be referring me to a debt collector. A month later, ARC Europe debt collectors started calling. I explained the story to them. Initially they said I owed the money because I had a 12 month contract and I couldn't give notice. I explained this is not the case and asked them to send me a copy of the contract. Sure enough, when I received it it showed the section stating 12 month's notice with a line through it as described above. I called them back to explain that he had just proved my point. He told me he didn't have the contract and hadn't read it but assured me his client only do 12 month contracts. I told him to either get the contract and read it or go back to his client. He called me back a few days later and told me that after speaking to his client, they agreed I was on a monthly notice contract. So now he explained that I hadn't given notice. I explained the story about the guy on reception and the note. He said his client doesn't have that notice so I have to pay. I refused. I then asked him to explain, as a matter of interest, why the club were now claiming almost £150.. . he explained 3 months membership and £30 debt collection. I asked him why he thought I owed 3 months - even if they hadn't got a record of my notice - surely the most they could ask for on a one month contract was one month. He conceded that he didn't understand that - but would speak to his client again. He told me again he hadn't actually read the contract. Today, he called back - generally more of the same back and forward. He explained I owed £150 because of the time between my last direct debit in October and the date when I went into the club on 2nd January. I explained i hadn't been in the club since October - and suggested that perhaps he meant 2nd January is when the club called me. He assured me that his client had told him I'd visited the club. I reconfirmed the whole story and reiterated my refusal to pay and he told me he would speak to Fit4Less again and come back to me... My question is, can anyone tell me what my rights are here? I run a buy to let property business and really cannot afford, under any circumstances, to get a default marked on my credit score. That said, I really do not want to succumb to what appears to me to be, effectively blackmail. I've already spent a lot of time chatting on phones and writing this message - and I'm going to cut and paste a few bad reviews about them - but what can I actually do about this? To be quite honest, I can afford the £150 and i'm tempted to pay to make it go away - but on the otherhand, I feel this is entirely wrong and unfair and surely any form of blackmail in this country is illegal? Isn't the burden of proof on the accuser? How can I be expected to prove that I wrote two sentences on a piece of paper in October!?

Hi folks, need a bit of advice here if that's ok. I joined a gym over the internet about 4 weeks ago - I was informed that if I signed up online then I could have the rest of the month for free so I have had no payments to make until the 1st of February. Long story short I've had some very disastrous things happen to my bank account (bad planning, I'll be honest) and I told the gym that I needed to cancel my membership. I signed up online and have physically signed nothing. I cancelled the direct debit on the 28th (just after payday) after informing them that I wish to cancel. I received a letter on the 5th from a debt collection agency saying I owed a months membership (£25) and an admin fee of £10. Apparently if I don't pay it before the 12th they will add another £10 to my bill. What are my rights here? I have not been to the gym since I contacted them in order to cancel and as far as I'm concerned, I haven't actually been an official member because it was word of mouth that said I could go in January for free. Just for info, here is the gym website. their terms and conditions can be found in the 'join us' section: w w w . urbfitgroup . co . uk looking forward to some help on this one. thanks everyone, Dave

Hi my self neel, unfortunately i had accidental injury during holiday to my wrist .i provided them medical certificate i requested to gym to cancel my membership but they reply as follows:- "Unfortunately, we have spoken to the centre manager and cannot accept this as termination of your contract. The medical note states only a short term period of 21days for you not to use your wrist. As you are signed on an 18month contract this far outweighs the time length given on your doctor’s note for you to get better.If you are worried about re-injury, I suggest you speak with your doctor and allow him to advise you on exercises you may be able to do to strengthen your wrist. We can also offer you a personal session with our gym manager who will assess your situation and advise you on suitable exercises." I dont want to take risk of injuring my wrist again. but still they took money out of my bank account . now i have cancelled direct debit they handed over to debt collection group . i signed contract with lesiure group for 18 month membership . contract form only had annual or 2 years membership But sales person handwritten on form as 18 month contract . there is no term and condition for 18 month membership on that form ....can i fight for this

Hi, I've been a member for about 3 years, would like to cancel my gym membership although I have to give 3 months notice? That seems a bit steep! I do remember seeing this when signing my contact, although I didn't think much of it at the time. I would have been willing to pay 30 days notice but 3 months just seems very unfair. Do I have any rights not paying the full 3 months, or shall just pay up? Many thanks,

I cancelled my gym membership after a couple of months as I was made redundant am not working in the area (nor do I live nearby.) I gave a letter in at the desk and after about 7 weeks I cancelled my direct debit. They now want £70 as they say they need 2 months notice, and they say they have no record of this letter. (the staff are useless-the letters I have sent since then I have sent recorded and they still don't reply, they deny receiving them and they don't return calls.) I have enquired at other gyms and they seem to have a customer protection clause in their contracts that say if you lose your job, the contract can be cancelled. My old gym don't seem to have such a clause. I don't see why I should have to pay £70 because they lost my letter. They're threatening legal action, can they really do this?

We have known for a long time of the problems with Gym membership and helped a lot of Gym members to successfully cancel the unfair contract. Now, at last, the OFT are 'saying' they are going to do something about it. " Gyms will be forced to drop unfair conditions in their membership contracts. For those yet to act on a new year's resolution to join a gym, the best advice may be to sit tight for a few more weeks. Lengthy contracts with conditions that make it almost impossible to bail out early could be a thing of the past after a crackdown by the Office of Fair Trading." More ...

Hi im new on here so not sure if this is the correct place. I am a member of bannatynes gym in Darlington i joined in October at the time i was working for the Bannatyne hotel within the town so i received discount on my membership, however since then i have moved to Newcastle i received a job offer in Newcastle so i have had to move out of the town therefore i am unable to attend the gym and i simply cant afford the membership. The problem is when i enquired about terminating my contract they have simply told me no and that as i am no longer an employee they will be increasing my monthly fee. This is a company i worked for, for 4 years. I really need to cancel this membership. Any information on how to cancel please let me know thanks, Jay

Dear consumer action group, I have been defending a debt alleged by David Lloyd and being enforced by ARC since June 2012 now, I have run out of options and am looking for any advice you can give. The circumstances of this are that in March 2011 myself and partner took out a membership, this was a 14 month membership 2 months free and 12 months paid in advance, a sum of around £1400. Towards we the end of the membership a letter was sent confirming we no longer wished the membership to continue, then the problems started. The gym allege that they received the letter on the 4th April, had it arrived by the 1st there would have been no problem but as the notice was 3 days late they now state that the cancellation notice applies from the 01st May and invokes a 3 month cancellation period and £350 is now owed. We did not pay this and disputed it stating various arguments and after discovering the OFT guidance on fair notice periods and gym contracts over 12 months being unenforceable. We refused to pay and asked them to take us to court if they felt they could prove a breach of contract. After 3 months of back and forth emails and letters, ARC were recruited to chase this "debt" they were also told to stop wasting their time demanding payments and take us to court if they felt they had a case. This again appears to have fallen on deaf ears. The last email to them stated that consent was withdrawn for ARC to phone or text us and again advised them of the disputed debt and encouraged them to take us to court. Their reply was we will not contact you for 14 days but ill after that if a payment is not made. They clearly will not take us to court over this as they have been told throughout this is the only way they will ever see a penny from us, so how can this matter ever be resolved? Is it best just to ignore them having fully stated our stance? many thanks for any help you can give

Hi, I went to a gym and enquired for the membership categories on 29-Oct-2012. The advisor suggested me to fill the membership form for 4 months contract and sign it as part of the process, for which I had signed the form. I told the membership advisor that I will decide and submit the bank details while joining the gym. But due to health constraints, Iam unable to join the gym and never visited the gym after 29-Oct-2012. Today I had received the letter by post stating that "Account Overdue Final Reminder" and to pay the current arrears. This is the first letter I had received from the gym and the letter says final reminder. Could someone please tell me how I go about sorting this or will I have to make payments to get them to stop hassling me? and if I do is that admitting that I owe the money even though I havent joined the gym. Note that I havent submitted my bank details. Best Regards, DA

Hi I need some advice. I signed up and it said payment will be taken in 20 days or so. I went to their gym once for 20 minutes, was really dissapointed at the equipment and decided to cancel after about 4-5 days. I cancelled through the site and it says to cancel direct debit. So I cancelled that in the bank web interface but the gym group is still logged in as if the membership wasn't cancelled. I even re logged and its still the same. My question is, did I do everything alright or will they still try and demand money from me? I mean I haven't paid anything yet at all and cancelled within 7 days. I just dont want them in 10 days to suddenly say 'Hey where is the direct debit you need to pay 35 quid.' Thanks

Hi Yet another one that believes they have been mis sold gym membership. I need some help in wording a letter if anyone could help id be really grateful. Basically - i signed up for a small local gym October 2011, and asked that if my job moved me ( which it sometimes does) if I could cancel. I was assured yes I could ( verbally )- so I joned the gym. I left that day with just a welcome letter - no terms andconditions of membership, no copy of financial agreements, no copies of anything I had signed for, but basically a piece of paper telling me gym opening times! I only ever then receieved a Letter from easypay - telling me the DD had been set up. In March after only ever attending the gym once, as my work had moved me away, I decided to cancel. I hand delivered a letter to the gym and sent one to the Easypay company explaining that as I had been informed I could cancel due to work commitments I was doing so. I received a letter confirming the DD had been cancelled and thought no more about it. Roughly about May time i received a phone call from a company called Lyle Hill saying i had not paid my gym membership and it was in arrears and needed to be paid. I explained i had cancelled and was told OK we will look into that. Around July time, I was contacted again and yet again explained the situation and even emailed copies of my letters to them. The next letter i have received was from a debt collector asking for full payment of outstanding fees. I called straight away and was advised i had signed a financial agreement with Lyle Hill and I was liable - and she would send me a copy. I received this copy with another demand for payment and then contacted CAB. They have advised I ask for orignal T&C's from the gym. I contacted the debt collectors again to advise to hold this account as it is under dispute but they refused saying I have signed an agreement and monies are due. I have never and would never have taken out this membership 1, knowing that I could not cancel and 2, if i knew ( which has been explained by debt agency) that in effect I was agreeing to a loan of monies for the membership! they also said that yes i could cancel my membership as that has nothing to do with the financial agreement. I never even recieved a memebership number from the gym! I do believe I have been mis-sold as said - im just struggling to word the correct letter and to whom. Would be grateful of any further advice Thanks Shoes

Hi I'm new here, so please forgive me if I'm doing something wrong. I have a gym membership contract that is collected by Asbourne every month. The contract was for 36 months from May 2010 and I wish to cancel it. I have seen something about the OFT, but I don't know how I would cancel it. I have been paying now since May 2010, so in excess of the 12 months. Could someone please explain how I cancel this, can I just cancel the Direct Debit, or would that result in nasty letters and debt collectors. Unfortunately I cannot find the actual contract, but I do have the initial welcoming letters from both the gym and Ashbourne. Many thanks Arran

Hi, Please help! I cancelled my gym membership in September 2011. This was in the first 6 months so had to pay DD until the 6 months was up. Believe it or not I only just noticed that they have continued to take the DD so now £308 out of pocket. I didn't cancel in writing - was not advised to do so - and was only given a 'tear-off' receipt as proof of cancellation. Obviously I no longer have the receipt. I have spoken to my gym about it, they cannot find any evidence that I cancelled my membership and therefore I will not get any refund - it is up to me to prove that I cancelled. They acknowledge that I have not used the gym since September 2011 but this is not evidence in itself. I went to my bank about it and they put in an indemnity claim and paid me back the money. DW have now contacted me to say I need to pay it back or they will refer it to ARC for collection. Yes, I should have paid more atttention to my bank account but what can I do now? I'm waiting on a call from DW Area manager about it. For me this is down to staff incompetence and failure to have a proper process. I wasn't advised to put it in writing either. They have never contacted me either to see if there's a reason why I haven't been in the gym for over a year! Any advise greatfully received. Thanks Matt

Hello, I was wondering is any of you can help me. I had a 12 month membership with a gym. I completed the 12 months and after a further 6 months decided to cancel my gym membership. I cancelled my direct debit and rang the gym to inform them, they said I needed to put my cancellation into an email which I did and stated my membership was 'cancelled, effective immediately'. The gym replied saying 'they did not want to lose my membership, and why was I deciding to leave?', to which I did not respond. Today I receive a phone call informing me that my account is in arrears and that I owed the gym for one months membership as I did not give the gym one months notice.I explained that my 12 month contract was over and I now live over 50 miles from the gym. They said the contract was a 12 month rolling contract. I was not told it would automatically continue after the 12 months, but I did not mind as I was using it anyway. If I do not pay they will forward my details to a debt collector. Where do I stand with this? Am I liable for the one months charge? Any help greatly appreciated!! RVP

Hi, I think I already know the answer/solution to this but I'll go ahead anyway... I moved to a new area in October last year and joined the local Nuffield gym in January, signed up for 12 months and started using the facilities. Around April/May when the temperature began to increase it dawned on me that the air conditioning was absolutely useless and the sun would shine in through a wall of windows turning the gym into a green house. The air con system is not what you would find in an office but more the type you would see in a sports hall or swimming pool, more of a ventilation system than air conditioning. Either way it doesn't work and was far to hot to train in there. I spoke to reception who informed me one months notice was required to cancel. I fired them an e-mail notifiying them I wished to cancel and would like them to waive the one month notice as I did not deem it fair that I would have to pay for facilities I cannot use. I mentioned If they could reply before the next debit is taken I could cancel the debit directly with my bank. I heard nothing back so cancelled my debit at my bank. I since received a letter stating they could cancel my membership from when my contract period ends in January 2013 and that their engineers had been notified and were fixing the problem. A problem that was an inherent inadequacy of the system in place so much so that instructors their confirmed it was pants. So I replied by e-mail expressing that this would never been remedied and I would never be satisfied and if he (the gym manager) could use his managerial discretion to make an exception and terminate my membership with immediate effect I would be grateful. I received no reply so presumed everything was hunky dorey. But since received one or two letters requesting payment for £53 (one months charge) and that if it was not received it would be passed to their solicitors. I received a letter from their solicitors this week for the balance of £106 (two months charge) and 7 days to make payment or further legal action etc. My lodger happened to have done this with them also and said they eventually stopped chasing. So do I respond by recorder letter reitterating I am repudiating the contract and keep hassling the manager to make an exception? Ignore the letters? or settle up the remaining 6 months £318? There is the option of freezing the membership but this required one months notice and would effectively just extend the termination date of my contract. I would really like not to pay them (out of principle) but am aware I signed a contract but can't use their facilities as it is simply too hot and actually dangerous for me to train in those temperatures. Thanks in advance, Ben

Hello Like many others I am having trouble cancelling my Membership with Harlands. In February 2012 they were running a campaign via my local gym. I went along and was told to join quickly as there were only 100 memberships up for sale and they were going very quickly. Stupidly I didn't take the cancellation rules before signing. Shortly after this my situation changed through no fault of my own. My relationship had broken up and I was asked to leave the house we both shared. I when to stay with my Mum (who lives in Spain) for sometime. I wrote to Harlands explaining the situation and that I would be cancelling my membership. They wrote back to say I needed proof of my address, ie utility bill, bank statement. I replied saying that because my move was temporary, I had not changed my address and my post was being redirected. In June I came back and I am currently living with friends until I find a permanent home. I have moved 13 miles out of the area - cancellation states 15 miles. I wrote to them again stating that I would not be visiting the gym again, given my situation - finances are very tight, and rising petrol costs it was not viable for me to go there. Also the area brings back painfully memories. I also stateed in my email about OFT case against Ashbourne amongest other things. They replied stating that given I don't live 15 miles out of the area they will not cancell my membership and that my membership is in arrears of £98.00 or I can pay £461.00 to pay off the membership. They are not listening and only interested in getting their money regardless of the situation. I have emailed BBC Watchdog with my story. Like many of us I'm not happy, yes I take responsibility that this was my own fault for not taking in the cancellation rules etc., but I don't feel I have a choice other than pay up and draw a line under this situaiton. Many thanks.

hi. about a year ago i developed a ulcer on my big toe on my left foot.with being diabetic. around september i joined a gym by harlands in bideford devon.just after siging the contract my ulcer got much worse and i ended up with another ulcer on top of my left foot. reason i thought id join was because i thought light excercise may help with circulation.so when all this happened i was unable to go to the gym,as i couldnt walk properly and couldnt work or wear a normal shoe. i never attened the gym at all or had my induction,even though i paid the fee when joining "£47" had letters from harlands about paying them for time i had been a member.come the following january 2012 i ended up having my big toe amputated.which madfe life quite crap really,trying to get about etc. harlands passed their annual fee of £525 to CRS. they sent me a form which i had to have signed by my doctor verifing what had happened to me. they still want me pay the £525 as they said the ulcer started in july and i signed contract in september. i refused to pay them,and i told them to take me to court,which all his reply was "i hear your words" also i have moved from the area where the gym is in bideford and im now in southampton. im just wondering what will happen ? will they take me to court ? and will i ahve much of a chance of winning ? because of my illness,operation etc ? any advice or help would be nice thanks

In March 2012, i joined Harpers Gym, and, whilst agreeing to the terms and conditions of my membership, was informed that i was able to be a member on a rolling monthly contract. As a result, today, i contact the gym and informed them that i wanted to cancel it. However, they informed me that i was tied to a 12 month contract which is clearly in contradiction to what i was initially sold and agreed to. The sales manager who sold me the contract told me, at the time of joining, that even though the paperwork says it is for 12 months, this was not the case and that it was in fact membership which is on going from month to month and could cancel at any-time (with 28 days notice). If i thought that i was signing a 12 month contact i would not have agreed to anything and not signed anything. The sales manager who sold me the membership is now on maternity leave and there is no way of the gym to contact her, this s what they have told me. I have spoken to head office who have said that this is a matter which is to be dealt with locally, at the actual gym, yet they gym are saying it is a matter for head office.. Like a i say, if i thought it was for 12 months i would not have agreed to anything and would have gone to a difference gym. In relation to the above, are you able to assist with advising me on my rights and where i stand with this?. At the moment i am considering cancelling my direct debt but fear this may cause me more problems . Can you advise me accordingly please..? Many thanks

Hi can anyone offer me advice on whether to make a claim against my gym? I fell there last week and am being treated for a broken bone in the base of my thumb and have extensive bruising on my back as I fell onto a machine. I was in a class situation and tripped when trying to get around a machine in order to get more space. The instructor took a quick look at my hand and sat me down while she carried on with the class. I was in a great deal of pain, but I got no medical attention. Apart from giving my name and address I played no part in filling in the accident book and was told (by her teenage daughter) the instructor would fill it in with my injuries later (although she could not have known my injuries). Despite the other gym members' showing concern (unfortunately I don't know them), the instructor seemed determined to stay well way away from me - at which point I left. Does anyone know whether there is any legal requirement for them to help me if I fall? And has anyone claimed for this kind of thing?

Hey there everyone. I took out a gym contract with la fitness for 3 months and then i could cancel at anytime after that. Well that's what i was told by the salesman at la fitness. I signed up at a computer inside la fitness at their website. I also used a pen and signed the touch sentitive screen. I didnt read the terms and conditions because the salesmen just kept blabbering on about how great the deal was. When i wanted to cancel they said i must pay £500 which is more than the whole contract is worth in the first place. I refused and told them that i am on a 3 month rolling contract. There is even a big banner out the front saying about it. Anyway i now have arc europe chasing me for about £500 pound. My girlfriend has made a £20 payment to these people because she doesn't want them trashing my credit report. I have checked my credit report experian and call credit and nothing is listed. Can i send a cca request to them even though it isn't a credit agreement? Its a contract never the less. And even if i did sign a 12 month contract does this mean that the sales man mis sold it to me? I am just dreading this landing on my credit file and ruining it. Thanks for any help

I always attend my gym on an afternoon due to my shift pattern I can't go any other time. Last week I went and they told me sorry but we now close for a hour for lunch! There is no other possible time that I can go and I'm tied into another 3 months of my 12 month contract so I will be paying but not attending! Is there anyway I can cancel it? They have told me no

I would like advice on a problem i have cancelling a minimum 4 month membership contract with curves gym. When i rang mca they state that i have to give 30 days written notice after my membership of 4 months expires. I joined on 12th march 2012 paid £34 up front and gave my notice on 11 june 2012 as a payment was due. Mca are saying they need another payment in july and that would be my last payment. Now i feel they have had 5 payments out of me if i pay july's fee and yet i joined for 4 months. Do not understand there terms and conditions.. please help. Thank you.