HI can anyone tell me how i go about cancelling bannatynes membership. who do i email or write to, i was given an email address which is for my gym, or they said i could either write a letter and bring it to them, i thought maybe i had to write to head office or email head office. Dont really trust those workers at the gym might not do what they say they will. Or am i doomed and have to go through the gym im joined too. Im aware of the 9 month thing and will have to still pay for another 3 months and by reading some posts. I actually wanna get the letter in before the end of the 9 month cause i read a post where he was told he didnt give them a full 30 days notice, some weird thing like that.

Ok, this isnt too complicated but i wanted some advice first. When i joined my gym, it was Fitness first and i joined online opting for the 'Month by month' option. Essentially, you arent tied into a contract and you just pay the fee each month recurring. Recently though it was taken over by Lifestyle Fitness. Maybe i was a bit naive about this but i assumed my membership would stay the same and the gym staff said as much (i have nothing in writing). i rang today to cancel my membership as i have a new job and wont be able to make it often enough to warrant the cost, and the guy says im in a contract so they "might be funny about you doing that" and i would need to write to them or contact Harlands Group. Ive been with a similar Gym when i was at uni who got really vicious about me cancelling, so i cancelled the direct debit and moved back home, never heard from them again. Now im in a more permanent residence and dont want to cancel the direct debit in case their Debt Collectors arent all bark and no bite. So essentially: I want to cancel a contract with a company i never signed a contract with. quick edit: I have NO documentation or physical contract with either company.

Dear all, I have recently been informed that my 17 year old Son had a one month trial membership at LA Fitness. He went with a friend in January 2013 and was informed that he could have a months taster but had to pay up front which he did. I have now been informed by my rather worried son that he has received a letter from ARC Europe for £539:00 which includes a £40 administration fee to be paid within 10 days or it may be passed to there solicitors. I have called ARC today but the response was non helpful. My son turned 18 in April 2013 Please advise Dad67 (worried dad)

Hiya Guys, Can anyone help with a question regarding private club membership ?? Here's the deal... in feb 2013, I made an appplication to join as a probationary member of a target shooting club. At the time of applying , I was informed that I was to be a " probationary member " and that full membership would not be offered until I had been a probationer for at least three months and I had also completed a minimum of 12 supervised visits. After that I could apply for full membership. The club official at the time of signing me up as a probationary member took £104.00 in cash and outlined the above " membership " requirements. Since that time I managed to attend on 2 ocassions and have not been able to fulfill either joining criteria. The club agm was held recently and I asked for a refund of my membership fee as I had not attended suffiecient times to qualify for as a member and could not envisage me being able to join on a full time basis due to outside work, family, and other commitments. I sent an email to the club secretary at the time of the club agm and have received a reply that says - tough - we are not prepared to refund any fee as I was a member and my membership is in place.... errmm I am not a member, I am still classed by club rules as a " probationer member ".... So for over 100 quid and 1 recorded visit I get fobbed off for a refund due to " club rules " .... Any Ideas guys... ?????

Hello I'm looking into cancelling my membership for three reasons: - I can no longer fork out £60. - There is ALWAYS something faulty, out of order, or just poorly maintained - They have moved the work out areas around and it now looks like it's aimed at young men who enjoy using the weight room! I'd never joined a gym before, with the Chafford Hundred Bannatyne being the first time. I really wish I hadn't as it's one thing after the other causing the regret! First of all, I was made redundant a month after I joined, and my new salary is less than I was previously paid so after having to make a few cut backs, hoping this is going to be one of them. £60 is quite steep, and I may look into contract free gyms that cost a third the price of Bannatyne. Then after being there since December, I realise why people moan so much about the inside of the gym. Don't get me wrong their cardio equipment is great, and there's a lot of it. But the so called luxury spa facilities, well that's a joke. And I won't go into detail with the disgusting state of the changing rooms, but maybe they need to hire more cleaners. I expect showers to get cleaned daily, not see what looks like black mould everywhere, untreated and leaving black stuff against walls. Something always breaks, or the water temperatures change every time you shower, the steam room is out of use... And just recently, they have had a move around (definitely not a refurbishment) which means their Gym 3 which was lower lighting area and a bit more chilled out is now full of young blokes wearing tight vests tag teaming all the equipment. When I was originally given the tour, Gym 1 was basically all the weight area, and cardio machines. It had loud music and bright lights and what looked like contestants of the World's Strongest Man. This was not where I wanted to work out. Gym 2 was basically just around the corner, power plates and the slightly older cardio equipment (no TVs on them) but Gym 3 was the reason I joined. You went through a set of double doors, and aside from the Chart show channel playing on TV and someone occasionally using the boxing bag, it was nice. Calmer. But more peaceful. I actually dread going now. I don't like exercising in this brightly lit area. I realise it sounds stupid, but I don't feel comfortable. I have a contract until December 28th. Is there anything I can do? Advice appreciated!!

I am having enourmous problems cancelling our gym membership and have had a major falling out with Harlands. The basic premise is that a DD payment was taken on the 8th February and we also gave 3 months notice (or as Harlands put it 3 further DD payments) on the same day - 8th February. I consider the 3 months notice would take us to the 8th May therefore the last 3 payments would be 8th Feb, 8 Mar and 8 Apr. I therefore cancelled our DD on 28 April. Harlands disagree and say notice being given on the same day as a payment means that the 8 February payment was taken before notice was given. Harlands therefore maintain that the 3 final payments are actually 8 Mar, 8 Apr and 8 May meaning our gym membership expires 8 June. Neither of us are budging and we've received the first debt collection letter with £25 additional fee. I am now expecting another letter (and admin fee) following a recent conversation. They are rude and obnoxious and i have no wish to make any further payment if that can be avoided. I have not put much in writing as yet. I did however reply to their original email saying that the final payments were 8 Mar, 8 Apr and 8 May. My reply said that i disputed this and (as stated above) I consider the 3 final payments to be 8 Feb, 8 Mar and 8 Apr. Harlands did not respond to this. I would appreciate any advice people have. I am now at the stage where i wish to put something in writing but would appreciate any guidance about what that should be. I'm also interested in whether members consider that my viewpoint or Harlands is legally correct (ie is notice valid on the same day as a payment is taken). Many thanks in anticipation of your help, unhappy_in_leeds

Hi i am looking for some advice regarding cancelling my gym membership early, i joined a low cost gym in march and signed up for 12 months and what to get out of my contract. There are a lot of meat heads who go to the gym and all the machines are always busy but tonight was the second time in few weeks that i have been told to f**king hurry up and stop taking too long on a machine by one such meat head. To be honest i'm not a big person and only go to keep healthy so feel annoyed and upset and scared about being spoken to like this, there are only ever 1 or 2 members of staff in and i don't really want to approach them and would just rather cancel and find a nicer gym. What should i do?

I signed up for a 36 month contract with a local gym, not a chain, but Underground Fitness in Sheffield, in 2012. I broke my arm soon after and found that I couldn't attend. The relationship I had with the gym wasn't great to start with. The girl who was attributed to me as my personal trainer wasn't brilliant and I found that I didn't use the gym as a result of this. I have now been with them since June 1st 2012 and wanted to cancel in June of this year. I appreciate that I have an obligation for 12 months of the contract at least, but thought the High Court Ruling last year meant that the remaining two years would be unenforceable as the contract length was equivalent to an unreasonable contract clause. I contacted Harlands by email saying I wished to cancel as the service at the gym wasn't tailored as promised and they had under-delivered. I received a reply saying I had to pay to the end of the 3 year contract. I rang up and spoke to someone there and said that the recent High court ruling found that any contract over 12 months was unreasonable and therefore unenforceable. They said that this only applied to Ashbourne contracts. They said they were not bound by this ruling as they provided fair exit from the policies, ie if I moved, if I was injured or if I paid a fee. The fee came through today and is £273, the difference between the discounted gym membership I had for the year and the price of a full priced 12 month membership. I can't afford to pay this amount now and am struggling to pay the monthly sum of £18.00 a month. Having googled the issue, I found your website and borrowed some text from your standard letters. It was the message that cited the court case, so I sent this by email to Harlands. They've since sent me back a holding reply. Originally I'd seen this information on the Citizens Advice Bureau webpage and I spoke to someone there who said that as I'd signed a 3 year contract I'd have to carry on paying. I asked them about the high court ruling and they said they didn't know about it. I'm confused now. Is there any way at all of getting out of this contract without having to pay £273? Or am I stuck with it for the next 2 years? Hope someone can help!!

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 hope someone can help me. I am querying my membership T&C's (see attached for Alveston Hall Crewe/Warner Liesure). Although it says that I am agreeing to be a member for 12 months (clause a) there is also a clause ( d ) stating that you can give two months notice to terminate. I have been a member now for 6 months and I am considering giving my notice due to a change in personal circumstances. To me It is unclear if you are tied in for a year or it is possible to leave. I would be grateful of your advice. Thanks

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 there I'd be really grateful for some advice about my gym membership. I see there are lots of other posts on here about being mis-sold memberships, but can't find anything exactly like mine - although I'm sure they are there! I signed up with Nuffield in May 2012 for a 12 month contract. I was concerned I might not use the membership as much as I hoped as I am a stay at home Mum with a young daughter (now 18 months), and I wasn't sure whether I would have the energy to attend (she's exhausting), whether she would be happy at the creche, how often I would be able to fit a visit to the gym in with her routine, etc. Because of all these unknowns, I specifically asked the man who sold it to me whether I'd be able to cancel if it didn't work out. He said yes, I could cancel any time. I mentioned I'd be going to New Zealand for over a month during the year, and he said I could freeze the membership during that time. Great! I signed up. I didn't read the small-print as I assumed he was not lying. I contacted Nuffield before going to NZ to freeze my membership, and was at first told they couldn't. They eventually allowed it because the original sales person had said I could. Well, the membership has not worked out well with my daughter's routine. The creche is only open in the mornings, and she always has a morning nap. She finds it very difficult to sleep anywhere but at home and it is plain mean to take her to the creche during her nap-time - to her and the creche workers! The creche is open until 3 a couple of days a week but it's just too difficult to get there in time after lunch when it closes at 3. If it closed at 5 it would be much easier. So I blithely went in to cancel, expecting to be able to do it with maybe a couple of months notice. I had lost my contract so could not read up on it. I was told a flat no. I was flabbergasted, as must have been clear in my face, and explained it was not what I had understood when I signed up. The receptionist said this was the only type of contract they had, and you couldn't get out of it. She offered to get a manager, but I'd been taking by surprise and didn't feel like having that conversation right then. I returned a couple of weeks later to push it further, but was told all they could do was freeze my account, which is absolutely no help as I don't want the membership ever now esp. as I feel I've been done over. The receptionist spoke to the manager on the phone but I did not speak to anyone higher level in person. She said there was nothing to be done, I would have to pay. The receptionist asked if I wanted to cancel from May (the end of the 12 months) to ensure no more money went out after that, and I said I may as well. She gave me the managers email address. My husband and I are struggling financially on one income. I do work a few hours at the weekends to make ends meet, and almost every penny of that goes on a gym membership I'm not using. Our finances are very tight and we simply can't afford Nuffield any more. Please tell me there is a way out! I am quite convinced I've been mis-sold a membership. I feel the sales person said yes to everything I asked just to get me to sign up. I'd like to write a strongly worded email to the manager, but I'm not really sure what I should say in it, whether I have a leg to stand on, or whether I should keep paying the gym. Payments go out at the start of every month, so the next one is due in a few weeks. Sorry for rambling post. I'd appreciate links to any other threads on the same problem, or advice on what my next move should be. Many thanks!

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

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 , I am a new member and am really stressed out after a phone call from Regal Credit.. In June 2011 I joined my local Total Fitness (Wakefield) , I had been a member a few years before until I had ovarian cancer and had to have a Hysterectomy.. My son and I decided to return and rejoin and I was hastily taken to the membership suite to sign up.. The membership advisor filled out the forms and advised that it was too busy to look round and as I had been a member previously no tour would be needed.. I signed on the dotted line after being told I wouldnt have to pay a joining fee, and she would let my son train for £10 a month Looking back this was my first error.. She then said that they had no members of staff available for both of us so she would book my son in and I would be fine on my own.. Second error.. I had just had a hysterectomy and was offered no fitness test.. When we got into the gym I was horrified that the standards had gone downhill so much , It was unclean, showers were cold and dirty and the hydro pool unclean.. Equipment was not working, dirty or broken.. I went a second time to make sure that I hadnt just been on a bad day but it was the same again.. I told one of the membership staff that I wanted to cancel my membership and she said that I would have to put an official complaint into the Head office and cancel through them.. I wrote to them via email in July 2011, which I have a copy explaining that the standards were not as required in a fitness centre of that calibre and of that price and I got a standard email reply to say someone would contact me within 7-10 days. I put on the email that I wanted to be contacted via email only as I tend to work better when I can see whats in front of me and thought that if I moved house ( which I did) I could continue to get correspondence. I heard nothing from them and so cancelled my DD and thought nothing more about it.. In August 2012 I got a letter redirected to my new house from Regal Credit demanding £365 for Total Fitness membership.. I have written to Total Fitness and Regal Credit with copies of the email I sent and the standard email reply I got and I got a letter back saying people had tried to phone me from total Fitness on several occasions..I went up to see the Deputy Club manager in August and he said only one phone call had been tried from the club in 2011.. nothing after that.. even though I put no contact via phone noone had phoned me in that time and no letters had been recieved as I had stated email correspondence as I had moved house in November 2011.. I have now had another three letters from Regal credit and today I got a letter stating they would go to court to instruct bailiffs to seize my goods to the value and also a CCJ would be applied for.. They have also phoned my mobile several times bullying me to get money there and then and I have stated that I was not going to pay for an unsatisfactory service.. I would take it up with Total Fitness and they said that they will not speak to me as its Regal Credits debt now and total Fitness want to pursue it.. ? I told them I have no extra money left at the end of the month, I work very hard and am a single parent my circumstances in 2011 were a lot different to now.. I was married with double the income when I joined in 2011.. Could someone please tell me how I go about sorting this or will I have to make token payments to get them to stop hassling me? and if I do is that admitting that I owe the money even though they are clearly not providing the service that I had signed up for? This is really scaring me now as I am on my own and dont own anything.. I rent my house and my car is from the company I work for.. I had to go Bankrupt in 2009 follwing my illness and I was just getting myself back on track.. Thank you

I joined a gym local to my area back in march (Cork Ireland) this year but due to unforseen circumstances have not been able to continue availing of services offered by gym etc. Am wanting to cancel my membership but apparently because its under a two year contract i would have to pay all sums due plus the balance of the monthly subscriptions that would otherwise have fallen due will become payable immediately less 5%.. Is there any option out there available to me that would not involve having to pay a s i have recently lost my job and unfortunately cannot afford to keep up monthly payments let alone being expected to pay remainder of subscriptions etc. If anyone could help i would be eternally grateful. Thank You.

Hi, I was a member with DW sports on a month to month contract, started in the summer of last year. I cancelled my membership with them I believe just after new years 2012 by phone, then a month later cancelled the direct debit. Last week I received a letter stating I owe 53 pounds including a 15 pound penalty fee. Today I have received a letter from them about passing it onto their solicitors. How do I take action to resolve this?

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

With all these adverts for PPI claims and asking for bank charges back, I was wondering if anyone knew if I could claim back mis-sold membership charges. I will explain my partner who is disabled with both physical and mental disabilities was contacted by HSBC over 12 Months ago, unfortunately I was not there to intervene on his behalf and he was upgraded to an Advanced Account at a cost of £12.95 per Month. After I found out recently about this I was angry and have now booked an appointment at the bank for next Tuesday. I feel the account was upgraded under false pretences as he is currently disabled he would not be able to take up their free Travel Insurance, he does not drive and therefore does not need their free break-down cover either. The only benefit he could take advantage of is their special rate if he goes OD which he has done several times and still been charged £12 for them authorising card payments when there is not enough money in the account and NO Overdraft Facility. Do we have a right to ask for the membership fees back? Any help would be gratefully received. And if anyone has a link that could be shared where I could print out his rights would also be helpful. Thank you

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.