HELP!! Cancellation of David Lloyd Gym!

[stellamanella]

I hope someone can HELP me with this David Lloyd problem! So here it goes...

 

Basically I joined David Lloyd gym around Feb/March 07 at £58per month. Anyway shortly after I received a letter from David Lloyd saying this was going up to £60per month from October. I later decided to cancel as I was moving 80miles away, so I phoned and they said I had to write to the manager. I wrote to them on 29th May to cancel the membership as I was moving away, but might be moving back to the area sometime in the future so I would rejoin then. (In their T&C's they have a 3months cancellation policy) so I moved and after 3 months I cancelled my direct debit.

 

In September I received a letter saying they hadn’t received the payment and unless they received the next 2 months (totaling up to £181.50) they would forward it to debt collectors.

 

I phoned them up to say I'd sent them a letter on the 29th May to cancel and they said that I should have got either proof of postage from the post office or a receipt at reception if I handed it in, and as stated in their terms and conditions I needed a receipt from them to acknowledge this. I wrote to them again (Original letter attached) saying as far as I was concerned I had already paid the 3months I owed, also my financial situation had changed & couldn’t pay another £181, and I didn’t even live in the area now to use that gym. They got back to me basically saying exactly the same thing, "as stated in their t&c I should have got a receipt. I wrote to them again saying I couldn’t afford this and is there anything they can do as It seemed to be their mistake for misplacing the original letter.

 

Ive now received a letter from the debt collectors asking for the £181 or they'd take me to court and it would affect my credit rating. I phoned them and explained the situation they said they'd give me a call in a week to see what had happened.

 

I need to know what to do next, DL just keep giving me the same excuse of "as stated in their T&C's" etc. Does anyone know what the laws are for this? Is there anyone I can make a complaint to? As far as I was concerned I paid the 3 months they were asking for and didn’t even use the thing for those 3months. I really cannot afford another £181 just before Christmas, they are being really unreasonable and when I try to phone them there is either no answer from the manager (I can only speak to him apparently) and they are quite rude on the phone.

 

I’ve googled cancellation problems for David Lloyd Gyms and it seems a lot of people have this problem with them. Letters going missing and having to fork out another 3 months or they say (if you've sent the letter near the end of the month) the manager is on holiday and he's the only one who can acknowledge these letters, therefore it carries on to the next month (So if I cancelled 2nd of November, I'd have to pay November in full, then they'd terminate it from the 1st December, I'd then have to pay December, January & February) So you pay 4 months notice instead of 3.

 

Someone has suggested I offer to pay them £1 per month a duration of Xtime and they have to accept this and back off, does anyone know the law on this? or even if it's true?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance! xxx

[Alastrum]

Hello, I had a similar hassle with David Lloyds when I got made redundant and could no longer afford the gym membership. They absolutely would not budge, and insisted I paid the 3 month cancellation fee. Of course I wouldn't/couldn't, so really had to fight hard. Eventually, I went over their heads and wrote to their Head Office, who sorted it out quite quickly. After providing proof of my unemployment, the fee was waived. My advice would be to go straight to the top, ignore the petty little manager of your local gym and go to Head Office.

[Sarah Sarah]

Hey guess what its 2009 and it seems David lloyd are getting no better. They are refusing to cancel my membership too. They said i need to fill in a cancel ation form. These have been on there way to me since last summer. Sometimes i am being told they do not exist and some staff say i must complete them?? AGGGGhhhhh at £44 a month they are laughing as i haven't been able to go for a year. I have phoned and wrote and gone in to speak to them all to no avail..... people beware once you join they may never let you leave!!

[ToffeeCrisp]

On a similar vein, my partner pays £80 per month (yes what was he thinking ). He signed his contract on 11th April 2008.

 

On his copy of the T&C's which he signed it states and I quote:

 

"You can end your membership at the end of your initial term by giving us at least one month's notice in writing. This means that your minimum commitment is to pay for the first 12 full calendar months of your membership. At any time after the beginning of the 12th calendar month of your membership, you can end your membership by giving us at least three calendar months' notice in writing."

 

 

Doesn't that effectively make it a 15 month contract as opposed to 12 months? Surely that can't be right?

 

Does anyone have a template letter that he can send to them in order to cancel the membership?

[gadgetgirl79]

 

Doesn't that effectively make it a 15 month contract as opposed to 12 months? Surely that can't be right?

 

Does anyone have a template letter that he can send to them in order to cancel the membership?

 

That's a rather confusing T&C. I believe it means if he wants to end it after the initial 12 months, he'd have to give his notice before 11th March 2009 in his case. If he goes over his 12 months, THEN he'd have to give 3 months notice.

 

Just write them a letter stating that as requested in their terms and conditions, he is giving them at least one month's notice to terminate his gym membership, thus ending his gym contract on 10th April 2009.

 

Don't forget to send it recorded delivery (otherwise they will lose it and charge him), or even better, go into the gym, and deliver it by hand and get a receipt for it. That way they can't deny receiving it.

[miesus]

Hi i joined David Lloyd gym on march the 26th last year and took out a year contract, i went to David Lloyd gym on friday the 4th of April 2009 as i had recieved a bill of £46.25 for membership of that month and i questioned this as my contract with david lloyd has expired on the 26th of march 2009 and i have not renewed it, This is the Ipswich, Suffolk branch so i wrote a letter to the gym management stateing the poor service as two months ago i go there to pay my gym membership and the woman says no you have to pay for 4 months membership as that's what the computer says you owe, i took out recipts of proof of payment for those 4 months and she backed down, also it took 3 attempts over several months for this direct debt to work on my account as they just did not seem to get it to work.

So i have sent a letter to my gym saying i contest these charges as i have not terminated my account it has expired, i then told them i will take legal action if i have to. The manager at Ipswich branch and indian chap i can't remember his name tells me very rudly i must pay and if i take it to court i will lose, he also tells me that unless i terminate my contract it just runs over, now i'm sorry i'm not stupid, this contract is a legal document and it is only valid for 12months or the amount of time stated on it, it does not say anything about a 15month contract anywhere in it, i was also not told about the 3month termination period when i joined, so i feel i,ve been misled. I have told him to freeze my account while i decide what actions to do.

 

I have thought of getting the BBC program Watchdog on to this or put things about it in the local paper.

I have not done anything as yet as it might not be good and effect any legal case if i decide to bring one.

Any advice?.Where do i go from here?. Te only thing i can think of is taking this to court to solve it and no one wins there just the lawyers, not to mention the time wasted and the hassle.

[MissDVL]

I have also had problems with the Ipswich branch of David Lloyd.

 

For my story go to Debt collection help! - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

 

They are bloodsucking creatures! I am not backing down though, I will fight till it goes to court if I have to! Not paying these idiots a penny more.

[bora762]

Hello everyone

My boyfriend have also problem with cancellation this unfair membership.

He join them in 2007 and after1.5 year He has to finish his contract.He went to reception desk to ask how to do it.Person there said to him to write letter to Head Office one month before his last payment to DL.He send a letter as recorded delivery.Maybe after tree months he satrted receive serval calls from Debt Agency.We went to gym to try to solve that situation we have that conformation from post office with us.We went there once nothing happen,we went there twice they told as ,they need to think about this.After a week from last vist he recieve call from one manager then Head Office never get that letter (so why we need to pay for recorded delivery?)They lying thats all.If he pay 100 pound it will be fine they said.We dont realy wanna leave this case like that.Is just so unfair so we decide to call ligal advice and do something with this.It s any of you have copy of DL contract preferably from 2007 or any? Unfortunetly his is missing .If you do please let me know.

I cant stand that vampires anymore it seems like once you sing contract with them they join you to your last breath grrrr

Thank You

sorry for my english

[Absolute]

I have a similar problem with David Lloyd, i became a member in Oct '04 and cancelled my 'family' membership in Dec '08. When i joined in '04 the gym was called Next Generation and only recently has become David Lloyd. The T&Cs that i signed it do not say that a receipt of cancellation is required.

 

Infact it was my partner that was sent the letter from the DCA and received phone calls when infact it was MY direct debit, MY signature on the forms and ME who cancelled the membership!? It was a total shock and has left me feeling really sick inside. I dont understand why we have been targeted. Initially i thought that perhaps the 3 months notice i had given was wrong and it should have been 6 but ive since had confirmed that it IS 3. I dont know what to do. DL say they did not recieve my cancellation letter but i delivered it by hand (probably my right one!). They are now demanding over £600!

 

I have cried. Im not being bullied into paying but im feeling strong enought to fight my corner - why should i have to!

 

Sorry! rant over -

[slick132]

Hi Absolute,

 

Please start yourself a thread to d/w your issues, here in the General Cosumer Issues forum.

 

Thanks

[Raven317]

Hi there, just looking for others who had this problem. I too live in Ipswich and am experiencing problems with this branch of DL. How have you got on? I'd be grateful to hear your experience

[adsalaugh]

I joined my local DL club in Chorley in March and within a week i noticed that the changing rooms were often filthy, but put it down to a one off. After another couple of visits i thought i must bring this up with a Manager. He was sympathetic and said he would address it. The very next day i thought i would give it a go and to my amazement it was just as bad. I complained again to be told i must put it in writing and send it to the General Manager. I went one better and presented the General Manger with my letter of disgust also saying if it isnt sorted i will be cancelling. He informed me the cleaners are contractors and they have staffing problems, I told him i dont care and that i'm not happy. He wasn't intrested and told me to escalate it to Sally Hillman (Regional Manager) so i did. Explaining the treatment and service i have recieved was disgusting and that i will not be continuing my membership, she didn't even respond. Next thing ARC wrote to me demanding i pay the full year's membership and i would be charged a further £50 for each direct debit i missed. I forwarded all my letters of complaint to them and explained i will not be paying.

 

I recieved a letter this morning from their solicitor Trevor Munn, he has demanded i pay or i will be issued with a C,C summons in Northhampton, furthermore i will be charged intrest and will incure all court cost's.

 

For those of you who are in the same postion, i have had advice from a reliable source saying, write to them stating that, contract or no contract, it's down to the judge on the day and if you have acted resonably and they have not, you will win. Also if you get a summons you can request the case to be heard in your home town (Fact)

 

I will keep you all updated on where i'm upto.

 

So dont be bullied, stand and fight.

[slick132]

Hi Adsa,

 

You should certainly confirm in writing the reasons why you feel the Gym failed to provide adequate standards or facilities.

 

Tell the sol'r you are quite happy to let this be decided by a judge and that you'll seek a Wasted Costs Order against them if they DO take this to court.

 

Let us know how you get on.

[adsalaugh]

Oh your quite right slick. The original letter of complaint to the General Manager clearly outlines the problems at hand and all of said letters are all coppied and logged.

 

I cant wait for the fight ahead, as i know it will be. BRING IT ON!

[Kiltonga]

adsalaugh, ARC and Trevor Munn on instuctions of David Lloyd have just cancelled their demands for £462 of me which David Lloyd in Belfast were trying to get of me for cancelling my membership. My tactics were to use recorded mail and post to Trevor Munn at his "real" address and mark it as "Strictly In Confidence". ARC did not like this at all and demanded I replyed only to them. Big mistake by ARC, I bombarded Trevor Munn with emails and letters. Infact ARC gave an instruction to their staff that only their Compliance Manager was to correspond with me. Basically I found the best approach was to bully the bullies.

 

Also request Trevor Munn to reply personally to you by letter, you will find he never will and if you do an internet search you will find Trevor Munn has a completely different signature and letter heading on his business letters to other organisations he deals with than the signature and letter heading on the letters he sends to us in regard to court action. !! If I can be of any assistance please pm me.

[slick132]

Hi Kiltonga and welcome to CAG.

 

I'm delighted to hear of your success and love the idea of bullying bullies.

 

As regards PM's, we prefer to keep stuff on the open forums so advice given can assist all. Also, if it's wrong, it can be corrected.

 

[Kiltonga]

slick132, I would be delighted to assist in open forum, however I was concerned incase my own extensive internet searches and results left me open to legal challenges from ARC and Trevor Munn. Having said that all dealings with both the aforementioned were greatly assisted by searches and facts that can be found on the net.

[adsalaugh]

Killtona-thanks for the advice. Just to update you all were i'm upto. ARC are still bombarding me with calls and text messages, i've now started to be really pleasant with the ARC staff, asking how they are and how is the weather and i find they are really uncofortable with my aproach. They keep asking are you going to settle and i just say i'm waiting for my court date. I'm just wondering when they will get the message-I'M NOT PAYING.

 

I'll keep you informed as to what happens.

[slick132]

Hi Adsa,

 

Are you keeping a log of the time and date of all calls.

 

Also, tell them you are now recording all incoming calls to back up any complaints of harassment to the OFT or FOS.

[adsalaugh]

Good point slick, will do.

[Kiltonga]

Adsalaugh, I would suggest you inform ARC you are disputing your account with David Llyod's until you receive a response from Sally Hillman to letter you sent her. Once an account is in dispute ARC cannot correspond further to you until the dispute is settled. You have reasonably tried putting your concerns on cleanliness to Lloyd's but they have not responded therefore aslong as you have a copy of your letter to Hillman then I would not worry too much at all. Though as Slick says keep copies of EVERYTHING. Also as I suggested previously, write to Trevor Munn at his real address Trevor Munn LLB Solicitor, Easterly Boathouse, The Towpath, Walton-On-Thames, Surrey, KT12 2PF and ask him if it is indeed himself who represents ARC, on your letter write in Red "Strictly In Confidence". Then sit back and wait.

Edited August 13, 2009 by Kiltonga

[slick132]

This is proving useful to peeps suffering harassment from DCA's - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/announcement.php?f=76&a=143

[adsalaugh]

Many thanks guy's-LETS BEAT THE BULLIES.

[burt123]

I've had similar problems with Next generation who have now been bought out by David Lloyd. I'm out of the 12 month contract and they're chasing me for the 3 month notice. I explained I was happy to pay if I could use the gym for that period but David Lloyd actually put a note on the front desk not to let me in. They claimed it was because I didn't have an active direct debit but I explained that I was going to pay 3 months upfront to ARC but they said unless I re-instated my direct debit and then paid another 3 months notice (5 months total as this has been going on for 2) I would not be allowed in.

I told ARC I will not pay for something I cannot use and that they can take me to court if they wish.

 

What I'd really like to know is: Has anyone ever actually been taking to court by these muppets?

 

I owe 3 months plus some charges they've made up. 280ish.

[Kiltonga]

Burt I am not of legal mind, however I did beat ARC recently. The way I see it is you were quite happy to pay them 3 months up front but they refused it.

 

Firstly I would write to David Lloyd's asking why they would not take your 3 months upfront and why would they not let you use the gym. Ask them why you have to have a DD, ask them why they put a note at reception not to let you in.

 

Write to ARC then stating your account is in dispute and that you have written to DL's and then wait for DL's to get back to you. In the meantime until you hear from DL's do not talk or write to ARC at all. If ARC phone you ask for the name of the caller, write it down on record then inform them your account is in dispute, END CAll. These people record everything

and will try and talk you into situations advantageous to them should it go to court (very much doubt it)

 

Keep copies of all correspondence. Do not worry Burt, I actually enjoyed tying them in knots. Keep the forum informed as things develop as it helps others that these people harrass.