CRS letter - I'm scared

[ozzyboy]

There are a few ways to skin a cat so you may wish to try another route whilst this is ongoing.

 

Soll is private commercial company that manages a number of Leisure Centres under contract from your local Council. Therefore a word or two in the ear of your local councillor and/or chair of the recreation committee might work wonders! You may also throw in a suggestion that you are considering suing Soll for the psychological suffering you have experienced resulting from their mishandling of what must have been a very embarrassing and traumatic incident as well as their subsequent threats of legal action.

 

Also, Soll are certified by the Quest scheme which is a very comprehensive quality control /benchmarking scheme for the Leisure industry and covers all aspects of their operations. This case clearly shows that there are serious deficits in both staff training and marketing policies. There's a link to Quest on thier websites. Maybe another phone call to them might rattle a few cages depending on when their next inspection is due...

 

Failing that, if you get no joy from your elected members, there's nothing that local papers like more than a bit of Council bashing...and this is just the sort of 'human interest' story they'll love.

[mini_baz]

Hi, I have just taken delivery of the next installment of rubbish from Soll Leisure. The letter is as follows;

 

They accept receipt of my last letter.

 

They do not acknowledge ever receiving my previous letter ( even though I hand delivered it) and want proof of posting.

 

They want a copy of the letter to consider my point.

 

However they do not think the complaint and the cancellation issue are connected and advise me to continue to communicate with CRS on the debt.

Not impressed.

[babybear39]

Get TS off their backsides and ask them to help.

[Satoriea]

Hey you do not owe them anything, It is all rubbish. Dont fret. I had opened one of those book accounts where you ordered about four iteams for really cheap then you have to make four orders b4 u can cancell. I didnt realise they wanted you to order something from the first four issues. I thought it was make at least four orders from any issue. Any who. They tried to send me some books which i never ordered and as they couldnt deliver they sent it back to the company. Long story short they sent dc after me I wrote them a letter expalining they are trying to get money from me on products that I do not have or ordered. The DC wrote back and said they are closing the case the end. So as long as you didnt use the services you owe nothing.

[2Grumpy]

I would also consider going after them from the disability angle - there was nothing to say that the class was female only so were they really discriminating against you on the basis of your disability?

[mini_baz]

How should I play things from here, continue with the letters or arrange a face to face appointment?

[2Grumpy]

If you are very forceful then maybe face to face with a copy of the letter that they cannot find.

 

If they are faced by you they may back down.

 

When you joined they failed to disclose the unofficial female only rule. Then whilst you were obviously very lacking in confidence you were belittled by their staff.

 

You could also tell them that they are lucky not to be being sued by you as well as getting a whole load of councils & the press down their corporate necks, and that is precisely what will happen if you hear any more about this.

 

If they persist, tell them that you will accept a free years membership from them so that they can prove that they weren't discriminating against you, and at the end of the year you will consider paying them, if they have made you feel exceptionally welcome.

[EbenezerTwist]

How should I play things from here, continue with the letters or arrange a face to face appointment?

 

If you do decide on a face to face appointment, make sure you have someone with you. (Safety in numbers) There is no need for you to feel uncomfortable and be by yourself. Two of you together can match the gym people. I doubt it would be a one on one meeting.

[mini_baz]

Ok so I have recieved a letter from CRS again, it says essentially.

 

In response to my letter in which I did not acknowledge the debt to them, they have contacted the leisure centre to ask about the dispute. The leisure centre have told CRS that they have sent the three letters about the outstanding balance, to which they have had no response from me. Shocking.

 

I have the usual 7 days to make contact OR ELSE.

 

Please assist me in my next move.

[babybear39]

Have you got postal receipts from letters sent? If so,tell them to go forth and do NOT multiply

[mini_baz]

I do not have proof from the initial letter, big mistake.

I hand delivered the other letter and have receipt for the last.

[babybear39]

OK Follow the advice in post #35 above

[mini_baz]

Ok things are getting very serious and I am on the verge of giving in to these terriers. I have sent a letter to the leisure centre to display my amazment that they have denied the dispute, I have also sent a letter to CRS to fight my corner a bit more, but in the mean time they have sent another letter. They say that because I have not responded within the 7 days they gave me, they have started court proceedings and have enclosed a copy of the court forms. The bill has also increased by £30 and they have highlighted that a CCj is bad news in these economic climate. Do I pay up or not? I have till Monday else they will send the letter to the court.

[mini_baz]

Please help!

[mkb]

Ok things are getting very serious and I am on the verge of giving in to these terriers. I have sent a letter to the leisure centre to display my amazment that they have denied the dispute, I have also sent a letter to CRS to fight my corner a bit more, but in the mean time they have sent another letter. They say that because I have not responded within the 7 days they gave me, they have started court proceedings and have enclosed a copy of the court forms. Thats crap! If they had started court proceedings, you would get the N1 from the court NOT the complainant!! The bill has also increased by £30 and they have highlighted that a CCj is bad news in these economic climate. Do I pay up or not? DO NOT PAY! I have till Monday else they will send the letter to the court.

 

Don't give in to them - they still haven't resolved your complaint.

[DonkeyB]

Send them copies of your previous correspondence, and theirs to you (from OC and DCA), and send special delivery. They then cannot in any way say there is no dispute. If they then take you to court, they will look like the total idiotic ar*ewipes they are, and they will lose.

 

And you must contact your local paper. I'm sure they'd love to do a photo of you outside the place in swimming trunks and goggles to illustrate the story.

 

Also, as ozzyboy said ages ago, get your local councillor involved.

[ArmyGirl]

They seriously seem to be missing the point here ,they barred you from a facility due to your gender and then proceeded to humiliate you. I should not imagine that this would sound very good when presented in court. They are getting ahead of them selves regarding the outcome of a court case this is not a matter of unable to pay but that you are not willing to pay for this membership because they are not providing you the service you understood you would get.

 

I really think you need to involve the council and stress that you were discriminated against and treated with disrespect and that the council by doing nothing are condoning their attitude. Do they have a leaflet or website which shows the class you wanted to attend and does not state that it was female only ? if so surley this shows that you signed up for this and it was falsely advertised there fore this is the defence against continuing your membership. Sorry I can not remember back have you been to the citizens advice for help.

 

rooting for you !

[MattPop]

So what happened here? I know it's an old thread but I'm in similair strife with Soll leisure and CRS.

 

I stopped going to the gym under advisement from my physio after I injured my back in the gym, I'd been paying for over 18 months, I also proceeded to keep paying for many months after I stopped attending. I eventually just cancelled the direct debit (exactly the same as I did with Fitness First when I left them). Eventually I got a letter asking for the 3 months membership fees as this is the notice period, I argued in writing and over the phone, they conceeded that the 3 month notice period came into being after I joined and I only needed to pay for 1 month (£35?). They contacted me about this and I stated again, as I had before, that I accept this as long as they send me a copy of my membership contract/agreement, as I couldn't remember ever having/signing one. They said they would be in touch. I didn't hear anything for almost a year, until I got a letter from CRS asking for over £100! Here we go again...

 

I went straight to the local sports centre to speak to the person involved in memberships to again explain the situation, and request a copy of my contract. They said they would dig it out and get back to me (Deja Vu...) It's been two weeks, I've heard nothing apart from another letter from CRS.

When I went into the gym a fortnight ago, I did mention that I've been advised to seek compensation from the gym for my initial injury, It required surgery and has left me with permanent pain/ impaired mobility. This may be of little consequence until you factor in that when I joined, they're supposed to give an aquaint of the gym, with a fitness assesment so they can see how fit and strong you are and give a tailored workout programme, while showing you the correct techniques for using the equipment safely. They did not. They took my address and bank details, took me membership fee (of course...) and handed me a membership card. Nothing else...

 

Not only is the evidence for these charges missing (the membership contract), they're on thin ice regarding an injury compensation claim!

 

You'd think they'd get their arses in gear???

 

I'm still willing to sort this out reasonably and allow the whole thing to disappear, but if they won't even contact me to say what's happening, leaving me to go in and sort it all out, I think I might stop playing the nice guy...

 

Surely, if they can't provide me with a copy of this membership contract, I can claim back all my gym membership costs from them?