Loz -v- Fitness First re Gym Membership

[loz64]

I have recently cancelled my Gym Membership with Fitness First. I have been a member since April 2009 and I am outside the 12 month lock in period. I received a letter from them on 4th December 2010 stating my membership would increase fom Jan 2011 by £10 extra per month due to factors like the VAT increase. I tried to re-negotiate my membership but was unsuccessful, I reluctantly cancelled on 7th December giving immediate notice and paying for the month of December 2010 and did not use the Gym for that month at all. I also cancelled my direct debit

 

I have received a letter to say I owe for Jan 2011 at the increased rate, which I feel is unfair as I was not given the option to agree to pay the increase which I couldnt afford or cancel to avoid paying the increase

 

Please advise how I can resolve this issue as they have told me that they have sent me to the legal department as I have not given a full months notice period

[maroondevo52]

Hello and Welcome, loz.

 

I'll move this thread to the appropriate Forum, where hopefully you'll get some help.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[slick132]

Hi Loz,

 

What was the sign up date on your m/ship agreement.

 

Do you agree that you gave them less than 30 days notice.

 

You should not have to pay the increased rate in any event - only the same as you paid before. Have you checked through the m/ship agreement for what it says about fee increases.

 

Do not be intimidated by the threat of legal action. We help many folk challenge these gyms and their admin companies. No doubt, CARS will start hassling you soon and you can tell them to back off as the matter is in dispute.

 

Read the Stickies at the top of this forum.

 

Also read other threads that show Fitness First in the title. 8-)

[loz64]

Hi

 

Thank you for the reply, my start date was 15/4/2009 for a minimum period of 12 months. I did give them less than 30 days notice as I did not receive the letter regarding the increase until 4th December and in my view although their letter was dated 30th November I did not receive until 4th December and this did not give me the opportunity to cancel in time before the increase which was stated in the letter as 1 Jan 2011 so I had no option but to cancel my Direct Debit or they would have taken the increased monthly amount

 

I have read the agreement which states that they can increase membership fees at their discretion subject to giving 1 months notice and it states that if we need to cancel we are required to give 1 months notice which will commence on the first day of the following month and expire on the last of that month which is why they are threatening me with legal action but this all seems very underhanded and how are they allowed to get away with such behaviour its a scandal

 

Thank you and any help is appreciated

[kim w]

I cancelled my membership with FF and did as they asked and gave them one months calendar notice. They are now saying that I signed up for one year - I dispute this as I didn't sign an agreement and they cannot provide a copy. I was contacted by CARS today and emailed them threatening them with a report to the Police for harrassment. I wrote to my local FF and their head office demanding a full explanation. My boyfriend is in the same situation and we are both refuse to pay them anything. Apart from their dreadful customer care, awful personal trainers, defunct equipment, dirty changing rooms...the list is endless...I would never join FF again and would encourage anyone who is threatened to fight them every step of the way and keep copies of all correspondence. They can't have what you don't have.

[slick132]

Hi Loz,

 

Their requirement for cancellation sounds mad. Either you have to give 30 days notice, or you don't.

 

They're saying you have to give 30 days notice but it must start on 1.1.11 and end on 31.1.11. So if you gave notice on 7th December, they are saying they actually require 56 days notice in your case.

 

I'd write to them enclosing a cheque for the amount due from 1.1.11 to 6.1.11, pro-rata based on the old monthly rate. Tell them this is all they're having and any further demands will be referred to Trading Standards. And if they bother you after that, you'll make a formal complaint to the FOS.

 

8-)

[plimsol]

Hi Loz,

 

I'm in the same boat as you and agree in thinking it is unfair - they did not give adequate notice of the increase. The fact is that I didn't give them the notice of termination until December so according to the T&C's they expect January to be paid for as well, and that's all they're interested in

 

I have sent them a letter stating this and quoted the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 but not sure where it will go - I am a step away from them calling in the debt collection agency.

 

Have you managed to progress things in any way?

[kim w]

I gave them 31 days notice and they still sent my file to debt collectors. I wrote and complained like mad to their head office in Poole (address on website) and also to my local gym. I reported harrassing telephone calls from debt collectors to the police and service provider who blocked the number. I threatened them with legal proceedings too and eventually they backed off and said it was an admin error. HOWEVER, I received an email from somebody who used to work for them who informed me that FF's usual practice is to send ALL members (who are terminating their account) to debt collectors in the hope that they back down and pay up regardless. Another thing to note is that despite giving them 31 days notice, they take notice from the date they process your letter and NOT from the date on your letter.....this is against the law as they must take it from the date of your letter. A very poorly company who I will never deal with again. My partner teaches customer care and he uses FF as one of the etreme bad examples of customer care, along with Tescos, Barclays Bank and BT!!!

 

Hang in there and refuse to pay and threaten to sue if necessary.

[loz64]

Hi all

 

Just an update for you all regarding FF and their tactics, I sent a letter with a cheque for £4.32 for the cancellation of the shortfall in the months notice as advised by slick123 on 18th January, as they had been calling me on my works direct line so I was very unhappy about this. However they have written me another letter and returned by cheque for £4.32 and state that I now owe the £31.50 for January 2011 which was the increased membership amount and a further £25 for late payment and they say I now owe £56.50.

 

I am appalled at the way this company operate and I do want to hang in there and not pay them anymore as it is an injustice how they are treating people. There must be a trading standards procedure somewhere that can stop this.

 

I would like some advice as to how much more they can add on to what I owe them as this does concern me as is it better for me to pay them off now before they keep adding on more charges, can anyone advise please

 

Thank you

[slick132]

Hi Loz,

 

Please note that any Admin Fee or Penalty Charge for late payment of m/ship fees is NOT enforceable and you do not have to pay it.

 

They can add all they like to your alleged debt to them but they cannot take action to collect it. Well, actually, they could take court action but they won't because they know they would lose.

 

So they will continue to harass you and try to wear you down. This is how they work.

 

I suggest you send a further letter :-

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

Fitness First membership no. xxxx xxxx

 

I refer to your letter of XXdate which returned my cheque for £4.32. You have refused to accept it and that is, of course, your prerogative but my offer to pay is documented.

 

Please make any further communication by letter only. I will not accept any further phone calls from you. I do not authorise you to call me, particularly at my place of work. In this connection, you will find enclosed a separate letter about telephone harassment, the contents of which you should note carefully.

 

Contacting me at my place of work is a clear breach of the OFT Debt Collection Guidelines and will be reported to the FOS for formal investigation. [Adapt and print off this letter and enclose it separately - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?493-Harassment-by-telephone-response-letter ]

 

I have already said in earlier correspondence that I refuse to pay the amounts you demand. In case you didn't understand, let me reiterate :-

 

1. You failed to give adequate notice of the membership fee increase.

 

2. You are demanding that I pay for membership after I have given proper notice to cancel of 30 days.

 

Furthermore, the Admin fees that you have added to the alleged debt are Unlawful Penalty Charges which are unenforceable at common law.

 

If you wish to test these matters in court, please issue proceedings against me. They will be vigorously defended.

 

If you make any further demands of me, or cause any third party (such as CARS) to contact me, I will report the matter to the FOS for investigation without further warning.

 

No doubt, the FOS will report this to the OFT who are currently tackling gyms and their admin companies for various breaches of trading regulations. I assume you are aware of the OFT case being taken at the High Court against Ashbourne Management.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

If they make any further contact by phone or make demands by letter, make a brief report to the FOS enclosing copies of relevant correspondence.

 

8-)

Edited March 2, 2011 by slick132
typo

[loz64]

Thank you for this advice

I have written back to them today as you have advised, I have also received a letter today from CARS demanding £56.50 ,it looks like a 1st letter demand from them and I'm sure I will be receiving more!

 

I'll keep you posted and hope I can hold out

[loz64]

Hi all

 

I have received a Notice of Legal Proceedings now from CARS and I am going to send the same letter back as before to them in the envelope they have provided, but they have no intentions at the moment of giving up, this is not pleasant at all but I dont want them to get away with treating poeple in this way.

 

Do you have any further suggestions on how to handle this latest correspondence!!

 

Thank you

[slick132]

Hi Loz,

 

Is this just a letter saying they'll take court action if you don't pay, or is it something more scary like a pretend court claim form.

 

I'd write to CARS saying:-

 

I refer to your letter of xxdate.

 

As previously stated in my letter of xxdate to Fitness First (a copy of which is enclosed for your information), this matter is in clear dispute and your latest demand is therefore in breach of the OFT Guidelines on Debt Collection. I will now report you to the FOS for formal investigation.

 

If you are still minded to take court action in this matter, please do so without delay. I will defend vigorously and will counterclaim seeking damages, particularly in respect of any adverse data processed against my credit reference records.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

See how they respond.

 

8-)

[loz64]

Hi

 

It is just a letter threatening what will happen if I dont pay so I will take your advise and see how I go

 

Thank you

[loz64]

Hi

 

I have received another letter from CARS today stating I owe £56.50 and that I have defaulted on my agreed payments and not followed the correct cancellation process. They state in line with terms and conditions of my contract I should give then written notice to the end of my contract and leave my Direct Debit open for the final payment in the 30 notice period.

 

They have placed my account on hold for 7 days to give me time to get back to them.

 

They fail to point out that I was not given one months notice to increase my membership, even though they dated the letter 30/11/2010, I did not receive until 4/12/2010

 

I am going to send another reply as before and copy all the other letters to them and wait for the response. They also phoned me again at work on Tuesday

 

Anymore advice you can add

 

Thank you

[slick132]

HI Loz,

 

Did you send them the Phone Harassment letter that I linked you to in post #10 above.

 

If they call you at work again, report this to the FOS as a formal complaint.

 

I would not bother sending them the copies of other letters. Instead I'd reply saying:-

 

You have clearly chosen to ignore the content of my letter to you of xxdate.

 

Accordingly, your actions have been reported to the FOS for formal investigation.

 

Until I receive a full reply from Fitness First to my last letter to them, this matter remains in clear dispute and you are barred from making any demands of me.

 

In particular, any phone calls to me at my place of work will be reported to OFCOM and Trading Standards as a clear breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127.

 

8-)

[loz64]

Hi

 

Thank you for the reply. I have sent my letter off again today, I did send the phone harrassment letter on 17th Feb to them so just wait and see the next move

 

Cheers

[sir_gilmour]

Hi

Welcome to The Consumer Action Group.

 

 

I am just letting you know that as you haven't had any replies to your post yet, it might be better if you post your message again in an appropriate sub-forum. You will get lots of help there.

 

Also take some time to read around the forum and get used to the layout. It is a big forum and takes a lot of getting used to.

 

 

Once you start to find your way, you will soon realise that it is fairly easy to get round and to get the help you need.

 

It can be bit confusing at first.