Ashbourne gym memberships GRRRRR!!!!!

[leekyr]

I joined a gym in Nottingham around 6months ago. Its part of the "Ashmourne Gym's".

 

I signed up for a 3yr deal @ £17 a month (or so) but was told by each employee at the gym i could cancel it if i lost my job or moved from the area where the gym is.

 

I do not live near the gym, i just used this gym as my company was situation across the street.

 

I've since been made redundant and sent the gym a letter stating that i've moved from the area as i no longer work for this company and its too far away for me to travel to use the gym.

 

Over the past few months they've sent me numerous letter saying that if i do not pay the full amont of £680.00 (which is the full rate + admin fees etc) I will be put into default registration and a company will contact me demanding the money or take me to court etc.

 

After i sent the first letter to them stating that i wanted to cancel, i got a letter in the post later that month saying that i still need to pay the £680, so i rang them and said that i sent a letter blah blah, but they had never received it? So i said i'll send another copy of the letter and did. Then i get another letter from them a month later saying that if i do not pay £680 within 10 days i will get court proceedings etc. I rang them again and stated that i've sent copies of my letter etc twice previously and this will be the third time. (So i send the letters again).

 

I spoken with this company (debt collectors or whatever they are) that aretrying to get the money from me and they say that it doesnt matter if ive sent Ashbourne letter etc as they claim they never recieved them, But i still need to pay the £680 or im going to get court proceedings, etc.

 

I think i used this gym all of 2 times, and i hadnt even received a membership card etc.

 

What do i do as i cannot afford £680.00 or go to court....

[rosiejones88]

Hi there,

 

It sounds like you're in a similar situation to me. Have a look at my thread (simply called Ashbourne Management) it may be helpful. The guys on here are great at giving advice. Don't worry, and try not to get too stressed! Help is at hand...

[slick132]

Hi Leekyr and welcome to CAG

 

Have a good read of Rosie's thread here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?291124-Ashbourne-management&p=3266219&viewfull=1#post3266219

 

You will find useful letters there and on other Ashbourne threads.

 

Is it ARC that are chasing you now.

 

Don't bother arguing with these people, especially by phone. If they call you, tell them you will only deal with matters by post. Do not rise to any threats of court or other action. Just say, "Please put anything you have to say in writing. Goodbye."

 

Write to them using something like the letter in Rosie's post #10, adapted to reflect your own case. Send it to Ashbourne by Rec'd Del'y and add a line saying:-

 

I enclose a copy of my earlier letter (sent to you twice already) which you apparently never received. As this letter is being sent by Recorded Delivery, this is no longer an excuse you can use.

 

8-)

[leekyr]

Ashbourne Management Services Ltd

PO Box 10920

Shirley

Solihull

B90 8YB

 

Date: 22 Nov 2010

 

Dear Sir or Madam (Litigation Department),

Ashbourne Ref No: CXC592001

After calling Ashbourne and being adviced that I needed to send a formal letter to cancel my membership please read below.

Further to your letter stating that I need to pay £680.00 within the next 7days or I will face “default registration which will affect my credit record for the next 6 years”, I was assured by the staff at the gym that I would be able to cancel my membership at any time without penalty.

The reason this gym was being used was because my place of work was situation a couple of street along and it was convenient for me to use. Now that I have been mad redundant and have no means of getting to the gym or the Long Eaton, Nottingham area then I would like to cancel my membership.

Any queries please contact me on mobile No. xxxxxxx

Many Thanks,

 

Regards

Leekyr

Edited April 13, 2011 by slick132
removed moby no. and name

[leekyr]

Ashbourne Management Services Ltd

PO Box 10920

Shirley

Solihull

B90 8YB

 

Date: 15 Jan 2011

Dear Sir or Madam (Litigation Department),

Ashbourne Ref No: CXC592001

 

With reference to my letter dated 22nd Nov 2010

After my previous letter/correspondence with yourselves I am sending another letter to confirm I want to cancel my gym membership as I lost my job (as detailed on my previous letter 22nd nov 2010).

Please cancel my membership immediatly and do not forward any more threatening letter stating that I need to pay £680.00 immediatly or face default registration.

 

Any queries please contact me on mobile No. xxxxxxx

Many Thanks,

 

Regards

Leekyr

Edited April 13, 2011 by slick132
removed moby no. and name

[leekyr]

Ashbourne Management Services Ltd

PO Box 10920

Shirley

Solihull

B90 8YB

 

CC: ARC (Europe) Ltd Ref:

This letter has been sent via recorded delivery.

 

Dear Sir or Madam (Litigation Department),

 

I refer to your letter of 07/04/2011 which I received Today 12/04/2011, and other correspondence from ARC (Europe) Ltd.

Ashbourne Ref No: CXC592001

 

When joining the gym, I was assured by staff at the gym before signing the contract that I was able to cancel the membership at any times without any penalties. This is obviously not the case as I tried to cancel my membership months ago due to losing my job, which has resulted in threatening letters demanding the sum of “£680.00 within the next seven days”.

 

Like previously mentioned in my other letters to you, you should now consider this matter to be in clear dispute for various reasons including, but not limited to:-

 

1. Staff at the gym said that I could cancel easily and without penalty.

 

2. I told staff I would be using the gym mainly to lose weight and in the discussion was again told that I could cancel the membership when I felt happy with my weight loss and wanted to leave, all without penalty.

 

3. At no stage was I told the membership term was for 36 months, or shown any terms and conditions of a "contract".

 

4. In a phone call to the gym about my complete in ability to use the facilities because I had been made redundant and was located nowhere near the gym, making it difficult and highly expensive to travel to the gym.

 

4. Ashbourne is considered by the OFT to be behaving unfairly with regard to UTCCR 1999; CCA1974 and CPUT 2008.

 

5. Ashbourne is the defendant in High Court proceedings brought by the OFT, due to be heard in March/April 2011.

 

I consider that Ashbourne have failed to treat me fairly and dispute that I owe you any further monies.

 

If you make any further demands of me, I will refer the matter to the FOS for clear breach of the OFT Debt Collection Guidelines.

 

If you make, or cause to be made, any adverse credit markers with any credit reference agency, I will take action against you for damage to my reputation.

 

Also, please find attached copies of my letter sent to Ashbourne previously. You have either not received all copies of my previous letters or have just refused to comment/reply to them.

 

I trust I have made my position clear.

 

 

Regards

 

Leekyr

Edited April 13, 2011 by slick132
removed moby no. and name

[leekyr]

Above are the 3 letters that I have sent to date.

 

They claim to have never received any so I sent the last 1 recorded delivery and sent a copy to ARC. (Which costs £2.50 + !!!! ) Could I claim this back or something along like that?

 

Slick do you think I've been correct so far, or should I send another letter or just wait for a reply?

 

Thanks for all your help, its much appreciated and I will make any donation to the club if need...

[slick132]

Hi Leekyr,

 

I've removed your name and moby no. from your posts above. Keeping anonymous is a good idea. Keeping your phone no. hidden from Ashbourne and everyone else is an even better one !!

 

Donations to CAG are always very welcome, thanks. This enables us to continue to offer support to those who need us.

 

You can only reclaim postage and other costs if you take them to court, which is not likely to happen.

 

Your letters look fine although Ashbourne and ARC may just ignore them and continue to pester for money. If this happens, complain to the FOS.

 

8)

[leekyr]

So what should be the plan of action from here Slick???

 

Any help is good thanks.

 

 

PS: How do i go about making a complaint to FOS? and who are FOS?

[slick132]

Send off the letter to Ashbourne and a copy to ARC.

 

If either of them continue to make demands, you can complain to the FOS. Hover your cursor over FOS and an info link box will open. They are the Financial Ombudsman's Office.

 

You can also complain to Consumer Direct/Trading Standards.

 

8-)

[leekyr]

Slick,

 

Thanks for all the help so far...

 

I'll update with any letter that I receive in the next few days (or whenever they come) and ask for your further advise.

 

PS: When I get a moment to spare lol i'll make a donation to CAG for all the help.

[leekyr]

Another letter received after posting the above letter RECORDED delivery.

 

Dear Mr Leek,

 

Please note that ARC Europe Ltd is a debt collection "agent", acting in good faith on the instructions received from a "disclosed" principal, namely Ashbourne Management services Ltd. We are therefore authorised to write to you in connection with the above matter and to do so. Please note that there has been NO "assignment" of the debt from Ashbourne Management Services Ltd to ARC Europe Ltd.

 

We have referred your comments to our client and will revert back to you if instructed to do so. In the meantime, please direct any further correspondence to our client.

 

We have acted in accordance with our clients instructions and within current collection legislation and guidance. We reserve the right to produce this letter to any Tribunal, regulatory body or investigating authority to prove our compliance and good conduct in this matter.

 

Yours sincerely

 

J Turner

 

ARC Europe Ltd.

 

 

 

 

 

What do I do from here? Reply or not to reply?

 

(Thanks for the all the help Slick)

[slick132]

Good, that's ARC backing off for a while.

 

Now wait and see if Ashbourne can manage a reply.

 

8-)

[leekyr]

Is there any news on the Court proceedings with Ashbourne?

[slick132]

Not yet, as far as I know.

 

[leekyr]

Still havent received any further correspondance from Ashworths or ARC.

 

Surely this is a good thing almost a month later?

[slick132]

Hi Leeky,

 

Maybe send a copy of your last letter to Ashbourne saying, in the absence of any reply from them, you assume that they now agree you owe them nothing.

 

[leekyr]

But could this not just spark further letters again?

[slick132]

Hi Leekyr,

 

If you want to leave it alone whilst they are quiet, that is your prerogative of course.

 

See what happens and let us know.

 

8)

[leekyr]

This is a new one.

 

I have just received a text message from a mobile number saying that my Ashbourne Membership is Overdue. Please call 01564 334 599 quoting CXC******, security code *****.

 

This is the first time i've ever been texted by them.

 

It's also been sent from a 07 number i.e. a mobile phone unless im mistaken.

 

What should I do from here?

 

 

 

Rick.

[slick132]

Just ignore them.

 

We should know the High Court's ruling on Friday, so you can decide how to deal with them properly after then.

 

[leekyr]

Slick,

 

I've just received another letter this morning from Ashbourne.... Its goes as follows : -

 

ADdress

****

****

Reference: ****

Date : 20/5/1011

 

Dear Member,

 

We refer to our previous corresondence and note that we have still not received a payment from you.

 

We received confirmation that default registration of your debt has now taken place with a leading credit refernce agency. This means that you could now classified as a credit risk with financial institutions. This could start to affect severly your ability to obtain credit, even down to using a credit card. This situation wil continue to get worse as more searches are conducted.

 

However, if you pay £680.00 within the next seven days, your default registration will then be erased from the agencys files with no records made, or it will be shown as satisfied.

 

There are four ways in which you bring your payments up to date:

 

1. Settle your aco**** online @ ashbournepayments,co,uk etc etc etc

2. Pay over the phone by credit/direct debit card, 24hours etc etc etc

3. Please contact our customer service team on 0870 ******* quoting member reference number etc etc etc

4. Send a cheque/postal order by post, endorsed with your membership reference etc etc etc

 

If you continue to do nothing, the default registration will remain in place for the next six years, affecting every aspect of your financial life.

 

If you would like to clear this bad debt but are unable to pay £680.00 immediately, we can refer you to a debt DR, a company which provides real solutions to debt issues. They offer free initial confidential consultation through a personal visit. For more information visit debtdr,co,uk.

 

We trust you will give this matter your immediate attention.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Collections Dept.

 

 

 

 

Basically a repeat of all previous letter to which I either ignored or replied to.

 

Their line "If you continue to do nothing, the default registration will remain in place for the next six years, affecting every aspect of your financial life.", how can they say this? I've replied to most of their recent letters are your advice.

 

What should I do next Slick?

 

Anychance of a letter template to reply with? I'd rather send them a letter now before getting the outcome from the courts just to try and "cover " myself even further.

 

Cheers.

 

Rick.

[slick132]

As we're now so close to the High Court ruling, I'd simply write saying,

 

I note the content of your letter of xxdate.

 

I warned you in my letter of 12th April of the consequences if you register a Default against my credit records. Unless it is removed immediately, I will take all necessary steps to have it removed and to seek compensation from you.

 

I believe the High Court ruling is due to be handed down shortly in the case brought by the OFT against yourselves.

 

I will await this decision and then decide what action to take against you myself.

 

In the meantime, I remind you that this matter is still in clear dispute and you should desist from taking any further action.

 

8-)

[leekyr]

As we're now so close to the High Court ruling, I'd simply write saying,

 

I note the content of your letter of xxdate.

 

I warned you in my letter of 12th April of the consequences if you register a Default against my credit records. Unless it is removed immediately, I will take all necessary steps to have it removed and to seek compensation from you.

 

I believe the High Court ruling is due to be handed down shortly in the case brought by the OFT against yourselves.

 

I will await this decision and then decide what action to take against you myself.

 

In the meantime, I remind you that this matter is still in clear dispute and you should desist from taking any further action.

 

8-)

 

 

So basically word for word as above? do I need to send a copy to ARC?

 

Also, what is likely to come from the Courts about this? And what effect would that have on us?

[slick132]

Yes you can use my wording verbatim or adapt further as you wish.

 

As we are so close to the High Court ruling, I see no point in guessing what will be said, or how this will affect gym membership contracts.

 

Just a few more days....................

 

8-)