Bannatyne's Misleading Advert

[precious_maj]

Hello Everyone,

 

I have recently joined Bannatyne's through a special offer, which they text to me, which is really misleading as can be seen from my email to them below:

 

 

 

 

Dear Sir or Madam,

 

 

 

I am writing regarding my recent application for membership with the club, which became active from 16th March 2011. I contacted Bannatyne's back in December regarding membership but due to being busy with work I couldn't join but received regular offers by text message from the club. I got the following text message from Bannatyne's before I joined:

 

 

 

'Join Bannatyne's Peterborough for no JOINING FEE!* Receive a £90 Sports Pack, ends today at 6pm!. Call 01733292600 or text STOP to 88882 *T&C's Apply'

 

 

 

On the basis of the text I decided to join the club as I was getting something back before I joined. I had no idea how to view the T&C's nor did I know where to look for these. I booked an appointment with 1 of the sales staff and asked about the £90 Sports Pack and was told that everyone who joins receives this and I will get this too. I was taken around the club to view all the equipment and facilities available to members, after that we got all the paperwork completed. I was told that 4 of my friends are entitled to free passes from the club, I filled in a form with their details including their telephone numbers. I was also told that my other half would get a 1/2 price spa treatment at the club. I was NOT told that the free passes and 1/2 price spa treatment would be in my £90 Sports Pack. I left the club without being given a Sports Pack, the day after I went to the club for my introduction with 1 of the trainers and asked for the Sports Pack and I was given a Sports bag with a tag of £8.99 on it, I realised at this stage that I was not going to get a Pack.

 

 

 

After only being given the £8.99 Sports bag in the Pack that I was offered, I was puzzled as this clearly was not to the value of £90. I called the club and spoke to the sales rep that I initially saw when I joined and explained this to him and was only told then that the Sports Pack entailed the 4 free passes for my friends and the 1/2 price spa treatment. I asked why I wasn't told this before and didn't get a satisfactory answer, the member of staff was only in his first week of employment with the club apparently. I was told to speak to him when I come to the club later that day and he will ask the manager to be in the discussion with us who would be in a better position to provide the answers. After about an hour of this conversation taking place, I received the following text:

 

 

 

'Refer a friend to Bannatyne's Peterborough & when they join you will receive a Bannatyne's rucksack call now for more information 01733292600 text STOP 88883'

 

 

 

Not only was this text un-necessary it was undermining my conversation an hour earlier, which probably led to a laugh and giggle at the club at my expense.

 

 

 

After receiving the above text I decided not to go to the club on that day, 25th March. I phoned the club on the 26th to discuss these issues and spoke to the Manager Gemma. Regarding the issue of being misled about the offer I was told that this is a standard text that is usually sent by the club, initiated by the head office and actioned by the individual club's and was informed that there is nothing wrong with the text from a legal perspective. I tried to explain that I felt like I was mis-led into the membership but was told by Gemma that we are going around in a circle and she doesn't feel like it's appropriate discussing the issue anymore. Regarding the matter of the text about getting a rucksack, I was told that it's a generic text sent to all members who have joined in the last 3 months. I don't buy this argument as they are fully aware that they provide a sports bag to all new members so why would anyone require a further one.

 

 

 

After hearing this I asked Gemma that I would like to cancel my membership with Bannatyne's but was told that I was in a 12 month membership and that I had to remain a member for that period even though I discussed at length the issues that I have had with the club, she refused to acknowledge the issues. I initially paid £39.94, for the rest of the month of March including a £10 fee for a membership card. I am not happy with how I was mis-led into the club and am frustrated that I wasn't told the full picture before I joined and am requesting that you refund me £39.94 as a matter of priority.

 

 

 

The original text was misleading, in the sense that there would not be a benefit to me of £90 as majority of this will be taken away from me. The only item to remain with me would be the £8.99 Sports bag. Regarding the issue of the free passes, I have been informed by my friends that they received a telephone call from the club telling them that they are being offered a free pass for a day to the club. Apparently, the pass would usually cost £12 each. If I was not mis-led then why was the phrasing of the text not as shown below:

 

 

 

'Join Bannatyne's Peterborough for only £10!* Receive a £8.99 Sports Bag plus 1/2 price spa treatment and 4 free passes for your friends, ends today at 6pm!. Call 01733292600 or text STOP to 88882 *T&C's Apply'

 

 

 

 

The above text is what was on offer as the £10 membership card fee is necessary to join the club. Bannatyne's will benefit from the 1/2 price spa treatment and the leads to 4 prospective members so, why was the text that was sent to me making it out to look like I was going to be the recipient of a £90 saving? The above text is a true reflection of what was on offer.

 

 

 

I also feel like I have been made a joke out of and have been treated in a manner that I am not accustomed to. I have been deceived into this membership and hope that you will be able to come to a satisfactory conclusion with me regarding this matter. I can make an issue of this with the Office of Fair Trading and feel very confident in the fact that I am right in doing so. Not only with this waste un-necessary time for me, this will cause you numerous problems in regards to consumer protection and may lead to litigation.

 

 

 

I hope to hear from you soon in writing so that we can put an end to this dispute.

Edited April 18, 2011 by precious_maj

[precious_maj]

Response from Bannatyne's below

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Mr.

I have now fully investigated this matter with the club and also referred this matter to our membership department at Head Office. Bannatyne Fitness Ltd will not be cancelling your membership or refunding you any membership fees already paid.

The membership advisor who joined you on 16th March 2011 has confirmed that he discussed the contents of the Sports Pack with you when you first arrived at the club and again during the tour of the facilities after you confirmed you had received the text from the club. All our text messages are clear and state T&C’s at the end, indicating that we have terms and conditions on all our offers.

I don’t believe you joined the club for the sports pack but rather for the use of the facilities, as previously stated I have tried to contact you to discuss this matter in person so we can resolve this matter and allow you to continue using the facilities. Our advert or text was in no way misleading or illegal.

The text you received after you joined was to promote our member referral offer we are currently running, it just so happens that the gift on offer was the same or similar to what you received for joining. Should you refer someone to join the club, then we would have made alternative arrangements to offer you a different gift.

As previously emailed, I would be happy to meet with you to discuss this matter and resolve this issues you have.

Kind Regards

[precious_maj]

My response to email from Bannatyne's

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your response.

The result of your internal investigation was expected to be in the club's favour. If you had cancelled the membership on my request this would be admitting liability on your part. I have exhausted all duties with yourselves now, we could've come to a fair conclusion to this but you have given me no choice but to pursue legal avenues. I have cancelled the direct debit to Bannatyne's, I am requesting that you should place my membership on hold until there is a resolution to this through the legal process.

If truth be told, even you know that I'm correct as you have not tried to explain the wording in your text, maybe this can be explained at a more advanced stage. In regards to the T&C's, there was a asterisk (*) after the 'JOINING FEE!' meaning that the terms and conditions apply to the joining fee.

This so-called investigation was based on assertions that would favour yourselves as I was never told what the sports pack entailed and the sports pack did play a part in my decision in joining the club. This shows a lack of understanding and morals that the club has to towards it's members. I suggest that you take another look at the subject title of the email just to remind you about the subject at hand.

I will continue to pursue this issue and don't have any qualms in tarnishing the bannatyne brand, this will no doubt cause a lot of bother and be detrimental to the reputation of the club. By continuing to defend your actions you are bordering on infringing my human rights.

You have said that you would like to meet and resolve the issues, how can the issues be resolved if you're so stubborn in admitting that you were wrong in the first place? I suggest you call Duncan Bannatyne himself now to come and meet me so that he can explain to me why I am being treated in this manner. This is about fairness, be fair to me and we can resolve this.

Regards,

[precious_maj]

Since the issue arose, I have spoken to a solicitor, consumer direct, office of fair trading, trading standards and consumer advice bureau. The solicitor has said that the costs are too much and he cannot help, legal aid is not available. The OFT have said it's not an issue that they would deal with, and asked for me to speak to consumer direct. I have spoken to consumer direct, they have instructed me to send all correspondence by recorded delivery, asking for a resolution to this and setting a deadline for responses, all of which I have now done. They are now suggesting legal action through the small claims court.

 

I have spoken to trading standards, because I have never taken anyone to court and could do with some help. They told me that they no longer deal with these issues because of a lack of resources, the person that dealt with these issues was made redundant a year ago and they cannot deal with this. I was told that the local trading standards at Bannatyne's head office would get all complaints through Trading standards and consumer direct. Trading standards have given me 3 options:

 

1.) Take them to the small claims court

2.) Wait for them to take me to court, then put in a counter claim (I was told that they wouldn't reccommend this)

3.) Speak to CAB

 

I decided to speak to the CAB, who said because of the lack of funding the Government has put a stop to this service. They recommended the above 2 options but said the choice of which one is mine to make.

 

If anyone can recommend anything please help me ! Any comments or suggestions would be welcome.

Edited April 18, 2011 by precious_maj

[slick132]

Hi Precious and welcome to CAG

 

The real issues here appear to be:-

 

1.Them saying there's no joining fee but they then charge a M/ship card fee of £10.

 

2. Their offer of a £90 Sports Pack which amounts to a bag worth £9.

 

I agree that they appear to have misled and you probably have grounds to complain and to cancel. Is that what you want to do?

 

The reason I ask is that you may decide on balance that you want to use the facilities but get some sort of rebate to compensate for the misleading sales pitch.

 

If you want to cancel, you can do so but you'll have to deal with them harassing you for money and using a DCA and a "solicitor" to do this.

 

Referring to your options, if you want to cancel the best option is probably to argue your case and let them take court action if they dare. Or, if they harass you too much, you can take action against them but I don't think this is your best course.

 

You'll get little help from CAB or Consumer Direct, none from Trading Standards and hiring your own solicitor would be too costly as you'd get no Legal Aid assistance with such a case.

 

Have a read of other threads here and then see what you prefer to do. We can offer advice but you'll have to do the letters and deal with all their demands, etc.

 

8-)

Edited April 19, 2011 by slick132
added "Legal Aid"

[precious_maj]

Hello Slick,

 

Thank you for your response.

 

I have already complained to them in writing and they do not acknowledge the fact that I was misled, I have asked them already to cancel the membership but have been told that I am in a 12 month contract now and cannot cancel even though I requested to cancel within 48 hours of joining.

 

I don't want to be part of a club that deceives its members and cheats them into membership. If they had acknowledged their mistake and offered an alternative gift then I may have wanted to stay, also the fact they rubbed it in my face wasn't very helpful.

 

I really don't know what to do, I have only lost £40 so far but they could demand a full years membership totalling nearly £700. If I take them to the small claims court, I have a good chance of winning and it will cost me around £40 but I've never been in this situation before.

[slick132]

Hi Precious,

 

Have you checked through all the paperwork they gave you, to see if it mentions any cooling off period or cancellation within a set time.

 

If you find nothing helpful, I think your best course is to deny you owe them anything, based on their misleading offer. Let them take court action if they dare.

 

If you want to be pro-active and take them to court, you will have to research and decide the basis of your claim against them.

 

Look in our Library at SOGA 1979 or CPUTR 2008.

 

[EddyEatWorld]

Hi,

 

First post, and it's to a thread nearing 4 years old which - most likely - will never be read again, but someone has obviously gone to a lot of trouble over this issue in the past, and so the least I could do is register and throw in my two cents. My Bannatyne's membership expired two days ago, and I googled a quick search to find out whether or not I'd pay through the nose to 'STOP' receiving their marketing texts, when I came upon this. I just couldn't stop myself from reading! Anyway, here it is...

 

...you're an idiot.

 

If you signed a contract to guarantee your paying £39.94 to Bannatyne's, each month, for a period of no-less-than 12 months, for an item of no-more-than £90.00 value, you're an idiot.

 

IF however, you joined Bannatyne's because you had the best of intentions and wanted to get healthier, then more power to you. I hope you made use of the facilities and realized that whatever bs you were given in the beginning was of little matter, compared to the improved quality of life that a gym membership can bring.

 

Now please don't get me wrong; I was fed a lot of bs from Bannatyne's at first too, and you are nothing more than a number to them. They really couldn't care less whether or not you make use of their facilities and go on to say nice things about them. It's JUST business. Duncan Bannatyne isn't exactly a former Olympian with a passion to save us from our morbid obesities, after all (still drives the ice cream van to work each day s'what I heard - wee part time thing on the side; pays for the holidays). And as a businessman, I'm sure he'd be the first to tell you that, after doing the maths, erm... yup you're an idiot.

 

I really hope that you have learned to get over things and 'let it go' since all this was going on. With this kind of attitude, I'm amazed you had any friends to refer Bannatyne's to in the first place (are they still your 'friends', now they know you expose all their info and contact details to third parties at the slightest sniff of a discount for yourself?).

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANYWAY, I'm getting kinda harsh! Not my intention really. I don't like Bannatyne's either. They suck.

 

All the best for 2015!

[slick132]

Hi Eddy and welcome to CAG

 

A bit harsh but, on a nearly 4 year old thread, probably not too relevant now.