Smeeagainybff v Harlands

[smeeagainybff]

I am not with Ashbourne but find myself in a very similar situation.

I took out a Gym membership with Harlands in Jul2008 which I later found committed me to a 3yr direct debit agreement. Some months laterdue to a change in my personal circumstances I moved to an area where it was not convenient to me to get to the Gym so I called to cancel my membership but discovered that this would not be allowed so I asked when this would expire and was told June 2011.

I have since moved again but continued to pay my membership every month until may 2011 when I cancelled the DD.

 

Last week I got a text messsage from a company called CRS asking me to contact them - which I did to discover that it would appear that I had cancelled the DD too early and therefore owed £24 to harlands - which has now grown to £140.60 with admin and Credit recovery charges. I queried this amount but was advised that several letters had not been responded to (having been sent to the previous address where I have not lived since July 2009. I find it very annoying to think that once they have allowed this amount to escalate to this amount with charges that they are then able to 'locate' me with a text message- why couldn't this have happened when they first identified an underpayment?

I am really upset that this situation has arisen and I probably now have a detrimental entry on my until now spotless credit reference. Is there anything I am able to do or must I bite the bullet and pay this extortionate amount for a £24 underpayment?

[pokinthruboxers]

The order against Ashbourne may wel be relevant to your situation and the fact that you appear (ed) to be tied to a thirty six month 'contract' may apply. I would certainly look into this and personally would withhold ANY payment until I had some clarity on how the ruling against Ashbourne applies.

Edited October 6, 2011 by pokinthruboxers

[smeeagainybff]

Thanks for this I will look into whether this ruling can be applied to my circumstances

[pokinthruboxers]

IF, as I suspect, the ruling can and does apply, it is a shame that your 'contract' is virtually at an end. However, even so I would also seek advice on whether I could claim any payments back as I suspect the order regarding the invalidity of these long contracts would seem applicable to your own case?

 

Good luck with it, whatever you decide.

 

On a separate note ( and I am sure Slick will know) I am sure that punitive admin charges do not apply and are unenforceable, so tell them to do one..........

[slick132]

Hi Smee and welcome to CAG

 

I've put your posts and related replies into your own thread that you can use from now on.

 

The 36 month contract with Harlands will be deemed unenforceable by virtue of the High Court ruling against AMSL. Accordingly, you will not have to pay the final instalment to Harlands or to CRS.

 

Neither Harlands nor CRS have any legal basis to enforce admin, default or penalty charges as such amounts are deemed unfair. If CRS contact you again, record the call if you can. Tell them the matter is in dispute with the gym and you have no need to talk to CRS as they must not make demands while the matter is in dispute. They may tell you that you can only speak to them now - ignore this, as they are wrong.

 

You must get a copy of your credit file (£2 by post) and see if any adverse entries have been made by Harlands or CRS. If so, you should be able to get them removed and possibly seek compensation for damage to your reputation.

 

I'll seek further input about whether you may be able to reclaim fees paid after you tried to cancel. Don't do anything further until I come back on this.

 

Read the Sticky Thread here and follow through to the links - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?320766-Ashbourne-Management-Services-Ltd-Contracts-longer-than-12-months

 

[dx100uk]

yes ofcourse you can reclaim admin and any debt collection fees.

 

they are a penalty - endoff.

 

go get 'em!

 

dx

[slick132]

Hi Smee,

 

Taken some advice on this and we feel there's merit in seeking a refund of all fees paid to the gym or Harlands. If they refuse, we will guide you with taking the matter to court.

 

Are you up for this.

 

If so, please confirm :-

 

1. Was your contract with a gym (which one) or with Harlands direct.

 

2. When did you try to cancel the m/ship and was this done in person at the gym, or by letter or email (to whom).

 

[smeeagainybff]

Hi Slick thanks for this.

My membership was for a Gym called Isobodies in Alvethorpe nr Wakefield. but payments were administered by Harlands.

 

I phoned their enquiries line in March 2009 to cancel my membership but unfortunately I no longer have a record of the date/time I must have misplaced this during my most recent move although I have found my confirmation agreement from Harlands.

 

Their agent advised me that although I had moved it was deemed to be within an acceptable travelling distance and therefore would not be allowed to cancel until the contract was completed. I did try to attend a couple of times as I felt that I should if I was having to pay my fees every month but it was just not workable.

 

I guess without any solid evidence it will prove difficult to progress this but I am happy to try anything you think would work even if it is just a write off of the admin and charge.

 

If I can supply any further information which may help please let me know

 

thanks

[slick132]

So we can consider if your case is suitable for a reclaim of paid m/ship fees, could you list a chronological history of events including the dates you :-

 

1.Joined the gym.

2. Moved away.

3. Contacted the gym saying you could no longer attend.

4. Subsequently attended to try and get value from your m/ship.

 

If you don't have exact dates, guess the month.

 

When you asked to cancel, did you speak to the gym, to Harlands or both.

 

[smeeagainybff]

HiSlick

 

I did reply but I can't see the response in the thread-please see details below -my details in red against the questions in your post

 

Hi Slick

 

Thanks for your response and my apologies for the delay in responding - I was doing a bit of digging and checking for any supporting documentation. The date for contacting Harlands was based on an entry in my journal dated 26th april to remind me to contact them to cancel - so the call would almost certainly have been within a day or so of this.

 

The other dates are fairly accurate the joining date is from their documentation and the form actually has a note that all queries about p;ayment should be made to the Harland Group and stated quote " isobodies 08 does not deal with queries at the club."

 

Hope this is useful

 

best regards

 

Pat

 

 

On Tue, Oct 11, 2011 at 10:05 PM, The Consumer Forums wrote:

Dear smeeagainybff,

 

slick132 has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Smeeagainybff v Harlands - in the Gyms and Health Clubs forum of The Consumer Forums.

 

 

Here is the message that has just been posted:

***************

So we can consider if your case is suitable for a reclaim of paid m/ship fees, could you list a chronological history of events including the dates you :-

 

1.Joined the gym. Joined 4th July 2008

2. Moved away. Moved away 27th February 2009

3. Contacted the gym saying you could no longer attend. On or around 27th April 2009

4. Subsequently attended to try and get value from your m/ship. August 2009

 

If you don't have exact dates, guess the month.

 

When you asked to cancel, did you speak to the gym, to Harlands or both. Advised by Gym to contact Harlands Customer Service

 

***************

[slick132]

Hi Smee,

 

In light of your replies, I think you should seek a refund of all fees paid after you tried to cancel at the end of April 2009.

 

What date was the DD taken each month. We can then establish how much you will reclaim but it should be in excess of £500.

 

In addition, I think you should claim either:-

 

1. Compound interest in restitution to compensate for the fact that they had the use of you money unjustly, or

 

2.Statutory Interest at 8% (or higher if they mention any interest rate on their T&C's.

 

In this connection, please see my PM about the T&C's.

 

[smeeagainybff]

Hi SlickMy DD's were scheduled for 8th of every month at £12 with the last one leaving my account on 9.5.11 after which I cancelled (having been told my membership expired in June. I have since located the Harlands agreement which advised that the last payment would be due on 8/7/2011.However I also located the flyer which prompted me to join this particular Gym. This had a few 'Introductory' offers - one of which was 12 month Direct Debit Membership. I can try to scan and mail these to you if these will help.regardsP

[slick132]

Ok, you tried to cancel at the end of April and were told you couldn't. So I think you should reclaim all fees paid from May 2009 to July 2011 inclusive.

 

27months @ £24 pm = £648

 

Does that sound right to you.

[smeeagainybff]

Hi Slick

 

the DD was for £12 mthly (it was on a special introductory offer) so It would be half that

 

cheers

 

P

[slick132]

Ah, sorry. I read £24 above and thought that was the monthly amount.

 

So the total reclaim figure will be £324 - agreed ?

 

[smeeagainybff]

Hi Slickyes that sounds about right but to be honest I would be happy just to get them to dismiss this ridiculous demand for unpaid fees and charges!!So what is the next step?cheersP

[slick132]

You can start with a letter to Harlands seeking a full refund of fees paid plus compound interest in restitution. I'll draft this later, when you reply to my PM about the contract. We'll also deal with what spreadsheet to use for your Schedule of Charges (SOC).

 

The Prelim Claim letter will give them 14 days to refund as per your SOC. If they fail to respond positively, you'll send an LBA giving them a final 14 days.

 

At this stage, it's entirely up to you whether you take court action. If you're happy for them to back off and stop demanding further amounts from you, then you can stop when you reach that stage. You don't have to tell them that you just want the demands to stop.

 

 

Alternatively, if you fancy getting the fees and interest back, you can follow through and issue a formal court claim.

[slick132]

Hi Smee,

 

As discussed, you are moving on with this now and you've just sent the following letter off to Harlands :-

 

 

Harlands Services Ltd

First Floor

41 – 43, Perrymount Road

Haywards Heath

West Sussex

RH16 3BN

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

Gym Membership - xxxxx Gym, Location

 

I refer to the membership agreement which I signed when joining the Isobodies Gym on xxth month 2008. The initial membership period was for 36 months.

 

In the case of the OFT v Ashbourne Management Services Ltd heard in the High Court Chancery Division in Birmingham in March 2011, The Honourable Mr Justice Kitchin considered various terms concerning gym contracts.

 

In the Penal Order made by the judge on 12th August 2011, he made it clear that contracts with minimum membership periods in excess of 12 months were unfair to the consumer. Such contracts were deemed unfair under Section 5(1), UCTTR 1999.

 

In my own case, I tried to cancel my membership on or around 27th April 200 because I moved to an area which made it unfeasible to continue to travel to, and use, the gym. When I contacted Harlands saying I wanted to cancel, I was told I could not and would have to continue to pay fees up to the end of the 36 month contract.

 

I now aver that I had every right to cancel my membership with 30 days notice in April 2009 and make a final payment in May 2009.

 

Accordingly, I now demand that you refund to me the monthly fees that I paid from June 2009 up to May 2011 inclusive. This makes a total of 24 payments at £12 per month which equals £288.

 

If you fail to refund this amount to me in full within 14 days, I will take such further action as is necessary to recover the amount claimed. I will take court action if required and will seek court fees and Statutory Interest and/or compound Restitutionary Interest in addition to the £288.

 

I trust you make the necessary refund and avoid the need for court action.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

We shall see how they respond.

 

[smeeagainybff]

Hi Slick

 

Well the Prelim letter resulted in a big fat zero so the LBA (letter before Action) was posted by recorded delivery on 20th March and to date the zero is even fatter - they have until 3rd April to respond then it's off to court we go!!!

 

I also took your advice and complained to the OFT about the threatening and intimidating letters I am continually receiving from their debt recovery arm (which is a trading name for Harlands) who have chosen to ignore my communications requesting that they desist in sending these letters while the issue with Harlands is in dispute. (surprise surprise!)

Watch this space........