Credit resolution Services

[Krezaie]

Hi guys im in need of dire help.

Extremely stressed i have no real idea of what to do.

I had a gym membership with gym4all which i could not attend as i moved to Manchester for a year.

The total debt i had with them was for 180 pounds.

What happened was that this debt was sent to CRS Credit Resolution services i agreed to pay 10 pounds per month as im a student i really can not afford to pay any more.

I paid this for a total of 9 months and on the 10 month i missed a payment.

I then received a letter stating than i was to be charged a 25 pound administration fee and the next payment was for 35 pounds and on the letter it stated that the account balance to be paid is still remaining of £312.44.

At this stage i was stressed and confused thinking how can a debt of 180 pounds raise to £402.44 as i have been paying 10 pounds a month for the last 9 months.

 

So in my stress i called to talk to them 5 days prier to the date that the 35 pounds was to be taken form my account. I called 5 days before because it stated on the letter that i needed to contact them at least 3 days before payment was to be taken from my account.

 

I was then told that someone will be in contact with me soon as the person "DEAN" was not at the office however i told them that i will be cancelling the direct debit on the account until i can talk to "DEAN".

 

I was then contacted 1 week later by "DEAN" I was contacted after receiving another letter saying that i have encored a further 25 pound charge as they were not able to take the 35 pound out of my account so now the next direct debit will be for 60 pounds.

 

When i talked to dean he stated to me that only £7.50 of the 10 pounds per month i have been paying was to pay my debt and the £2.50 was for my admin charges.

 

I then asked dean for the following:

True copy of the original credit agreement

The statement of the account

Copy of the executed deed of assignment from Gym4All to Credit Resolution Services

 

which he replied by laughing at me and saying that they dont apply to my account and i should not be using information from the internet and i should get some real legal advice.

 

I have no real idea of what to do. I sent the following email from information i managed to find on the internet.

 

Dear Sir/Madam

Re: CRS Ref No: / Gym4all Ref No:

 

I am writing this email on the advice of my legal aid.

I am disputing the charges that have been added to my account.

I would like a copy of your complaints procedures and information on who you regulators are as well as the following:

True copy of the original credit agreement

The statement of the account

Copy of the executed deed of assignment from Gym4All to Credit Resolution Services

I have paid 10 pounds per month for the past 9 months which comes to the sum of 90 pounds.

I am willing to come to an agreement to settle this account which was for the 180 pounds that I owed gym4all however i am not willing to pay the current account balance of 312 pounds and 44 pence.

Or the balance which was quoted for me of 264 pounds and 64 pence.

At this stage any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested and consider this matter to be “in dispute”.

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

I am now waiting for a reply.

 

Thanks in advance for every ones help.

I know it may not seem like a huge amount of money but it is when you cant afford to pay it.

 

Thank you KRezaie

[MARTIN3030]

These are penalty charges,and as such you should be looking to claim them back.

Have you got a statement of the account-ie what the original amount was and what you have paid ?

What was the agreement that you had with gym4all ?

[MARTIN3030]

see here

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?333010-Credit-Resolution-Services....&p=3671359#post3671359

[Krezaie]

i owed originally 180

 

when crs first contacted me i think they told me around 240....

im really confused to be honest....

[MARTIN3030]

Read a few of the other threads in this forum.

[slick132]

Hi Krezaie,

 

I'd like some more info on this :-

 

1. When did you join the gym.

 

2. What was the minimum m/ship period that you signed up for.

 

3. What was the monthly m/ship fee.

 

4. When you moved to Manchester, did you contact the gym asking to cancel at the time. If you contacted them, what did you say and how did they respond.

 

5. How much did you pay them in monthly fees before moving to Manchester.

 

6. What have you paid them since towards clearing the "arrears".

 

Don't speak to Dean or anyone else by phone from now on. If they call you, tell them to put anything they have to say in writing.

 

The admin fees that they have charged are penalties and you will not have to pay them at all. They cannot enforce these penalty fees.

 

[Krezaie]

Slick i Love you

 

i joined the gym about 1 year and a half ago i cant remember the exact date

 

it was a 12 month membership

 

the monthly membership fee was 14.99 a month

 

my stupidity i did not contct the gym

 

i think i paid around 30 pounds to the gym before moving

 

i have paid 10 pounds per month for the last 9 months so 90 pounds

 

thanks for your reply slick and thank you everyone else who has replied.

 

ill make sure i tell them to put everything in writing.

 

Thank you again.

[slick132]

Hi Krezaie,

 

You should take time to read other threads here to see the problems others encounter, and how they're dealing with the gym or gym admin company.

 

So, in total you have paid £30 when you were using the gym and £90 since making a total of £120.

 

Forget any admin fees they have added to the "debt" - they are penalties and are NOT enforceable.

 

Although you signed up for a year, your move to Manchester was a legitimate reason to cancel the agreement. You should have contacted the gym when you moved and explained why you had to cancel. They'd have argued but, if you'd come here at the time, we'd have helped you see them off !

 

However, that didn't happen so we have to deal with the present situation.

 

Please write to CRS as follows:-

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

Gym4All

 

Further to my recent letter, I have taken advice and now understand that your admin fees are unenforceable penalties which I will not pay.

 

I assume the membership contract allowed for cancellation when moving home.

 

I could not use the gym because of my move from [the old town or city] to Manchester. I should have told you about this at the time but was more worried about how to deal with the debt.

 

I now realise I had valid grounds to cancel the membership agreement although I should have offered to pay a month's fee as reasonable compensation. I should also have cancelled the membership by writing to you, although my cancellation of the DD mandate was adequate notice of cancellation (according to Mr Justice Kitchin in the High Court case brought by the OFT against Ashbourne Mgt Services Ltd).

 

In the circumstances, it appears I have paid you £90 since moving when I should have paid only £14.99 or £29.98 at the most. You are therefore in profit to the tune of £60 to £75.

 

I will not ask for this to be refunded as it was my own fault for not dealing with the cancellation properly at the time.

 

However, I trust you will now see why I will not be paying you any more for membership or admin fees.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

They'll most likely come back and argue but we'll deal with that as necessary.

 

[Krezaie]

Wow slick

you made me realise there are still good people out there i can not believe you took your time out to write me that letter I really appreciate I will be sending the email out today.

 

Sorry for the late reply i have been busy with university ...

 

I will 100% be checking out the rest of the forums for similar cases.

 

Thank you.

 

Ill be keeping this thread updated with their responses.

[slick132]

Hi Krezaie,

 

Your reply is not late and you're far better to be doing Uni work than worrying about the likes of CRS.

 

There may come a stage when it's actually best to ignore them completely.

 

Let us know their response.

 

[Krezaie]

Hey guys just to update anyone who is checking this thread still no replay back .....

 

Maybe things are going good

[MARTIN3030]

Yes.

[slick132]

Hi Krezaie,

 

I'm pretty sure CRS will be coming back and arguing with you about this.

 

Let us know when they do.

 

[Krezaie]

hey guys I received a phone call from the dean character from crs he said to me that he will be proceeding with a final letter and ask me how i would like to repay the debt i said to him i have contacted you by email twice which he responded that the information within my emails where irrelevant which i responded that i would like to deal with everything by email.

he then said to me he will be sending out a final letter and proceeded to hang up the phone.

 

They have completely ignored my emails.

 

This is the letter they have written to me.

 

Extremely important - Final Demand

 

Your account balance of 337.33 due to gym4all remains unpaid.

 

If you fail to respond to us by 18th october 2012 we will proceed in one of the following ways:

 

1. Legal Action

You have willingly signed a legally binding contract. We therefore believe the court will order you to repay the balance plus costs and interest. The affect of this could include:

-A county court judgement (ccj) being publicly logged

-A court hearing in front of a judge

-Direct monthly payments being deducted from your wages

-Seizure and sale of your goods and property by bailiffs

-Removal of the balance from your bank account

-Balance deducted from sale proceeds of your home via a charging order

 

2.

A field collector will be asked to visit your premises to collect your account balance.

 

YOU CAN AVOID THIS HAPPENING IF WITHIN THE NEXT 10 DAYS:

 

1. you contact us on 01444 449 165 to either settle 33.44 by direct debit or credit card, set up an acceptable instalement plan, or discuss why you can not pay.

2. You send us a check/postal order/ bank draft for 337.44, payable to credit resolution services and sent to 1st floor stuart house, 41-43 perrymount road, haywards heath, west sussx, rh16 3bn.

 

Guys they have completely ignored the 2 emails i have sent.

Im quite worried.

Thanks for all the help in advance.

[slick132]

Hi Krezaie,

 

Firstly, can you please confirm that you did, in fact, cancel the DD mandate.

 

Don't let this last letter worry you. Next time Dean or anyone else from their office calls, take the initiative and tell them to put anything they have to say in writing, then hang up.

 

If they choose to ignore your letters, that is their prerogative but it doesn't mean you have to pay them anything. They are trying to bully you into paying and you should stand firm so they see you will not be intimidated by them. They can use all the Bold Print and Scary Red Ink they like but it changes nothing.

 

Their contract should have allowed you to cancel when you moved away - that would be fair and reasonable. Your only error was you agreed to keep paying them when you should just have cancelled the agreement.

 

Write back a short letter, by Recorded Delivery this time.

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

Gym4All

 

I refer to your letter of xxdate which completely ignores the points that I made in my email to you of xxdate.

 

For ease of reference, I enclose a copy of my emailed letter.

 

If you choose to ignore the points which I raised, that is, of course, your prerogative. However, this does not mean I owe you the money which you continue to demand.

 

I will not pay you anything more.

 

If you make any further demands for payment, I will refer the matter to the OFT sending copies of all letters as I understand they are investigating gyms and their admin companies regarding contracts and collection activity.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

If they make any further demands, I will give you contact details at the OFT, where you can send copies of letters. Although the OFT will not assist in your personal case, they need consumers to pass on details so they can consider the bigger picture, and decide if action should be taken against Harlands, CRS or any other such companies.

 

Please also read through this thread - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?353762-Credit-Resolution-Services.(1-Viewing)-nbsp You are not alone in been bullied for payments and others are standing up to them, and reporting their cases to the OFT.

 

Edited November 9, 2012 by slick132
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