DW Fitness Membership cancellation after 1 day

[MartinKH]

Hi,

 

Bit of a strange one this,

 

 

I took out a gym membership with DW Fitness on 28th April 2014 and

that same day I found out that my Wife was pregnant.

 

 

Thinking that the added monthly cost would be better spent elsewhere

I called the gym the next day to ask if they would agree in this instance to cancel it

as I have had not used the service and I could do with using the money elsewhere.

 

The manager instantly stated that this was a 6 month agreement taken out in good faith,

which I agree is correct, however, I kindly asked he if would consider.

 

 

He advised me that he couldn't make that decision without speaking to someone at head office

as it was not something which has happened before.

 

 

I have sent an email as requested to the gym and i received no reply some 7 days later,

 

 

I have again emailed him today and he has since left a voice mail to say that as he thought,

he doesn't 'think' that it can be cancelled and the 6 month period must be honoured.

 

Now, I was considered biting the bullet and completed the six months,

however, in the past week my Wife has been rather ill with severe nausea known as HG for short.

This has left her more or less bed bound for 4 days with no sign of improving at present,

meaning I am now having to care for her and our 7 year old,

meaning the gym is not likely to happen any time soon.

 

I appreciate the 6 month contract agreement,

 

 

does anyone know of any compassionate grounds where they may listen and understand my request?

 

Many thanks

 

Martin

[citizenB]

Have you sent a letter/email to their Head office/Registered office ?

[BankFodder]

There is pretty well no compassion with Gym clubs. They make a very significant amount of their money from cancellations. In fact it is the Cancellation Industry.

 

Did you take out your membership over the counter or online? On line - you would have a 14 day cooling off period (is that right - 14??) or 7.

 

Under UTCCR they are not allowed to charge a disproportionate amount for cancellation and so you may want merely to give them one months notice and cancel your DD immediately - or did you pay them upfront?

 

If you paid them upfront then it is probably not worth doing very much about it - except to spread the word what a hard-hearted pitiless bunch they are.

Where is this one based?

[BankFodder]

I see that you DW manager has decided not to apply the exception at:-

 

pera.12.2 - http://www.dwfitnessclubs.com/terms-conditions

 

if none of the above circumstances in (2) apply and you are affected by other unforeseen extenuating circumstances, we may at our discretion (and on an individual basis) consider a request by you to cancel your membership. Any such request shall be made to your Local Club manager;

That makes him even more hard-hearted

 

 

By the way, I notice that para. 14.1

should we cancel your membership under paragraph 15 below you will not be entitled to a refund (pro-rata or otherwise) for any of your membership fees)

... is an unenforceable contractual term

[MartinKH]

Have you sent a letter/email to their Head office/Registered office ?

 

Hi, at present I have only liaised with the local manager as it wanted to give him the opportunity to resolve this for me. I am going to speak to him tomorrow and she what he had to say as he had left when I returned his voice mail.

[MartinKH]

There is pretty well no compassion with Gym clubs. They make a very significant amount of their money from cancellations. In fact it is the Cancellation Industry.

 

Did you take out your membership over the counter or online? On line - you would have a 14 day cooling off period (is that right - 14??) or 7.

 

Under UTCCR they are not allowed to charge a disproportionate amount for cancellation and so you may want merely to give them one months notice and cancel your DD immediately - or did you pay them upfront?

 

If you paid them upfront then it is probably not worth doing very much about it - except to spread the word what a hard-hearted pitiless bunch they are.

Where is this one based?

 

Hi, I took the membership out in the gym so unfortunately the 14 day cooling off does not apply.

 

I have agreed to pay via DD and to date I have paid for the month of May upfront and I have yet to make a payment via DD. If I give them one months notice would they be acting out of line if they were to charge me the full 6 months?

 

This one is based in Tunstall. Stoke On Trent.

 

Thank you

[MartinKH]

Bankfodder

 

Thank you, I will mention both points to our hard hearted manager tomorrow to see if he had softened overnight.

 

To clarify is the second point unenforceable under any circumstance?

 

Thanks again.

[slick132]

Hi Martin and welcome to CAG

 

As BF says, gyms have an awful reputation with cancellations generally. Even when you are entitled to cancel, they can make it difficult, as shown in this case earlier today - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?423888-Gym-cancellation-of-membership-and-ARC-and-now-solicitors-letter-re-small-claims-court

 

I would certainly remind the manager of Term 12(2) which give him personally the discretion to release you from the agreement in unforeseen extenuating circumstances. See if he is willing to budge and release you from the agreement.

 

If this fails, you could complain to the Head Office but experience here suggests that may not get the desired result.

 

That leaves the option of contesting the agreement based on it's unfairness to you as a consumer. Eg Term 8 and Term 14(3) both refer to them charging a £25 admin fee. Such a fee does not reflect the costs incurred by them, caused by your actions and, as such, the fees are penalties and unenforceable. You could argue that you refuse to be bound by terms that are so unfair and the imposition of them puts them in breach.

 

Let us know how you get on .............

 

[BankFodder]

Bankfodder

 

To clarify is the second point unenforceable under any circumstance?

 

Thanks again.

 

I would say so. It is punitive. If the gym feels that they have to terminate someone's membership, then effectively they are saying that the member has seriously breached the contract in some way by their behaviour. The gym would only be allowed to recoup any losses incurred. They are not entitled to impose a forfeiture of money which effectively amounts to a punishment or a fine.

 

However, the invalidity of a single term which is not core to the purpose of the contract, does not invalidate the entire contract.