Gym membership cancellation

[Winston1973]

Hi,

 

 

I recently cancelled a gym membership by just cancelling the direct debit as I was about to go overdrawn. I was supposed to give a month's notice which I didn't do so I am prepared to pay them two month's membership. However, they are charging me £50 for missing the two payments and I am wondering if I can contest these 'administration' charges? They are already threatening me with debt recovery companies because I haven't paid yet.

 

 

In addition to the fact I was about to go overdrawn, the gym was also frequently never open on time, something that many people have complained about and I was wondering if I could mention this in my correspondence if I contest the administration charges?

 

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[maroondevo52]

Hello and Welcome Winston,

 

I've moved this thread to the appropriate Forum, hopefully you will get some advice shortly.

 

Regards,

 

Scott.

[BankFodder]

Hi,

 

 

I recently cancelled a gym membership by just cancelling the direct debit as I was about to go overdrawn. I was supposed to give a month's notice which I didn't do so I am prepared to pay them two month's membership. However, they are charging me £50 for missing the two payments and I am wondering if I can contest these administration charges? They are already threatening me with debt recover companies because I haven't paid yet.

 

 

In addition to the fact I was about to go overdrawn, the gym was also frequently never open on time, something that many people have complained about and I was wondering if I could mention this in my correspondence if I contest the administration charges?

 

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

You shouldn't pay them more than one month's cancellation in any event.

Ask them for a breakdown of any more and to show that their cancellation fee reflects their actual losses

[slick132]

Hi Winston,

 

Please confirm what gym and/or gym admin company you're dealing with.

 

Were you in a 12 month agreement or on a monthly rolling agreement.

 

The issue of the late opening is really not so relevant. If you were concerned about this, you should have raised it as a separate issue.

 

If they insist on trying to charge you the admin fees, you can use this to argue they are failing to treat you fairly and/or lawfully. Hence you have grounds to cancel on this basis.

 

We can help you with a letter to the gym/admin company if you want.

 

[Winston1973]

Hi!

 

 

The gym was Xercise4Less and the company is Harlands.

 

I was on a rolling monthly agreement and I was about to go overdrawn so I just cancelled the direct debit. I know I was supposed to give a month's notice but I would have incurred a big charge for going overdrawn so it was the lesser of two evils.

 

I emailed the gym and told them I want to cancel but they said I have to hand my cancellation notice in with a signature. I sent off a letter but they for some reason didn't cancel my account until after my next payment was due which meant I 'missed' another direct debit.

 

Harlands got in touch and said I owe two months and an admin payment of £25 for each month. And if I don't pay it in the next seven days or arrange a payment plan with them then they will refer me to a debt collection agency.

 

 

I am not sure what to write in my reply, I just think those admin charges are ridiculous but I don't want to be getting hassled by a DCA for them!

Edited June 7, 2014 by slick132
spacing added

[slick132]

Hi Winston,

 

The gym is wrong ! You were perfectly entitled to cancel by email and just make sure you keep a copy of it for future reference.

 

The charges Harlands have added are effectively penalties and, as such, are unlawful and unenforceable. The DCA that will take the matter up is CRS who are simply Harlands with a different hat on !!

 

You could send Harlands this. Use RM Signed For delivery or get a free Certificate of Posting from the PO when you send it :-

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

Due to personal financial circumstances, I had to cancel the DD mandate for my Xercise4Less gym membership. I emailed the gym on xxdate confirming this although they said I had to cancel in writing with a signature. Even though this is not necessary, I wrote the letter but the date applicable to my cancellation is still the date of my email to the gym.

 

I know I should have paid one more fee for the month's notice but I could not so this at the time. I am willing to pay the further month's fee but I will not pay any admin fees which I know to be unenforceable penalty charges.

 

If you confirm in writing that you'll accept the month's fee of £xx.xx in settlement of all amounts due, I will pay this amount promptly to end the matter.

 

If you make demands for any higher amounts, I will pay you nothing.

 

This offer is open for 14 days, after which it will be withdrawn and I will not correspond further in the matter.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

See how they respond and let us know.

 

[Winston1973]

That's great thanks, I'll write that out and send it off tomorrow.

 

Hopefully they'll accept and that will be the end of the matter although I'm assuming they will not back down without some kind of fight! I'll let you know what they say and thanks again

[Winston1973]

I received a reply from Harlands today which stated that they need to look into my cancellation with the gym in order to resolve the situation with them. Apparently they can't discuss the outstanding payments and cancellation of my membership until they have heard back from the gym about the details of my cancellation.

 

It has now been almost fourteen days since I sent the letter so the deadline I gave them is almost up. I'm not sure what exactly they need to check with the gym that couldn't have been done with one simple phone call or email so I don't know whether to write back and repeat my final offer with a seven day deadline or wait to see what they say?

[slick132]

Hi Winston,

 

Your offer to Harlands is very clear and, if they miss the deadline, that's their problem.

 

You have no need to reiterate or extend your offer for now.

 

In reality, when they finally respond to you, you may still offer the final month's payment once more to show you being reasonable.