David Lloyd - 3 month cancellation joys!

[Charge]

After finding these forums and finding them very useful as I'm one of those stitched up by the dreaded David Lloyd 3 month cancellation term I'm hoping I can get some advice as to where to go next.

 

I moved away from where I used to attend a David Lloyd club due to work and have attended once (that I can remember) in the past 2 years. Certainly no more than 5 times and these would have been when visiting parents back at the local club.

 

So I gave my notice on 26th August via email so that I would only have to pay the next DD payment for September and be done with the place.

 

Sent: 26 August 2014 19:42

To: ####

Subject: Cancellation of Membership

 

Hi,

 

I would like to cancel my membership with David Lloyd on 1st September 2014 as it is no longer viable for me to attend one of the clubs easily and the club I can attend (Sudbury Hill) is nowhere near the standard I would expect from a David Lloyd club.

 

My original club was Basildon which was great but there is a huge gulf in the standard of the two clubs.

 

Regards,

 

The response was:

 

On 28 August 2014 18:19, wrote:

Dear ######

 

Thank you for your email. Have you moved out of the area? If you have moved further than 10 miles from ANY David Lloyd club you will qualify for an immediate cancellation on the production of relevant proof.

 

If you cannot provide the relevant proof in the form of a utility bill, bank statement or tenancy agreement I can confirm that your membership will end on 30th November 2014 in line with the 3 calendar months notice to end your membership.

 

I have tried to call you but it seems the mobile number we have on our system is now out of date.

 

Kind Regards

 

My reply:

 

Sent: 29 August 2014 10:17

To: ####

Subject: Re: Cancellation of Membership

 

Hi #####,

 

I haven't been in the area for around 2 years now. I think I've used a club once in the past 2 years and my records will show this. I had my membership updated some time ago to facilitate this as I'm now over in Ruislip but the Sudbury Hill club is absolutely appalling compared to Basildon and it no longer provides me with the service I signed up for. I don't have access to a car so travelling 10 miles is not an option for me and the clubs in and around London are few and far between.

 

If the notice period cannot be shortened can you send me the suspension of membership T's & C's please.

 

Thanks,

 

Then the predictable response came:

 

Dear ####,

 

Thank you for your email.

 

I am sorry to hear that you do not like the Sudbury Hill club but unfortunately we are unable to cancel your membership any earlier than the standard 3 calendar month notice period due to you living within a 10 mile radius. Therefore, the earliest we can end your membership would be the 30th November 2014.

 

With regards to the suspension terms and conditions, any member can suspend their membership for a maximum of 9 months. There is a monthly fee which is 25% of your normal monthly subscriptions. If during you period of suspension you decide you wish to cancel your membership, we then require 3 calendar months written notice at your normal headline rate.

 

Please let me know as soon as possible which option works better for you.

 

Kindest Regards

 

Therefore, after reading on here I sent this back:

 

Sent: 01 September 2014 21:42

To: ###

Subject: Re: Cancellation of Membership

 

Hi ####,

 

Thanks for your reply although I'm thoroughly unsatisfied with it.

 

As a loyal member for over 7 years with David Lloyd it's a great shame there is still a need for David Lloyd to offer wholly unfair cancellation notice periods. It has never been made clear to me the requirement for three months notice, just the one month. I would also like to point out that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) states that “rolling terms” are unfair and indeed have instructed companies including David Lloyd that you need to reduce your notice period and to communicate them clearly. Following the OFT action, Bannatyne Fitness Limited who were also instructed to make changes to their contracts are now operating a 1 month cancellation policy. This is the same as the majority of other UK gyms including the one I am signing up to.

 

I would hope you are aware of the ruling made against David Lloyd in March 2013 that is shown below:

 

*****link*****

 

I did not receive any notification from David Lloyd to inform me of any changes to my contract and therefore there has been no transparency given on notice periods for cancellation and certainly no improvement based on what you have just informed me.

 

Under section 3 of the guidelines set out by the OFT David Lloyd have failed me in "The need for fairness and clarity":

 

*****link******

 

David Lloyd did not inform me of any changes to the contract and of any changes to the wording of the contract into a more plain and intelligible format. I can only deduce that it hasn't actually changed since I originally joined 7 years ago and therefore David Lloyd have failed to act on the guidelines given by the OFT.

 

I have taken legal advice over this issue and I have been advised that under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (UCTA) and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTCCR) they require the supplier of the goods and/or services to point out any onerous terms in their contracts such as a cancellation fee and that it is not enough that the clause is hidden away in the lengthy contract because, as an onerous term, it should be highlighted to me as a consumer.

 

As mentioned in my original email I would like to reiterate that I have relocated and can no longer attend a David Lloyd club as shown by my one visit to a club in approximately 2 years. Given the OFT's ruling, my circumstances changing and the length of time I have been with David Lloyd I find the 3 month cancellation clause to be wholly unfair and excessive and would ask that you reconsider this as an exceptional case.

 

Thanks,

 

And the final email from the Manager at my "local" club that I have received:

 

date: 12 September 2014 11:57

Dear Tony,

 

Following your recent correspondence with our membership team, please find the response from our General Manager below.

 

Kindest Regards

 

####

Member Relations Manager

 

 

Dear Tony,

 

Thank you for your email regarding notice of cancellation, which has been passed to me for response.

 

Firstly, I’m sorry to hear that you’re cancelling your membership with us.

 

I have read your email and after reviewing your file and contract, I would like to clarify that your initial membership agreement with us carried the 3 full calendar month notice period and this has not changed since you joined us.

 

I have also checked your correspondence details as our last major change to our terms and conditions was December 2012. I note that you advised us of your most up to date email address on 17/10/12. Following this, we sent you an email with our new terms and conditions as approved by the OFT on 18/12/12 and carrying the Crystal Mark awarded from the Plain English Campaign. I also note that this is the email address you used to contact us in your most recent email.

 

In addition to the update in 2012, we also write to you notifying you of any price increases. This would usually be yearly, around September time. We would take this opportunity to include in this letter any changes to our terms and conditions.

 

We also update our members through the use of Club notice-boards and while I appreciate you have not made use of the club’s facilities on a regular basis for sometime, addendums to our terms and conditions can also be viewed within the Member’s Lounge of our website, *****

 

 

 

In terms of waiving the cancellation notice period, we have to be fair and consistent to all of our members and this means that we have a standard cancellation policy in place to ensure that this is the case. It would be unfair to other members if we waived our cancellation policy on an individual basis.

 

 

 

While I appreciate this is not the outcome you hoped for, I hope you understand the reasons behind it.

 

 

 

If you are not satisfied with our response and wish to escalate your complaint further, please contact our head office either by letter to The Hanger, Mosquito Way, Hatfield Business Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9AX or by email to ****

 

 

 

 

 

Regards

 

It is mentioned that they sent me an email to tell me my terms and conditions are changing. They sent me and email (EDIT: actually on the 10/12/2012 so this was before it was approved by the OFT) that links to this page:

 

Can't post as I don't have a high enough post count

 

Hardly a terms and conditions page, it's the standard Membership FAQ page.

 

So I was about to draft a reply but thought I'd post it here now as I was doing so in the hope someone like slick would see it to digest the above before I post my response.

 

I was going to state that I have given my notice as stated in the contract (that I thought applied to me) and it will apply from the 1st of the following month (September). I have paid the September payment but am now cancelling my DD as I don't consider the 3 month notice period to be fair and I wasn't aware of it.

 

Appreciate any advice on the matter. It gets my back up someone trying to make you pay for something for 3 months when you can't even use it, 1 month is painful enough but I think it's fair to both parties.

 

Cheers,

 

TP

Edited September 15, 2014 by Charge

[slick132]

Hi Charge and welcome to CAG.

 

Please see my PM to you.

 

I'll reply fully to your post asap.

Edited September 16, 2014 by slick132

[Charge]

Thanks, much appreciated.

 

Dear XYZ,

 

I commend you for having the 'Crystal Mark awarded from the Plain English Campaign' but it's of no use if you send an email out that in fact sends me to your generic membership FAQ page which has 2 links to a club finder and no Terms and Conditions link anywhere:

 

***link***

 

Even if I use the Policies link at the bottom of the page there is no link to a members Terms & Conditions.

 

If you were being fair and consistent to your members you would do as the majority of UK gyms have and reduce the cancellation to 1 month, not use it as an excuse that being fair to everybody means they all serve 3 months notice when it's not even made clear to them.

 

I have categorically never received any communication informing me of changes to my contract and issuing me a new contract to sign or a copy of my contract. I am therefore still operating under one of the contracts that were deemed unfair and in need of modification by the OFT. So either the contract has been modified and I have not been notified or David Lloyd have not complied with the OFT and amended the contracts.

 

In either case they have failed to act in the collective interest of, me, the consumer.

 

I am therefore standing by my notice as given on the 26th August and I have cancelled my Direct Debit as I have paid my payment for September. I would also ask that you split my membership for XXX YYY as he/she will now be on an individual membership.

 

Was what I'd noted down so far but may not even need all of that detail!

[slick132]

Hi again,

 

I thought I replied yesterday but it's not been posted so here goes again........

 

First off, the number of times you used the club is not relevant I'm afraid.

 

Secondly, the state of the Sudbury Hill club cannot be used now as an argument to cancel without the 3 months notice. If you wanted to use this argument, you should have done so when you first moved.

 

If you're close to the Picadilly Line in Ruislip, then I suppose the 5 stops to Sudbury Hill is not too bad a trip. But, if you are not so close to to the Picadilly line, then you have grounds to argue that the journey time by tube or bus to Sud'y Hill is too far and this could be grounds to cancel. I would argue that 6 miles in the outskirts of London is equivalent to 10 miles elsewhere.

 

I personally feel the requirement for 3 months notice is unfair to you as a consumer, particularly for a long-standing member.

 

I would tell them (if you agree) :-

 

1. The journey from home to the gym is too far and impractical, even though it's slightly less then their 10 miles.

 

2. The requirement for 3 months notice is onerous and not what the majority of gyms require. It is unfair to you as a consumer.

 

3. As a member for 7 years, you feel their treatment is both unfair and unreasonable.

 

4. If they want to collect any more than 1 months fee for the notice period, they will have to take court action which you will vigorously defend.

 

What do you think.

 

[Charge]

Hi slick, thanks for the reply.

 

Yes these are all of the points I think that I have grounds to dispute. There is walking involved in getting to / from the stations (30minutes min to Picadilly and 30mins if I use Central Line and walk to the club from Northolt/Greenford) which means it's in excess of 30 minutes away either way and compared to a 10 mile car ride that's far more.

 

Will draft up an email addressing these points and get it sent off to their Head Office, I've already cancelled the DD which was taken on the 1st of this month so that should mean I'm settled with them as I initially offered my notice on 26th August to start on the 1st September!

[slick132]

Hi Charge,

 

Put a draft here first if you want opinion on it.

 

I would primarily focus on the matter of distance. They cannot reasonably apply a strict "10 miles to the nearest gym" condition as there are many factors that should be taken into account.

 

I'd also confirm the DD has now been cancelled and you have no intention of paying them any more.

 

[Charge]

This is what I've prepped, anything you think needs adding/amending?

 

Dear XYZ,

 

Following discussions with the membership team and Manager at your Basildon Club I am escalating this as advised by them.

 

I gave my notice to the club on 26th August 2014 and have been disputing the 3 month notice period I was informed that I need to serve. There are a few reasons for my frustration and overwhelming feeling of contempt from David Lloyd as detailed below.

 

I moved away from the vicinity of the Basildon club approximately 2 years ago and the journey from my new residence to the closest David Lloyd club is too far and impractical for me to make as can be seen by my distinct lack of activity at any David Lloyd clubs for this period. Although it’s less than the 10 mile limit I have been informed of that is in place, I don’t own a car or bike and commute using public transport or by walking. This means I need to walk for over 30 minutes to Ruislip station to take a train for 5 stops and then walk to the club or get the Central Line from South Ruislip to Greenford and then walk for over 30 minutes from there to the club. This is significantly more time that it would take to travel 10 miles in a car and is in fact more inconvenient than living over 10 miles from a club when owning a car or bike.

 

I believe that the requirement for 3 months notice is onerous and not what the majority of gyms require. I consider this to be wholly unfair to me, the consumer.

 

As a member of the club for over 7 years I also feel your treatment of me and the situation I find myself in to be both unfair and completely unreasonable. It is not for want of trying, I changed my membership so that I could attend different clubs but it is just not possible as previously mentioned. I feel I have done my utmost to accommodate David Lloyd into my circumstances and you are not reciprocating this which I find incredibly distressing.

 

My direct debit has been paid for September and I have now cancelled this as I gave my notice on 26th August 2014. I consider this to be payment for the remainder of my membership with the club and therefore you will need to take court action if you wish to pursue this matter and I will vigorously defend this.

 

Can you also split the joint membership I have with XXXX XXXX and I do hope that this situation will not have any implications on his/her membership.

 

Regards,

 

 

Cheers

[slick132]

Hi Charge,

 

It's a bit wordy and I would make it shorter :-

 

Dear XYZ,

 

Following discussions with the membership team and Manager at your Basildon Club I am escalating my complaint.

 

I gave my notice to the club on 26th August 2014 and dispute the 3 month notice period you require. There are a few reasons for my frustration and overwhelming feeling of contempt for David Lloyd as detailed below.

 

I moved away from Basildon approximately 2 years ago. The journey from my new residence to the closest David Lloyd club is too far and impractical for me to make as evidenced by my lack of attendance. Although it’s less than the 10 mile figure referred to by DL, the journey by public transport would take up to xx minutes and this is not practical. I have no car or bike.

 

The requirement for 3 months notice is onerous compared to the one month required by all the other major gyms. I consider this to be wholly unfair to me as a consumer.

 

As a loyal club member for over 7 years, I feel your treatment of me to be both unfair and unreasonable. I have previously said the gym at Sudbury Hill fails badly compared to the facilities at Basildon.It is not for want of trying, I changed my membership so that I could attend different clubs but it is just not possible as previously mentioned. I feel I have done my utmost to accommodate David Lloyd into my circumstances and you are not reciprocating this which I find incredibly distressing.

 

My direct debit has already been paid for September and I have now cancelled the DD mandate. I do not intend to pay anything further and, if you decide to pursue the matter in the courts, I will defend vigorously.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

I left off the bit about splitting the m/ship as it's just a complication.

 

[Charge]

Got a bit carried away!! :)Thanks for the help, much appreciated. Will keep this updated with what happens.Cheers

[Charge]

Well it's taken them long enough to respond and it's not even a response as such to my complaint that was sent to head office. It's because they've noticed I canceled my DD!

 

I haven't got an internet connection at the moment so I can only check on my phone to see my emails but the only emails I've received have had the same subject in all of them and just linked to the policy page on their website.

 

I think it's pretty irrelevant though because now they've sent this letter:

 

Dear XX YYYY,

 

We have recently written to you regarding your membership at BlahBlah. It would appear from our records that we have not yet received payment for this month's subscription.

 

We have emailed you this month regarding your arrears, however it appears the email is currently unopened, hence we are writing to you today.

 

You currently have an outstanding balance of £xxxx, there are a couple of ways you can clear the balance:

 

Pay online with debit or credir card

Pay via our Autmated Payment System

By Telephone

On next visit to club

 

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that if it is your desire to end your membership with us, you are required t provide your club notification in writing of your intention to resign and serve the respective notice period which includes completion of your initial commitment period, as defined in your Membership Agreement.

 

In order to continue to make the most of your membership, we will require payment of the outstanding balance as soon as possible. If we do not receive payment by the end of the month, we will be forwarding your details to our administration partners, ARC Europe Ltd, who will pursue outstanding balance on our behalf. David Lloyd Leisure will also apply an additional unpaid fee of £70 to your account.

 

We hope that you will bring your account up to date as quickly as possible to avoid any further correspondence in this matter; moreover so you are able to go on enjoying your membership at the club.

 

Of course, if you have recently sent payment please ignore this letter.

 

Your Sincerely,

 

Group Central Membership Team

[slick132]

Hi Charge,

 

Did you get a postage receipt of any sort when you wrote to the gym's HO ?

 

Until they reply to the letter in post #8, you don't need to do much at all. However, I think it prudent to reply to their latest letter as follows, using the address on the latest letter :-

 

I refer to your letter of xxdate.

 

Unless and until I receive a reply to my letter of xxdate, sent to DL's Head Office, I will not respond to any further demands from you.

 

Get a free Certificate of Posting from the PO when you send this.

 

Edited November 4, 2014 by slick132

[Charge]

It was an email and I am sure I got an automated response saying it will be looked into etc...that's enough for me! Yes I was thinking it's worth replying once by post and I'll get a receipt of post and leave it at that because I'm not going to posting them things for their useless administration!

[slick132]

Hi Charge,

 

Try to locate the email you sent and their auto reply. Then print them and keep for use if necessary.

 

So long as you can show that you've taken reasonable steps to resolve this matter, you'll be fine.

 

Keep us informed please.

 

[Charge]

I've now received a second letter stating exactly the same thing as last time apart from the outstanding balance has changed. I stupidly misplaced/lost my last proof of postage so I have posted a letter today so that I have proof which states the following:

 

I refer to your letter of xxdate.

 

Unless and until I receive a reply to my letter of xxdate that was sent to you and the email sent to DL's Head Office yydate, I will not respond to any further demands from you.

 

I got a proof of postage for this and have stapled it to a copy of the letter I sent and put it in a file with their letter too. I may find the previous one I sent at some point but at least I have this one now and I wont even entertain anymore letters etc they send.

[slick132]

Hi Charge, and noted.

 

[Charge]

Hi Slick,

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

So ARC have contacted me even though they've set the correspondence to my old address and not to the address I have put on my letter to DL.

 

They sent a letter on 5th December 2014 which I hadn't seen until after I received the second on 29th December 2014 as they'd sent it to the wrong address.

 

They were as follows:

 

5th December 2014

 

Balance: £388.00 Arrears: £288.00

 

Despite previous correspondence from ourclient, this account has been passed to us as a bad debt as Davdi Lloyd Leisure have been unable to obtain payment from you.

 

We wish to make it quite clear that unless the full balance is paid to us within the next fourteen days, we may pass your account to our Solicitors, with instructions to prepare court proceedings.

 

You can make secure payment to ARC 24 hours a day with your debit or credit card by visiting our web site or by calling our automated payment hotline on 0845 0268889.

For details of all payment methods please see the back of this letter.

 

Should you wish to continue your membership with David Lloyd Leisure for the remainder of your 'initial term' or 'notice period' (as you agreed to do so when you signed the David Lloyd Leisure application form), you MUST contact the Club at XXXX URGENTLY on YYYYY. Your direct debit instruction will be reactivated and you will be able to enjoy the club facilities while you make the remaining monthly payments that are due.

 

Please always quote our reference AAAAAA in all communication with us.

29th December 2014

 

Balance: £204.00

 

We are disappointed to note that you have not cleared your balance following our previous letter. On the instructions of our client, we can now refer the matter to our Solicitors, Majorlaw Ltd, with instuctions to prepare a County Court Claim against you for recovery of the above debt.

 

A Court Claim will be prepared fourteen days after the date of this letter, unless we receive either payment in full or a substantial payment and a firm commitment to clear the remaining balance. You may want to seek independent legal advice from a Solicitor, debt counsellor, the Citizens Advice Bureau or similar organisation on this matter.

 

If this action is necessary and we pass the Court Claim to our Solicitors for issue, our client is entitled to claim interest under the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum together with fixed Court Fees and Solicitor's Costs amounting to a further £75.00.

 

Please note that if the Claim is issued and the debt remains unpaid, our client can apply for the formal Court Judgement against you. If the full Judgement Debt is not paid within one month of being entered, the Judgement will be recorded by the Credit Reference Agencies for a period of 6 years and this may seriously affect your ability to obtain credit in future.

 

To avoid this action, please send a payment TODAY, made payable to ARC (Europe) Ltd and quoting your reference number AAAAAA on the reverse.

 

For details of all payment methods see the back of this letter or alternatively, call us NOW on 01932 251080 and ask fro Pre-Litigation Manager, .

 

So they haven't sent me the correspondence to the correct address.

They've changed the amount due to be paid, are they making it up!!

They've not accepted my initial notice as they are asking me to serve the remainder of it which would have concluded on the 30th November 2014.

I've not received any responses to my emails or letters to David Lloyd.

 

I'd be prepared to send one letter to them, would rather email (don't want to waste my time or money on them) outlining that they have no grounds to pursue this on and until I receive a response to my emails and letters from their client then I will not be responding to any of their demands and would consider harassment proceedings against them.

 

Any guidance would be super.

 

Cheers

[slick132]

Hi Charge,

 

Reply by email if you have an em address for ARC. Otherwise use 2nd Class post with a free Crtificate of Posting from the PO.

 

You could say summat like :-

 

I refer to your letters of 5th and 29th December sent to my old address. You already have my new address and, unless you use this from now on, a formal complaint will be sent to the ICO about your Data Protection Act failures.

 

Due to your failure to address specific points raised in my earlier letters, I will not respond further to demands from you, or any other party appointed by you.

 

Further demands will be referred to Trading Standards in a formal complaint about your collection practices.

 

[Charge]

They've responded to me by email:

 

We are writing in response to your email.

 

Please note that ARC (Europe) Ltd is a debt collection agent, acting in good faith on the instructions received from a disclosed principal, namely David Lloyd Leisure. We have been instructed to manage this account on our client’s behalf and we are therefore authorised to contact you in connection with the above matter, and to instruct Solicitors in contemplation of Court Proceedings where we consider it appropriate to do so.

 

We have acted in accordance with our client’s instructions and within current collection legislation and guidance. We reserve the right to produce our correspondence to any Tribunal, regulatory body or investigating authority to prove our compliance and good conduct in this matter.

 

We must respectfully advise you that you are not correct in your assertions that we have been advised of your change of address. We would therefore be grateful if you could advise us of your new address in order for us to update our details. We have also received no letters from you and are not aware of the specific points you claim to have raised. Please respond accordingly with these points and if they are tenable then we will raise and enquiry with our client.

 

We look forward to receiving your response within 14 days, however if we do not receive this from you, or an offer of payment to clear the balance by affordable instalments, then we will be required to pass this account to our solicitors, MajorLaw Ltd, for further action.

Please be advised that if you are unable to immediately issue full payment of the final balance, then we can assist you by setting up an affordable payment arrangement. If you need to set up a payment arrangement, please respond confirming how much you are able to pay each month and the date each month that you will be able to make your payments. Please ensure that your offer is affordable to you.

 

In this respect, you may be interested to know, there are a number of Debt Management Companies who are “non fee charging” organisations such as The Citizens Advice Bureau, The StepChange Debt Charity and National Debtline who would be able to assist you. Details of these non fee charging debt management companies can be found on our web site .

 

You can make a secure payment to ARC 24 hours a day with your debit or credit card by visiting our web site or by calling our automated payment hotline on 0845 0268889. Alternatively you can telephone us to make a payment by debit or credit card.

 

 

Please use our bank details below if you wish to issue payment by bank transfer:

 

 

 

Sort Code 20-72-17 (Barclays)

 

Account No 40678864

 

Reference 2143172

 

We look forward to receiving your response within 14 days.

 

Please be advised that responses sent to this email address may not be answered if I do not have access to my emails. All emails should therefore be sent to in order to be processed accordingly.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sounds to me like David Lloyd should be a bit more careful with when they start asking ARC to act on their behalf if they haven't bothered to respond to me. Why should I go and send everything to ARC in order for them to refer it back to David Lloyd again!

[slick132]

This would be my final reply to ARC :-

 

I refer to your email of xxdate.

 

If David Lloyd gym choose to instruct you, they should supply you with my current address.

 

They should also have replied properly to the valid points I have raised with them, which they have not.

 

You are now aware of this and, if you make any further demands you will be in breach of The OFT Debt Collection Guidelines and will be reported accordingly.

 

After this, I would ignore them.

 

[Charge]

They're back for more!

 

Dear XXXX

 

ARC Reference: XXXX

RE: David Lloyd Leisure

Balance: £204.00

 

Thank you for your email.

 

We referred your comments to our client and they confirmed they sent you a letter dated 24th September 2014 confirming their position in this matter.

 

 

We remain instructed that the above balance is outstanding and must be paid as you did not cancel your membership in accordance with the agreed Terms and Conditions. You are required to provide one month notice to cancel as per the Terms and Conditions. The balance on this account represents one month arrears (£134.00), one month notice (£134.00), plus an administration fee due to non payment (£70.00), less payment of £134.00 made on 16th December 2014.

 

 

Please provide proof of cancellation in order for us to refer the matter back to our client for further instructions, i.e. a receipt from the Royal Mail confirming delivery of your notice to cancel or a letter/receipt from our client acknowledging your notice to cancel. Unfortunately a copy of your cancellation letter is not sufficient proof that you provided notice to cancel to our client.

 

We appreciate that this is not the outcome you were hoping for, however our client has confirmed that they have to remain consistent with all members and process cancellations in accordance with the Terms and Conditions.

 

In order to settle this matter our client has agreed to reduce the administration fee to £20.00 Please be advised that this offer to accept £154.00 in full and final settlement to close your account is made as a gesture of goodwill and on the condition that payment is received within the next 14 days.

 

 

You can make a secure payment to ARC 24 hours a day with your debit or credit card by visiting our web site or by calling our automated payment hotline on 0845 0268889. Alternatively you can telephone us on 01932 251000 to make a payment by debit or credit card or you can use the following bank details to make payment:-

 

 

 

Bank name: XXX

 

Account name: ARC Europe Ltd

 

Sort Code XXX

 

Account Number: XXX

 

Reference Number: XXX

 

 

We have placed your account on hold for 14 days pending your proof of cancellation or payment in settlement. However, if we do not receive this within the next 14 days, we will be required to pass this account to our solicitors Majorlaw Ltd for further action to seek to recover the balance of £204.00. Please be advised that our solicitors will be instructed to send written letters to the last known address we hold for you on file.

 

Their figures are miles off as usual and they made my brother pay over half of what we used to pay to continue to use the gym meaning if I paid what they are asking there'd be an overpayment. I'm not even prepared to get into those discussions with them though.

 

Do I even entertain this?

 

Cheers

[slick132]

Hi Charge,

 

I simply do not believe they are taking instructions from their client gym. I suspect the reduction of their admin fees is ARC's decision and I don't think the gym would necessarily get a penny of anything you now pay to ARC.

 

I would simply ignore this last missive from ARC. See what they come up with next.

 

[Monty33]

Hi Charge,

 

I simply do not believe they are taking instructions from their client gym. I suspect the reduction of their admin fees is ARC's decision and I don't think the gym would necessarily get a penny of anything you now pay to ARC.

 

I would simply ignore this last missive from ARC. See what they come up with next.

 

 

Hi guys what was the outcome?? Great thread btw! I'm in the same situation....

[Charge]

Hi Monty,

 

They stopped sending letters after a while as you don't reply they give up.

[Monty33]

Hi Charge,

 

I simply do not believe they are taking instructions from their client gym. I suspect the reduction of their admin fees is ARC's decision and I don't think the gym would necessarily get a penny of anything you now pay to ARC.

 

I would simply ignore this last missive from ARC. See what they come up with next.

 

 

Also, at the bottom of their demand for money letters it says "David Lloyd will not sell or pass your personal details to third parties" surely that includes debt collection agencies lol! Maybe they're in breach of contract!