CRS/Harlands Debt

[UniStudent21]

Hi

 

 

I received a text today telling me to call a number which seemed suspicious,

 

 

I then googled the number and it turned out to be CRS who I had never heard of - saw they worked with Harlands gym.

 

 

Back in August I signed up to the gym in my hometown on a month by month contract of 24.99.

It was set up via direct debit.

 

 

Within two weeks of joining the gym I tore the tendons in my shoulder (whilst at work).

 

 

Following a doctors appointment for my painful shoulder I was advised to not go to the gym anymore.

As such I cancelled the direct debit on my account.

 

 

I was then charged 49.98 at the start of September but due to insufficient funds,

I had sent money from one account to another thinking it was the one paying for the gym.

Foolish I know but mistakes happen.

 

 

I then moved to uni in September - I saw the money go out and back into my account.

I assumed this was because I had cancelled the direct debit and it was action on their behalf.

 

I hadn't been home to my family home where all my post is

to see that I have apparently been sent 3 letters about my outstanding debt that I didn't know about.

 

 

On calling CRS today I was met with a rather rude South African guy who went on to have a go at me

and treat me like a complete idiot.

 

 

When I asked why there was no attempt to email or call me prior to today

he went on a rant asking why the gym should have to do such a thing.

 

During the phone call he told me I owe £161 to harlands and that my case had been passed over to them in order to collect the debt.

I asked why it had raised to such a high fee and he wasn't really clear in his answer despite me asking to clarify.

He just said because the payment failed and was late.

 

 

He then said that if I want to pay off the debt, they would (Very kindly) wipe away £70 worth of the debt.

I would then owe 95.48. Rough figures I was walking to a meeting with my bank ironically.

 

 

The guy was extermely unproffesional, in his explanation on why it was cheaper to pay the £90

he said "cash is king".

 

 

I am getting all post brought to me this Saturday so I will check what they have sent me.

 

I just wanted to check surely they can't charge me that much extra for unknowingly missing a payment???

 

 

I asked if I could call back later and my account has been put on hold until 28th of November.

 

Any help would be most appreciated,

 

 

I know this is long winded but I wanted to cover all corners I could.

[dx100uk]

ignore them.

 

 

if you were on a month by month contract

ok you didn't inform the gym of such cancellation

but a no powers DCA [they are NOT BAILLIFFS] can demand nothing from you.

 

 

so, going what is normally advised by slick132

I'd write to the GYM.

offering one months payment as per the month on month contract.

 

 

I'd stay off the phone too

never fall for the antics of any DCA on any debt.

 

 

put the phone down saying 'writing only'

and never home one off your own bank.

 

 

if you have a browse here you'll see the kind of letter to write.

 

 

dx

[UniStudent21]

Thanks for the reply.

 

I think that is a fee of £50 they are rightly owed and I am happy to pay this amount in full to settle the matter.

 

Is it safe to say that if I don't pay the rest of the fees they are claiming then I am not breaking any rules or anything like that? I just want to make sure that I am fully covered in this case.

 

Also would it be a letter/email to send to my gym and should I consider sending it to Harlands as well?

[dx100uk]

all penalty fees are unlawful end of.

 

 

pay the gym 1 month directly and end the matter.

 

 

ignore the no powers dca.

 

 

dx

[slick132]

Hi UniStudent,

 

If you've read other threads here, you'll know by now that you should have given notice to cancel and paid a month's notice thereafter. Knowing Harlands, they may have demanded 3 month's notice to cancel a monthly agreement !!

 

You should have informed them of your injury, or of your relocation to Uni, either of which would have got you out of the monthly agreement with just one one month's notice.

 

Anyway, check this is ok and send it to Harlands getting a free Certificate of Posting at a PO when you send it :-

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

I refer to my monthly membership at xxxxxx Gym, and to contact I had with CRS's very rude staff. Do NOT call me again and, if you have any to say, put it in writing by post. You should use my new address as shown above.

 

I cancelled my DD mandate on xxdate and this was adequate notice of my cancellation of the gym agreement, as per the case of The OFT v Ashbourne Mgt Services Ltd in 2011.

 

I now realise I should have told you at the time of my serious injury and of my relocation to attend University, both events enabling me to cancel membership. I now offer to pay you the required final month's fee of £24.99, If you confirm in writing within 14 days that you'll accept £24.99 in full settlement of all amounts due, I will pay it promptly.

 

If you fail to accept my offer within 14 days, or if you demand any admin or cancellation fees (unlawful penalties), my offer will be withdrawn and I may ignore further demands from you and/or CRS.

 

Such demands may be reported to Trading Standards.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

[UniStudent21]

Just thought I'd inform you that I have recieved an email from the gym!

 

I had a very brief exchange of emails with the gym yesterday and they stopped emailing me after an hour or so. I have yet to recieve anything from Harlands and they gym have also not replied to me since yesterday.

 

"you currently have £166.49 outstanding. However, i have spoke with the debt

collectors CRS and they have agreed to an early settlement of £91.49 if paid

by this week. To make payment or discuss further with CRS please call them

on 0871 876 0501."

 

to which I replied

 

"these fees have no legal standing. I missed the one payment of £49.99. Please tell me from here how much I truely owe you."

 

Gym:"Harlamds and CRS are aware of all payments made and missed and will be in

contact."

 

Me: "I was just wondering whether you could let me know what payments were made and missed for my own records please. If possible could I also have a break down of the the £166.49 bill.Kind Regards"

 

Gym: "it would be be best to contact harlands CRS on 0871 876 0501."

 

Finally me: "Dear Sir/Madam,I have already spoken to CRS and do not wish to speak with them any more on the telephone and Harlands are yet to get back to me.

 

As you are the only one of the three I am willing to speak to or replying to my messages it makes sense that we discuss the issue. As the debt is owed to yourselves.

Yours Faithfully."

 

 

 

 

 

Regards "

 

 

I really do not know how they expect me to pay and how I am going to negotiate with them that I am not paying £160 for a £50 missed payment!!

 

Best Wishes

[slick132]

Hi Uni,

 

You made a valid offer to Harlands in the letter I suggested in post #5.

 

Did you send this to Harlands ?

 

[UniStudent21]

I did I sent it to their customer service desk via email.

 

The email I sent said:

Dear Sir/ Madam,

 

I am writing regarding my account with the Uxbridge gym. I signed up in August under the monthly account service. I attended the gym several times in August, unfortunately however I went to the doctor with shoulder pain to be told I had "Shoulder tendonitis" and was told to not go to the gym as this would only aggravate my injury. I did not return the gym since. During this period I was under the assumption that I had cancelled my direct debit, I later found this to not be true and fully apologise for the mistake on my part. I then had my payment taken and returned to my account. I had assumed this was due to me cancelling (again naive and foolish on my part).

 

At the start of September I moved to university under and new address that the one given on my records. As a result I did not receive any of your letters regarding the payment. Again I apologise for this. I was therefore unaware of the situation coming to what it is now. Upon receiving a text to call a company called CRS on Thursday I did so only to find that my debt stood at a made up figure of 161 but could be reduced to 90 if I were to pay on the spot. I have spoken to the proper authorities regarding this and they stipulate that the fees CRS are charging on your behalf have no legal standing.

 

I have spoken to the gym directly and have not had a reply as of yet. I would like for you to note that I DO NOT wish to be contacted by phone. After the rude, aggressive conversation I had last week. Any attempts to contact me via phone will be ignored. Feel free to write to me at my new Address at University upon request in reply to this email.

I now realise I should have told you at the time of my serious injury and of my relocation to attend University, both events enabling me to cancel membership. I now offer to pay you the required failed payment, dated September 1st. If you confirm in writing within 14 days that you'll accept £49.99 in full settlement of all amounts due, I will pay it promptly.

 

If you fail to accept my offer within 14 days, or if you demand any admin or cancellation fees (unlawful penalties), my offer will be withdrawn and I may ignore further demands from you and/or CRS.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Jake Hill

[slick132]

Hi UniS,

 

Please confirm, was the email letter sent to Harlands or to the gym..

 

In your first post, you said the monthly fee was £24.99 so I'm not sure why you offered to pay them 2 months' fees as opposed to the one month I suggested.

 

In any event, if you made Harlands an offer which they refused by default, I don't think you need do any more for now.

 

Keep us informed.

[UniStudent21]

Hi Slick,

 

The email was sent to both Harlands and to the Gym.

 

I have recieved a text today from CRS demanding that I call themTODAY urgently. I take it I should simply ignore the text?

 

It was a 24.99 monthly subscription but there is a 24.99 leaving fee. hence the the offer for a second month.

 

This was the amount that failed to go through from my bank account.

 

Best Wishes

[UniStudent21]

Hi again

 

Another update, I just recieved another missed call from CRS.

 

They call for all of about 10 seconds and then give up before I can even answer. I know I am to stay off the phone with them but I really wish that somebody from Harlands or the Gym would get back to me. As I've said I am univserity currently sitting my exams and don't want this kind of hassle during an already stressful time period for me.

 

Best Wishes

[dx100uk]

there nowt they can do.

 

 

please stay off the phone

 

 

you'll only get silly threats they cannot carry out.

 

 

get on with your exams.

 

 

this really is a very trivial matter.

 

 

dx

[slick132]

Hi UniS,

 

Further to DX's comments, you need to understand, these people can be safely ignored when you've taken the right steps. Don't let them stress you for a moment - that's what they want !! Ignore all calls from them by silencing or switching off your phone.

 

You do not need Harlands to come back to you. They'll do so in their own time and, when they do, let us know and we'll help further as necessary.

 

The gym have already said they're not dealing with this, so don't expect anything further from them.

 

..... but there is a 24.99 leaving fee.

 

Harlands love to try and charge whatever they can but this Leaving Fee is probably nonsense and you shouldn't have offered to pay it.

 

Get on with the important things in life, stop stressing and let us know when Harlands/CRS make further written contact.

 

[UniStudent21]

Hi all,

 

So I came back from University yesterday for Xmas and I find a letter at my old address, the one I had asked to not be sent to, from CRS.

 

This time they seem to be very annoyed with me.

 

"Following our initial letter, we are dissappointed that your account with Rush Fitness is still in arrears and our fees has not been paid.

 

We would still like to reach an amicable resolution to this, however, if you fail to respond to this letter, we would have no option but to commence further action to recover the monies owed. The options available to us are:

 

LEGAL ACTION

 

We believe you are in breach of a legally bidning contract with Rush Fitness because you have not paid your membership and our fees. We may persue a claim under this contract through the Courts. If we do so the following process would apply:

 

1. We will write a formal letter explaining that we are demanding and give you a final opportunity to pay/reply;

2. If this failed to settle the matter we would issue proceedings against you in the County Court;

3. You could then either;

A. Make a pament, ending the legal process, or

B. Dispute some, or all, of the amount was owed.

4. If you dispute the amount was owed the Court process would continue, at the end of which the Court would make a decision on our Claim.

5. A strict Court imposed timescale will apply in relation to the Court process.

 

Were we to be successful in our claim, or if you ignore tha claim, a County Court Judgement (CCJ) may be registered against you requiring you to make payment. You may also be liable for our costs of pursuing legal action and interest on the amount owed.

 

If you then fail to pay the ammount covered by the CCJ we would take the next steps required to enforce the judgement. To do this we would have to make an application to Court.

 

2. OUTSOURCE TO EXTERNAL AGENTS

 

You account would be passed to another Collection Agency who will take further action to recover the monies owe.

 

YOU CAN AVOID THIS HAPPENING IF WITHIN THE NEXT 10 DAYS YOU CONTACT US ON 01444 449165 TO ARRANGE PAYMENT WITH US."

 

So what do I do from here? Am I liable to court action? I still haven't heard from Harlands after I emailed them and the Gym have also gone cold on me? I offered to pay the debt of £50 and they didn't say whether this was ok or not. I am starting to really worry about how I am going to pay off this debt. It currently stands at £166.49. I can't afford anywhere near that ammount. I know they have no legal standing but I am just worried that something may happen in their favour.

 

Best Wishes

 

Jake Hill

[dx100uk]

std threat-o-gram

if but could might

 

 

dx

[slick132]

Hi UniS,

 

Absolutely nothing has changed from our original views and advice. Please note the following carefully :-

 

1. Harlands/CRS do no take court action in 99.99% of cases, because they rarely have any solid grounds to take such action.

 

2. The amounts they demand are NOT payable just because they say so.

 

3. They can add all the monthly fees and admin charges they want but this does not make the increasing amounts valid or payable.

 

4. Despite their view that you owe them money, this will NOT be reported to any CRA and will not affect your credit rating.

 

You made a valid and reasonable offer which Harlands/CRS have chosen to ignore which is, of course, their prerogative. However, you can also exercise your prerogative and ignore Harlands/CRS's baseless demands.

 

Ignore this latest letter completely and let us know what they send next. Maybe ask your folks to open any further letters sent from Harlands, CRS, Zinc or Major & Co (the pet solicitors used by Zinc) so you don't miss anything relevant.

 

Now, ignore these fools and their continuing demands and enjoy your break from Uni !!

 

[UniStudent21]

Thanks for all the help guys

 

Just wondering do I have to ever pay the original missed payment that they are still owed? I would like to pay this just to get this out of the way.

[slick132]

Hi UniS,

 

Sorry but it's just not that simple.

 

If you pay Harlands anything, they will come back and chase for more. It will not bring the matter to a close.

 

As I've already said, you made a reasonable offer which they failed to accept or discuss. So now, you just ignore them.

 

[UniStudent21]

Merry Christmas all and thank you for the help.

 

I just wanted to double check, if what I have assumed is right.

 

So because they haven't replied to me about my offer to pay the original missed payment and because they will only seek further payment. I am not going to have to pay the original money?

 

I know it's not a lot originally but I am back at my home town now.

 

A part of me wants to go to the gym and speak to the manager and just say here's what I missed Happy New Year!

 

I of course won't do this but I can't see them backing down and letting me pay the proper amount

 

Best Wishes

[renegadeimp]

Just ignore it and get on with your life. They will harass you every time you try and make contact.

[slick132]

Hi UniS,

 

I've already said how Harlands operate and how we have learned to deal with them over the past 6+ years.

 

Please read post #'s 13, 16 and 18 again. Nothing has changed and you need do no more.

 

Just keep us updated about any further contact you get from Harlands, CRS, Zinc or Major & Co. Regardless of which of them contact you, nothing changes about what you offered to pay and why you will now pay them nothing.

 

You are right in not going to the gym. Even if they wanted to help you, nothing they say or do would stop Harlands trying to extract money from you.

 

Stop fretting and stand up to Harlands by ignoring them when necessary.

 

[UniStudent21]

Hi guys,

 

Hope you all had a good new years and christmas!

 

I just recieved a letter today from CRS, the jist of it is that I am now being passed onto ZInc Group LTD.

 

They want me to contact them (CRS) by a set date the 15th of January.

 

Any advice on what to do?

 

 

I am still being sent letters to my home not university adress and have also now blocked CRS on my phone but still get voicemails from time to time telling me to call them.

 

Should I send off an email to CRS to stop them from doing this and copy my previous emails to harlands and the Gym or am I best leaving this. I feel as if they won't go away... I am however happy that they seemingly gave up on their court case though

Edited January 7, 2015 by UniStudent21
Added information

[dx100uk]

ignore them

 

 

zinc are crs!!

 

 

PS did you not READ post 21 then?

 

 

dx

[UniStudent21]

Thanks Dx,

 

I did read it, I just wanted to keep you all in the loop of things

 

Does anyone know of any cases where CRS have simply stopped trying to collect the debt?

[slick132]

Hi UniS,

 

Harlands WILL stop chasing once they realise all their efforts are being wasted.

 

Look at your own question another way - Can you find one single case where Harlands have taken court action ........... ?

 

Ignore CRS's latest letter and let us know when Zinc get in touch. One quick response to Zinc will send them packing. Same with Major & Co.