Harlands penalty fees

[Chick86]

oh dear I have received the same letter as kjm987. Having read the thread I am not looking forward to communications with Harlands. It has however been ver helpful to read this before I emailed them so thanks to all who posted. I have sent an email and will see if I get a response. I too missed a payment on 26/10/15 and they now say they will take £9.99 plus £25 admin fee on 6/11/15. I am cancelling my direct debit as I am on income support and really cannot afford such charges.

[slick132]

Hi PT and welcome to CAG

 

Please see the PM I've sent you.

 

Your post has been moved to your own thread that you can use from now on.

 

Cancel the DD mandate immediately via your bank or you run the risk of them trying to take payment again. If they do this and the bank bounces it, the bank will charge you.

 

Let us know how Harlands reply to your email but don't reply to them for now. Keep communication by post from now on, to avoid email ping-pong with them.

 

See my advice on this thread which is similar to your - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?454841-Xercise4Less-Harlands-Debt-Management-Plan(2-Viewing)-nbsp

 

[Chick86]

I recently joined xercise 4 less in Falkirk. When my direct debit was due on the 26th October there were insufficient funds available due to me basically being a bit of a scatterbrain. The first I knew of this was a letter from Harlands stating they would take the normal £9.99 payment plus a £25 admin fee on the 6th Nov. I am on benefits as I am a student so this really worried me. I read some advice on posts on here and drafted the following email on the 2nd Nov.

 

Good morning,

 

My direct debit was due on the 26th and the payment of £9.99 bounced due to insufficient funds. I have received a letter from yourselves stating that you will take the £9.99 plus a £25 admin fee on the 6th November. The £25 penalty is unenforceable and you will not be receiving it. Should you be willing to just accept the £9.99 missed payment then i am more than happy to pay this. I am on income support and therefor cannot afford unfair and unlawful charges. I was NOT informed of such charges during the telephone call in which i joined Xercise 4 Less. I will be cancelling my direct debit with my bank and should you try to take the payment i will claim it back as you are misusing the direct debit guarantee.

 

Please make all communications with myself in writing.

 

Regards

******

 

Today I received this rather snotty response.

 

Dear Mrs ******,

 

Thank you for your email.

 

We can confirm that the administration charges have been applied to your account correctly as per the Terms and Conditions of your membership and cannot be removed. It is your responsibility to read the Terms and Conditions before joining.

 

We advise that your account is currently in arrears of £59.99.

 

Please contact the Harlands Helpline on the number provided below to make this payment and reinsttae the direct debit.

 

Failure to contact us by 18th November 2015 will result in furthert action being taken to recover the balance owed.

 

For all Enquiries Call Harlands : 01444 449033

 

They said they wouldn't be taking any payment until the 6th Nov so how the amount I owe could have jumped to £59.99 on the 4th is beyond me!

 

Any advice on how to deal with these charlatans would be greatly appreciated.

[Bazooka Boo]

First things first is to cancel whatever method of payment you have set up with them, especially if you have given them full access to your account by using DD.

 

Using their bank details set up a SO and pay them the missed monthly fee you owe them.

 

They can swing for their unenforceable penalty fee, they know they have no right to this but rely on consumers lack of knowledge.

 

slick will be along to advise you further on exactly what to say to them and put them back in their little box.

 

You might also like to lodge a formal complaint with the CMA also.

[slick132]

Hi Chick,

 

Threads merged and please use this one from now on.

 

A simple reply to them could be :-

 

I refer to your email response of xxdate.

 

Your admin fees being included in m/ship T&C's doesn't make them lawful or enforceable, so I will not pay them.

 

I make you a final offer, to pay the £9.99 I owe and continue as a member at Xercise4Less. However if you insist I pay your unreasonable admin fees, I will consider the gym agreement ended due to your attempts to charge unlawful admin fees, or penalty charges.

 

Further demands for amounts higher than £9.99 will be reported to Trading Standards and The CMA.

 

When they come back justifying their admin fees, you can ignore them and write to X4Less's Head Office but we'll deal with that later...........

 

[Chick86]

Hi I received another letter from Harlands

 

 

stating the same thing they said in their last email.

 

 

I spoke to X4L membership services today and they were neither use nor ornament.

 

 

She said I had to deal with Harlands for any payment issues and that the only option was to pay the rest of the years membership in full.

 

 

As if I have that kind of money!

 

 

I imagine I will receive more snotty letters from Harlands now my account is defaulted.

 

 

I keep offering to pay the missed membership fees as I would like to still use the gym

but all they care about is ripping me off for ridiculous charges.

[Bazooka Boo]

IMO I'd vote with my feet and use a different gym if possible.

 

As for Harlands regurgitating their first missive, lodge those complaints with TS and CMA.

[slick132]

Hi Chick,

 

Do you want to remain a member if X4Less waive the admin fees, or would you rather cancel this membership.