Exercise for Less Missold membership

[leonard.8]

Hope somebody can help advise me how to proceed with this, sorry is a bit long.

 

I work as a support worker for people with mental health problems

as part of my job I promote healthy living and exercise with the service users I work with.

 

 

In July I agreed to take a service user to our local Exercise 4 Less (Wigan) and train with him,

I can claim back my expenses from work as long as I am taking service users.

 

We signed up but it was never pointed out that it was a 12 month contract

I even asked "what if I can no longer make it to the gym due to work",

in fact the girl told me

"no problem you can cancel any time if its because of work illness or moving home".

Happy with this I did the direct debit.

 

the sessions with the service user never came off as he got a job so I never ended up going to the gym.

I paid the direct debit until October when I decided to cancel.

I wrote a letter asking them to cancel my membership and dropped it off at the gym in person and cancelled the direct debit.

 

I heard nothing until last month when I got a call from Harlands telling me as I had defaulted on my direct debit I owed them £34.99.

I explained that I had cancelled my membership.

 

 

He told me "no you can't it is a 12 month contract.

I tried to explain what had been told to me in the gym

but got the impression he didn't believe me,

so just told him I wasn't paying it and the call ended.

 

Fast forward to this month

 

 

Monday I received a letter from Harlands saying I now owe £69.98 as I have defaulted again on my arrangement.

If I don't pay it will be £129 by 26th December.

 

 

I rang them and again explained the situation

they told me to go directly to the gym and explain to them which I did,

I was told to ring head office and given the number.

 

 

Head office told me they could not help and I need to go and speak to the gym manager,

who told me I need to pay its a 12 month contract and its in the terms and conditions,

I had to leave before I punched his head in

 

On the day I signed up to the direct debit at the gym,

I left the gym with no paperwork what so ever

no copy of any agreement or terms as I usually read such things.

 

 

I have checked my emails and the day I joined I received an email titled

"All you need to know about your gym membership"

there are no terms and conditions on it just advertising and a link to the website.

 

Sick of being given the run around, what should I do?

 

Charlie

[dx100uk]

what should you do..

 

 

go get you money vack for the months you paid and never used the facilities.

 

 

you owe them nowt

they owe you.

 

 

don't be scared of them

but do please stay off the phone

all you;ll get is stupid runaround trash.

 

 

so for how many months did you pay and never even went to the gym...>>

 

 

dx

[leonard.8]

Signed up in July there was a fee cant remember if it was £15and first months membership of £9.99, then I also paid for August and September

[dx100uk]

then they owe you..

 

 

you never use the darn place..

 

 

ruddy fleecers..

 

 

dx

[slick132]

Hi Leonard and welcome to CAG

 

With respect to DX, I don't think you should reclaim the fees paid by DD mandate up to when you cancelled. It was your choice to use the gym (for yourself or as a support worker for a service user) or not.

 

Read other threads here and use one of the letters to offer to pay the gym 1 final fee for the notice period for the month after you wrote giving notice to cancel.

 

That's all that you should offer to pay the gym and, if they fail to accept, ignore them and ignore Harlands/CRS.

 

Do NOT speak to anyone by phone about this, despite Harlands/CRS telling you to call them. Phone calls will get you nowhere at all.

 

[Bazooka Boo]

Just to hammer home the advice,

If they ring you regarding this, laugh then hang up, repeat the process every time.

 

NEVER discuss financial issues over the phone, unless you can record your calls, and even then it is ALWAYS advisable to get a paper trail of evidence.

[leonard.8]

Thanks for the advice I will keep you updated as things happen.

[leonard.8]

Quick update had a letter today from CRS saying my debt had been passed to them, advising me I now owe £196.42 including their fee of £66.50. Should I just ignore this???

[slick132]

Hi Leonard,

 

Did you write to Harlands offering to pay a month's fee for the notice period ?

 

In any event, I suggest you ignore the demand from CRS for now.

 

[leonard.8]

No I didn't write to them, is it worth doing so?

[Bazooka Boo]

Yes certainly, ignore CRS but write to the gym offering one months fee, but stipulate a date by which the offer will remain open until, before you will withdraw the offer and log any further correspondence as harassment which will be reported to the relevant authorities.

[leonard.8]

Update on this., I did write as advised offering a months fee as a goodwill gesture and sent it to the gym and Harlands.

 

I have since had numerous phone calls which I have not answered just by chance followed by text requests that I ring CRS.

 

Also I have received letters on the 12th Feb from CRS stating my debt is now £196.42 and they want to reach an amicable solution offering me a chance to pay and start going the gym or to arrange a payment plan.

 

Then on 2nd March a more threatening letter stating they would like to reach an amicable solution, but they believe I am in breach of a legally binding contract and they may pursue a claim through the courts and if they are successful I will be liable for their costs and interest. Or the account could be passed to another collection agency. They gave me 10 days to reply.

 

Then on 8th April another letter from CRS responding to my letter to them in which I stated the membership had been missold and I never received any terms and conditions.

 

 

They attached a copy of an email which looks like it was sent to me giving some terms and conditions and links to full terms, however on my sons life I can categorically swear I never received this email or I would have gone straight back to the gym to challenge the girl who signed me up.

 

 

The letter then goes on to say they believe I was given all the information relating to terms I allegedy agreed to and the opportunity to raise concerns.

 

 

They advise the balance of £196.42 is correct as a goodwill gesture they will accept £146.92 if paid in 7 days

or I could make a payment plan that they will charge extra for.

 

 

Please arrange payment in next 7 days to avoid further action.

 

Am I fighting a losing battle here?

[Bazooka Boo]

It's called letter tennis, and it gets tedious.

 

Ignore them, embarrass them on social media, the gym that is, and let them know that they have zero customer care.

 

Lodge a formal complaint with the gym, and exhaust their complaints procedure, so that you are able to escalate it beyond their control.

 

Let TS know, and the CMA, that they are again ingoring their customers and are simply using the well worn tactic of harassment.

 

Keep a diary of events with a view of reporting them to the police for the criminal offence of harassment.

[slick132]

Hi Leonard,

 

On what date did you send the letter to Harlands and how long did you say the offer was valid for.

 

You can probably just ignore the latest begging letter from Harlands/CRS.

 

[leonard.8]

I sent the letter to Harlands and the gym on the 22nd Feb and gave them 2 weeks to accept it

[slick132]

Hi Leonard,

 

In that case, your offer expired after the first week in March so ignore Harlands/CRS latest begging letter.

 

You're NOT fighting a losing battle at all. Harlands/CRS are the ones who are doing that !!

 

Stay strong and you'll continue to get support here.

 

[leonard.8]

Thanks will do, just having a moment of weakness my dad's in hospital in a bad way n think it must be getting to me.

[slick132]

Hi Leonard,

 

Sorry to hear about your dad.

 

But don't let personal problems change the way you view, and deal with, the likes of Harlands !!

 

[leonard.8]

Another update.

Sorry its taken me a while to post,

my dad's still in hospital so lots of visiting to fit in with working full tine

coaching kids rugby and looking after my own lad who I take to rugby, boxing and gymnastics.

 

Anyway to the real issue

 

 

I have received 2 letters from CRS as well as numerous calls and texts all of which I have ignored,

 

The first letter dated 27th April stated:

They still wanted to reach an amicable solution.

They believe I am breach of a legally binding contract

and if they decide to pursue through the courts the following process would apply.

 

1- Legal Action

 

1, They will write formally explaining what they are demanding and give a final opportunity to pay/reply

 

2, If this failed to settle the matter they would issue proceedings in the county court.

 

3, I could then either make payment ending the legal process, dispute some or all the money involved.

 

4, If I dispute the amount owed the court process would continue at the end of which the court would decide on their claim.

 

5, A strict court imposed timescale will reply in relation to the court process.

 

2- Outsource To Legal Agents

 

The account would be passed to another collection agency who will take further action.

 

Then on the 18th May I received a letter stating:

We regret our attempts to reach an amicable resolution to your account you remain in arrears.

 

If I don't reply to this letter within 10 days they will pass my account to Zinc Group PLC.

 

It then goes on to say they would still like to resolve this matter

and are happy to listen to listen to my reasons for not paying

and do whatever to reach an acceptable solution for both parties.

 

Should I ignore this latest letter too?

 

Thank you everyone for your ongoing advice so far,

if it wasn't for this forum I may have cracked before now and made arrangements with them

[dx100uk]

usual stupid gumph

 

 

safe to totally ignore

[slick132]

Agreed. No need to reply to CRS as this is the normal Hot Air they spout.

 

Expect to hear next from Zinc (no reply necessary) and then Spratt Endicott, neither of whom are likely to do anything significant.

 

[leonard.8]

Another update my file was passed to some firm called Zinc who bombarded me with texts and phone calls for a while all of which I ignored. Now they are emailing me. Last week they offered me a discount if I settled with them. This week its: We note that as yet you have been unable to contact us so that we can start the process of closing your account. As a result we are concerned that time is now running out on the options we have made available to you as a Zinc Priority Customer.

Today and for a limited time you can still:

Call us on 0141 230 9101 and ask to speak to your personal account manager, who is ready to help and assist you with a variety of options.

We are keen to help you resolve this matter before it is escalated so please contact us now.

 

Do they ever give up?

[slick132]

Hi Leonard,

 

Do they ever give up ? Yes they do but only after going through their using course of paper-wasting and harassment, as you'll see from many other threads here.

 

CRS threatened legal action back in May and, if they were serious, they'd have filed a court claim before now.

 

No change from the opinion given in my last post.