Harlands Xercise4less cancellation

[weastman]

I recently cancelled my direct debit to Xercise4less thinking this was an acceptable was to cancel my membership. However it seems it was not and I have received a letter from Harlands stating that I have been charged a £25.00 admin fee bringing the bill to £44.99.

I cancelled the direct debit on the 2nd Feb with payments normally going out on the 4th of each month.

Now does any of what they say have any legitimacy. I have read around on here and it seems I do not need to pay the admin fee (no matter how much they insist).

However do I need to pay this months membership fee? I have just logged onto Xercise4less and have requested to cancel my membership with them.

 

Can somebody please advise on what my next step should be and what I legal am required to pay.

 

Thank you in advance.

[Bazooka Boo]

It is usual to give them thirty days notice of cancellation and one months fee yes.

 

So if you have completed the contract (12 months?) then on the 11th month, you give them your notice to cancel, and one months fee, so at the end of that 12 month period you owe nothing.

 

You can ignore Harlands/CRS et al, their fees are wholly unenforceable, and laughable.

[weastman]

Thank you, so I cancelled the contract today but cancelled the last payment on the 2nd Feb (ie final payment went out on 4th Jan) so will I have to pay two more month to them ie, them previous month and now a month forward from today. I am on a rolling month contract so don't have a fixed 12 month contract.

Thank you for the prompt reply

[Bazooka Boo]

OK, be prepared to expect more deforestation from Harlands/CRS, and if you do, I'd be very inclined to forward them all to the gym in question and at the same time embarrass them on social media, before escalating their incredibly dire customer care the relevant authorities to investigate.

[weastman]

Yes I thought as much.

Am I required to pay anything to the gym, and if so how do I go about this?

[Bazooka Boo]

My heads a little fuzzy (again!) today, so,

You had a rolling contract, your payments usually went out on the 4th of the month, in Feb you cancelled your DD two days prior to it going out?

 

AFAIK, you need to give them 30 days notice you want to cancel, so IMO you owe one months fee......Slick will no doubt look in on this later and advise, and either confirm or correct my advice.

 

The fees they add are NOT payable at all.

 

P.S. you should pay the gym.

[weastman]

Yes all you say is true, however I think that I may be required to pay two months membership as although I cancelled the direct debit on the 2nd Feb I only informed them I was cancelling the account today, am I therefore require to pay a further month from today forward?

[Bazooka Boo]

IMO, I would offer them one months membership fee, you could offer them two if you're feeling generous?

[slick132]

Hi Weastman and welcome to CAG

 

How much were you paying a month.

 

I doubt you owe any more than one month's fee and you should not pay any fees added by Harlands/CRS.

 

Do not reply to any contact from Harlands for now and do not call them for any reason. They have no right to insist that you contact them.

 

[weastman]

I understand that I probably am required to pay one months membership to the gym (i think it is £20) so what do I do for now, how do I pay this. I know that legally I don't have to pay the fee but don't want to with hold anything (ie the membership) that I legally do need to pay.

Is there risk of this affecting my credit rating and so on?

[slick132]

Send a letter to the gym's Head Office in Leeds :-

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

I cancelled my DD mandate on 2nd February to end my monthly gym agreement.

 

I now realise I should have paid a final month's fee for the notice period.

 

I am willing to pay this but I will not pay the penalty fees that Harlands are demanding on top.

 

Please let me know how I can pay you the final month's fee to end this matter.

 

Please also ensure that Harlands stop contacting me immediately. I will not pay the penalties they demand.

 

 

Send this by letter and get a free Certificate of Posting from the PO, as proof.

 

If the gym fails to sort this and let Harlands make further demands, you can go public using the gyms' Facebook and Twitter facilities.

 

[weastman]

Should I also contact Harlands in any way? Or not at the moment.

 

I have also just moved house so I assume I should notify them of this. Should this just be a simple letter or should I also refer to the fee and membership.

 

Thank you for your help

[slick132]

I'd normally suggest you do not contact Harlands at this stage, just the gym.

 

However, it's important that Harlands have your new address. So write to them confirming your new address but I wouldn't bother saying anything else at all.

 

Get a free Certificate of Posting for all letters sent.

 

Edited March 17, 2016 by slick132

[Bazooka Boo]

Attempted to PM you Slick...

 

However, IMO, if the OP informs the gym of their current address for correspondence,even stating ''please acknowledge my current address'' (if it differs from the original at sign up).

 

Then IMO that is surely evidence enough, should it be needed, that you have been open and transparent, and should they attempt any underhand methods of enforcement (which they don't) it can easily be exposed for the fraud it really is?

[slick132]

Hi BBoo,

 

The reason for the brief letter to Harlands is to ensure they have the new address, thus avoiding the chance of them taking court action (unchallenged) using the old address.

 

Just Belt and Braces really.

 

[Bazooka Boo]

Agreed

[weastman]

I sent the recommended letters to both Harlands and Xercise4Less a couple of weeks ago now but have not heard anything back, really hoping they are not sending letters to my previous address. In addition I have attempted to cancel my contract with Xercise4less both online and through email requests to head office, but again have received no reply. Any recommendations or should I just sit tight?

[slick132]

Hi Weastman,

 

Are you able to check if anything was sent again to the old address ?

 

In any event, no reply from Harlands and from X4Less is good for now. It doesn't mean it's all over but, the longer they take to contact you further, the better it is for you.

 

Keep us posted.

 

[Bazooka Boo]

Keep an eye on your credit file, noddle is free.

 

Did you get proof of posting for the letters you sent?

[slick132]

Ever since The OFT v AMSL case in the High Court in 2011, no data has been carried by CRA@s about alleged gym m/ship arrears.

 

But keeping an eye on your CRA files is always sensible anyway.

 

[Bazooka Boo]

Ever since The OFT v AMSL case in the High Court in 2011, no data has been carried by CRA@s about alleged gym m/ship arrears.

 

But keeping an eye on your CRA files is always sensible anyway.

 

 

Yes, I forgot that even when I read my last post, I was sat here correcting my own advice!!!

[weastman]

I have just received two letters forwarded on from my previous address from Harlands.

- Dated 17/03/16

We are disappointed that you have not responded to our previous correspondence.

The March installment has now been missed, resulting in a further administation fee of £25.00 being added. The total amount now to bring your account up to date is £89.98.

Please call the Harlands Helpline - 01444 449033 to make payment by Debit/Credit Card and reinstate your Direct Debit Instruction. If you wish to pay by any other method, you must still phone us to discuss your options.

The telephone lines are open 9.00am to 1.00pm and 2.00pm to 5.00pm Monday to Friday.

If you do not call us by 27 March 16, then the collection of your membership fees will cease to be administered by Harlands and will be passed to a Debt Recovery company. This may incur you significant additional fees and ultimately result in court action.

 

-Dated 23/03/16

Further to your recent letter to our offices,

Harlands can confirm we have yet to receive a response from Xercise 4 Less regarding your cancellation of your membership.

Please be advised Harlands are the direct debt management company for Xercise 4 Less and we cannot cancel membership without their authorization.

May we suggest you contact Xercise 4 Less directly to process your cancellation as a matter of urgency.

 

These letters worry me for the following reasons

- They are not dropping it

- They are still sending letters to my old address (who are getting a little annoyed) despite being requested to send to my new address in a letter to them.

- I have not received any contact from Xercise 4 Less in response to trying to cancel my membership, I do not understand how a company can simply be uncontactable and that essentially I am unable to cancel my membership (indefinitely)!

 

Can you please help me out with these points and advise on how to proceed, thank you in advance for your help.

[Bazooka Boo]

How did you inform them of your new address?

 

In writing?

 

There is absolutely nothing to worry about, this is a well worn trick to exploit your lack of knowledge and make you react like you are now.

 

Get onto X4Les social media ages, FB/Twitter, and embarrass them on there, for their atrocious customer service.

 

If you sent them your new address ''in writing'' and have proof of this, then they will fail miserably if they try and obtain a CCJ by default.

(Which they won't, I've yet to hear of them ever taking anyone to court for a flawed gym contract)

 

Hammer X4L, IGNORE this powerless CRS/harlands, they are completely toothless.

Exhaust their complaints procedure, with a view of demanding compensation off them for their terrible service/stress caused.

 

Embarrass them on social media, warn any potential customers to avoid these like the plague!

[slick132]

I assume you followed advice in post #13 and wrote to Harlands with your new address.

 

No need to reply to Harlands/CRS at all. They should be ignored completely.

 

Best way forward is to use Facebook and Twitter to publicly complain to X4Less that :-

 

1. You wrote to them in February but have been ignored completely.

 

2. They are allowing Harlands/CRS to hound and harass you with no regard for how this impacts on you, their customer.

 

[weastman]

Thank you for the response, yes I sent the two letters with proof of postage to Harlands and X4L as advised, I worry as they will continue to send letters to my old address (who are getting a little annoyed) and I assume will now stop forwarding them on, so I will not know what Harlands ect are threatening. I will take to twitter now.