Help Please - GRRR Harlands

[Hoody03]

Hi All,

can anyone give me some advise please.

 

 

my son took out a gym membership through Harlands.

He completed the membership at the gym using their computer

and was not giving any contract / confirmation to take away.

 

 

Harlands advised him by letter that the bank account given did not support DD.

Harland office is only open 9 - 5 and as my son works he is not at home during them hours.

 

 

I rang them a few weeks later to give them another bank account

but they would not entertain me as it was not my account

but advised that they would email him to get his authorisation for me to tall to them, which they didn't.

 

 

Since then he has been to the gym and give them the correct details

but they obviously haven't passed them on.

 

 

he has now received two lots of charges for £20 each

I can only assume is a penalty as it cant be for returned or failed DD.

 

 

I got my son home early yesterday so I could ring them again

and after holding for 20 minutes I spoke to guy who was very unhelpful

and could not actually tell me what these charges where actually for apart from admin & overheads.

 

 

They are now threatening with debt recovery to recover the full years fees.

Can they actually do this?

This charge is excessive & unfair.

Thanks

[dx100uk]

no they cant

they are a penalty and unlawful.

 

 

as for worrying about the DCA ..don't

 

 

a dca is NOT A BAILIFF

and has

NO SUCH LEGAL POWERS.

 

 

is he under 18?

[Hoody03]

Hi, thanks for that.

No he is 19

I looked into this all last night as I was so annoyed and have emailed them a letter complaining.

They don't come across as a professional company as when I ring it takes about 20 mins for them to answer and when I asked to speak to a manager, there wasn't one. Also the letterheads they send are copies.

What else can I do?

[unclebulgaria67]

The main point is that no contract terms and conditions were provided, so they cannot make these charges. He would have had to be told about them and agreed to them.

 

If he has used the gym facilities, he could just pay them whatever the daily or hourly rate for the usage and consider that any contract is void, because no contract was issued to him.

[Hoody03]

Hi

I did mention a copy of the contract terms and conditions and they told me when applying online before completing the form you have to agree to the terms and conditions which a set out online. I did however go on myself to sign up and at the very end in small writing there is a tick box to agree and link to the terms and conditions which is quite lengthy.

 

I also asked why no confirmation was sent out outlying the cooling off period to be told its in the terms and conditions.

[citizenB]

Not quite sure why this is in Loan and broker forums ? Moving to Gym/Health Clubs.

[slick132]

Hi Hoody,

 

Firstly, do not call Harlands/CRS or the gym for any reason just now. Doing so will get you nowhere and there's no need to respond to Harlands until we have all the facts.

 

Please read other threads here and you'll see that Harlands are, by far and away, the most complained-about gym admin company ever !! The admin fees they try to charge are spurious and we always say you should challenge them and refuse to pay. Even when they involve their Pet Solicitor, the court action so often threatened does not happen.

 

Your email to them may, or may not, be ignored but one thing's for sure - they will not sort this for you the way you want. So stop trying to sort this quickly - because (a) you don't need to and (b) you won't sort it how you want.

 

1. What gym is this about.

 

2 When did YS join.

 

3. Was this done at the gym or online.

 

4. Did he get any email confirmation after joining.

 

[Hoody03]

Hi there

 

Thanks for that advice it helps a lot.

 

The gym is springs in Kingston park Newcastle upon Tyne. He joined around the 5th jan and did it at the gym on their computer and no he did not receive a confirmation either by post or email.

 

Thanks

[slick132]

OK. Sorry, I forgot to ask, is there a good reason why the DD could not be taken from the bank he first gave details for. Maybe it was a basic a/c that didn't support DD mandates ?

 

[Hoody03]

Yeah that's correct, the details originally given did not support dd's. We didn't realise this, just assumed with it having a sort code & account number it would be fine.

[slick132]

Hi Hoody,

 

If YS managed to get the gym or Harlands to waive the admin fees, would he like to remain a member ?

 

Or would he rather cancel the gym m/ship if possible.

 

[Hoody03]

Hi, my son has still be going to the gym as they are still accruing the monthly fees in advance.

Apparently he can't cancel as the membership is for 12 months.

The email I have sent them I have offered to pay the outstanding fees and reinstate the dd but I am not willing to pay the charges

[slick132]

Hi Hoody,

 

With our support, YS COULD cancel on the basis of Harlands attempting to take unenforceable charges using the DD mandate. Never mind what the gym or Harlands/CRS say. They'll only tell you what suits them best.

 

So please let us know, given a free choice, does YS want to remain a member of the gym, or not.

 

I assume that no new DD mandate has been signed by YS but please confirm this. I suspect any new DD would be used to collect their admin fees as well as current monthly fees.

 

[Hoody03]

Hi there

No there has been no new dd set.

Ideally he still wants to go to that gym as he enjoys it there and all his friends go.

I really appreciate your advice and help.

[slick132]

Hi Hoody,

 

I suggest a letter to the gym and keep everything in writing from here on :-

 

To The Manager

Springs Gym

[Address]

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

I refer to my membership started at your gym in [month and year].

 

My DD mandate failed as I did not realise my bank account did not support DD's.

 

I am happy to pay the missed fees but I will not pay admin fees on top as they are both unlawful and unenforceable.

 

I will sign a new gym agreement and make payments properly via DD's from a different bank account but only if you agree to waive the admin fees.

 

Please let me have your agreement in writing and I'll pay the monthly fee arrears and set up a new membership.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Take this into the gym and get a staff member to sign a 2nd copy of the letter as a receipt.

 

[Hoody03]

Good morning Slick132

 

Thanks again for your advice. Suprise, suprise... I have this morning received and email from Harlands customers services acknowledging my query and advised that they are looking into it and will get back to me.

Do you think I should give them at least a chance to sort this to my satisfaction or continue with the gym letter?

Thanks

[slick132]

Hi Hoody,

 

I very much doubt Harlands will come back to you (or YS) with anything reasonable or helpful.

 

Take the letter to the gym as suggested and keep us posted. Or send by post and get a free Certificate of Posting at the PO, for proof of postage.

 

[Hoody03]

Morning Slick

Well I did what you said, so an update for you.

Yesterday I received an email from Harlands " how can we help you regarding this membership". I emailed straight back attaching another copy of letter, saying a letter was originally sent to you outlining my concerns and offer.

Anyway last night my son went to the gym and was pulled over by a member of staff saying a note had been put on the system stating there was payment issues and that he had to contact Harlands to sort it before he went back.

Banging my head against the wall, what do you recommend?

Thanks

[slick132]

Hi Hoody,

 

You should not have replied to Harlands so quickly without seeking advice here first.

 

You say you attached "another copy of letter". Was this the letter you referred to in post #3 above ?

 

Don't engage any further with Harlands for now and wait for the gym to respond to the letter YS sent them.

 

[Hoody03]

Hi Slick

Ok I will wait for the gyms response and yes it was just a copy of the letter from my original post.

Thanks again

[Hoody03]

Morning Slick

 

Just and update to what has happened since my last post.

 

 

No replay has been received from the Gym.

Harlands emailed with an offer (as a gesture of goodwill) to take off one of their fees.

CRS sent a letter requesting the full years membership including their fees.

I did not reply to either.

 

 

I have now received this threatening letter from CRS.

 

Following our initial letter, we are disappointed that your account with Springslite is still in arrears

and our fee 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 will have no option but to commence further action to recover the monies owed.

 

 

The options available to us are:

1. LEGAL ACTION

 

We believe you are in breach of a legally binding contract with Springslite because

you have not paid your membership and our fees. We may pursue a claim under this contract through the Courts. If we do so the following process will apply.

1. We will write a formal letter explaining what 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 either then:

a) make payment ending the legal process, or

b) dispute some, or all, of the amount was owed.

4. If you dispute the amount that 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 the 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 amount covered by the CCJ we would take the next steps required to enforce the judgement. To do this we would make an application to the Court.

2. OUTSOURCE TO EXTERNAL AGENTS

Your account would be passed to another Collection Agency who will take further action to recover monies owed.

 

The above is word for word.

This company is a total disgrace.

 

 

My son has not been back to this gym since 22nd March.

Since the gym have sort of barred my son from the gym have they not breached their since of the so called legal contract.

 

Also my son is no longer working and receives no benefits, so good luck to them getting money out of him, I cant even get board!!!

 

Where do you suggest I go from here.

Thanks Hoody

[slick132]

Ho Hoody,

 

Ignore this latest letter from CRS as it's their standard hot air that will amount to nothing.

 

You were right to ignore Harlands offer to withdraw one of their penalty fees. You should pay none of them !

 

Re the letter in post #15, did you get a staff member to sign a copy of the letter as proof of delivery ?

 

[Hoody03]

Hey

 

That will be an oopsie. I just didn't have time to take it so I posted it.

 

[slick132]

Hi Hoody,

 

I don't suppose you got a Certificate of Posting when you sent the letter. It's no Biggie if you didn't.

 

In any event, continue to ignore Harlands/CRS, Zinc and Spratts for now but keep us posted.

 

I'm afraid YS will be unable to use the gym again but there's nothing that can be done about this.

 

[Hoody03]

Morning Slick

 

Unfortunately that will be a no, I franked it from work so it went with their mail.

 

I'm totally happy to ignore them and will definitely post any other communications.

 

My son will definitely not be going back, he's going to start to go to my gym and guess who does the credit for them......Harlands lol but you can pay upfront which I will be doing.

 

Thanks again, a massive help as always.

 

Have a fab weekend

 

Hoody