DW Fitness Cancellation problem

[Ady1985]

Hi Guys

 

I have seen you have had a fair few DW fitness problems, here's another one, sorry! Any help would be appreciated.

 

I joined LA fitness gym back in 2013, on a year contract, and subsequently onto a month's notice 'rolling contract' from 2015. LA fitness was bought out by PureGym, however my club in London was taken over by DW fitness.

 

I left my job in June due to redundancy, and called many times to cancel my membership,, to no avail. I called from my previous work phone, on each occasion, which now means unfortunately I do not have any proof of these calls.

 

After the receptionist and club manager both told me I could not cancel in the gym, and had to speak to customer services, I decided to cancel my Direct Debit at the bank (on 15.6.16), and wrote an email to DW fitness customer service, copy below:

__________

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

I am writing to cancel my membership. I understand that the T&Cs state this needs to be done over the phone, and you do not accept any cancellations via email, however, I have tried calling your Member Services on the below occasions:

 

May 23rd

May 24th

May 27th

June 1st

June 6th

 

Each call lasted OVER 20 minutes on hold, apart from the 6th June where my call was answered, and the caller (female) laughed and hung up. This was approx 3pm if you wish to check.

 

Having read reviews of other people's difficulty cancelling their DW membership, and the rudeness of your staff, I am not prepared to try to get through to you anymore, spending possibly a month's worth of membership on phone calls, overall approx 1hr and a half of listening to your hold music.

 

Please accept this as cancellation of my membership, with 30 days notice as of May 23rd, my first attempted call.

 

Membership number 452000******

DOB *******

Club: London Waldorf

 

I have cancelled my direct debit, my last payment of £48 came out of my account on 1st June, therefore nothing else is due. Do not attempt to call or correspond in anyway claiming that additional fees are due.

 

Regards

__________

 

The response I received was:

__________

Taking a look at your account there is no cancellation on file for you, the only notification we have is from your bank when the Direct Debit was cancelled 15.6.16. Please can you advise where and when your letter of cancellation was sent and if this was recorded delivery? I can see that you have used the membership during the months of May and June. Access would have been denied after the Direct Debit was cancelled as your account as this is club policy as your account would appear as incomplete.

 

Going forward if you are able to provide call logs of numerous attempts made to cancel calling the membership services number 0344 249 5300 I can look at backdating your cancellation. Otherwise I only have the authority to back date your cancellation to when the Direct Debit was cancelled 15.6.16. Taking a calendar months notice into effect from this date would make July your calendar month, meaning there would be a final payment of £48.00 to fully close your account. To make the final payment you can call us on 01942 219427 (Monday-Friday 09.00-18.00), or I can send you the banking details to make a bank transfer at your request.

__________

 

I replied:

________

 

Thank you for taking the time to get back to me.

There is no cancellation on file, because as per my original email to you I have not been able to get through to your customer services. I have tried on several occasions, and the only time I got through was when a girl answered the phone, laughed, and hung up. There was no letter of cancellation, as I was advised by the DW Waldorf club that this would not be accepted. I also was informed that the customer service telephone line was always busy, and that head office was short staffed. Because of this, I would appreciate it if you could cancel my membership as of May when my call should have been answered.

I would be perfectly happy to provide you with the call logs, however these were made from my work mobile. The reason for the cancellation was because I have been made redundant from my job in Aldwych, right next to the gym, therefore I am unable to access the call logs as the phone is not in my possession anymore.

My original email from 6th June requests that my 1 month cancellation notice be accepted from the first call attempt on May 23rd, therefore can I please request my membership be cancelled and no further payments be chased.

Given the poor response from customer services (I have not received a single apology for the call waiting times), please could you show some empathy on this occasion?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

________________

 

Sorry in advance for this longer than anticipated post!

 

Sidenote: The month I had paid for with my last direct debit, June, I was denied entry as per 'club policy' therefore the final payment they are demanding, I wasn't allowed in the club.

 

So, now I am receiving letters from Arc and Major Law. The ML one, I have misplaced, but basically says I could be taken to Northampton court. The Arc one, I have scanned and attached.

 

What would be my best course of action... am I liable, or should I stand my ground?

 

thanks so much in advance for your help!

 

Ady1985

[martin2006]

Hi ady, we have a couple of team members who specialise in this area, im sure one of them will be along soon to advise.

[slick132]

Hi Ady and welcome to CAG

 

Just so others can see it readily, there's a useful Stickie here about cancelling properly - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?452671-Cancelling-your-Gym-Agreement-Get-it-right-!(2-Viewing)-nbsp

 

I'm going to summarise the main points so we don't have to go through all of the post above :-

 

1. Your 12 month agreement started in 2013 and turned into a rolling monthly agree't.

 

2. You tried to contact the gym 23rd May 2016 to confirm your forthcoming redundancy, with a view to cancel.

 

3. You called the gym's HO 5 times as per your dates above to cancel but were not answered apart from on 6th June, and that was no use at all.

 

4. You spoke to the gyms' mgr and receptionist who both told you (WRONGLY) that you couldn't cancel in the actual gym and had to contact their HO.

 

5. You cancelled the DD via the bank on 15th June 2016.

 

6. Your final DD was paid on 1st June.

 

From what I've seen so far, I you don't need to pay the gym anything further. In fact, if the gym denied you entry before 30th June, they are in breach of contract.

 

More info please :-

 

A) When you spoke to the gym mgr and receptionist, was this in person or by phone.

 

B) On what date were you denied entry to the club.

 

Ignore Major Law for now - they're full of hot air and will do nothing, Same goes for ARC !! Neither have any power or authority and you have every right to stand your ground and NOT pay what's being demanded.

 

[Ady1985]

Hi Slick

 

Thanks so much for the speedy reply!

 

To answer your questions, I spoke to the club manager in person and later on the phone when she stated she could take a payment over the phone (the club phoned me numerous times and left a fair few voicemails) of one further month's membership (£48) otherwise it would be passed to debt collection.

 

I was denied access to the club not long after I cancelled the DD, I would say approx 20th June.

 

I hope this helps!

 

Kind regards

 

Ady

[slick132]

Hi Ady,

 

1. When was (or will be) the redundancy date.

 

2. Was it 15th June when you spoke to the mgr in the gym.

 

3. Did you pay the £48 to the mgr when asked or did you refuse.

 

[Ady1985]

Hi Slick

 

The redundancy date was the end of June, around 25th.

 

I spoke to club management around 1st June when I was having problems getting through to customer services in the phone, I asked if I could do it in the club and she said no.

 

I refused to pay, as I couldn't get through on the phone, was losing my job and I was restricted getting access to the club for about the last week or two of my membership. I asked that given these circumstances they could just cancel from May, but she said she didn't have the authority to do this.

 

Thanks

Ady

[slick132]

Hi Ady,

 

I'm v pleased you didn't pay the £48 the mgr was after !!

 

You need to write to the gym (not ARC) telling them :-

 

1. They were wrong to refuse to process your cancellation request when you visited the gym.

 

2. Redundancy is an acceptable reason for cancelling.

 

3. You had the right to cancel in person and you did not have to cancel in any other particular way as suggested, whether this is stated in their m/ship T&C's or not.

 

4. The gym breached your rights by denying you access when you had paid on 1st June giving you gym access up to the end of June.

 

5. In the circumstances, you require the gym's written confirmation that they accept you owe them nothing further and they'll tell ARC to stop harassing you.

 

Post a draft letter here before sending if you want.

 

Edited October 5, 2016 by slick132

[Ady1985]

Hi Slick

 

I've drafted the below letter - would this be ok to send to Head Office? Is there a governing body I can state I would raise a complaint with if they refuse to play ball?

_________

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Membership number 452000******

DOB *******

Club: London Waldorf

 

I emailed you in June to cancel my membership, having been told in the club (Aldwych) that I could not cancel in club or even by letter and would need to call customer services. I also was informed by your club staff that the customer service telephone line was always busy, and that head office was short staffed – not my problem, this is poor customer service. I had to right to cancel in person, whether this is stated in their m/ship T&C's or not.

 

I tried calling your Member Services on the below occasions:

May 23rd

May 24th

May 27th

June 1st

June 6th

 

Each call lasted over 20 minutes on hold, apart from the 6th June where my call was answered, and the caller (female) laughed and hung up.

 

I cancelled my direct debit on 15 June 2016, my last payment of £48 came out of my account on 1st June, therefore nothing else is due.

 

I would have been perfectly happy to provide you with the call logs; however these were made from my work mobile. The reason for the cancellation was because I have been made redundant from my job in Aldwych, right next to the gym, therefore I am unable to access the call logs as the phone is not in my possession anymore.

 

My original email from 6th June requests that my 1 month cancellation notice be accepted from the first call attempt on May 23rd.

 

During the month I had paid for with my last direct debit, June, I was denied entry as per 'club policy' therefore the final payment you are demanding, I wasn't allowed in the club. This is a breach of my rights.

 

Due to these reasons, I require you to provide me with written confirmation that I owe no money to you, along with your instructions to ARC and Major Law to cease communications, otherwise this will be reported as harassment.

 

Yours Sincerely

[slick132]

Hi Ady and thanks for the draft.

 

I suggest some changes and I've also left out some items that aren't necessary :

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Membership number 452000******

DOB *******

Club: London Waldorf

 

I emailed you in June to cancel my membership, having been told in the club (Aldwych) that I could not cancel in club or even by letter and would need to call customer services. I now know I had the right to cancel in person, whether this is stated in their m/ship T&C's or not. The gym should have accepted and processed my cancellation due to me being made redundant.

 

I tried calling your Member Services on the following dates :-

May 23rd

May 24th

May 27th

June 1st

June 6th

 

Each call lasted over 20 minutes on hold, apart from the 6th June where my call was answered but the call handler (female) laughed and hung up.

 

I cancelled my direct debit on 15 June 2016, my last payment of £48 came out of my account on 1st June, therefore nothing else is due.

 

My original email from 6th June requested that my cancellation notice be accepted from the first call attempt on May 23rd.

 

Despite paying for the whole month of June, I was refused entry by gym staff in the middle of the month and was told it was 'club policy'. This was a breach of my rights on your part.

 

Due to these reasons, I require your written confirmation that I owe no money to you. I also require confirmation that you will instruct ARC and Major Law to cease demands, otherwise this will be reported as harassment to Trading Standards and to The CMA.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Get a free Certificate of Posting from the PO when you send it.

 

[Ady1985]

Hi Slick

 

Thanks so much for your help! I'll post the letter tomorrow and obtain proof from the post office. If I hear anything else shall I post an update?

 

Kind regards

 

Ady

[slick132]

Hi Ady,

 

Of course, keep us updated.

 

[Ady1985]

Hi guys

 

I've received the below email from DW Fitness customer services following the letter I sent to them:

 

This email is in relation to your DW gym membership and as a follow up from the letter that you had sent to head office.

 

I understand that you have been made redundant and have tried calling several times, without success to cancel the membership.

 

As of right now, the only notice we have of your cancellation request is from 19/06/2016, if we used this date to set up your cancellation, it would mean that your final payment would be July as the system would block June from being the final payment, as from start to finish it is not a full month and therefore July would be the final payment.

 

Unless you are able to present calls logs where you have tried to call us on 01/06/2016 or before, then we will be able to take June as the final payment, if not then unfortunately it would be July’s payment needed for £48.00.

 

You can make your payments cash over the counter at a DW gym or by calling DW Debt Recovery on: 01942 219 427 or by calling our automated payment line on: 01332 646 570 and quoting the membership number and click the option to choose your own amount.

 

I have also attached our banking details, in case you would like to make a one off bank transfer. All you need to do is simply add your membership number: 1800000573 as a reference number or if you would like a call back, please feel free to request this with a time and date and we will try our best to accommodate the request.

 

Account name: Dave Whelan Sports Ltd

Account number:

Sort code:

 

If you have any questions of queries, please feel free to contact me directly by responding to this email

________________

 

I feel like replying to state that they did not read my letter, how can I provide phone logs when I was made redundant and the calls were from a work phone... Besides, they have disregarded the fact I was denied entry and they would not allow me to cancel in the club.

 

Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

Ady

[slick132]

Hi Ady,

 

I think your idea is good and you could simply reply by email saying :-

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

I refer to your email of xxdate.

 

Either you have failed to properly read the content of my letter of xxdate; or you have chosen to ignore what I wrote.

 

In any event, it doesn't matter. For the reasons set out in my previous letter, I will pay you nothing more but if you make any further demands, or cause other to make such demands, I will raise formal complaints without further warning.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Don't get involved in email tennis with them. Let us know if and how they reply but it's probably best to ignore them, for a while at least.