Virgin Active/Arc DCA Hassle - say they can take me to court?

[pantheonnn]

Ok heres the deal.

 

I signed up for a 3 month virgin active membership back around july,

after one months use I wanted to cancel,

they wouldnt agree and the idiot manager would not even agree to simply talk with me.

 

I didn't use the gym in the last two months but they don't care and the contract doesn't of course.

 

Arc debt collection has been dealing with me,

I owed around £170 or something in total

 

ive already paid £90 worth, maybe that was the wrong decision but I do not want to pay them the remainder.

 

I've set loads of dates to pay and many I have not paid and we just rearrange

one guy called saying the solicitors will get involved and court action if I do not pay,

I do not want to pay them and i did not pay a payment recently.

No doubt they will call me saying solicitor or court action will be taken.

 

What should I do???

I know I should have came to this forum earlier.

 

I do not want to pay these morons or go to court and be forced to pay this little amount and travel there since its out of london etc.

 

????

Edited December 27, 2018 by dx100uk
spacing

[fkofilee]

As someone who has dealt with the ARC / Virgin - They dont do court...

Trust me on this...

 

Team will be along soon

[pantheonnn]

Thanks dude, I await this forums team if that's what you are reffering too, i hope. Lol.

Edited December 27, 2018 by dx100uk
quote

[dx100uk]

thread title updated...

 

stop talking on the phone to powerless DCA's

they ARE NOT BAILIFFS

and have

ZERO legal powers.

 

you tried to cancel, they sc@mmed you..

 

after you cancelled, did you pay anything?

[pantheonnn]

Virgin active wouldn't cancel it.

 

The arc debt collection people say I owe them money, I have paid half of it already. I do not want to pay the rest.

 

I am setting agreements and dates with the debt collection agency but I am not paying them, I'm just gonna stop making any arrangements, they say they can get court proceedings and will get solicitors involved, I've heard its bogus which is good but i still I don't know what to tell them now.

[dx100uk]

answer my question...

what have you paid since you tried to cancel....

 

gyms have not done court in +5yrs

and these debts cant hurt your credit file either...

[slick132]

Hi Panth and welcome to CAG

 

1. What was the monthly fee.

 

2. What have you paid so far.

 

As DX says, stop talking to anyone by phone. You have no need to react to their demands.

 

[pantheonnn]

answer my question...

what have you paid since you tried to cancel....

 

gyms have not done court in +5yrs

and these debts cant hurt your credit file either...

 

I have paid about £85, that is half, there is around £88 more they want me to pay.

[pantheonnn]

The monthly fee was £55 or £50, I've paid half which is about £85 so far and I shall pay no more.

 

Thanks for all the help guys.

[dx100uk]

so effectively since you cancelled you have paid more than one extra months membership.

if so you owe them nothing...infact they owe you...

 

i'd be minded to go get the rest above the one month back under the DD guarantee.

[slick132]

I would not recommend you reclaim any amount paid so far - you joined for 3 months and had no good reason to cancel early.

 

If you don't want to pay for the 3 months, that's your prerogative. I doubt ARC will do anything serious about it - they tend not to.

 

However, my advice would be to offer to pay for the 3 months but not one penny in admin fees. Make the offer to ARC and tell them it's valid for 14 days only and will be withdrawn if they seek any admin fees on top.

 

There are many letters here you can adapt from other threads.

 

But don't speak to anyone by phone from now on - keep everything by typed and posted letter from now on. If ARC call you, hang up because they are unimportant chancers looking to make money from you.

 

[pantheonnn]

so effectively since you cancelled you have paid more than one extra months membership.

if so you owe them nothing...infact they owe you...

 

i'd be minded to go get the rest above the one month back under the DD guarantee.

 

Wow thankyou.

 

How do I do this?

 

So you said I should get anything I've paid except the one month back. Actually, I need to recheck how much I owed with them.

 

I am sure I paid one month to virgin active before and it was a three months contract, and I had two months left which I did not use. Therefore Arc are requesting two months payment plus like £60 something pound since the total they want is around £170.

 

Maybe Arc owe me all the money I have paid them back?

 

I don't know, thanks.

[pantheonnn]

Ok thanks.

 

Ah ok maybe I should not claim any money then.

 

How should I tell them to interact with me by letter or email only? When they phone me, should I just tell them to never phone me again and interact only by letter through the door?

 

Thanks.

[pantheonnn]

Ok guys I am so dumb. HERE IS WHATS GOING ON.

 

I had a three month contract with virgin active which I had ALREADY paid one month. Therefore I owe two months which is £110.

 

Arc have demanded £174 since the beginning.

 

Therefore I have already paid about £87 which is near the whole thing I owe minus arcs admin fees or the extra fees which seem to be about £85 in total...

[slick132]

Read my post again - letters only from now on.

 

If you want a letter drafted to send, just say.

 

I suggest you only offer to pay for the 3 months in total, less what you've paid so far.

 

But we need to know the exact monthly fee.

 

[pantheonnn]

The exact monthly fee was £55. I paid for one month already with virgin directly back then so I only owe two months more which is £110 but of course arc added fees which comes up to £174 they want.

 

I have paid £85 already, so technically I only owe £25 more, but arc want me to pay the £174 and not just £110 for the extra two months.

 

Please can I have a letter to send also? thanks.

[dx100uk]

simple letter offering the outstanding £25 due to unpaid membership fees.

 

tell them you will not be paying any unlawful admin fees

 

take it or leave it.

 

I will communicate with you no more should you refuse

[ericsbrother]

ARC cant legally add fees. Offer to pay the outstanding balance of £25 and no more and if they refuse this you are not obliged to pay them anything. It is called mitigation of debt. Let Virgin know that ARC have lost them money by their unlawful behaviour. Do this in writing, not by telephone or email, they dont take that seriously

[slick132]

Letter to the Virgin Gym Head Office, typed and sent by post and get a free Certificate of Posting at the PO :-

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

I refer to my 3 month membership at [town/city] gym.

 

I wanted to cancel the m/ship early but the gym manager refused even to speak to me.

 

Of the £165 that I owe, I have paid £140 and therefore owe you a further £25 which I am happy to pay if you confirm in writing you are willing to accept this in full settlement of all that I owe you.

 

I will not pay ARC unlawful admin/penalty charges they are trying to charge me.

 

Kindly provide bank details and a payment reference so I can pay the balance due.

 

This offer will be withdrawn if you fail to accept it in writing within 14 days, or you allow ARC to continue to make higher demands.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Speak to no one; no emails. Let us know if they've replied within 21 days of posting your letter.

 

[pantheonnn]

I spoke to Arc and they said that the bill is £50 more because virgin active have a contractual late fee and this means I have to pay £50 more than just the membership.

 

The idiot on the phone was saying arc dont add any fees, the reason the bill is bigger is because of the contractual late fee.

 

Do I have to pay this contractual late fee which is an extra £50 on top of the three months where I didn't even use the gym most of it? This is ridiculous.

 

Thanks guys.

[Will Goodfellow]

Do I have to pay this contractual late fee which is an extra £50 on top of the three months where I didn't even use the gym most of it?

 

If the fee was part of the contract, you are liable. That doesn't mean you have to pay it.

[dx100uk]

I spoke to Arc and they said that the bill is £50 more because virgin active have a contractual late fee and this means I have to pay £50 more than just the membership.

 

The idiot on the phone was saying arc dont add any fees, the reason the bill is bigger is because of the contractual late fee.

 

Do I have to pay this contractual late fee which is an extra £50 on top of the three months where I didn't even use the gym most of it? This is ridiculous.

 

Thanks guys.

 

Who told you to speak to a powerless dca on the phone??

 

No if you read other threads

The fees are unlawful

 

Not sure what part of post 19 you didn't read and understand.....

[slick132]

Hi Panth,

 

As DX says, read post #19 again carefully. Follow the advice exactly.

 

Speak to N0 ONE at all for any reason. If they call you, tell them In Writing Only, then hang up !

 

And I disagree with the comments in post #21 which are self-contradictory. You are NOT liable for penalty or admin fees imposed by a contract if the terms of that contract are unfair or unenforceable.

 

Post #19 !! Read and do it, then let us know if or how they respond.