living well gym. want to cancel my 12mts contract - find it's a 3 year membership!!

[Itsrelfy]

Good afternoon. 

 

Ive been having a read on this forum as last year I signed up to my local living well gym.

There was a offer on at the time of a reduced rate.

I’m certain that I was told it was for a year and then if I wanted, I could keep the membership at the same price for another 2 years. 

 

I have recently decided to cancel as I just don’t use it enough and emailed the gym in Maidstone. 

They said my membership was through dfc and gave me their email. 

 

I emailed them and the response i got I got was that the membership was for 3 years and that if I wanted to cancel early I would have to pay £150. 

 

I feel that that this has therefore been mis sold to me and I have asked for a copy of the contract I signed plus the terms and conditions. 

 

I have so far  heard nothing back. 

 

After reading on on here I see that these types of contracts were deemed unfair back in 2011 and that generally the advice on here is cancel the dd then deal with any threats via letter. 

 

Would i I be ok to do this or should I wait for the documents I’ve requested to be sent through? 

 

Regards

adrian. 

This post has been promoted to an article

[BankFodder]

Please can you tell us which gym you are dealing with and also what is DFC.

In principle you should simply send them a letter giving them a months notice. You haven't told us when you started your membership – how long you've been there.

[Itsrelfy]

The gym I signed upto is living well in Maidstone. I think it’s part of the hotel it’s  in which is the great danes and that is a mercure hotel. 

 

Dfc revenue management solutions is the company that collects the monthly payment and who I have been told I need to contact.

 

I signed up roughly 1 year ago as I wanted to do some training for an endurance event in September. 

 

Hope this info info is helpful. 

 

 I still have heard nothing from this dfc company regarding the contract I signed and the terms and conditions I requested.

 

They replied promptly until I asked for these and now nothing at all. 

 

Do do you think it would be ok to cancel the direct debit without notifying them first? 

 

Thanks

adrian. 

[dx100uk]

what ever happens gyms or their dogs can do nothing to you or your credit file.

 

 

 

[slick132]

Hi Relfy,

 

The gym had no right to tell you to contact an admin company (DFC) to handle the cancellation.

 

Stop contact with DFC for now.

 

If this WAS a 3 year m/ship, you need pay nothing more at all. Any agreement exceeding 12 months was deemed unfair and unenforceable.

 

If it was just a 12 month agreement, you are free to cancel after the 12th payment but you should have given notice to quit after the 11th payment. However, if DFC are trying to demand sums in excess of their entitlement, Just ignore all demands for now.

 

I suggest they are just trying it on !

 

[Itsrelfy]

So shall I just cancel the dd and see what happens or contact the gym again? If I contact the gym what should I be asking. 

 

Thanks for your reply

 

regards

adrian. 

[slick132]

Before you do any more, tell us :-

 

1. The date you joined.

 

2. Date you told the gym you wanted to cancel.

 

3. Date the last DD was taken by DFC from your bank.

 

I assume you have still had no reply to the request for a copy of the m/ship you agreed to (showing if it was 1 or 3 years) but please confirm.

 

[Itsrelfy]

1) I’m not 100% certain when I joined. It was around this time last year the first payment disappeared from my bank on 1st may last year. So I’m guessing i have signed up in April. 

 

2) I contacted the gym via email on 21st March. It was merely an enquiry. I wanted to know how I would go about cancelling. They then replied stating. Below is there response

 

Thank you for contacting me about your membership.

The membership type you have is a promotional rate, which is a 36 months contract, CFM/DFL contract.

To cancel or amend your contract you would need to contact DFL directly, who can assist you with this matter.
- 01908 422007
- [email protected]

This type of membership is being control by DFL so unfortunately I cannot cancel or amend the contract myself due to terms and conditions of the contract in place.

Hope you find this information helpful.

Kind regards 
Debbie
 

 

3) Last direct debit was taken 1st March and the next will be due 1st April. 

 

I have had had no contact from either dfc or the gym. I have not been sent the documents I asked for. Unfortunately I can’t find my copy I have a feeling they could have been thrown out when we renovated our kitchen last year. 

 

Thanks

adrian. 

 

 

[slick132]

Hi Relfy,

 

Based on what you say, I suggest you have 2 options :-

 

1. Cancel the DD immediately due to their unfair 3 year agreement.

 

2. Allow the April fee to be taken and then cancel the DD mandate via your bank.

 

I think option 2 leaves you in a better place to substantiate your case. In this case, you should be able to use the gym to the end of April.

 

Keep us posted.

[Itsrelfy]

Hello again. 

 

today I heard back from this dfc company with the documents I requested.

And it appears as though I did tick and sign the 36 month box.

 

However I’m still confused as the man who took me through everything stated I could stop after 12 months.

However he did not mention there would be a balance to pay. 

 

Ive hopefully uploaded the documents I’ve been sent below. 

 

Am am I still entitled to cancel?

It appears I signed up in 5/4/18 and 1st direct debit was taken 1/5/18. 

 

Regards

adrian. 

 

Customer Complaints Policy and Procedure 2.pdf CFM new.pdf Customer Complaint Information 1.pdf

 

I’ve removed the document I signed as it had personal info on it. 

[dx100uk]

Matters not.read post 9

[slick132]

Hi Relfy,

 

The first line of the T&C's refers to "........ the minimum period shown overleaf." Have you seen what is written here ?

 

 

 

[Itsrelfy]

I’ll send you the contract I signed privately if that’s ok? 

 

The bloke wrote minimum 12 months in the box.

Which tally’s up with what I remember.

He didn’t mention anything about paying a settlement fee though. 

 

Ive Also has the gym email.

They are still saying they can’t help me and the they contacted dfc who will be getting in touch to go through options.

Unless it’s cancelling I’m not really interested. 

I have had April’s fee taken so I have now paid the 12 months that went yesterday. 

[dx100uk]

good so you informed 'somebody' by 'some method' you wanted to cancel before the april payment came out

so you have abided by the general gym 'rules'.

 

nothing more you need to do.

ignore everyone now IMHO.

 

dx

 

[Itsrelfy]

Yes I started querying this sometime ago and I’ve had responses from both companies. 

 

Again ive emailed dfc today stating that I feel this was misold as I was not told about early settlement fees. 

 

And i also mentioned the high court case back in 2011. 

 

Ive told them I should be allowed to end my contract without paying any additional fees. So I guess we will wait and see. 

 

Slick132 I’ve not been able to send you anything privately because apparently I need 11 posts  think this maybe number 11 now. 

43 minutes ago, dx100uk said:

good so you informed 'somebody' by 'some method' you wanted to cancel before the april payment came out

so you have abided by the general gym 'rules'.

 

nothing more you need to do.

ignore everyone now IMHO.

 

dx

 

Thanks for the advice. I am tempted just to cancel the dd see what happens. 

[dx100uk]

 

yes cancel the DD

you don't need to send slick132 anything.

 

dx

 

[slick132]

DX is right - I don't need you to send me anything. If you have a copy of the agreement that says "12 months minimum term", so much the better. Your case is rock solid

 

Stop emailing DFC or the gym - there's no need to do this at all. There's no point in trying to convince them you're right as they're just not interested - they simply want your money !! The more you continue to argue with them, they more they're encouraged to keep making demands.

 

If you DO need to communicate anything, do so by letter only. But in the meantime, I suggest you cease all contact.

 

Cancel the DD mandate via the bank and let us know what further comm's you get from DFC (but don't reply !!).

 

 

[Itsrelfy]

Good afternoon. 

 

This afternoon ive had a voicemail from dfc and they are saying that the contract is fair and enforceable because they have put in the option to terminate after 12 months even though a fee would be due. 

 

He accepted that without that option it would be unfair but because the option is there they are saying it’s fair. 

 

So am I still ok to cancel the direct debit and then ride the storm if there is one or does this explanation change things. 

[dx100uk]

You should block ALL phone email etc now

Ignore

Cancel dd

They have zero legal powers

[slick132]

As we've said already, cancel the DD mandate immediately via your bank.

 

Don't reply to the voicemail and ignore any further ones.

 

Let us know if they write to you but don't reply until we know what's been said.