Anytime Fitness kept no record of my membership cancellation and are now threatening me with debt collection.

[abhalla197]

Long story incoming....

summary is the gym didn’t process my membership cancellation as I thought they would, and have had me recorded as a member for over a year when I have not set foot in the gym that entire time.

 

They want the indemnity claim money back (£300) because there’s no record of my face to face cancellation.

The only ‘proof’ I have is the vague medical letter as my reason for originally cancelling.

They’re threatening me with sending the claim to debt collectors. 

 

Now for the long version...

 

I left AF in March due to medical reasons.

I spoke to someone in the gym face-to-face who advised me I would need to provide a doctors letter before officially cancelling. 

 

Fair enough,

I got the letter from my doctor which read like a generic

‘This person has X medical problem and is going to stop their exercises to see if that helps’ (no specific mention of AF in this letter). 

 

I was assured that my membership would be cancelled and went about my usual life until very recently,

when I discovered that AF have been taking the direct debit payments as normal, as if I never left.

 

My bad for not noticing quick enough as I never look at my bank statements,

I go to the gym and speak to a new person to see if theyve got anything on my record about why the payment is still going through. 

 

Lo and behold, they have me down still as an active member, with absolutely no record of my original conversation with whoever it was back in March.

Turnover is extremely high at that gym so whoever it was is long gone. 

 

I put in an indemnity claim with my bank and cancelled the DD.

I was told by the gym manager via email that they would have to reinstate the direct debit to get a months payment out before they could officially cancel my membership properly, so I reinstated it. 

 

I then got an email saying they received the indemnity claim, and that since they have nothing on record of my cancellation, they want the claim money back.

 

This is part of the email I got. 

 

“Due to being a member for this duration and not having any medical written records being provided to us for evidence, your membership began to continue as normal.

 

Failure to make any payments for this, your account will be passed to a third party debt collection to retrieve the outstanding credit that has been returned to yourself by the bank.”

 

I still have the medical letter, but I’m worried that the gym’s incompetence has left me with no other concrete proof that I cancelled as I have no email confirmation from back in March.

 

I’m working on getting the exact date that I went in to cancel so that I can ask the gym to look at the CCTV so they can see me come in with the letter, but other than that I’ve got no options. I’m being told by them that it’s my fault for keeping no records for myself, when the fault is clearly on the staff member who didn’t process my cancellation. 

 

Im going to cancel the DD again as soon as it shows up in my online banking, but what powers do AF actually have in this case?

The claim money was to the tune of £300 so I’m not keen on letting it go that easily. 

[dx100uk]

ignore them all.

a DCA is not a BAILIFF

and have

ZERO legal powers on ANY debt.

 

gym debts don't show on credit files

gyms have not done court since 2012.

 

block and bounce all emails from now on.

 

dx

 

[slick132]

Hi Abhalla and welcome to CAG

 

Over the years being here to help with gym cases, we've learned that gyms and their admin companies have a tendency to "lose" cancellations.

 

Read this Guide about cancelling properly and your rights/obligations -  https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/383678-cancelling-your-gym-agreement-get-it-right/

 

 

Don't take AF too seriously - as DX says above, they have no powers and gyms don't do court, nor do they affect your credit files. 

 

1. Cancel the DD mandate immediately via your bank.

 

2. Did you get back and keep whatever you reclaimed using the DD Guarantee Scheme.

 

3. Give us approx date you FIRST TOLD the gym you had to cancel for health reasons. NOT the date you gave the doctor's letter because they have no right to demand this ( as per the Guide linked above).

 

4. When was the last month you paid and did not reclaim the gym fee using the DDG Scheme.

 

Don't bother finding the exact date you went in to cancel. And don't worry about demands from the gym or anyone they use to chase you. Speak to no one by phone and let us suggest what you need to do, or not !

[abhalla197]

I can’t remember when I first told them I wanted to cancel, but I remember I got the letter from my doctor pretty quickly after telling them in the first instance. 

 

I got the money from my bank quote quickly after I submitted the indemnity claim. 

 

As per gym managers email the last payment I got back was Jan 2020 as I cancelled the DD the first time around this month, the day before it was due to be taken out. 

 

Waiting for a reply from the manager as the last correspondence I had with them was asking for clarification that they actually wanted me to pay back the claim money. 

[slick132]

1. Have you cancelled the DD Mandate.

 

2. Noted.

 

3. Please answer my Q above.

 

4. Again, can you answer Q 4 above.

 

Thanks