Cooling off periods/CCA with gym membership contracts

[MAVE]

Hi

 

Does anyone know whether there should be a 'cooling off' period for gym membership? I signed a contract and they didn't tell me I would be committed to 12 months. It was only afterwards I realised- stupid, I know, but it was done so quickly and I was tired after a 1st session with a trainer and they went straight into it all. It was only a few days ago, I have been away for the weekend and I haven't used the facilities yet.

 

Also, are these contrcts in themselves a CCA form? What should I be looking for to check whether they are or not?

 

Thanks

 

M

[buzby]

It is hard to say without seeing hte contract, but it is more than likely your Gym contract is NOT regulated under the CCA, unless it was so expensive you went through an intermediary who provided you with credit to pay the fee in advance. It is probablky a standard service contract and as we've found, almost all- except those clubs run by local authorities - inevitably have a lock-in period to prevent folk from departing early.

[MAVE]

Thanks for the advice. I was in a real rush when I filled in the form but called them when I got back to the office anbd told them I hadn't been informed that it was a 12 month contract, and they said to come back in and see them, but I've been away for the last few days.

 

Also, no where on the form are the words 'consumer credit' or the usual blurb about it being regulated by the consuer credit act etc. Is this relevant?

[buzby]

As mentioned earlier, they were only giving you access to the Gym, not supplying you with credit - so I doubt it would be a relevant issue.

[rosiecotton]

If you've signed a contract to join the gym, then it is legally binding and you would have to pay them damages if you breached that contract - which could actually be the full costs of the contract in this case.

 

If you have signed a credit agreement to pay your membership of the gym at the same time, this credit agreement becomes legally binding once it has been signed by you and by an authorised representative of the finance company (at this point it becomes an executed agreement and thus legally binding).

 

Sometimes agreements can be deemed to have not been properly executed - if you have any grounds for believing that the credit agreement has not been properly drawn up (i.e. if vital information regarding the amount of credit, APR, repayments etc is wrong or missing), then take the paperwork to a CAB or your local Trading Standards office (if they provide this service) and they will tell you if there are any loopholes.

 

My personal experience has found that there are rarely loopholes in cases like this though.