Health Club Membership Refund

[hulsevictoria]

Here's how it went.

I went for a sauna at a health club in September 2004, filled out a direct debit mandate in the club, I used the sauna only once and then I cancelled the Direct Debit with the bank (Natwest)

I moved house about a month later.

 

They have been continuing to take £15.00 a month out of my account for three years. The bank never bothered to cancel the Direct Debit.

 

The Direct Debit was leaving my account under the name "Orange Feilds". I thought this was my orange phone account, which is why I haven't questioned it for three years.

 

I sent a letter to the Health Club explaining this. I only ever used the sauna once, and I moved out of the area less than a month later, but they have taken over £300 from my account in the last three years.

But now the health club is saying I filled out a direct debit and I dont stand much chance of getting my money back.

Because I moved out of the area, they had an old address on record and I have never recived any correspondance from them.

Can I claim these charges as unfair?

 

Can anyone advise me what to do next?

[sequenci]

did you ever write and cancel?

 

they would assume you still wanted the service unless informed otherwise.

[Movingon]

As sequenci said unless you cancelled your membership then you have absolutely no grounds for a claim. Also, it is your responsibility (through Royal Mail's redirection service) to ensure that when you move people can still get hold of you. In fact, with some organisations it is an offence not to notify of a change of address; with others it will simply invalidate whatever service you're getting from them (e.g. insurance).

 

I'm afraid you walked into this with your eyes wide open. I would write to them now and cancel your membership.

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[racer1]

I'm not sure you'll be able to get the money back - my other half has a similar issue with 02 where he's been charged £20 every month because they claim they never received the notification to cancel the contract, and this is going back about four years. You can clearly see there have been no calls or texts on this number but he's still been paying for it without realising - a lesson, IMO, of always ensuring you check your bank statements properly.

[hulsevictoria]

I have already cancelled this membership.

I had the same issue with a gym in King's Lynn and I got a full refund.

Mabye I have been a bit naive, but I am now asking the bank to look into it.

I check my bank statements regularly, but the name of the comapny was"Orange Fields" and I thought it was an orange mogile phone contract. I diddn't get them to redirect my mail because I was not aware I was tied into a contract. I have never recived any correspondance from orange fields because I moved house.

I'm sure they said I could phone and cancel the direct debit, there was no mention of cancelling in writing.

Some unfair practice has gone on here i'm sure.

[rosiecotton]

Did you actually cancel the membership or just the direct debit?

[hulsevictoria]

That's the point, there was no membership. I tried to cancel the direct debit, but the bank failed to cancel it properly. There is no membership, just a direct debit.

[Movingon]

That's the point, there was no membership. I tried to cancel the direct debit, but the bank failed to cancel it properly. There is no membership, just a direct debit.

 

I think you'll find that the DDM was attached to a membership form. If not, why would they be demanding money from you? They can't require money from you without a contract. Just in case however I would write to them and ask them for a copy of the contract which they are relying upon to demand money from you. If there is no contract, then you have a reasonable case for claiming the money back. However as I said I suspect that the DDM was part of your contract with the Gym for them to provide you with a service. You might want to couch the request for a copy of the contract as an SAR - this way you can be certain that they have a legal obligation to respond.

 

(SAR = Data Protection Act s.7 - Subject Access Request)

 

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[BankFodder]

You need to get evidence from the bank that you attempted to cancel the DD.

You might try it by way of an SAR. If you didn't do it in writing then there will probably be no evidence.

If you can show that it was the bank's error then you can force them to repay you the money

[hulsevictoria]

Wooo HOOO!!!

The gym in King's Lyn has paied up, almost in full!!!

That's £550 in my bin!! less £50 for administration cost's so they say.

Just to clarify I have this direct debit issue with two gym's. One was in King's Lynn and the other was in Swansea, it was called Biomorphic but they operate under the name "Orange Fields".

 

I'm still having a few problems with Biomorphic, but my bank have been surprisingly helpful. They have told me how to get them to pay up even though they don't do direct debit indemnities.

Anyway, I'll let you know how I get on.

 

My first win!!

[sbfido]

Wooo HOOO!!!

The gym in King's Lyn has paied up, almost in full!!!

That's £550 in my bin!! less £50 for administration cost's so they say.

Just to clarify I have this direct debit issue with two gym's. One was in King's Lynn and the other was in Swansea, it was called Biomorphic but they operate under the name "Orange Fields".

 

I'm still having a few problems with Biomorphic, but my bank have been surprisingly helpful. They have told me how to get them to pay up even though they don't do direct debit indemnities.

Anyway, I'll let you know how I get on.

 

My first win!!

 

If they operate Direct debits they have to adhere to the indemnity. Well done on your refund.

[ManagingDirector]

Congrats.

 

beware of pipex then! I stuck my card details in for a non-obligation non-subscription service where they didnt mention about storing card details... they then without my permission (Even though i cancelled the account within the month as the servce was soo poor) they kept using my card, the thing is the bank cant stop payments from cards, or so they say anyway, unlike direct debits... so i had to get a new card, obtain the rest the money back, dispute it with my banks fraud department, i then got a letter threatening legal action under the county courts act 1987 if i dont pay them within 7 days (guess what, i received it after the date on letter and only had 2 days... even thoguh you would ahve gone by postmark anyway), so i then sent them a letter back... heard ntohing from them, a month later they sent me a "debt" write off notification... and when i thought it was all ok, a month and a bit later i got another invoice (been going on for years now)... so when they try to claim the money this time, its gongi to the small claims, as this is totally unfair harrassment - i tried the police to begin with as it was fraudulent, but they said its not a police issue (fraud and theft...like wtf?!?!) and was between me and the company involved....

[hulsevictoria]

If they operate Direct debits they have to adhere to the indemnity. Well done on your refund.

 

Yes, so the bank said. What does this mean exactly?

Does this mean Biomorphic have to prove I gave them permision to withdraw money from my account? I never had a contract with them, and I never agreed on paper to sign up to membership. I never even had a membership agreement with Biomorphic.

 

They just used my card details to fill in a direct debit mandate. And the signiture on it is NOT mine!! I can prove this with my bank card.

I don't know what is going on here. I think it might be a fraudulent Direct Debit Mandate.

[hulsevictoria]

They sent me the direct debit mandate.

It's not my signiture, there is no way it's even my handwriting.

I don't know what is going on.

 

Originally Posted by sbfido

"If they operate Direct debits they have to adhere to the indemnity"

Could you explain this to me please.

[Movingon]

Hulse - if this is not your handwriting and not your signature you need to (a) Call the Police and report a suspected fraud, and (b) call the bank and tell them you have done this, and © wait to claim your money back until such time as you know what is going on with the police investigation; they may well be able to advise you on this. Don't forget that you are probably not the only one to have suffered at the hands of the person who did this to you, and it's probably not the organisation but an individual employee who will then quietly siphon the money off somehow.