molko

in a nutshell, the missus decided to cancel the gym membership, went to to gym to try and cancel, got told that she would need to do so in writing and that they would send some forms out, the forms never arrived. The missus wrote a letter to the gym saying that she had cancelled(posted recorded) which also never arrived, then we cancelled the direct debit.

We have had a few phone calls from the gym saying we owe £29 (one months membership), she told them the above and that we were not paying.
We now have a letter from from some Credit Account Recovery Solutions Limited stating we now owe £55 asking us to pay before they proceed with "formal debt recovery actions"

I'm all for not paying, just tell 'em to stick it, its the gyms fault for not sending the forms out, they were told in person we were cancelling and were told over the phone we were cancelling, a letter was sent by us but not received by them.

Any advice ? Do you reckon they can take us to court on the strength of £29, although now it apears it will be £55. Will this effect our credit rating ?

What about CCJ.

The missus is bricking it...

ta

mad555

iTrader: (1)

Fitness First by any chance????

molko

heh heh you did the math....good skills, aye thats them

The Chief

You know there are some right bell-sends at FF, some a**e hole decided that they will take someone to court over 55 quid - the fees alone for this will run into the hundreds.

seek legal advice to be on the safe side - maybe a free consultation.

also maybe say your contract was with your wife who has now left you for the milkman/rentman/sheila from down the road and moved out.

SiDHEaD

We've just had a nightmare with fitness first.

Basically my gf was mis-sold a package and when she tried to change the manager said "you've signed so you are stuck with it" (exact words).

Quick call to head office and was all sorted.

molko

sounds like Fitness First have a bit of a reputation

hectic

oh, yes!! just a bit.. reputation of being complete tossers!

EP82

I know at Cannons that you pay on a 3 month rolling contract. Therefore if you want to cancel your membership you need to wait until your 3 months is up.

Having not been for absolutley ages i'm contemplating throwing in the towel. Although once the summer has gone, the tennis has stopped i'll only be playing football once or twice a week i know for a fact that wont keep the calories down, as i play in goal

trails

iTrader: (41)

had exactly the same problem when trying to move away from fitness first, their level of customer service was so poor i decided not to pay on principle. i ignored them until i received a letter from a debt recovery agency and on the advice of a mate who is a solicitor wrote back to the debt recovery agency asking to see a copy of the original signed contract stating i had to pay the severance charges...two years later still nothing

molko

ahh right now, we are getting somewhere. I'm like you, i dont want to pay on principle. The agency in this instance are Creditlink Account Recovery Solutions Limited. So....i think i might drop them a line, recorded delivery ofcourse. Hey dont suppose you have a copy of what you sent ?...or can remember any of the wording ?

Cheers

m

trails

iTrader: (41)

I may have a copy at work...i'll PM you tomorrow if i can find it. IIRC it wasn't anything special.

molko

excellent man, that would be ace !!!!

TVM

M

IWANASCOOBY

Good advice by Trails there that is exactly what you should ask for. I work for a Law Firm in the Litigation department and that would be the first thing I would ask for copy contract and terms and conditions of business. If you have a copy of your previous letter to Fitness First I would send a copy of that to the collection agency.

On another note I would say that the chance of them proceeding with enforcement action for such a small sum is very slim, the costs implication of issuing a Claim form via the county court in realistic terms is not worth it. My company would not issue legal proceedings for such a small sum. If they fail to recover the debt along with costs and interest that will be applied to the claim form they will be further out of pocket.

If they are stupid enough to issue a Claim form drop me a line on here and I will give you advise on where to go from there.

Hope this helps.

sunset

Hi everyone

I was searching the net for more info on CARS Limited and came across this page. Thank God for that.

I'm having problems with FF as well. I'm a student and I did the minimum 3 months. But when I joined Fitness First, I (stupidly) signed the contract that the staff member filled in for me that stated it would be 12 months minimum. I complained as soon as I realised, and she assured me it was no problem, I would be allowed to leave after 3 months, that doing it this way I was buying somebody else out, and that I could take 3 quid each month from the till (amounting to the student discount)

So doing only the minimum three months, I filled in the cancellation contract form, and a staff member signed it, and later on my card was taken off me.

And now, many months down the line, they have referred me to CARS for three-hundred-and-something debt. I wrote to Head Office, but I was told that my contract was 12 months so I will have to pay for the remaining 9 months (even though 5 of those months have gone now during which I haven’t been to the gym, my card has been taken off me, I have a signed cancellation form, and my club hasn’t told me that I’m still a member)

So basically they expect me to pay for a service that I have not been allowed to use, and face the consequences of the dishonesty and incompetence of some of the staff they choose to employ.

Any advice as to what to write in my next letter?

AudiLover

yep typical fitness first business practice. Fcukin scummy company

Stephb1986

total fitness is the same too ive not been able to go for the last month for personal reasons but they would charge me 15 quid to hold it for a month!!

Varboy

Fitness First are usually OK, have you tried Head Office

When I quit FF it was just the case of a hand delivered letter and I cancelled the DD

Abdabz

I had war with David Lloyd over termination fees...
I thought that I had to serve 3 months from the date of my letter but it turned out my contract states it's 3 months commencing on your next billing cycle, so depending on when you send the letter, it could in effect be up to almost 4 months.
Not knowing this I stopped the DD 3months to the day after... Next thing I get letters from David Lloyd, and after ignoring those I got one from Daz and Baz' Debt Collections...
I wrote back demanding a copy of my signed contract, with it highlighted where the ar$e of a clause was in the small print...
Months later it came and I called the agency and paid the bill immediately. At £64 a month, it was worth fighting for...
Even if you know the rules, always demand a signed copy of your contract because IF they cant dig it out, you're covered

Poor Guy

is £59 for 4months gym membership a fair price?

Matteeboy

Work out naked.

They'll let your membership go after a couple of sessions.

dpb

lol