Cancelling Kingfisher Membership

orangelilly25

Hi,

For unforeseen work reasons I have to move to Dublin for a three months. Has anyone had any problems with the Kingfisher when they went to cancel their gym membership? I haven't been a member for the mandatory 12 months as stated in the contract more like 9 months.

When I called into my bank I was told that I have to contact the Kingfisher myself asking them to stop debiting my account. I thought it was a direct debit but apparently it's not i.e the bank cannot cancel it for me. If the Kingfisher don't agree to do this I have to cancel my laser card which is a bit of hassle.

Just wondering what has peoples experiences with the Kingfisher? Forewarned is forearmed and all that!

Thanks in advance.

snubbleste

What exactly does the contract say in relation to termination?

biko

IF there is a one year clause you might to pay until the end of the 12 months before they let you go.

BrokenArrows

orangelilly25 wrote: »

Hi,

For unforeseen work reasons I have to move to Dublin for a three months. Has anyone had any problems with the Kingfisher when they went to cancel their gym membership? I haven't been a member for the mandatory 12 months as stated in the contract more like 9 months.

When I called into my bank I was told that I have to contact the Kingfisher myself asking them to stop debiting my account. I thought it was a direct debit but apparently it's not i.e the bank cannot cancel it for me. If the Kingfisher don't agree to do this I have to cancel my laser card which is a bit of hassle.

Just wondering what has peoples experiences with the Kingfisher? Forewarned is forearmed and all that!

Thanks in advance.

The king fisher allow you to transfer the membership to someone elses name. so if you know someone who would like a 3 month membership!!

but the contract is for 12 months so you wont be able to cancel it.

paulhannon

If it's not direct debit then what is it?

I had a similar problem and just told my bank to put a hold on the payments. That stopped them getting money for about a month and then i just kept telling the bank to that until they gave up trying to take anymore.

Remember it's your bank account and you should have the final say on what comes out of it! Failing that, open a new account a transfer everything into it and close the old one.

Mrs OBumble

paulhannon wrote: »

If it's not direct debit then what is it?

I had a similar problem and just told my bank to put a hold on the payments. That stopped them getting money for about a month and then i just kept telling the bank to that until they gave up trying to take anymore.

Remember it's your bank account and you should have the final say on what comes out of it! Failing that, open a new account a transfer everything into it and close the old one.

However if you've signed an X-month contract with anyone (gym, mobile phone co, etc), you are liable to pay for X months, or to pay whatever termination fee there is. I'd expect Kingfisher to be as hard-nosed as anyone else about breaking this sort of thing.

Anyone know what effect stopping payments has on your credit rating in this country?

Andrea B.

...........................your credit rating in this country?

Is that the crowd in the glasshouse with the stones in their hand? :pac:

labradoodlelady

1. Ask if you can freeze the membership for 3 months. They can stop the DD for the 3 months that you are away and restart it when you come back. Just means you can't use gym in this time. Not all places do thisbut fairly simple solution

2. Ask if you can sell the remainder of the membership to someone else. Get the other person to change it to their Bank Account - cuts a lot of messing around out. They might charge an Administrative Fee of around E20 for this though. Just be warned, gyms usually have rolling contracts - check the small print. It's up to you to cancel after the 12 months are up.

Ask one of the Membership Advisors if you can do either of the above. Can't see them refusing, not great for word of mouth!

Double check that issue with the bank. Is it that you have to inform the gym that you want to cancel or that it has to be the gym that cancels the DD. If it's the second then you'd want to find out what's goin on. I have Banking 365 and I can cancel my DDs online. Originator shouldn't have that much control over your Account - doesn't make sense.

orangelilly25

Actually asking them to freeze payments for 3 months is not a bad idea as I would actually join again when I return to Galway. I would reckon that they could do it as there seems to be alot of student members who use the Kingfisher and many students would have to move home in the Summer.

I will put that suggestion to them and see what they say. I have heard that they are difficult when it comes to cancelling membership although it's not good PR for them especially in today's economic times.

I checked with my bank and they have absolutely no power to stop the payments as I signed an authority when I joined. For this reason it's perfectly legal. I stupidly thought it was a direct debit and that I would be able to cancel it if I needed to.

labradoodlelady

I used to work in a gym in Galway, not Kingfisher though. A lot of places are difficult when it comes to cancelling membership.

It's really really simple for them to freeze the membershipp. All they have to do is put a stop on the DD for the 3 months. Just get them to agree it in writing.

If you're a fairly regular user it should be easier to get them to agree to this.

Good luck with it.

corribdude

orangelilly25 wrote: »

Actually asking them to freeze payments for 3 months is not a bad idea as I would actually join again when I return to Galway. I would reckon that they could do it as there seems to be alot of student members who use the Kingfisher and many students would have to move home in the Summer.

I will put that suggestion to them and see what they say. I have heard that they are difficult when it comes to cancelling membership although it's not good PR for them especially in today's economic times.

I checked with my bank and they have absolutely no power to stop the payments as I signed an authority when I joined. For this reason it's perfectly legal. I stupidly thought it was a direct debit and that I would be able to cancel it if I needed to.

What do you mean 'signed an authority'? Afaik the only two ways money can be taken out of your bank account automatically by a third party are standing orders and direct debit. So what form of payment is your subscription? Ive read posts before from people who's banks told them they couldn't cancel DD's when in fact they could and when pressed the banks admitted it.

Fracture

why dont you just go into the kingfisher, tell them you have to head to dublin to work for 3 months, ask them can they say pause your membership until you get back so you can use your membership for the 3 months you are gonna miss when you eventually get back to galway. Like most businesses they want your custom, if they dont wanna do it then tell them you were planning on getting a 2 year membership next time but it will be with someone else