where do i stand

shnethb

Hows all,

Looking for a bit of advice,

Joined a gym over a year ago with great intentions, Went for a good few months until I got ill and never got into the routine again after. Kepted paying the fee for until last 2 months when I cancelled the DD as I need the money more as things are getting very tight recently.

They have started sending letters telling me to pay what I own and restart the DD which I have not done as I cant afford it.

I did sign a contract at the time which was for 2 years. the most treathening language they have said is "steps taken to recover any outstanding amount would damage your credit rating"

So what Im asking is how worried should I be about this or can they really do anything

Agent_99

Have you spoke to them? Explained your situation or did you just cancel the direct debit? Speak to the owner/manager to see if you can break the contract legally they cannot affect you credit rating as they do not subscribe to the ICB but they could progress to the courts for the owed balance and make it known publicly that way.

slimjimmc

You've entered into contract promising to pay them subscriptions for 2 years. You are defaulting on those payments so that gives them the upper hand. The gym is perfectly entitled to pursue you for the money owed to them so far and for future subscriptions which you committed to in the contract. They can drag you through the courts if they choose or feel it's worthwhile.

The only thing you can now do is try to minimise the expense and grief.
Check your contract and see if there is any early termination clause. If not, then follow Agent_99's advice, contact the gym and try to negotiate a get out from the contract or at least an affordable payment plan.

On a related point, they may refer your debt to a collection agency who will then pester you for money using serious sounding phrases and terminology. These guys have no more legal authority than you or I and cannot affect your credit rating either.
Your contract and debt is with the gym, so that's who you should negotiate with.

91011

The contract should have only been for 12 months - 2 years would be seen as onerous and unless it was clearly pointed out to you that it was for 2 years, you may ba able to get out this way.

For anyone joining a gym these day you now have the upper hand. Insist as a condition on membership that you can cancel with 2 months notice at any time. - If they don't accept, go elsewhere.

Also many gyms are offering pay as you go, 3 month deals, 6 month deals etc.

shnethb

Many thanks for the replys,

The contract was with a company called Ashbourne membership management, not the gym. They are an outsourced collection company

jor el

You entered into a legally binding contract, and you can't just decide you don't want to pay any more, regardless of whether you use the service or not. If you want out, you must contact them and see if they will let you cancel. This may result in some sort of fee being charged.

Eddie001

so what's the deal with them (ashbourne management) and affecting your credit rating? they say that you are entering a membership agreement and not a financial agreement. Since they have not loaned you money i can't see how they can report you.

I'm getting similar since december but got one today giving me 7 days to pay or they will start default registration proceedings. before i was just not paying it out of principle, as i wasn't using the gym and just canceled the direct debit. when i signed into i just presumed it was like any gym membership and could be canceled at any time!

has anyone got a copy of the agreement? maybe the opening poster? i'd like to have a look through it, i never printed it and they never sent it like they said they would!

Abelloid

I love Google.

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2010/03/watchdog-takes-gym-company-ash.html

Eddie001

Ok Situation:

I signed into a contract to join a gym for 24 months, after 3 months my circumstances changed and i could no longer afford it. so i canceled the direct debit.

I got letters saying i was in arrears and now they are threatening default on me. so i sent them an email and letter saying that i was canceling the membership as i could no longer afford it. They replied that there was no way out of it and i HAVE to pay the full amount. Then they started mentioning this other company called "CFM" (creative fitness marketing) say that i have a contract with them who i had never heard of until 2 days ago. No where during the sales/sign up process are these crowd mentioned as the group that i was signing a contract with and in Ashbourne's T&C it says "1. Membership
If you confirm this agreement, you will become a member of the club that is referred to.
This agreement sets out the terms that will govern the relationship between us, the club that is referred to, and you, a member of our club."

To me that is a very ambiguous statement where they say "the club", to anyone signing up would mean the gym not "CFM". To me i see it as being "Bait and Switch" Baiting me with my local gym and switching the terms to tie me to another company that was never mentioned.

Where do i stand with that?

Paulw

Is it possible that CMF own/run the gym, which just trades as the local name?

But, other than the name, yes, you signed a contract and they are entitled to full payment.

dudara

Threads merged

dudara

Eddie001

They don't own the gym but they took out a lease for 75 members. i did ring the gym to find out about the default action and they knew nothing about it and said that they leased some of it to CFM. that's how i found out about CFM.

I don't understand how you're not made known of such things such as who you are signing up with. I would have never signed up to those terms. Very Ambiguous.

Guy:Incognito

Eddie001 wrote: »

Where do i stand with that?

If they signed a contract agreeing to pay you money every month for 2 years then told you to get lost after 2 or 3 payments would you be happy enough and let it go or would you be lookign for your money they agreed to pay you?

daenerysstormborn3

I had to leave my gym because of illness. I got a letter from my doctor which I showed the gym and they cancelled my contract there and then and offered to refund my membership fee for the rest of the month (it was only a few quid so I refused), it was a nice goodwill gesture.

The thing about it is if you had contacted the gym before all this kicked off they may have been understanding if an illness is involved but because you broke the terms of your contract they have every right to pursue you for some form of compensation. A 2 year contract is ridiculous though, anything could've happened, job loss, relocation, new job with gym included.

Cabaal

pixiebean22 wrote: »

A 2 year contract is ridiculous though, anything could've happened, job loss, relocation, new job with gym included.

Agreed, however nobody forced these people to sign to such a long contract.

If people cant or wont think ahead about stuff that might change then thats their fault not the gyms.

daenerysstormborn3

Cabaal wrote: »

Agreed, however nobody forced these people to sign to such a long contract.

If people cant or wont think ahead about stuff that might change then thats their fault not the gyms.

Oh I know that, that's pretty much what I meant by my post, I don't understand why anyone would sign a two year contract, especially for a luxury like a gym.

tommy21

I just joined a gym today -same management company so hope I will never have trouble! They had a 2 year offer on which was appealing in a way - 550 for 2 years (great facilities etc.) but you had to pay up front! Smacks of despeartion. To pay it over 2 years was 750. I went with the one year for 475 over 12 months, as someone said above who knows what will happen.

Out of interest, if a gym were to go out of business (in my gym I presume they need this influx of business to shore things up), I presume that would be your get-out clause - if they cannot provide the service you signed up to, they surely can't continue to pursue you for money?