cancellation of gym membership - DebitFinanceUK

marymo

I have a problem with a gym membership which I really need advice on or maybe other peoples experience.

I joined the a Leisure Club in August 2015. I am paying by Direct Debit and was repeatedly informed by the salesperson that I could terminate the contract with one months notice at any time (it was a rolling 1 month contract), even though 36 months was on the contract. Foolishly, I took this persons word. It was only when I contacted the gym and inquired about terminating the contract, giving one months notice in January, that I found out the contract was not in fact with the Leisure Club but was with a debt finance company based in Milton Keynes. This was never conveyed to me when my membership was being processed. It was only after contacting them by email to terminate the contract that I found out, to my horror, that the original sales person had misinformed me and I could not cancel the direct debit at any time before the minimum contract duration of 36 months. When signing up I even brought my husband as a witness to the salesperson saying I could cancel with one months notice at any time.

I then emailed Direct Finance Uk and they are refusing to cancel my contract. I am aware that new laws have been introduced in UK in the last few years and in October 2015 about unfair terms in gym membership, one of them being a term of contract longer than one year.

My question is really, should I go to a solicitor about this, or should I reply directly to the Finance company again stating UK law (taken from UK consumer advice websites) or should I try again with the Gym itself (even though they have historically just referred me to Direct Finance).
Has anyone else dealt with Direct Finance UK?
I am slow to just cancel the Direct Debit as I feel this will affect my credit history.

Sorry for the longwinded post but any help or advice would be greatly welcome.
Thanks.

coylemj

What appears to have happened is that you signed up for three years membership which was paid for in advance by a loan you took out with that UK company who then paid the gym. It also appears that you took the word of a salesman without reading what you were signing.

You knew that the contract stated 36 months yet you accepted a verbal assurance that it was a 'rolling one month' contract - did it not occur to you that those two are in complete conflict? A 'rolling one month' contract simply means that you are required to give one month's notice when you want to walk away - you signed up for three years so it was not a rolling contract.

At this stage there's no point in talking to the gym, they have your money. Your issue is with the finance company in the UK but rightly or wrongly, they can claim that they are not responsible for what the gym salesman told you as their contract with you is what was in the agreement that you signed.

Walter2016

If it was a "personal loan" dressed up as gym membership, then the central bank may like to know.

You also may be able to bring it to the attention of the financial ombudsman.

They would need to be regulated by central bank

Ask them for copy of the agreement and ask them if they are licensed by central bank to do business in Ireland

Walter2016

https://www.debitfinance.co.uk/

They are just a direct debit processing agent - simply tell them you have cancelled as per your agreement with the sales agent and if they have an issue they may take legal action and you will have no issue defending it.

They are not a finance company and cannot affect your credit record.

In any case its the gym who your contract is with and its the gym who would need to take legal action. I don't know of any legal action over cancelling a gym contract ever.

L1011

Walter2016 wrote: »

If it was a "personal loan" dressed up as gym membership, then the central bank may like to know.

You also may be able to bring it to the attention of the financial ombudsman.

They would need to be regulated by central bank

Ask them for copy of the agreement and ask them if they are licensed by central bank to do business in Ireland

I have a distinct feeling the OP, the gym and the entire transaction is in the UK.

marymo

Thank you for replies. I am in a city in Ireland and so too is the gym but the finance company is based in uk.

woejus

then just ignore them - absolutely nothing they can do. as other posters have mentioned, it's likely this practice is contravening some CB rules.

coylemj

marymo wrote: »

Thank you for replies. I am in a city in Ireland and so too is the gym but the finance company is based in uk.

As poster Walter2016 pointed out above, they are just an agency for processing direct debits - I assumed they were a finance house but they're not so you don't owe them any money. Which in turns means they can do nothing if you cancel the direct debit mandate with your bank.

What's the worst that can happen? The gym sues you for breach of contract but the chances of that happening are zero because it's clear the salesman told you a pack of lies and you signed on the basis that you could leave with one month's notice. There is no point in talking to the gym or that crowd in the UK, just tell your bank that you're cancelling the DD mandate. If you start getting threatening letters, bin them and whatever you do, do not engage with anyone, just ignore them.

Walter2016

woejus wrote: »

then just ignore them - absolutely nothing they can do. as other posters have mentioned, it's likely this practice is contravening some CB rules.

Yep, nothing whatsoever that they can do. A 36 month contract is unfair. Your contract is with the gym. They just do the payment processing.

Just cancel the dd with the bank. Send letter to rhwe gym saying you have cancelled and quote "as stated at time of signing"

bmwguy

Don't worry about them, don't worry about your credit rating and don't worry if they sell your debt. Cancel DD. 36 months is a joke, but just be careful about signing things in the future.

dudara

Send a formal letter to the gym stating that you are cancelling your contract with one month's notice, as advised by the salesperson at the time of signing. Inform them that you will cancel your DD after one month.

I wouldn't cancel the DD immediately as I would first want to issue formal notice of cancellation.

coylemj

dudara wrote: »

Send a formal letter to the gym stating that you are cancelling your contract with one month's notice, as advised by the salesperson at the time of signing. Inform them that you will cancel your DD after one month.

I wouldn't cancel the DD immediately as I would first want to issue formal notice of cancellation.

OP can cover both those bases by sending the letter to the gym on the day the next DD goes through, then he cancels the DD.

marymo

Thanks guys. Dudara, I think I will take your advice and hand deliver a letter to that effect this week, giving one months notice.

One MAJOR lesson learnt..... no more DD's and contracts. PAYG for me from now on.

ben.schlomo

marymo wrote: »

Thanks guys. Dudara, I think I will take your advice and hand deliver a letter to that effect this week, giving one months notice.

One MAJOR lesson learnt..... no more DD's and contracts. PAYG for me from now on.

Direct debit is the easiest way to pay as long as you know and have read what you're getting into.

gandalf

marymo wrote: »

Thanks guys. Dudara, I think I will take your advice and hand deliver a letter to that effect this week, giving one months notice.

One MAJOR lesson learnt..... no more DD's and contracts. PAYG for me from now on.

I'd spend a few bucks and send the letter by registered post so you have proof you sent it and it was received myself. Just to be on the safe side.

seagull

Do up a receipt note as well, and have whoever you hand the cancellation to sign the receipt to confirm they have received your letter cancelling membership.

I confirm that marymo handed in a letter on x date giving one month's notice of cancelling membership.

coylemj

If the OP simply posts a letter terminating his membership and then cancels the DD, does anyone seriously think they are going to take him to court on the basis that they never received the letter? I can't believe this nonsense about sending a registered letter, hand delivering a letter and now getting the receptionist to sign a receipt!

L1011

The receptionist won't sign a receipt. Hand delivering doesn't prove anything. I would however register it - firms are known to make claims of non-delivery and I've also found that registering a letter has an odd psychological affect on the recipient sometimes - one six quid registered letter has restarted stopped procedures a few times for me.

MOH

marymo wrote: »

Thanks guys. Dudara, I think I will take your advice and hand deliver a letter to that effect this week, giving one months notice.

One MAJOR lesson learnt..... no more DD's and contracts. PAYG for me from now on.

Don't just cancel the DD, blacklist them as well to prevent future DDs against your account.

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Direct debit is the easiest way to pay as long as you know and have read what you're getting into.

It's not always that straightforward.
I had an overcharging issue with Meteor before which ended up with me cancelling my DD and paying them manually. I informed both them and my bank of the cancellation.
3 months later they initiated a new DD. Got it reversed by the bank, and had to blacklist them to prevent it happening again.

coylemj

MOH wrote: »

3 months later they initiated a new DD. Got it reversed by the bank, and had to blacklist them to prevent it happening again.

If you revoked the original DD mandate, how did they manage to 'initiate' a new DD that required you to reverse it?

Didn't your bank simply reject the debit (request for payment) when it was presented on the basis that they had no current mandate?

runawaybishop

marymo wrote: »

Thanks guys. Dudara, I think I will take your advice and hand deliver a letter to that effect this week, giving one months notice.

One MAJOR lesson learnt..... no more DD's and contracts. PAYG for me from now on.

What has direct debit got to do with this at all? Just cancel it, you can do it with your online banking account in 2 seconds.

MOH

coylemj wrote: »

If you revoked the original DD mandate, how did they manage to 'initiate' a new DD that required you to reverse it?

Didn't your bank simply reject the debit (request for payment) when it was presented on the basis that they had no current mandate?

Nope, they submitted a new DD request under a different mandate number, using the bank details I'd given them for the original mandate.
The bank just take it on faith that you've actually authorised the mandate.

coylemj

MOH wrote: »

Nope, they submitted a new DD request under a different mandate number, using the bank details I'd given them for the original mandate.
The bank just take it on faith that you've actually authorised the mandate.

But having revoked the original mandate, you'd be on pretty solid ground demanding that they refund you the money if they honoured a DD in the circumstances described above - as happened in your case.

What do you mean by 'under a different mandate number' - Meteor just made up a number?

MOH

coylemj wrote: »

But having revoked the original mandate, you'd be on pretty solid ground demanding that they refund you the money if they honoured a DD in the circumstances described above - as happened in your case.

What do you mean by 'under a different mandate number' - Meteor just made up a number?

Oh, the bank refunded the money without question. They have to anyway under SEPA rules.

Yes, Meteor just incremented the mandate number and resubmitted it as a new mandate, and the bank treated it as such (no fault on their part, that's how the system is supposed to work, and they refunded me and helped me work out what had happened).

(For good measure Meteor then ignored a complaint to their director of customer services, and a data protection request. Unfortunately some serious personal circumstances then arose and I didn't have the energy to chase it any further.)

This is all getting a bit off-topic, though feel free to PM me about it. My point was just to alert the OP that it is possible for a business to submit a new mandate request even after you've cancelled the original mandate*. If you want to be on the safe side, also blacklist them from taking any future DDs.

(*I'm saying it's possible due to the way the system works. I certainly wouldn't expect it to be standard practice in any way, although from one exchange I had with bank staff I got the impression mine wasn't an isolated incident) .

guil

coylemj wrote: »

But having revoked the original mandate, you'd be on pretty solid ground demanding that they refund you the money if they honoured a DD in the circumstances described above - as happened in your case.

What do you mean by 'under a different mandate number' - Meteor just made up a number?

I had a similar situation a few years ago. It's something called direct debit + I think. It allows a company to set up another direct debit even if you already cancelled a previous one.