Problem with gym

Carriecom

Guys,

Joined the gym a few years ago for 3 months. Did a direct debit each month. To my horror I just realised they continued taking the amount every month for 2 years!°

What are my rights? Am i supposed to cancel DD or are they?

Thanks!

Atlantic Dawn

When did you cancel the gym membership?

Fann Linn

And ye only realised now?

vectorvictor

You are entitled to any payments taken in the past 8 weeks to be refunded on a no questions asked basis. Contact your bank for the form

The other few years are down to your own lack of checking your bank statement. Do you expect a gym to cancel your membership just because you didn't go?

the_syco

Carriecom wrote: »

Joined the gym a few years ago for 3 months

Read the small print, and most often you'll have agreed to this.

Carriecom

I should have said..anytime I've gone to the gym since the 3 months membership expired I've paid 7e as a one off fee and have to give my name and they check my a/c. At no point did any staff member say..hey you're a member

Atlantic Dawn

If only there was some way to check your bank account more than once every 2 years.

Carriecom

Fann Linn wrote: »

And ye only realised now?

Yes. No point judging, already feel foolish. Constructive comments welcome!

Carriecom

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

If only there was some way to check your bank account more than once every
Snarky comments not helpful.

Carriecom

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

If only there was some way to check your bank account more than once every 2 years.

Snarky comments not helpful

vectorvictor

Carriecom wrote: »

I should have said..anytime I've gone to the gym since the 3 months membership expired I've paid 7e as a one off fee and have to give my name and they check my a/c. At no point did any staff member say..hey you're a member

You will be at the mercy of the gym. If you are a regular user and have all your €7 receipts or card statements they may offer a Goodwill gesture. I'd go meek and mild rather than all guns blazing and they should be reasonable.

Carriecom

the_syco wrote: »

Carriecom wrote: »

Joined the gym a few years ago for 3 months

Read the small print, and most often you'll have agreed to this.

Agreed to pay the gym ad infinitum even though my membership was for a period of 3 months?

Atlantic Dawn

Any ideas on the original documentation you signed up to? Lots will say only 3 months but will have in the terms and conditions that the contract becomes a rolling contract if not cancelled in that time, it all goes back to this. Ask them for the original contract you signed up to.

Carriecom

vectorvictor wrote: »

You are entitled to any payments taken in the past 8 weeks to be refunded on a no questions asked basis. Contact your bank for the form

The other few years are down to your own lack of checking your bank statement. Do you expect a gym to cancel your membership just because you didn't go?

Thanks..that's very helpful re the 8 weeks. I'll check the legislation and liaise with the bank.

Carriecom

Thanks all. Appreciate the help! Wish me luck!

Defaulter1831

Carriecom wrote: »

Agreed to pay the gym ad infinitum even though my membership was for a period of 3 months?

2 years membership is not the end of the world. You lost 600-700 euros? No one died. You could have a minor road accident and lose as much in car insurance over a few years.

Chalk it down to experience. The man that never made a mistake never did anything.

Guffy

Same thing happened to my mums bf. Moved to galway from cork and forgot to cancel gym. Cost him a fortune over 16 months or so

Carriecom

Fann Linn wrote: »

And ye only realised now?

We're in huge debt due to lots of rounds of ivf so with all the stress and disappointment a lot of things have slipped. Cut me some slack. And be kind. You never know what people are going through.

Paul_Mc1988

Carriecom wrote:

We're in huge debt due to lots of rounds of ivf so with all the stress and disappointment a lot of things have slipped. Cut me some slack. And be kind. You never know what people are going through.

Sorry but if your in that much financial stress monitoring your outgoings should be number one which it obviously wasn't. Everyone has troubles so calm down. Pretty sure what other posters have said about the rolling contract is going to be the issue here.

Monitor your finances more carefully going forward and chalk this down to a learning experience.

TheChizler

Defaulter1831 wrote: »

2 years membership is not the end of the world. You lost 600-700 euros? No one died. You could have a minor road accident and lose as much in car insurance over a few years.

Chalk it down to experience. The man that never made a mistake never did anything.

That much money is absolutely worth following up on, especially if there every possibility a mistake was made at their end.

OP did they scan your card when taking those pay as you go payments? If yes that would suggest the membership was cancelled and took the direct debits by mistake, if not they shouldn't have asked you to pay. At the very minimum those should be refunded if they were the ones prompting the transaction incorrectly. Maybe not if you just paid without scanning a card. Depends on the system.

Paul_Mc1988

TheChizler wrote:

That much money is absolutely worth following up on.

TheChizler wrote:

OP did they scan your card when taking those pay as you go payments? If yes that would suggest the membership was cancelled and took the direct debits by mistake, if not they shouldn't have asked you to pay. At the very minimum those should be refunded if they were the ones promoting the transaction. Maybe not if you just paid without scanning a card. Depends on the system.

She signed up to a direct debit from her bank account. It doesn't matter what form she gave her bank details (swiped card or written on a piece of paper) she agreed to the debit. If the contract told of an auto renewal after the three months which a lot do she hasn't a leg to stand on. I like to deal in facts not fiction/emotion/what ifs etc.


The facts are:
1. If it had an auto renewal clause they had every right to take the money

2. If it didn't have an auto renewal clause she is entitled to every penny returned.

3. It's madness to not notice an exact sum coming from your account every month for 20 odd months and not notice while under financial strain. Some people live on cloud coo coo land.

Carriecom

Paul_Mc1988 wrote: »

Carriecom wrote:

We're in huge debt due to lots of rounds of ivf so with all the stress and disappointment a lot of things have slipped. Cut me some slack. And be kind. You never know what people are going through.

Sorry but if your in that much financial stress monitoring your outgoings should be number one which it obviously wasn't. Everyone has troubles so calm down. Pretty sure what other posters have said about the rolling contract is going to be the issue here.

Monitor your finances more carefully going forward and chalk this down to a learning experience.

Yes. I will calm down. Cheers Paul

the_syco

Carriecom wrote: »

Agreed to pay the gym ad infinitum even though my membership was for a period of 3 months?

Yup. It'll be in the T&C. Was caught out by Jackie Skellies a loooong time ago for a similar reason.

Carriecom

Paul_Mc1988 wrote: »

TheChizler wrote:

That much money is absolutely worth following up on.

TheChizler wrote:

OP did they scan your card when taking those pay as you go payments? If yes that would suggest the membership was cancelled and took the direct debits by mistake, if not they shouldn't have asked you to pay. At the very minimum those should be refunded if they were the ones promoting the transaction. Maybe not if you just paid without scanning a card. Depends on the system.

She signed up to a direct debit from her bank account. It doesn't matter what form she gave her bank details (swiped card or written on a piece of paper) she agreed to the debit. If the contract told of an auto renewal after the three months which a lot do she hasn't a leg to stand on. I like to deal in facts not fiction/emotion/what ifs etc.


The facts are:
1. If it had an auto renewal clause they had every right to take the money

2. If it didn't have an auto renewal clause she is entitled to every penny returned.

3. It's madness to not notice an exact sum coming from your account every month for 20 odd months and not notice while under financial strain. Some people live on cloud coo coo

Thanks for point 1 and 2.

TheChizler

Paul_Mc1988 wrote: »

I like to deal in facts not fiction/emotion/what ifs etc.

What fiction or emotion? The only emotion I've seen is people getting excited over the OP making a mistake, which is done, happened, and I doubt will happen again. They're not looking for advice on checking bank accounts.

I'm not sure what you're taking about, you seem to have interpreted asking if they scanned their card as taking direct debit details from a bank card or something. I'm talking about a gym membership card which would allow the person taking payment to check if there's an active membership, and would hopefully make getting getting the pay as you go history easier.

jahalpin

Under SEPA rules, you are entitled to a no questions asked refund for up to 8 weeks after the direct debit was paid


You are also entitled to a refund for up to 13 months with proof, you will have to go to your bank and convince them that the gym was not providing the service that they have charged for (the fact that you had to pay every time you used the gym after the first 3 months should be proof of this). You should also ask the gym for your membership records

coylemj

Carriecom wrote: »

Agreed to pay the gym ad infinitum even though my membership was for a period of 3 months?

It's pretty much universal practice with trial/free/half-price membership offers (broadband, Amazon Prime, magazine subscriptions, gym membership) that it's down to you to cancel at the end of the trial period.

Why? Because there's always the few who will forget to do so.

Ghekko

I assume you have cancelled the dd now. If not do it online today.

King Dara

Look he said he feels foolish so no point pointing out the obvious about checking finances.
If I was you, I would go down to the gym and speak to the manager in a nice way. If you are getting no where, had him a written request that you want all your records under GDPR. Make it clear - in a nice way that you will pursue this to the end. I wish you luck.

Just to note, my old gym had a deal for 99 euro for 3 months. In the T&C's , it said that 49 euro would be charged on the 4th month and every consecutive month thereafter unless cncelled by me. It also said I needed to give 21 days notice