Thank you for posting those. Unfortunately I've read them all and have also tried speaking to the orgs themselves. All I get is 'it's a gamble, it's 50/50' The sooner they bring in the protection scheme the better!! I've lodged my small claims anyway. I shall just have to wait and see what the judge says :/

Hi As mentioned in the title, this problem is in Northern Ireland where, unfortunately, there is no tenancy deposit scheme as yet. I moved out of my rented house after three years. It was thoroughly cleaned upon us leaving.My husband met the ll at the property to hand back the keys and waited while the landlord had a look around the house. The ll stated he was happy with the house and would forward the deposit. The next day, my husband got a text from ll who had completely changed his tone. He made various demands for things and this went on for a few weeks. Each time we contacted him there were new claims, old claims with the amounts changed, very ambiguous. He tried to say he needed £ to clean skirting boards and the toilet, despite everywhere being scrubbed and him agreeing it looked good! The amounts ranged from him wanting the whole deposit plus an extra £70, to offering £350, then reducing this to £250..his letters are so confusing it's hard to tell if he wants money off us or if he is giving it to us. We gave him a 3 yr old sofa and he even had the cheek to try to charge us £25 to clean it! Then after a few weeks he tried to say we had broken the agreement by having a dog, but we verbally agreed when we moved in that it was ok and he saw the dog at various intervals over 3 years! Plus, we wallpapered a room. He said this would be ok but now he wants £177 to strip it and put up new wallpaper. What annoys me is the house was put up for let with 'our' wallpaper still on the walls so I don't believe he's changed it at all. Our deposit is for £495 and I *think* he's now stating he's entitled to £350 of it. We tried getting a settlement with him, allowing a deduction of £150 to him if he proved the room was redecorated (by letting us see the room) or £100 without. He refused this so it is now going to court. We have text transcripts, all his crazy letters and dated photos showing the condition the house was left in. I think this has all arisen from sour grapes because we bought a new property when he wanted us to buy his. But that is by the by. I just wanted to know people's opinions, whether they think we have a good case here? The best he offered us was £350 but I was reluctant to take that as there was no proof of the room being done, nor receipts etc..but he won't let us have that now as 'punishment' because we didn't take it the first time he offered it :/ I know £495 isn't a lot compared to some of the amounts of others but it's a lot to me (especially after just buying a house!!) I'm so annoyed at the way he has treated us, especially as he basically lied to my husband's face when he got the keys back.

Great news guys! Following on from the Watchdog programme, I emailed LAF with the following proposal - cancel my contract with immediate effect & refund the £99 I paid since January 2012 (since this is when the new contract came into effect) I said if they did not agree, then I would pursue a small claims action. This is the reply I got: "I believe reviewing your records we spoke at the time of your joining LAF and while it is regrettable that we could not find a more amicable way forwards I appreciated the comments and feedback you provided at the time. In light of your own comments and the review of our procedures, while a court action against us we feel is likely to be unsuccessful, we feel that in the interests of Customer Service an amicable compromise with you is in the interests of both parties. In this case we would like to accept your offer of early termination and will as a gesture of goodwill refund the recent payments made on your account totalling £99.00." I am more than happy with this - I know I am still out of pocket but it is better than nothing and to be honest, it feels good just to have got it cancelled at last and in writing I hope this will encourage others to not give up when chasing gyms for unfair terms! A big thank you to everyone (esp Slick132) who took the time to reply to my posts - I will make a donation to the site

Hi Stu No - the contract I signed was in July last year and they have only brought in the cooling off since January 2012! I have emailed asking them to cancel mine with immediate effect in light of the new policy but not holding my breath :/

Hello. I have not been on this thread in months because I decided in the end that I had no option but to keep paying for a service I don't use. However, I've just seen this weeks Watchdog and was appalled to see the piece on LA Fitness especially learning that they now have built a clause into their contracts with a 10 day cooling off period!! This is something I fought for and got nowhere and was worn down into accepting I had to pay for the full year. Is there anyway I can try to rectify this or will they just say that I signed the contract at that time so tough?

They haven't explicitly said they will mark my file, but they said something like it could make obtaining credit in the future difficult. So am I right in thinking that just because they say that I signed the contract which authorises them to refer me to a dca, they don't have the right to do that? I know I shouldn't have paid them, I just panicked :S I've got an excellent credit rating and I am afraid of damaging it! At the same time I don't want them getting away from their bad service but I just keep thinking that maybe I don't have a leg to stand on? But then I've read all the various OFT stuff about how the Judge recommended that it was unfair to charge a heavy price for cancellation...and they can cancel mine if they want..it's all very confusing and annoying!! I will check out the SAR link. Many thanks for posting to me

Ok I had a response from yet another customer service person. They say: They stand by their replies to date My membership card was sent back and was not an acceptance of cancellation (funny how I've received everything they've sent bar this one thing) They will not enter into negotiations for cancellation Contract clearly states a late payment charge will be added and if it's not paid it will be passed to a dca I can use the facilities but choose not to (despite no card) My comments have been noted about Ashbourne but it is not applicable to them as they don't use them. Pool, spa etc checked by external bodies They will expect all monies to be paid. (Edited to add:) They say I signed up on their kiosk facility and my signature is on the contract. When I asked for this previously I got sent a loan agreement. Any ideas on what to do now? I really am thinking I'll just have to suck it up.

Thank you very much Slick, I have amended the template and sent it recorded delivery today. Can I still report them to the OFT if they pass my details on to a CRA even though they said I signed to agree to this? (but not in the 'contract' they sent me) I've been thinking of what I can do to bring this to a close as I doubt they will back off. Could I take them to the small claims court and request that I am released from the contract?

Hi Slick Thank you for such a detailed reply. You are quite right, this continued correspondence is getting me nowhere. I'm afraid, last night, I got a bit worried about what they might do to my credit rating so I paid them £66 (2 months arrears) by debit card. I then drafted a letter stating this was paid under protest and I would be claiming it back. I also said I wouldn't be reinstating the direct debit. I just don't know how to reach a resolution here because, as you say, they are unable or unwilling to sort it out. Their customer service has been appalling but the only reaction I get is when I withhold payments and even then, it's a computer generated letter. To date now, they have had £133 off me which is nearly half of the contract worth. I don't know whether to initiate small claims proceedings to be released from the contract but I suppose I'm worried that I'll lose and they are in the right. After all, a contract is a contract and maybe I just have to suck it up..I really do think they're being terribly unfair but whether that makes a difference, I don't know. I have sent them letters very similar to what you kindly drafted, all recorded delivery, and they just keep saying the gym is fit for purpose. In the manager's last contact he actually apologised that they couldn't reach a resolution (!) but insisted that there was no way out of the contract. I even asked why it was ok for them to cancel if I missed a payment and not me, but they skimmed over this, as they do most things. He actually insinuated I should take them to court to sort it, but I replied saying they could take me, I wasn't going to pay for them to go. I would appreciate your advice on what to do next. They are well aware I cancelled the contract plus they have kept my membership card (which they deny) I will send the letter saying it's paid under protest, is there anything else I should do? Was I wrong to pay the arrears? I just don't want to give them the chance to give me a bad mark. P.S: I quoted the OFT guidelines re: referring me to a debt collection agency - according to them, I signed in agreement to this so there is nothing I can do!

Hello I asked the gym I am in dispute with to provide me with a signed copy of my contract. They have sent me a membership agreement detailing the amount of money I am to pay, and on the reverse is a medical declaration. Does that constitute a contract? I thought a contract would be detailing the service they would provide plus what was expected of me?

The way I understand it, there is nothing stopping them from asking and chancing their arm, but if it came to court it is legally unenforceable. So I guess they're relying on people paying up because they think they have to, another sneaky tactic of various gyms! That's my view, but I'm sure Slick will know for sure

Hi Daniel I'm basically at the same stage as you, I received the exact same letter. I've sent them some fairly detailed letters, plus I had some written contact with Mark Stevenson who is the Customer Services Manager. However, he is just like a stuck record and I'm not even getting letters from him now, I'm just getting computer generated ones. I've done a lot of reading on this site plus on the OFT's main site, there's a good download there http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/unfair...terms/oft373.pdf about Unfair Terms in Health Clubs. I've gone through it with a fine toothcomb and picked out quite a few which applied to me. The main thing now which has really got my back up is the way they can cancel our contracts cos we missed a few payments yet we can't cancel under ANY circumstances!! That smacks of unfairness and the OFT guidelines say the same! Plus don't worry about the add on fees, tell them that they are unenforceable in court - they can only claim reasonable losses. I have made this plain to them. After all the research I've done I really feel on a mission as there is so much rubbish in their contract and it is unfairly worded to favour them. I've written them another letter, recorded delivery, detailing everything plus I've sent copies to Martin Long the CEO. I'm standing firm on this, let them take me to court if they want. I've also seen a consumer rights advisor who agrees I have a good case. I'll be fighting them all the way. Good luck, don't back down and read up as much as you can. I'll keep an eye on your thread

lol Slick, I know, I wouldn't really do that, was just feeling a bit desperate then! Lying would just bring me down to their level, since the gyms like to hide things to get you to join Feeling a lot more positive now I know my rights and especially after reading the link posted by 42man (thanks for that)

Another update! Got to speak to a consumer advice worker who is taking on my case. The letter is going to them tomorrow recorded delivery and the direct debit is cancelled! It's a chance I have to take, if the worst comes to worst my husband can just put his name on the mortgage but I will strenuously dispute and defend any attempt to post adverse credit data. In the letter I have told them I'm cancelling and asked for the details of a termination fee. I am prepared to pay a bit extra on top of the £73 I already paid, the advice worker is going to advise them the fee has to be proportionate and he says even if it did get to court, no judge in the land would agree that a full years fee should be paid when I only went twice and tried to cancel straightaway. He is also going to point out that due to LA Fitness's terrible customer service our relationship has broken down and I have no confidence in them. I'm feeling pretty positive and ready for round two of the threatening letters once they cotton on the DD has been stopped I will keep you updated

Thanks Slick. Should I add in 'if there is a cancellation fee please advise?' I'm really in a quandry here. It seems I need to cancel the direct debit to get things moving but I can't for reasons already specified. This is my last ace up the sleeve : my mum lives 40 miles away and there is no LA Fitness nearby. Shall I pretend I am moving there? There is nothing in the contract about cancelling if you are moving though :/