Without reading about it first! First mistake.
So i found the Xercise4less website yesterday, turned out they had a new one in my local town.
Went there today and had a session and decided to join.
The sales guy there said he would do it for £9.99 a month including classes and on/off peak times.
He then said there is a £30 charge. I told him he left that part out initially and i saw on the site yesterday that there was a code for the first month free, and if he would honour it. He asked the manager, came back and said he would honour it.
Gave debit card details and then went to the desk to pay on the card machine £20. I assumed what he did was remove £10 from the joining fee rather than give a month free.
Got the emails come through (no paperwork given at the gym itself) which say this:
Congratulations on joining Xercise Health & Fitness Club.
You are committing to a single £0.00 admin fee payment and £9.99 per month for a minimum of 11 months. After this minimum term your membership payments will continue on a monthly basis.
Your first payment will be collected on or just after 16 June 2016 for an amount of £9.99 which consists of a joining fee of £0.00 and the first monthly payment of £9.99.
Subsequent monthly payments of £9.99 will commence on 16 July 2016 and continue on or just after the same day of each month thereafter.
Please note that your membership payments for Xercise4Less will appear on your bank statements as Harlands Services Ltd. with the reference Wxxx.
Your Direct Debit payments are protected with a moneyback guarantee and you will receive 3 working days advance notice of any changes. You have the right to cancel your Direct Debit Instruction at any time simply by writing to your Bank or Building Society, with a copy to us.
Please note that if you completed this membership agreement whilst not in the club, you have a period of 14 days from today in which to cancel this membership. This right to cancel will cease once you visit the club, or the period of 14 days has elapsed, whichever is the earlier.
If any of the above details are incorrect or should you at some time in the future experience problems making your payments when due, please contact the HELPLINE. Please note that calls may be recorded. Alternatively, you can write to us at the address below, quoting reference no. Wxxx.
PLEASE KEEP THESE DETAILS SAFE. You might like to print this email or save it to your computer's hard drive.
Please note that your payments will be protected by the Direct Debit Guarantee (see below).
After reading all the horror stories on here and elsewhere i just want to be prepared for if i want to cancel after 11 months. The gym seems fine for my needs otherwise i wouldnt have signed, so my questions are:
1. When can i safely cancel without the risk of any fees
2. How is best to cancel? It says i can do it online but some say to send a written intend to cancel via recorded post.
Might seem a bit daft but i dont often do direct debits, and the ones I do do are a lot less confusing (i.e. car tax)
Thanks in advance