Hi all, just wondering if you could advise my chances of getting a refund and if it's worth fighting for. my OH had a total fitness membership, 12 month from about June/July 15. In Sept 15 he got a new job working on the borders in Calais so obviously couldn't use not only our local gym but any total fitness gym in the UK. He called them and had his account put on hold for the max time. He then called them again at the end and told them he was still there and would still be unable to use the gym. At this point he was put through to head office and they said they would cancel the membership if he could provide his contract of employment as proof. We couldn't find the contract between home in the UK or France and the amount owed built up to the point he was forced to call and make a payment arrangement last month of 2 x £90 payments. He paid 1 last month and had 1 £90 payment outstanding. Today we have been contacted by a debt collection agency C.A.R.S requesting payment. We told them we already had an agreement in place and they said they would look into it. The membership would have expired in June(ish) and my OH has recently left his job and returned home. During the move we've managed to find his contract of employment so today I forwarded it onto them to prove he has been there since Sept 15 and requested a refund. I've had a reply from head office today saying the membership has been cancelled with immediate effect. I then pushed about the refund and her response was: Unfortunately no money can be refunded, however your membership has been cancelled with immediate effect and your remaining balance has been waivered as a gesture of goodwill. Is there anything we can do about this? He hasnt used the gym since sept 15. If we had the contract we wouldn't have had to pay the £90 last month. But now we have they won't give it us back. We only paid to avoid debt collection agencies because we felt like we had no choice. We haven't recieved any services so feels unfair to have had to pay it and be unable to get it back? Have we got any hope or just count ourselves lucky that we don't have to pay the final £90? I don't know why she is saying the membership has been cancelled as the contract would have ended in june anyway. Thanks!

I suppose that this is especially for UncleBulgaria, I suppose – but anyone else can join in. How does http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/regulation/6/made paragraph 6b square with the advice given here https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/insurance/managing-your-insurance-policy/cancelling-an-insurance-policy/ ? On my reading, CA seem to have got it wrong.

Hi, I joined DW Fitness back in January and was fine with my contract for a few months before I began developing chest pains. I had no history of heart problems at the time but I did have a family history so I thought it was worth checking out. I was then referred for ECGs, Echocardigrams and a whole manner of tests over the next three months whilst being told that I wasn't allowed to continue exercising because it was putting stress on my heart. I explained this to the person in the gym and she said it was fine, I had grounds to cancel since I was already three months into my contract I only had three to go. It also states in the terms and conditions that I am able to cancel if I go into the gym and speak to a person. The tests revealed that it wasn't anything sinister and I still have them all on file, but now DW are saying that I never cancelled and they knew nothing of my medical condition. They are sending me emails saying that I needed to pay the final three months and that they have now added fees on top. I have recently had a letter stating that they will add around 120 pounds onto the debt in 14 days if I don't respond then they will take me to court. I have called them and been waiting on the phone for 45 minutes to speak to them before the woman rudely told me that there is no information stating that I had cancelled and that I am lying so I have to pay. I have the medical reports to back me up but I have no idea what to do or if I have to pay it because I'm in breach of contract. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I am terrified they are going to send me more letters telling me the bill is even higher. I am currently receiving daily calls from ARC telling me that I need to pay, it is less than 70 pound that I currently owe, I don't know why they are being this rude.

Hi Guys Firstly i'd like to apologise for posting this here, i couldn't for the life of me figure out how to post i relevant thread. I'm at the start of a dispute with David Lloyd and would like some advise if possible. I joined the Birmingham club in July 2015 and paid for an annual membership in full when i joined. I decided in June this year that i couldn't afford to renew my membership and emailed the club to cancel on the 13th June (i think this was slightly shy of a full months notice by a couple of days). I waited about 3 weeks to get a reply from the club and when i did it said that my membership would be cancelled on 1st October! I wasn't aware at this point that i needed to give 3 months notice. I have emailed them a few times now to say that i'm not willing to pay anything further because i have already paid for a full 12 months and only used the facilities for 11 months of this time. To which i keep on being told that the notice period is 3 months so there is nothing they can do. I have received a few emails and phone calls now from David Lloyd to say that i currently owe £86. The problem is that i'm already on a debt management plan with StepChange so i really can't afford £86/month. Can anyone advise me what i should do about this before this goes to a debt collection agency? Thank you Katherine

Hi, please can someone help me? I signed up to join DW on a staff discount 'plus one', on 06 June, as my friend was working there for 6 months only. I paid £12.75 approximately for the rest for the month and was told verbally it was a 6 month contract. Then JUST OVER 14 days later, I rang DW Membership Line to state I could not get to the gym as the council had just started a load of roadworks from my village to the gym area, therefore, totally making it impossible to get there, or be queuing for about 45 minutes to get there. I asked if I could defer it for the 3 months the roadworks were there for, I got this abrupt lady on the phone who said no, and I asked if a suspension of some sort could be placed on my account, therefore, only costing me £5 per month, and again the abrupt lady said no. I wasn't happy with her lack of customer service skills, I got irate and said I can't pay for something I can't use, then she started shouting at me, saying I had to pay no matter what as I signed an agreement. I put the phone down. I spoke to the manager at Selby Gym, explained the situation and he said he would try to sort this out for me and get back to me, I had to chase him 3 times as I hadn't heard anything, I still didn't hear the answer, it was getting close to the Direct Debit date and I cancelled the Direct Debit out of my bank. I haven't attended the gym at all, even when I signed up. 2 week's later I broke my toe in 2 places and the nurse at the hospital advised me to not attend the gym for the period my toe would heal...5-7 weeks. I rang the membership line to inform them I hadn't heard any response from my previous calls and to inform them of my new injury, therefore, I wouldn't be able to attend. They still said I couldn't cancel or suspend and that I had to pay up. I am very unimpressed with DW's Customer Service skills. I refuse to pay for something I physically cannot use, for 2 reasons. I appreciate that the main reasons are not DW's fault, however, they have shown me no attempt to help me, and just given me abuse or ignored my calls nd now demanding emails to pay my month's membership fee. I wish to cancel my membership with DW and report the very bad customer service I have received! I was previously a happy DW member for years at Selby, and only cancelled my membership as I moved jobs and wasn't working in the area anymore. The Customer Service of this gym have considerably gone downhill in my estimation! I've emailed DW Customer Services and ask for a reply to my email and not to be ignored...as a matter of urgency. Still haven't heard anything. If anyone could help it would be most appreciated. I've received 3 emails now asking for me to pay otherwise they will refer my case to the collection department. Regards Emma.

Hello Everyone! I had a Natwest Mastercard account, which was defaulted in 2006. I have been paying off monthly sums direct to Natwest every month since, no PPI and interest not being added. Late payment and overlimit fees of £175.00 unclaimed to date. Account balance approx £8K The account has never ever been shown on any CRA reports, even before defaulted. Natwest have now advised that they have now "partnered" with Wescot Credit Services, who will now "manage" the remainder of the repayment plan, and that I should continue to maintain payments direct to Natwest. In view of this, I made a CCA request under section 78 (1). Their response to my CCA request was, as the account was opened prior to 19th May 1985, that the Consumer Credit (Cancellation Notices and Copies of Documents) Regulations 1983 applies to the account, and it is therefore sufficient for them to send me a copy of their current terms as a "true copy", and therefore the agreement is enforceable. The copy that they provided is headed "Credit Card Agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974, and is on the reverse of a "Replacement credit card" letter, addressed to me at my current address, not at the address where I lived at when the account was opened. Are they correct in their view that the agreement is enforceable? As usual all comments welcome. Thanks t

For tickets received through the post (Notice to Keeper) please answer the following questions. 1) Date of the infringement: 20/05/2016 2) Date on the NTK: 27/05/2016 3) Date received: 30/06/2016 4) Does the NTK mention schedule 4 of The Protections of Freedoms Act 2012? Yes “On the 20 May 2016 vehicle ‘reg correct’ entered the Marriott Huntington car park at 11:18:00 and departed at 13:36:24 on the 20 May 2016 May 2016. The signage, which is clearly displayed at the entrance to and throughout the car park, states that this is private land, the car park is managed by Parking Eye Ltd, as a permit only / paid parking car park, what parking tariffs apply and the parking charge applicable without the appropriate permit or payment of the appropriate tariff when parking, along with other terms and conditions of the car park by which those who park in the car park agree to be bound. By either not purchasing the appropriate parking time or parking without a valid permit, in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the signage, the Parking Charge is now payable to Parking Eye Ltd (as the Creditor). You are notified under paragraph 9(2) (b) of schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 that the driver of the motor vehicle is required to pay this parking charge in full. As we do not know the driver's name or current postal address, if you were not the driver at the time, you should tell us the name and current postal address of the driver and pass this notice to them. You are warned that if, after 29 days from the date given (which is presumed to be the second working day after the Date Issued) the parking charge has not been paid in full and we do not know both the name and current address of the driver, we have the right to recover any unpaid part of the parking charge from you. This warning is given to you under paragraph 9 (2) (f) of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and subject to our complying with the applicable conditions under Schedule 4 of that Act. Should you provide an incorrect address for service, we will pursue you for any Parking Charge amount that remains unpaid. Should you identify someone who denies they were the driver, we will pursue you for any Parking Charge amount that remains unpaid” 5) Is there any photographic evidence of the event? Yes 6) Have you appealed? Not directly to Parking Eye. I contacted the owner of the land Marriott Hotels on the 08/06/2016 and they contacted Parking Eye confirming I was a guest at a meeting and requested the charge be cancelled. Have you had a response? No 7 Who is the parking company? Parking Eye For either option, does it say which appeals body they operate under: Independent Appeals Service (POPLA) If you have received any other correspondence, please mention it here I received a further notice from Parking Eye on the 30th June stating the charge had now gone from £65 up to £100. And I had/have 14 days to pay it from the 30th June I assume. The Marriott Hotel advised me I didn’t need to contact Parking Eye as they would deal with it. After the second letter I contacted the Marriott again and they again emailed Parking Eye asking them to cancel the parking ticket. I am seeking advice on whether I should contact Parking Eye directly, what have other people experienced when the landowner attempts to cancel the parking charge? I am in the wrong in terms of the parking ticket I missed the multiple signs (new arrangement with Parking Eye and I just didn’t realise) Thank you for your assistance. Audrey

I took out a car insurance policy in May 2016 with Coop Insurance, however I needed to change my car, to a Leased vehicle, so I phoned them and changed the vehicle details on my policy. The amended policy is showing me as the owner, I phoned Co-op and advised them they needed to show the owner of the vehicle as the Leasing Company, they said they could not change the name, as they did not insure personnel leased vehicles. It was then agreed the policy would have to be cancelled but they wanted charge me a £50 cancellation fee. In my opinion this should be wavered as they were unable to continue the policy due to restrictions of their rules. I have now escalated this to their Complaints Department. Has anybody had any similar experiences with Co-op Insurance with regard to cancellation fees?

Hi, I cancelled my direct debit after the 12 month contract, received a swift letter from harlands stating I need to setup the Direct Debit otherwise I'll face a £25.00 administration fee. I was writing them a letter with the following (template used): I refer to your letter of 09/12/2015. My agreement with Xercise4Less was for a minimum of 12 months. The first payment was for the amount of £34.99 (joining fee + first monthly payment), dated 02/11/2014. The remaining payments were taken on the 2nd of every month up to and including 02/11/2015 with one additional monthly payment of £14.99 after the agreed minimum contract period, taken 02/12/2015. I cancelled my Direct Debit mandate on 07/12/2015 and this was adequate notice of my cancellation of the agreement, as per the case of The OFT v Ashbourne Mgt Services Ltd in 2011. I now realise I should have paid one further month's fee for the notice period and am willing to offer you £14.99 now. If you confirm in writing within 14 days that you'll accept £14.99 in full settlement of all amounts due, I will pay it promptly. If you fail to accept my offer within 14 days, or if you demand any administration or cancellation fees (unlawful penalties), my offer will be withdrawn and I may ignore further demands from you and/or CRS. Such demands may be reported to Trading Standards. Yours faithfully, However, I can't find my W-number in my email folders to add to the letter, just the reference number from the letter they sent regarding reinstating my Direct Debit. Should I just use the reference number quoted on the letter or? Additionally, what legal leverage do I hold on the situation? Thanks

Hi I am having some issues with Virgin Media and would appreciate some advice. I took out a contract with VM in February of this year when we moved house into rented property. It was an 18 month contract for phone and broadband only. Then in July we were given the opportunity to purchase a property on a government scheme in a new housing development which we did. I had hoped to transfer the contract over but VM said they couldn't supply me in the new property so I would have to cancel the contract but they would charge me £240 for the pleasure of doing that (the remaining months on the contract) I felt this was unfair as they can't supply me and I would have taken the service with me. I also have heard they turned down the option to install cables to the estate which would have allowed them to supply me. I cancelled the contract, cancelled my direct debit and wrote to their complaints department. To which I got a letter addressed to my new address informing me they only agree to supply the property at start of contract not the person therefore I have to pay up. I still don't think this right and refused to pay. I sent the equipment back. Then I didn't hear anything from then for a month. Yesterday I get a call from debt collection company saying they are chasing the outstanding fee. I am told the VM have written to me a number times but turns out these letters went to my old address as that's all they have on record. That isn't the case as they have written to me in current property. They also have my email address they could have written to me at but didn't. Generally I am fed up with VM and won't be going back even if they can supply me in the future. I would like some advice on where to complain to next, on what grounds and if I have a case. I was thinking that they can only charge me to cover their losses not a loss of income. The term in the T&CS sounds like a penalty clause which isn't enforceable in court. Mike

I used booking.com to book a hotel near Frankfurt for two nights in October this year, 12 Oct. and 10 Oct. I paid in full using a credit card for both nights. I have requested a cancellation and have been informed that I will forfeit the full price. An email has been sent to me requesting that I confirm either acceptance of this or do not cancel my booking. I have a notion that despite the fact I did not insure my booking, I am entitled to a refund, on the grounds that they have ample time to find another 'punter' and that they have had the use of my cash for 3 months now. Is this the case and if so what legislation can I quote back to booking.com/ hotel.

Hi I became a member of DW gym in aylesbury 4 years ago, with a special offer for the opening, for £19.99 a month. I always paid by direct debit and never had any problems. Last year I moved out of town and I couldnt go anymore, because of my programme and also because of the distance (18 miles). I tried to find a way, but after three months I realised that there is no way I can make it. I cancelled the direct debit. last time I paid them it was in the first week of april. This morning, as I was looking in my spam folder, I found few e-mails from them, telling me that my membership remains in arrears despite their repeated requests. I suppose that by these repeated requests they mean letters sent to my old address. the today's email threaten that they will pass the debit to Arc europe. I remember that I join the gym on internet, probably in may 2012. I tried to find any confirmation email or something but I havent made any progress yet. At the time I join the gym, there was a one year contract. Last November, when I was at the gym last time, knowing that I was about to move out of town, I asked one of the guys at the gym if I can cancel. I told them I had been with the gym since it started but I wasnt sure if I would be able to come anymore. And they told me that all I need to do was to cancel the direct debit. And because there was a big sign outside saying "no contract. No catch. No hassle" I trusted them I didnt do anything else but cancel the direct debit. now they tell me that I have arrears, which is quite annoing and it seems unfair to me. I dont know how to deal with this. I will read all the threads available to have a better idea, but I could really use some advice from someone who knows these things better. Thank you very much!

After finding these forums and finding them very useful as I'm one of those stitched up by the dreaded David Lloyd 3 month cancellation term I'm hoping I can get some advice as to where to go next. I moved away from where I used to attend a David Lloyd club due to work and have attended once (that I can remember) in the past 2 years. Certainly no more than 5 times and these would have been when visiting parents back at the local club. So I gave my notice on 26th August via email so that I would only have to pay the next DD payment for September and be done with the place. The response was: My reply: Then the predictable response came: Therefore, after reading on here I sent this back: And the final email from the Manager at my "local" club that I have received: It is mentioned that they sent me an email to tell me my terms and conditions are changing. They sent me and email (EDIT: actually on the 10/12/2012 so this was before it was approved by the OFT) that links to this page: Can't post as I don't have a high enough post count Hardly a terms and conditions page, it's the standard Membership FAQ page. So I was about to draft a reply but thought I'd post it here now as I was doing so in the hope someone like slick would see it to digest the above before I post my response. I was going to state that I have given my notice as stated in the contract (that I thought applied to me) and it will apply from the 1st of the following month (September). I have paid the September payment but am now cancelling my DD as I don't consider the 3 month notice period to be fair and I wasn't aware of it. Appreciate any advice on the matter. It gets my back up someone trying to make you pay for something for 3 months when you can't even use it, 1 month is painful enough but I think it's fair to both parties. Cheers, TP

Hello, I hope someone on here can help before things get worse. I have taken out car insurance with Octagon and emailed them all the required documents. I even called (expensive hotline which is the only way to contact them) to confirm they received all documents. All of a sudden I have received a text message saying they will cancel my policy unless I get in touch. I have called them again and asked what the problem was. All I was told is that some documents are missing. When I told them that I have emailed all documents twice and have previously been assured that they have all required documents, I was just told that no one from "that department" was in today. I was then advised to just email all documents again "for a third time". Having done so I today received a letter that they will cancel my policy on 17/11/2015 because I have responded to them. Firstly I have responded every time they text, wrote or emailed me. Secondly they are not saying in the letter what it is that is missing or why they want to cancel my policy. I am worried that this is just a [problem] where they cancel your policy to charge a cancellation fee and then charge an additional deposit to re-start the policy. Can someone please help me?

Hi everyone, I was hoping someone could help me I joined exercise 4 less under a year ago with no 12 month contract paying 19.99 per month, around the new year I moved and it became increasingly harder to get to the gym as my house is now further away from it, I submitted a cancellation form to exercise 4 less website on 29th February as I wasn't going anymore, they said they would take one more payment off me as there was a 30 day cancellation period and not to cancel the direct debit myself they would do it for me. I recently checked my bank account and noticed harlands has taken another 19.99 payment from me, after reading horror stories on here about the trouble people go through to cancel their membership and with harlands I'm not happy, I tried ringing the gym to sort this out and I've been blown off, they took my details promising to ring me back and it's now been 2 days and no phone call. If anyone can help with what I should do next it would be greatly appreciated. Also is there any chance I could get a refund for the second payment they've taken as they only said they would take one? Many thanks Amib93

Hello I came across this great forum whilst searching for information on my student loan predicament. My student loans were from 1995-1999 and I was under the age of 40 when I left university. I think therefore under the 'old' T&C's the remainder of my loan should be cancelled when I'm 50. I have read however that if I am in arrears (which I am), this will not happen. The reason I am in arrears is because Erudio claim they never received my deferment a couple of years ago. Shortly after sending them my deferment form I moved address. I informed them of my new address three times but they still sent any correspondence to my previous address. This went on for months until finally I got a letter to my new address telling me that not only did I not get my deferment granted but I was now nearly £600 in arrears as a result of them sending letters to my old address. I was then involved in a lengthy email debate with them in which I argued that they had my email address all along so why wasn't I contacted via email? As a gesture of good will they paid me £100 for my inconvenience!! My question is, am I still eligible to have my remaining loan written off? If so, what is the best way to go about this? Regards shaft65.

I have just emailed Virgin Media the following: "Dear Mr Mockridge, I am writing to make a formal complaint on behalf of my mother, Mrs C******** *******k. I have taken this matter into my own hands as she is, frankly, no longer able to cope with it due to the distress it has caused her. She has contacted Virgin Media Customer Services to inform them that I have her authority to discuss her account with you. My mother became a Virgin Media customer upon moving into temporary rented accommodation in September 2013. I read the information on Virgin's Home Mover website, which made a future move and transferral of services seem entirely straightforward. In February of this year she bought a house 1.6 miles away from her rented property. On 5th February my mother phoned Virgin Media to inform you of her intended house move, and to arrange transferral of services. Having been a loyal customer thus far, and having intended to remain so, she was shocked and upset to be told that, as Virgin would be unable to provide any services to her new address, she would have to pay a severance fee of £173.00. In other words, she wished to retain the service, but was told that it was not available, and transferral/retention of the service was not an option. Furthermore, she would be financially penalised for this. The lack of availability of this service, however, is down to Virgin Media, not my 71 year-old mother, and this is a forced cancellation, carried out by Virgin Media, not her. Regardless of your T's & C's this is plainly unfair. On the same day, my mother wrote to Virgin Media Customer Services outlining the above complaint, disputing the severance fee, and also pointing out recent correspondence from Virgin stating that, as the price of services would be increasing from 1st February 2014, customers were entitled to cancel "without penalty". (The same correspondence states that "the process to be followed is set out in our terms and conditions at virginmedia.com/legalstuff" - my mother is not a broadband customer, and does not own or use a computer or the internet, however I was unable to find any information on "the process" at this web address). She also asked for your help and advice, and stated that the matter was causing her to feel depressed. (My mother has been treated for severe mental illness since the death of my father, and my divorce, which has caused her to lose all contact with her three grandchildren for several years). On 18th February my mother wrote again to Virgin Media Customer Services regarding her imminent house move, the forced cancellation of services, her distress, to inform you that she had cancelled her direct debit, to enclose a cheque in payment of her most recent bill dated 7th February, to state - again - that the matter was in dispute, and to request - again - "as a matter of courtesy", a response to her letter dated 5th February 2014. On 4th March, my mother moved to her new address, an ex-council house in need of new windows, re-replumbing, re-wiring, and so on. In other words, all she could afford - she subsists on a modest pension and disability allowance. On 17th March, she wrote to Virgin Customer Services for a THIRD time, regarding your bill dated 7th March for £60.92, (billing period 19th March to 18th April, i.e. commencing over a fortnight since she had left the rented property), and referring you to her previous to letters. On 9th April, she phoned Virgin Customer Services. She discovered that correspondence was still being sent to her old address, despite having informed Virgin of her change of address weeks previously, and that the services for which she was both being charged a severance fee AND being billed (despite being unable to make use of them) were still active at the old address. She was also assured that she would receive a written response to her previous three letters. I visited my mother recently. She broke down in tears whilst trying to explain the situation to me. Clearly, she was extremely anxious, distressed and upset, as was I to see her in such a state. I instructed her to forward all further correspondence from Virgin Media to me, for me to deal with, as I didn't wish her to suffer any more upset or anxiety. To date she has still received NO reply to any of her letters. She continues to receive bills for billing periods during which the service was not in use by her, AND for which she has simultaneously been charged a severance fee. She has also received your "We're sorry to hear you've decided to leave us" letter/final bill reminder (dated 30th April), followed less than 14 days later by a default notice - on an account which is in dispute! I am only relieved that, as yet, my mum is unaware of this. She is an old-fashioned lady, and has never received a default notice or indeed any blemish whatsoever on her credit record in her entire life. I respectfully request that Virgin Media waive all outstanding charges (if indeed they can even be accounted for), all subsequent enforcement action against my mum (she did put the account in dispute months ago - as I understand it, enforcement action, including a default notice cannot therefore be taken), and immediately remove all adverse data from her credit file, with all credit reference agencies. I wish to be able to inform my mum - as soon as possible - that the matter is closed, and that she can stop worrying or getting depressed about it. That is my concern and my priority, as she is an elderly, vulnerable, fragile woman. I, however, am not, and shall be referring the matter to CISAS, the Telecommunications Ombudsman, Trading Standards, the Financial Conduct Authority, and my mother's MP, should the matter not be resolved forthwith. I look forward to your prompt response." Within an hour Virgin offered to halve the cancellation fee, bringing the total cost from £223.40 to £145.46 (cancellation fee plus revised final bill). Job done, or push harder?

Hello Everyone, I recommended a friend to buy a SIM only contract from the same mobile company I am using to have more data on less price. She called the mobile company and took a SIM only contract. Unfortunately the service of this particular network is very bad in her home area and she only gets 1 point on Signals bar, which make it very difficult to make and receive calls or use the 4G service for internet. Following is the contract details. Order: 11/04/2016 Post Date: 12/04/2016 SIM Arrived: 13/04/2016 Contract Start: 13/04/2016 She called the network provider on 23/04/2016 to cancel the contract but she was told that there is some service improvement going on in her area, So she must wait until 25/04/2016 evening. If the service level is still low then she can call back on 26/04/2016 to cancel her contract. She called the network yesterday, the Customer service guy told her that she is within 14 days of her contract and he is going to transfer to cancellation team to cancel the contract. Unfortunately the cancellation team member think otherwise, Cancellation team member asked my friend to check the delivery date on the letter received with SIM and tell what date is it? It was 12/04/2016. So based on delivery (Postage Date) which is written 12/04/2016, they can not cancel the contract. After a long conversation the cancellation team agree to open a case for the management to listen to the conversation of Saturday 23/04/2016 and decide weather to cancel the contract or not. So my friend is still waiting for the call from Network Provider. Today she received a welcome letter and first bill, on this letter Contract start date is 13/04/2016. So based on above information, Can network provider be that stupid and lie to customers? She has submit a formal complaint to Network provider about the incident and she is going to complain to OFCOM aswell. But is it fair for Call centre staff to lie to keep the customers for 12 months?

I am trying to cancel a membership run by DFC. I spoke to the gym owner via messenger after i had not worked for 3 months and asked him if he could cancel the agreement with immediate effect. He agreed ( i have the transcript of the conversation) . I wrote to DFC advising them of the owners agreement and also pointed out that i regarded the gym contract to be unfair on various grounds such as automatic renewal and no clauses allowing for cancellation in the event of illness or financial difficulty etc. They simply wrote back denying that the gym owner agreed to cancel and ignored my points about the unfairness of the contract. They have now threatened to pass this over to debt collection agency and i,m trying to work out what would be my next best move. Can i move against them and challenge the contract myself, Ive not sent them the transcript of the conversation with the gym owner and i,m led to believe it is his decision only if the contract can be cancelled. Having read a lot about gym contracts i,m convinced the wording of the DFC is unfair on at least 4 points that have been well covered by case law in the past so am confident that it is unenforceable. Id rather not deal with debt collection agencies but would be happy for a judge to rule on the contract . Has anyone dealt with DFC ? I,m assuming their gym contract wording will be the same for all their clients so would be good to hear from anyone who has challenged this and how they went about it thankyou

I recently cancelled my direct debit to Xercise4less thinking this was an acceptable was to cancel my membership. However it seems it was not and I have received a letter from Harlands stating that I have been charged a £25.00 admin fee bringing the bill to £44.99. I cancelled the direct debit on the 2nd Feb with payments normally going out on the 4th of each month. Now does any of what they say have any legitimacy. I have read around on here and it seems I do not need to pay the admin fee (no matter how much they insist). However do I need to pay this months membership fee? I have just logged onto Xercise4less and have requested to cancel my membership with them. Can somebody please advise on what my next step should be and what I legal am required to pay. Thank you in advance.

Hi all, after years or problems and increasing charges with talktalk I decided o change to a new provider. At first I called talktalk to discuss the new charges being applied as of 01/10/15 but was advised that I did not have a contract with talktalk as my old contract was cancelled on the 31/07/15, this was due to me moving home and I used their online service to change my address. So during my incredibly lengthy phone call to them I asked the representative more than 4 times "if I cancelled my account (notice I said account, as apparently as the representative advised I did not have a contract with talktalk) would I incur any penalty/early termination charges, and on each occasion was advised that I would not incur any charges. I also went to their online chat yesterday to advise them that I would be changing my provider and again was advised that I did not have a contract with them. Anyway, this morning I received an email from them stating "Since you´ll be leaving before the end of your contract period, we´ve worked out the final charges that you will need to pay. These will be shown as contract breakage fees on your bill". Total charges of £238.36. Anyway I sent them strongly worked email (I am happy to attach it if anyone is interested) to several people including Alexandra Birtles, Nick Clark, Dido Harding & Charles Dunstone, stating that as I have been advised twice that I do not have a contract with them that I cannot be in breach of one, and secondly that I have been advised on more than 4 occasions that if I cancelled my account that I would incur no penalty charges. So if anyone has any advice or email details for other people at this company then please let me know.

Hi there, I am in need of advice as my daughter aged 18 is being chased for payment after cancelling gym m/ship In August last year myself and two daughters went into the gym (xercise4less) and each cancelled our m/ship. We had m/ship over a year and on monthly rolling contract. We were each given a slip of paper to confirm cancellation and advised one more direct debit would be taken in September and then they would cancel our d.debits. I thought all sorted until October when payments taken from all 3 of us for monthly d.d. Myself and one daugher appear to have now had our m/ship cancelled as she had moved away to Uni and I have my paper confirming the date we cancelled. The isssue is that my youngest daughter has lost the paper she was given in August to confirm she had cancelled. I contacted Harlands back in November to advise we had all cancelled and they said it was nothing to do with them and I had to take the matter up directly with the gym. Tried numerous times to contact the manager at the gym and they have repeatedly promised a call back and then not returned my calls. I did eventually talk to the manager in December (she is the person who dealt with us all back in August)!! She told me that my daughters account had not been cancelled and basically she would need sight of the cancellation form before she could sort it out ( I didnt tell her it we didnt have it!!) She told me she would action the cancellation of my account and send the paperwork to Harlands - I asked for written/email confirmation of this which she promised me - but I never received!! I have not had any further contact and so assuming mine has now been cancelled. We have also moved address and so presumably they have been sending any correspondence to our previous address. My daughter had a phone message a last week 20/01/2016 from CRS just stating that she needed to contact them within 5 days. I googled them and realised they are the debt recovery section of Harlands. My concerns are - how do I resolve this given we have no proof in writing that she cancelled last August ( although 2 of us were witness). I am aware from other posts that the charges they will have applied will now be considerable, £9.99 per month plus £30ish for each unpaid d debit and then other charges on top Will this impact her and my credit rating as the payments were from my bank account? I have considered writing a letter of complaint with proof of postage but I think this would mean we would need to give our new current address which I dont wish to do. What exactly can they do if we can't prove she cancelled as this is really stressing me out? Many thanks for any advice

I am hoping that you well-versed guys can help me. My wife and I were married in Italy in May 2015. However, the outbound flight (07/05/2015) from Manchester was delayed for around 3 hours, then ultimately cancelled due to a fire at the destination airport (Roma Fiumicino). We were given a full refund (around £175) and the Jet2 staff were amazing in trying to help us find alternative flights. Eventually we found the last two seats on a RyanAir flight leaving the next morning from Gatwick. We hired a car (£30 +£25 fuel), a hotel (£90) and the flights (£490). I also incurred around £15 in telephone costs. I telephoned the travel insurer immediately on finding out about the cancellation, as per the terms and conditions. Upon returning to the UK we were refused any sort of compensation due to the extraordinary nature of the cancellation. I sent a forceful reply citing their lack of meaning description regarding the 'extraordinary conditions' section of their terms and conditions. Eventually, they paid up £140 as a gesture of good will under a delayed flight rather than a cancellation. However, they would not pay out on the extra costs we had to fork out just to get out of the country. It is these that were most costly and I would like to get the money back. Any thoughts?

Hi, I am going to cancel my car insurance as I have found it cheaper else where, I’m currently paying £3120 a year (£260 on the 16th of the month) I have found it for £1160 a year. I phoned up my current insurer and asked them what I would be charged to cancel, they told me it would be £467.19p to cancel surely this can’t be right, the bloke on the phone assured me that it was the correct fee and was nothing he or I could do about it and said if I needed to I could pay it off monthly over 2 years with no interest. Just wondering if this seems correct and if not what I should do about it. Thanks, Steven.

My son took out a subscription with Sky for Broadband and TV. This involved a 12 month contract until August 2016. Included in this package were movies and a "free" TV set. My son agreed all this by telephone and nothing was actually signed; it was all verbal. He was told that early cancellation was possible but that a cancellation fee would be payable. This was a significant amount: £134.06 He was told this at least three times by Sky, most recently just 24 hours ago. Also if he did cancel early, the current months fee would be payable plus an indeterminate admin fee the following month after cancellation. Earlier today he contacted Sky to cancel and was informed that cancellation was not possible as he was tied in to a 12 month contract. He offered to pay the cancellation fee, but was told that he still could not cancel. This seems bizarre and also represents incredibly poor customer care (ie to mislead him into thinking he could cancel when apparently he can't!). This has stressed him and involved numerous lengthy and annoying phone calls. Given that nothing was signed, what are the implications for him if he simply cancels the Direct Debit through his bank?