Hello! My first post to the page! Iv'e seen many things posted about Xercise 4 less and CRS (Credit Resoloution Services) so i hope you can help me out. First of all it started with a text message on the 10th of December saying 'Please call CRS urgently on 01444449165 as we need to speak to you today. Thank you. ' i originally thought nothing of this, i just thought it was a spam message and quickly forgot about it and went on about life. It wasn't until the 18th December that i recieved a letter from CRS saying 'we regret that despite our attempts to reach an amicable resoultion to your account, you remain in arrears to Xercise 4 Less. We must therefore give notice that failing to reply to this letter withing the next 10 days will result in your account balance being passed to Zinc Group Ltd, one of the UK's leading providers of debt recovery solutions.' The account balance is £171.47 (I don't know where this figure was made up from) This is the only form of contact i have recieved from them. I originally cancelled my membership online where they asked me to fill out a form and take it into the gym. Due to my circumstances of not being able to go back to the gym (I was at University and it takes ages to get there) I rang them up on the phone and they assured me that it was all dealt with and it was fine to do so. This was the 29th of June.. (almost 6month ago, and first contact made now?!) I checked my direct debit and i paid the 12 full payments as it was a year contract. I'm just not sure how to deal with this from here, iv'e seen you recommend not speaking to them on the phone. Many Thanks! Nik

Hi I need some advice. I cancelled my gym membership on the 20th of May 2015 as I was moving 50 miles away from where I was living. I went into the gym, filled in the form and handed it straight back to them. I noticed in August that a group called Harlands was taking money out my account I rang them up to find out it was my gym payment. I explained to the guy on the phone that I cancelled my membership in May and that I should not be having money taken out my account. He told me to cancel my Direct Debit and that I would struggle to get back the extra payments which I accepted. In November I received a letter from CRS saying that Xercise4less have been trying to contact me which they haven't and that they have been employed to collect a sum of £192.46. Now being young and never in this sort of situation before I rang the gym up to get answers and I also rang CRS up. I explained all the above to them and they said they would look into it. When getting back to me they said that the gym had no recollection of me leaving. They also offered to reduce the payment to £132.58. I told them I was not going to pay them and that I didn't owe them anything and they said that they would freeze my account for 30 days. Now really I should have sort some advice sooner but being in my final year of university, working in the service industry and it being Christmas I haven't been able to go anywhere to seek any. They have now got back in contact and to get them off my back I have paid them a third of what they are asking for in the hope that I can get them off my back and get them to leave me alone as they have threatened to take further action and having never been in a position like this before and being so busy with my dissertation I didn't know what else to do. I have now spoke to citizens advice and they have told me to write the gym a letter asking for the CCTV footage from the day I cancelled. What else can I do to sort this out? Thanks in advance

I am approaching the end of my 12 month contract with Plusnet Broadband Service. I wrote to Plusnet to let them know I did not wish to renew the contact for another 12 months they have e mailed to say there is a £30 cancellation charge to disconnect the Broadband Service. I cannot find any reference to this charge in their Residential Terms and Conditions. Can anyone advise if this £30 charge is legitimate or are they just trying it on.

I sent a letter to TalkTalk, saying that I within 30 days cancel all my TalkTalk services. I received a call and then a letter from them saying they want to speak to me as I seem to be unhappy with the service. It also said they need 30 days notice because I no longer have a contract with them, which is a somehow weird formulation because it says there is no longer a contract, but that they require notice before cancelling. As I had given them written notice already that I want to cancel all services, I did not respond to the letter. After the services should have been terminated, TalkTalk tried to bill me again. When calling them and asking why, they said they "do not accept written cancellation" and my account was not cancelled because I had not respond to their letter within 30 days. My question now is if from a legal perspective, my account must be considered cancelled because I sent a letter saying I cancel with a notice period of 30 days or if TalkTalk is right that my account cannot be cancelled this way? What should I best do? Thanks for advice, abcdef123

Good evening. I have read the gym membership cancellation advice but wanted a little clarification. I have a contract with fit4less that is due to expire on 30th November this year. My direct debit came out from my account on 2nd November 2015 so on this date I emailed cancellation and cancelled my direct debit. They have emailed me back saying I have to give 30 days notice not the 29 days I have given. I think this is a little petty but they are sticking to their guns. Does anyone have any advice? If we have been in a 31 day month it wouldn't be an issue. Thanks in advance.

Hi, during 2015 I was at University at Brighton and decided to get a gym membership. I went to a few gyms checking prices and commitments and when I went to LA Fitness the guy that eventually signed me up (obviously trying to make a sale) lied to me, he stated that if I moved out of Brighton (which I obviously would do, as Uni does end) that it'd be fine and my account could be closed no hassle. He stated that all I had to do was be 8 miles from THAT PARTICULAR gym. Well I moved back home to Southampton, and went to cancel my membership stating that "yes, I had moved over 8 miles from the gym." That wasn't good enough, and the lady on the phone replied saying that I had to be 8 miles from any LA Fitness in the UK, and that it wasn't their fault or problem that the guy lied. This was awful news, I was in my overdraft and had no job, and I couldn't afford £20-40 a month, I showed proof (with a bank statement) and they didn't accept that. This went on for 2 MONTHS. I decided to cancel the direct debit on my card, and I heard nothing from then until today, I just got a letter from ARCEUROPE LTD saying I owe them £202.40 and have to pay in 14 days. I can't afford that, being still in my overdraft, what do I do? I've already posted this to reddit and they have pointed out that because I cancelled and didn't keep arguing my cancellation that I'm in the wrong and liable to pay the debt.

Hi everyone, i have recently just purchased (16/11/2015) a 60 plate BMW 318d from a car supermarket. Unfortunately I was also sold auto protect gold warranty, i was sceptical at first and in hindsight after reading some of the horror stories regarding this company, it is something i shouldn't have purchased. Both the car and the warranty were purchased on finance, through 2 separate lenders. The dealership gave me the hard sale, and mentioned that virtually everything is covered, he also added that as the warranty was being purchased with the vehicle, that would in turn reduce the monthly cost of the car by around £30, i thought this was a bit odd. The cost of the cover worked out to be around £70P/M so this would in theory work out to an extra £40 per month (on top of the price of financing the car) to have the "Piece of mind of this fantastic cover" , and after forking out a lot on my previous motor, decided that this may be a worthwhile investment. I have received the paperwork from Santander for the credit amount that has been sent to APA/Auto protect, and in there it says i have the right to cancel this within 14 days no questions asked, perfect i thought, no problem. HOWEVER I have studied the paperwork from APA (Something i deeply regret not doing at the car shop). In these T&C's it states under Cancelation; "Should you cancel this agreement, there is no surrender value and no monies paid will be refunded":evil: Is that right?! Can they do that? Or have they just failed to mention that you are entitled to cancel with a refund within 14 days? I was under the impression that i could cancel this within 14 Days? AT NO POINT did he mention the cancellation rights? Can i use that to my advantage if he hides behind the "no monies... refunded" line... I'm just trying to seek all the advice i can before calling the car shop, as i can be more prepared. Details are; Car: cash price £8,995. With interest 20.7% over 60/M £232 Gold warranty over three years including interest!: £76.87 (£2,767 in total with interest, covering 9K! worth of repairs (yeah right!!) Also after reading the other stories from people, i realize the price of this warranty is far too much. But i was foolish and rushed through the paperwork part, being too eager to get my new motor. If anyone has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi all, Hope someone can help and I will be sure to come back and update once this is resolved! 6th November - I called EE to upgrade my mobile phone on the . Whilst on the call the rep offered Broadband, checked my current speed with Sky, claimed i was only getting 1mb etc and sold me BB at the same time. I obviously jumped at the chance of having up to 14mb speeds. 8th November - I received my mobile phone on the and email confirming BB was on it's way 12th November - another email confirming BB is on it's way and it would go live on the 19th Nov 16th November - received EE Bright box for BB 19th November - Broadband activated The service is diabolical! They kept telling me over the phone that they need 10 days and the the service would be up and down during that time. It's never up, it's pretty unusable. I'm having to connect my mac to my phone to otherwise I websites don't load at all. After serveral tech calls and a weekend of no internet. I asked many times if they don't get this working can I cancel without penalty. I was told yes. I decided to cancel 23rd November - call to cancel. Told I have to pay £122 penalty charge under the Distance Selling rules. I said that I only went live 5 days ago and didn't receive equipment until 12 days later. Is this how the Distance Selling Regs work? From date of call? Is there any way I can stop EE from taking the money from my bank as I think they will try. Any help/advice much appreciated

Had grief from Virgin Mobile, with an unhelpful call centre staff member (not for the first time). They want to sell you a new phone, or a larger tarrif, but asking questions about the tarrif isn't what they want, and when I asked for help and followed their instructions : it didn't fix the problem.) I'm in credit with them, which credit runs out in 3 months (it was a PAYG SIM initially, topped up numerous times to get 'free data' the next month, and when it had accumulated a large balance I was never going to use, converted to a pay monthly SIM, to use up the credit balance). [VM suggested the swap to Pay monthly, given the credit balance]. So, I asked to disconnect, on a date in the future, once I've used up almost all of my credit, as one has to give at least 30 days notice. They (customer retentions) declined to take my cancellation request. Whilst I accept I have to give them at least 30 days notice (and 3 months is more than 30 days), they claim they also can't take notice any more than 30 days in advance. "It is the customer's responsibility to call us 30 days before, we can't take notice in advance" (the rep also agreed that if the customer doesn't remember to call exactly 30 days before, they will end up committed for another month's line rental...........) Is this correct? if it is, is it "sharp practice"? The best way forward? Would a letter, stating when I wish to end the contract, (sent by a guaranteed delivery (and signed for) service) work?.

Hello, I am hoping someone could give me an idea as to where I stand, although I think it's probably nowhere... I renewed my car insurance with Adrian Flux in August, £830 for the policy and £200 to pay monthly by direct debit (premium credit). I would now like to cancel my policy as I've been quoted £270 (with the same underwriter!!), a saving of £560, eye watering amounts of money. I rang to see how I go about cancelling. I was told that I would owe the rest of the 12 months remaining balance minus the three I have already paid. However, my insurer would effectively pay a proportion of this... Ultimately, I owe £152. I have paid three £100 instalments, so £452 for two months insurance. Surely this is too much? How do I go about challenging this or am I stuck paying the final £152? Thank you.

Good morning, I originally joined xercise4less in January 14 after a phone call from a sales person. I was reluctant but they talked me round by offering two months for free & £9.99 a month there after. Even though the gym was 18 miles from my home I niaevely agreed to become a member. I didn't/haven't used the facilities once & in February I emailed the operations manager asking to cancel my membership but received no reply. I left it until April and sent another request to cancel via but again didn't get a response. In September I noticed they were still taking the amount so I cancelled by direct debit. Now I am receiving threatening letters saying I owe £69:98 with x2 £25 'admin' charges and the threat of court. I've rang xercise4less but been told the manager isn't available - I've emailed the operations manager again and haven't gotten a response (I see a pattern here) however when I messaged them publicly on Twitter they responded (funny that!) but in their DM they have simply said "Sorry however unfortunately you cannot cancel your membership via email unless you have this agreed by the operations manager - do you have this indicated in your emails" I replied stating that I hadn't received a reply and asked how they could resolve the matter but they have not responded. I'm not sure why an email won't suffice when the only contract I've received was via email and I haven't signed anything from them. In fact the only letters I have received were from Harlands threatening me and charging me x2 £25. Do you have any advice for me - I can't have a CCJ against me because of my employment. They have no responded saying that "unfortunately in this instance you will need to pay the cancellations charges - what is your contact number so a member of the membership team can contact you?" I feel this is completely unfair - howe should I respond.

Hi guys, Need some help i was Plusnet customer since October 2014, on 20th July 2015 i received an email regarding the price rise and been advised that i can cancel without being charged within 30 days. I rang on 24th July 2015 asked them if they could give me better price or i leave, they gave me reduced price but it was not matching with Sky's offer, so i said offer is not good and what the process to cancel they told me that just sign up as normal and that's it. I signed up on 24th July with Sky and the same day received an email from Plusnet that you leaving early so you have to pay termination fee. I contacted Plus net the same day 24th July 2015 and told them the situation, been advised that ignore these emails as these are computer generated since then i started ignoring emails. The problem started when i received another email on 17/09/2015 saying that i have to pay outstanding balance of £9.71 otherwise my name will be passed to their deb recovery department. I contacted again via chat on 17/09/2015 and been told that its cancellation charge and i have to pay because i did not ring to cancel, i said i rang on 24th July 2015 to cancel again been told that they will look into it and solve the problem. After that i contacted Plusnet again via chat on 02/10/2015 asking whats going on been told now i have to pay £23.61 because of cancellation charge, again i told them i made a proper call on 24th July, again been told that they will look into it. On 22nd Oct 2015 my Plusnet account fully closed so i could not see what's happening, i contacted them again regarding this matter been told they cant find any records that i made call on 24th July which is shocking been told i have to pay now no matter what. This time i rang customer service on 22nd Oct 2015 at 18:21 PM, told them all story, he told me he can see a call made on 24th July all they need is to listen this call and they will contacted me tomorrow 23/10/2915 with outcome. I missed a private call on 23rd October 2015 around 13.30PM so i assumed it was from Plusnet so i rang Plusnet and been told nobody rang me today, i told them that i rang on 22nd October and spoke to someone and he suppose to ring back, again shocked with the reply that they cant find any records of that call too and no matter what i have to pay the charge. I asked them to send me call logs during July which she going to send in few days but i am really shocked, please advice me what to do this is totally ridiculous

In July of this year me and my partner felt we would like to switch to a new gym which was much better suited to our needs, from our then current gym Xercise4less. We know that when you cancel a membership there tends to be a contract to honour or a notice to fulfill, so we decided that we would not make the switch until payments had been sorted with Xercise4less. Money is tight and we are frugal, so we would not have two memberships running at the same time. We went in to our local branch in St Helens and spoke to a young man on reception, who's etiquette left a lot to be decided, distracted by mates and such. To be fair to him they seemed short staffed. However, he categorically told us that as we had only signed a 12 month contract and had been there for 18 months, so we were free to cancel our membership and there was no notice or fee or anything. He took down our names and looked on the system and told us that as the cancellation would take a few minutes, he would go through it on the computer and we were free to go home. We were a little surprised it was that easy, but he categorically told us the above facts so we had been given the green light to sign up with the new gym. We cancelled our direct debits the next day to be on the safe side, because we had heard stories about Xercise4less (Harlands) continuing to take payments. So we have been at our new gym ever since, when out of the blue this morning, we both received texts telling us "You cancelled your direct debit, so your account has gone in to default". I enquired on the phone number given on the msg, and the agent told me that I was supposed to give them a months notice, so that Harlands could take a final payment of £9.99. As the DD was cancelled, I have incurred a £20 admin fee since. So I owe them £29.99. I explained that their Xercise4less colleague had wrongly informed us of the terms, and had we known, we would have absolutely not joined the new gym till a month later. He agreed and put a notice on my account that I was wrongly informed and told me there was nothing he could do, but I needed to speak to the general manager of the St Helens branch to see if they could reason with me. I rang up the branch and the man on the phone told me they had no general manager until October. I have to say the phone call was quite blunt and the staff in that gym are generally not the most professional people. Not sure what to do next then. I have to admit I hate these situations, I am not a confrontational type, I am very shy and I went in to the gym today for answers, but when I saw there was no staff on reception I bottled it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi all Wondered if anyone could help re the cancellation of gym membership. LA have been taken over by Pure Gym. As a result of this, my club's pool will be closing on Wednesday so they can fill it in and put more gym equipment in. Essentially this means that the gym will become just another run of the mill cheap gym. I pay through salary sacrifice, and despite sending copies of the correspondence from LA/Pure confirming what is happening, they are refusing to cancel the membership. This is leaving me paying over the odds for a gym I didn't sign up to. The term's and conditions have nothing around this, but surely as the service becomes different to what was originally purchased then there should be a force majeure type clause. I have mentioned I may go to Trading Standards but could do with some advice please guys?

Hi sorry that it's another Harlands related thread. I've just been reading through a lot of them and it's got me worried about ending the contract. So I'm tied into a minimum contract of 6 months and I don't wish my payments and my membership to continue after the minimum 6 month period. My minimum 6 month period ends on 17th January 2016. I've just sent them this email: To whom it may concern, My name is Jonny Jones I am contracted to a minimum period of six months payment of £90.00 to Harlands Group for membership to London Fight Factory, my reference number to quote is: 33048214 / JW. I would like to make it known that I do not wish my contract to automatically renew after the end of the minimum period on 17th January 2016. I wish my membership to be cancelled once the minimum period is over and for no further payments to be made. Therefore I expect that January 17th 2016 is the last time any money is to be taken out of my account from this group and I will be cancelling my DD with my bank as soon as I see this payment has been taken. Please give confirmation that you have received this email and that 17th January 2016 will be my final payment. Kind Regards Jonny Will this be enough to end things with them and make sure that I don't pay any more after the 17th January payment has been taken? Thanks in advance, you're giving great advice to lots of people Jonny

Hello, my name is Adrian. Facts: I started a contract for broadband and landline with international free calls, last year September/October, in Wales, with EE. Due to the fact that I had switched jobs, I also had to move the house, therefore, I relocated myself in Crawley, West Sussex, on 20th of June this year. Prior to leaving the house and relocating, I searched online, and phoned EE to make sure they have coverage and that they can provide me with the same service. Everything was fine, they said that they can service it, same price, same package. On the same day, around 1730 hrs, I went on to the local store EE in the Council Mall, in Crawley to get an update on the moving of the service. When I got there, the lady there, said that they cannot cover my postcode with the same package, and that I should take the matters with the Customer Service. She called to the Customer Service, the Moving House department, at which point they again confirmed that the only thing they can provide me with is a lesser bandwidth for the broadband. I told them that I am not OK with it, and on the spot I argued the fact that over the phone, once I planned the moving house, they have stated one thing, so that I find out that that's not true anymore. Another thing is, they told me over the phone, that the landline number should work, and was not. The lady there sent me to close a contract with the competitors, Virgin Media. Since I didn't want to take a decision then, at that time, I postponed this for the next week-end. The next week-end, I went back to EE, and told them that I have signed the same day with Virgin Media, (only for broadband), and that I would like to have my account with them to be closed. The young lady there seemed helpful, and said that she will do that, and I don't need to worry about it. I have also stated that the landline number is not working, though it should have worked, since it appears to be active in their system. Since I had already my DirectDebit with them, and closed that the same day, after they made their final payment withdraw, I thought that everything will run smoothly and that I will receive an update on my email about the last payments, etc, etc, as it happened with my other accounts that I closed in Wales. No brainer, no muss, no fuss. My problem goes like this: I went on today to EE(to a different store, in Crawley), to find out why I have received emails from EE stating that the payments couldn't be made towards them, since: 1. that lady should've closed my account (I was naive back then, I know) 2. I have closed/cancelled my DirectDebit with them. 3. they couldn't provide me with the package I had Just today, I found out that EE, can actually provide those services within the area I live, and can give me the exact same package I had in Wales. I had ring Virgin Media to tell them that I want to finish my subscription with them, since, they cannot provide me with the same deal, at which point I was told that I have to pay them £143.69 for the remaining contract. Honestly, for some reason, I don't think the Customer Service, nor that lady from EE, treated me correctly, and I was mislead to think that things will be sorted out, etc. I was under a lot o stress back then, (and now when I come to think of it, a little bit naive) since I am a software programmer, and needed the broadband, and fast. I don't know how to deal with this, nor what legal actions to take against it. Should I pay, should I make any complaints? I wasn't presented in detail with my options, and I was just passed from one "dealer" to another, when my only need was the broadband. Can you please give me an advice on how to proceed furthermore with this? Thank you. Kind regards, Adrian.

Hi all, I've been reading some horror stories regarding David Lloyd cancellations and I desperately need some advice. At the end of February I got a massive hike in my housekeeping which I pay my step-dad. This made the £59pm membership with David Lloyd impossible to pay. This came into effect from the beginning of March and I needed to cancel my contract. The issue is I signed the contract back in October to commence in 2015 on an early start type thing. 2 months free if I recall. I read there are OFT rules saying you can terminate a gym contract if it isn't affordable anymore and they have to let you go. I was given a letter by my step-dad explaining the new housekeeping amount. I called and spoke to someone in membership at my club and they said if I bring the letter in I would be able to cancel under a "change in circumstances". I took the letter in and was made to feel like a liar - with her implying anyone could have written it and it was bogus. Obviously I strongly protested and I was told she would pass it on to the manager. Generally they need a "legal document" she tells me. I then get a phone call from her male colleague explaining the situation and that I am unable to cancel as it's not deemed "suitable" for them. I then spoke with the manager who explained they need something "letter headed" or "legal". I explained I am unable to provide anything but the letter I already have and that my step-dad does not have letter headed paper... why would he?! He went on to say it's not satisfactory to them and that I need to take in my personal bank statements. I said I would consider it due to fact it is a full overview of my finances which I don't feel comfortable sharing. I later emailed the local membership email to explain that I decline to show them all of my banking statements as it's personal. I went on to quote their contract saying that under exceptional circumstances they need something "satisfactory" the exact details of what is satisfactory are not defined anywhere on the contract. I said I have provided the only evidence I have available to me to prove the DRASTIC change in circumstances and that the term "satisfactory" is just designed so they can continually change the goal posts on me. I said if I don't hear back within 7 days then I will assume the matter is appeased. Someone in the department assured me I would be contacted. This email was on the 19th of March. Not hearing anything - I assume they've understood the awkwardness of the situation and shown some sort of compassion. WRONG!!!! I get a call on Friday 10th from ARC Europe saying I owe them £79 for unpaid membership. I assured the person on the phone that he is wrong and to check his facts with David Lloyd as my understanding is that it is a resolved matter. He asked who I spoke to and said the account will be suspended. I called David Lloyd that same evening to demand to speak to someone in membership to see if the matter was still ongoing and was assured I would be called this Saturday just gone. That never happened. I called them this evening asking to be contacted as a matter of urgency and I'm assured a phone call tomorrow - which I doubt I will receive. Please please please can someone advise me what to do as this is stressing me out quite considerably and I'm panicking. Thanks in advance.

Hello Slick132, I was looking at a question you answered for a member regarding xercise4less and was hoping you may be able to assist me also? I recently signed up to this gym after recommendation by a friend, initially contacting via email which then turned into a day pass followed by a barrage of calls from sales members asking me to come in for a "chat" Eventually they persuaded me to join however I had some doubts as I asked for my agreement only to be told this would be sent via email. I made the initial payment however did not receive any information and when queried the gym blamed a system error and my details however sent me a few emails. I decided after a few days this was not for me after being involved in a heated, almost physical altercation with another member of the gym. I have asked politely to leave but they are telling me as I signed in the gym I "waived all rights to a cool off period" and "any privilege to leave has been removed from me" and are trying to insist I stay even going as far as to bar the member who was involved in the fracas which in turn left me no choice but to play middle men between the two gyms as they decided on the person's fate (Without him ever knowing) I have spent hours on the phone to countless branches and staff who all say they understand my situation and can help me then ultimately say they cant and to speak to the next person up (who is conveniently never available) and now I am growing frustrated that they are trying to delay and stall me into a corner so I cannot request to leave. I can 100% guarantee I was never made aware of the no cooling off period otherwise I would never have signed. If possible could you advise on my next steps in order to protect myself and still get the desired outcome as currently I am in need of any guidance I can get. Initially I signed up on Friday 24th July and I made it clear I was unhappy on the proceeding Monday via email (which received no response) and in person on Wednesday which was when I was informed of my rights by the receptionist (which they have conveniently forgotten about now). I have sent out numerous emails to supposed managers and even an area manager with no real response. Please accept my apologies if this is not the correct way to go about seeking advice I am just extremely desperate for some help. Many Thanks

Hi, I have a gym membership at the Altrincham Total Fitness gym active from October 2014. I went to the gym and spoke with an assistant a few weeks later and I showed him my student card asking to switch to student fees. He said it will not be a problem and he will process it. After the next payment came out, I saw i was still on the regular fees and when I asked if there is a problem, he said the manager has not been in since and will check it on the following week. However, I just had a look at my bank statement and it seems that the last payment from 02/01/15 is still at regular fees. On the 31st December I moved house - from Lymm to Manchester, however at the time of joining the gym at Altrincham was the closest one to Lymm (hence my choice) which is no longer true as there are a number of other clubs around me within walking distance. I have emailed the club asking to cancel my subscription as I cannot afford paying the higher fee plus traveling all the way to Altrincham and have also provided them with proof of address. Their reply was that the cancellation has been denied because I am still within 15 miles radius (they also helpfully provided me with a list of gyms, the closest of which is indeed Altrincham at 7 miles distance). Is there anything I can do to terminate the contract? I depend entirely on myself financially, I am paying for a masters degree, rent and bills and everything else on my own, already struggling with overdraft and I cannot afford going all the way to Altrincham on a regular basis? Thank you in advance. Any help will be appreciated. - L

Hi everyone, I joined Xercise4less in september 2013 and my first direct debit came out on the 5th sept 2013. I signed up online to a 12 month contract and never actually went to the gym, yet still paid for the 12 months before cancelling on the 13th month. I have recieved a letter dated the 26th march 2015 saying that the CRS are employed by x4l and my membership remains in arrears despite previous letters being sent to me (this is the first letter i recieved) They then say that they have added their fees of £102.50 and my balance is now £207.47!!!! I ignored this letter and then recieved another one dated the 16th april 2015 giving me two options.. either legal action or outsource to external agents. I have spoken to the gym to which they were extreamly unhelpful and rude!! And i have also phone CRS themselves. I have no idea what to do about it!

Firstly apologies if this isn't posted in the correct place - new to the forum! So I have an issue with Harlands, seemingly like a lot of other people. I know a lot of this issue falls on only myself to blame but I do feel like I was not fully informed of what I was signing up to at the time and didn't realise how tied in to this contract I was. So I joined Swift Fitness in October/November of last year, when I signed up I didn't have anything really explained by any member of staff. He just set up the form to join on his little ipad device which was a pain in the ass to use and I can honestly say I was not aware I was signing up to a year contract that automatically renews and i would be unable to cancel - If I was aware I would not have chosen this gym. Once again my stupid fault for not checking and double checking. The 'ipad' that I used to sign up was difficult to use (in a way that it was difficult to read and just awful, I'm 22 and work in IT so it's not that I have an issue managing technology) I was also sat in the gym whilst filling in my details so it wasn't a good environment to fully read all the details that I was signing up to even if I could on this little screen. It wasn't until a week or so later a letter came in the post explaining that no matter what I am in this contract for a whole year that will renew unless I say I wish to cancel a month before the end date (November 2015) At that time I was okay financially and didn't see myself needing to cancel at any time, recently however I've hit bad times financially and personally and just could not see a way of being able to afford my membership this month or in the future. It was either not pay for the gym or not pay for prescriptions/bills which I deem more important in these circumstances. So unfortunately I had to cancel the DD and was going to write to the gym saying I wish to terminate my contract as there seems to be no chance I can manage the payments. I know this was wrong and I should have maybe dealt with this better but being put in the situation I am currently in a gym membership is the least of my worries. Harlands have sent me a letter saying that I need to pay fees and for this months membership (which I totally understand) but I don't know what to do as I know I won't be able to continue the future payments and want to leave the gym. Is there anything I can do?

I'll try and keep this short as there is a lot of information. December 2014: asked Gym Etc to cancel gym membership as I was moving about 200 miles away. They said yes - cancel whenever. All i needed to do ws show proof of new address. Hadn't moved yet but was away all over Christmas, so wanted to cancel before we moved. Showed them estate agent contract on phone - they agreed I could go home and cancel it. Explained I didn't want to leave new address as my boyfriend is in the military (given current climate, this isn't unreasonable at all). From Gym Etc website: CANCELLATION Relocation: This agreement can be cancelled in the event that your new permanent address is more than 15 miles away from the facility upon receipt of a copy utility bill or bank statement showing the new address. Long term (over 3 month) illness or injury: This agreement may be cancelled in the event of an illness, injury or medical condition which in the written opinion of a doctor or other suitably qualified medical practitioner prohibits exercise for 3 months or longer upon appropriate proof being provided. Redundancy: This agreement can be cancelled upon appropriate proof of redundancy from your employer or other loss of livelihood. Pregnancy: This agreement can be cancelled if you become pregnant upon the appropriate written proof being given.Please note – ANY Cancellation for the above reasons will not be effected until the appropriate proof is provided and received (in writing or via email) by Harlands or the club. 5th January 2015: First letter from Harlands Group. No contact from Gym Etc. Said I owed them £25 in admin fees, and had to clear 'arrears' on my 'account', which was now £44.99. This includes £25 admin fee and £19.99 monthly gym price. 19 January 2015: Called Harlands (first mistake - should've kept it all in writing). They said they would contact the gym after I explained they said I could cancel it. 2 February 2015: Next letter from Harlands. Still no contact with Gym Etc. My 'account' is now £89.99 - can't work this out at all and there is no breakdown. 11 Feb 2015: emailed Gym Etc. They said I had to send proof. They said they didn't say I could cancel it. I sent my pay slip (blocked out all information including post code and house number). They said they would accept this as a 'good will gesture' and my cancellation would be affected after 30 days, as this was my 'notification'. They said all charges would still stand. I said no. Their terms don't reference a 'cancellation form' or a 'notice period'. They said i was in a '12-month legally binding contract' so I asked for a copy of this contract. They simply send me a link to the terms that I have read about a million times and found several faults in. Mainly, that the 'Please note' section is included within the 'pregnancy' bullet point, so why would I read this?! Proper proofreading evidently isn't their skill. Terms: won't let me post the URL but its under 'terms' at the bottom of the Gym Etc website. They copied and pasted the last point from the 'automatic renewal' paragraph with the about cancellation. I told them putting these separate pieces together doesn't make them match up whenever they want them to. Idiots. Emailed Harlands telling them I owed them nothing, explained everything. This is their reply: We can confirm that we have been in contact with the club who have confirmed that a cancellation has not been agreed. We will need to see a copy of a utility bill or tenancy agreement to prove that you are now at a different address. Your arrears still stand, your membership is still in default. The club have advised you are aware of the membership you signed yourself in to, also the members of staff at the facilities do not agree a cancellation verbally. Please forward us this proof other we will be unable to cancel this contract, please note that further charges may be applied to the account if you choose to ignore this email. I'm treating these as different matters as I never entered into an agreement with Harlands, and I do not have any such account with them. I called Citizens Advice Bureau who advised I write to Gym Etc and say they are in fact in breach of the terms of the contract as they said I could cancel and are now pursuing me for money I do not owe them. Thoughts, anyone?

Pete Swift has won a £1,500 payout from Sky after spending two years and £1,395 trying to cancel his TV and broadband package. The 30-year-old research consultant, who lives in Edinburgh, billed Sky £25 an hour for calls made to the telecoms giant, the ombudsman, various credit reference agencies and debt collection companies. In total, Mr Swift spent more than 55 hours on the phone to the individual firms, including 31 hours talking to Sky. Mr Swift then decided to take Sky to court and last month reached an agreement with the company just two days before his court date. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/household-bills/11621654/Sky-customer-gets-1500-payout-after-two-years-trying-to-cancel-his-contract.html

I need help serious people. This a bit long story. My husband took out a home broadband with ee on october 25th from a ee store. As we are on talktalk already, both the pushy rep and the contract stated/s its a simple transfer of services, we dont need to anything, just pay the final bill from tt and enjoy. No BT engineer visits required. ok fine - so i thought. The woman pushed us into taking the contract as she claimed that ee would give us faster speeds than talktalk cos theres no cap of broadband speeds. Complete LIE. She told u we would only be paying 21 a month for the broadband instead of 26 for the life of the contract later we found out that was a complete lie too...it was only for 3 months. Another complete lie. i got my router on 10th november. then on the 12th, out the blue, a bt engineer turned up telling me he come to install a new phone line ( which id be charged 50 quid for ) as i had an exisiting line told me i didnt need one and that ee were just supposed to transfer over. so he did furher line checks and left. my so called ' go live' date was 12 th november. It is now 17th and here i am, still with TalkTalk and phone line still belongs to TT yet EE are billing me for a service THEY ARENT EVEN PROVIDING. Surely I cant pay for both. After emails back and forth from EE, which havent got me any further to sorting this issue ourt, i even emailed the ceo but no response n over a week. i now want out from EE. with no penalty, i want to be released from the contract. I believe i was missold and pushed into taking the contract. They havent done as what they should have done which is stated in my home broadband contract that its a trnasfer of services only, ive found postal addresses for the ceo directly which i want to send. my question to u guys is, would ee be in breach of the sales of goods and services act 1982,, and also some help with a nice but firm formal complaint letter to send off, cos im not good with this stuff, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in Advance. please please help me ASAP.

Hi, I am in need of some advice about my Nuffield Gym Membership. I called the Club at the end of February when my 12 month contract ran out to cancel my membership but, I wanted to keep my partner as a Member. I was informed to give them a months notice in writing, I sent them an email on the 5th March, 5 days late. I believe I should be able to walk away from this Membership at anytime due, to being out of contract. I understand that I sent the email 5 days later than what they require but, surely this is irrelevant if I am out of contract? I then checked at the end of the month to see if they were going to take full payment or they were going to take half payment for my partner obviously they had scheduled to take full payment. I cancelled the DD and since then I have had nasty emails back and forth about payment, I have had letters from the Club manager demanding payment or it will be passed on to a debt agency. I informed the Club that my partner still wants to be a member but, they are not interested unless I pay the full amount that is owed. Any advice would be much appreciated.