Hello. I do not know how I should proceed - I am quite worried as I am in the process of wanting to purchase my first home and cannot afford to have silly companies like the ones above impose court junctions against my name / affect my credit rating... Around May 2015, I had the usual nonsense posted on here that Xercise4Less wished to claim £126 from me, for "prematurely" cancelling a DD with no notice. So in result, they sent the Zinc hounds after me, to which after A LOT of harrassment, they accepted all the proof i provided to them and closed my account. This was the final email i received from Zinc "Good Afternoon Mr XXXX, Thank you for your email correspondence which contents have been noted. This has been accepted by ourselves and no further contact will be made. King regards, Amy." Great. Yesterday I received an email now from CRS "Hello XXX We are writing in regards to the account that has been passed to us by Xercise 4 Less. Your file has recently been returned to us by the Zinc Group. Your CRS reference number is ...... and your outstanding balance stands at £126.49. We urgently need to speak to you about this matter and would be grateful if you would call us today on 01444 449165 between 08:30am and 6:00pm. We are happy to set up a payment plan if you can not afford to settle the balance in one go. We are also willing to consider a reduced settlement with you if this will help resolve the matter. Alternatively, if you would prefer us to call you, please confirm a suitable number to reach you on. Many thanks, Rob Avery CRS Collections Manager" I don't want to leave this floating, how can i tell them that this has nothing to do with me anymore, when will this stop . Thanks MN

Hello! It seems I am another persons struggling with CRS/Harlands etc etc. Way back in 2012, I entered into a gym contract with Fitness First in Leeds whilst at University. I then moved back home (40 miles away) and called Fitness First and asked them to transfer my "home" club to being back at my parents home, they said this was fine. Fitness First then shut down my local gym, I called them and they said everything was cancelled and that they were sorry for any confusion. I then found a DD on my bank account to "Harlands" in around February/March 2013, went into my bank, said I didn't know who this was and they reversed the charges, I didn't hear anything at all. Then came emails in August 2013 from The Zinc Group, asking me to contact them. Being a naive early 20's anxiety ridden mess, I only communicated with them once to tell them to stop calling me. This went on for a few weeks as I ignored their calls, then I heard nothing from them. Roll on to Friday last week (December 9th 2016) and I receive a text message from CRS saying "Please call CRS today on 01444 449*** as your account has now been returned to us from the Zinc Group. We're open between 8:30am and 6pm" I then received an email asking me to contact them regarding my account at TruGym Leeds (which is what the Fitness First turned into - I never stepped foot in the place), and I have received another email this morning asking me to contact them today, other wise they will pass it on to Spratt Endicott Just looking for some advice really. I don't think they have my correct address as I have not received anything in writing from them, and old emails from Zinc have my old student house address on them. The balance is apparently £193.35, but I do not plan on paying them a penny. I do not have a copy of my old contract with Fitness First, and I have never signed ANYTHING with TruGym Leeds. I never even set foot in the building to my knowledge. If anyone could advise what I need to do next that would be great. Should I continue to ignore everything from them? Seems a bit strange for them to contact me three years since they last attempted to. I genuinely thought all this had gone away. Thank you for taking the time to read this, you lovely bunch of people!

can anyone advise me on what to do, I started a gym membership with fitspace for 12 months my bank account was closed I wrote a letter to the gym a few months after I started getting calls and emails from crs which I ignored I recently received a letter from Spratt endicott threatening legal action in 7 days. The amount crs claims I owe is £270 which is ludicrous as I was paying £16 a month from January up until may. Can anyone advise me on what to do as I also don't want my credit rating to be affected

Hey, I've left this for far too long... I had a letter from the crs and other debt collectors about paying them back £241.34. This started happening when I cancelled my gym membership through direct debit. I cancelled my membership around June / July and only did 4 months with them? I think. I missed my 1 month before and they took money out when i had money available in my bank since I normally get paid in cash where I was working. I missed another month of the monthly payment so I just decided to cancel my membership, thinking that I didn't really need to worry about anything. Next thing I know, i'm getting charged huge amounts! :/ One of my friends told me just to completely ignore what's coming my way that involves the debt collection for the gym. Since it has worked for them, and so has another friend, apparently. I'm getting worried now... I had a letter from spratt Solicitors saying that I need to owe, blah blah blah, It's pretty much the same letter as the other people that are in my situation have gotten, but I think my scenario is worse because I wasn't responsible enough and just left this to time. The letter was posted around the 3rd Nov but I didn't read it a couple days after since I've gotten Uni and my parents opened the letter but didn't get involved since it wasn't their mess and gave me a right telling off (Asian parents). Now is the 20th... What do I Do with everything?? Please help, urgent :/ Sorry for being a kid. I'm 19 and go to Manchester Metropolitan University. Thanks, Westin

Hello. Hope someone can help me. I did an online application in November 2013 for a 12 month contract at £9.99 per month. They sent me an email with a link which I haven't used. I cancelled my DD after 4 payments because I had never put a foot in the door. I have been receiving letters from Harlands on a regular basis and now I have received a letter from CRS claiming they have been employed by Xercise4 for less and I owe them £186.43 (including £66.50 in fees). Today I went to the gym to try and sort it out but they said it was out of their hands now because CRS had taken on the 'debt'. They also said if I had contacted the gym before receiving these letters they could have done something about my cancellation :-/. I did offer to pay £60.00 to cancel my membership but they said the least they could accept was £96.50. Ithought as I have already paid 4 x £9.99 the offer of £60.00 would mean I had paid for my year's membership. Any advice gratefully received. Thank you.

I'll start at the beginning and try to include as much relevant detail as possible. I joined Xercise4less in Nottingham in January 2015 under what I believed to be a year-long contract and then month-to-month, which I could withdraw from in several ways, one of which being that I move location to somewhere without an Xercise4less in the surrounding area. I stayed in my contract and used the gym throughout my time in Nottingham training to become a teacher, then moved home in around July 2015. While I was in Nottingham I met my girlfriend, and we dated long-distance until around September of 2016 when I moved back to Nottingham. From July 2015 to around January/February 2016, I used the gym very occasionally (less than 20 times). In around March/April of 2016, I realized I was still paying for this gym in Nottingham (the contract was only £9.99 a month so I literally had not noticed it until now) and went to the gym and asked to cancel. The gym told me to return with proof of my new address. I did a few days later, showing them my driving license with my new address in Essex over 2 hours away. Bear in mind at this point any trips to the gym cut into my limited weekend time with my girlfriend, and that as I am living over 2 hours away I can't just drop in and chat to the gym staff. I spoke to the man at the desk, who took lots of details, had a good look at my driving license, checked my new address in the computer to determine there wasn't an Xercise4less in the area, and then implied to me that it was taken care of and I could return to the gym for the remainder of the month, after which my contract was up. I came once more that month and have not been since. A couple of months later (around June/July) I noticed that I was still being charged for this gym. This was during the examination period at my school, and being a maths teacher I am required to often work very long hours during this period. I therefore decided to simply cancel the direct debit and accept the two or three monthly payments of £9.99 that had been taken out of my account. I thought it was taken care of at this point, until I was sent a letter in October 2016 from CRS stating that I owe them £207. This letter came to my parents' house in Essex (by this point I had moved back to the Nottingham area). Following the receipt of this letter, I called CRS to discuss the situation. The £207 request was broken down to me as follows. £9.99 contract + £25 direct debit bouncing fee £9.99 contract + £25 direct debit bouncing fee £9.99 contract + £25 direct debit bouncing fee(???) approx £60 to pass the case on to CRS (operates out of the same office as Harlands, the contract company I pay the debit to) £37 tracing fee (in order to find my Essex address) He explained that Harlands has been trying to reach me for the £9.99, each time they failed it was £25 charge and they sent me a letter. The ridiculous part is that all of these letters were sent to my original address I had in Nottingham as of January 2015, so I didn't receive it as I was at the time living in Essex. This happened three times. Throughout this process Xercise4less, and by extension Harlands, had my e-mail address and mobile phone number. now it gets passed on to CRS at a cost of £60ish (which seems to just be part of Harlands) who apparently have to use a 'tracer service' to get my address (this costs another £37!), while all this time both of them have my current e-mail address and phone number. Remember also that I gave the man at the front desk of Xercise4less this address, which he wrote down. I have called CRS on multiple occasions and was at first explained the contract and eventually told 'it's your fault for not cancelling your membership properly'. They have offered that I pay a settlement fee of £112 pounds, which I declined. At that point the account manager at CRS suggested I seek legal advice and wished me a good day. I'm pretty confident that regardless of how my contract turned out, the amount I am being asked to pay, and even the settlement amount are nonsensical amounts. In addition, the reason the problem is so significant and I wasn't able to simply respond to the first £9.99 and £25 direct debit charge (which was supposedly accompanied by a letter) was because I moved (from student accommodation so no forwarding address) which was precisely how I cancelled/tried to cancel my membership initially. In addition, Xercise4less, Harlands and CRS had my e-mail and mobile phone number the whole time, so their 'repeated attempts' to reach me can't have been that desperate. After reading other threads, I also believe I am outside of my 12-month contract agreement, and so don't even really need to provide a reason to cancel my membership... Thanks very much for any help you can offer. I studied law for a little while after university so am quite excited about the prospect of being taken to court!

Hey guys I was at the Xercise4less gym in Bradford on a 14.99 rolling contract i signed up for it on 8/10/2015 and the last direct debit to leave my account was on 7/4/16 I cancelled the direct debit and thought that was it - which is what i had been told by a staff member but evidently this wasn't true. Since then i have been receiving letters for £222 from harlands, moving to CRS and now finally SprattEndicott who are considering legal action. Funnily enough out of sheer laziness i only ever used the gym in the first two months and paid 5 Months of gym membership for nothing I have spoken to sprattendicott on the phone, having ignored the others so far, and they said to email them whatever response i have to say / stating my issue. If theres any more info needed il add it in Thanks for any help you guys offer!

Hello! I am currently experiencing problems regarding a £207.47 debt I supposedly owe to Harlands/Xercise4less despite having terminated my 12 month contract back in April this year!! I joined Xercise4less in Leeds in February 2015 - I signed up to a 12 month membership (the minimum duration) £9.99 p/m. Despite having used the gym a total of less than 10 times in the whole year, I held up my end of the contract and paid for the full year. Due to payments having not been taken for January and February 2016 (as the gym was shut due to flood damage) I was unsure whether this meant my contract would be extended to make up for those two months... Once the gym reopened, I rang the gym 3 times: 1) The first time I was told by a member of staff that he would send me a cancellation form. I never received this. 2) The second time i was told i had been misinformed and that the only was was to cancel online. 3) The third time was to seek advice as i had been experiencing problems with their cancellation page, but they told me to try again at a later time. In the end I had definitely submitted something online but whether it was done correctly i dont know. To be honest, i was so fed up with the hassle of trying to terminate a simple gym membership that i hadn't even used yet fully paid for (and continued to pay for until april!) that I resulted to seeking advice from my bank and they advised me to just cancel the DD. In short, the 2 month flooding that they had experienced was not my fault, yet to be on the safe side I ensured I made 12 full payments (Feb 2015 - April 2016 ) before terminating my DD . I heard nothing from them for almost 4 months, then suddenly received a letter from CRS saying I owed £207.47. I genuinely thought this was some sort of mistake and therefore rang up and said I would not be paying it. I received 2 more letters over the following weeks - both of which i ignored. GI have returned from holiday today to find another letter -this time from Spratt endicott - threatening that failure to pay within 7 days (tomorrow being the 7th day!) will 'result in legal proceedings' ?!?!?! Please help!!

Hi All, I'm hoping you can help me I was a previous member of Lifestyle Fitness when the gym first opened December 2012 to which I signed up to a monthly rolling contract of £17.99. After cancelling my membership in November 2015 I was phoned weekly numerous times and then sent an email from the manager Jason Lombard trying to get me to re-join. I sent an email stating that I would CONSIDER it under the same terms of my previous membership i.e monthly rolling contract £17.99. After a phone call explaining this to him. I then received an email from him that a new membership had been set up (he never specified a type) I checked my bank account and a DD was in place however I had not signed anything neither did I receive a membership contract like the one where I initially signed up. I cancelled the direct debit immediately and no payment was taken. I have then been pursued by Credit Resolution Services claiming that I had entered into a 12 month annual membership at £17.99 and that I know 'owe' £397.60. These con artists continue to pursue me through SMS messages, Recorded phone calls and emails. Despite emailing and phoning them to clarify that I did not agree to this they have not been interested in trying to resolve this and are unable to send me a membership agreement. This begun on January 26th, 2016. I have entered the stage of 'Spratt endicott' solictors. I've also used Resolver and tried to direct message Lifestyle Fitness on facebook. As CAB advised me to send them a letter to the complaints department funnily enough there is no form of contact details for such a department. Please help

Hi, Its my first time posting on here so bear with me. Iv seen a few different posts about this already but thought I would start a new one to see peoples thoughts. I signed up to exercise4less earlier in the year as I was working very near to one. (I work away from home for long periods of time). I signed up to the £14.99 monthly subscription instead of the £9.99 12 month one. And I explained when signing up I was a contractor working in the area and would only be around for a couple of months at most. I set up the direct debit and attended the gym for a couple of months as agreed, until I got finished from where I was working. Before I got finished I told them in the gym I would be leaving within a matter of weeks and wouldn’t be coming back for the foreseeable future. (Unfortunately I have nothing in writing or anything to proof this). I have since been working somewhere else and have rarely been home. However when I have been back I have found letters from Harlands saying I have missed a direct debit and then from CRS saying they have been passed my debt and are looking for £180 to settle it. Also said I only have 7 days to respond, which had already past by time I got home. From what I understand CRS and Harlands are the same people? And any charges they add on are both unlawful and don’t need to be paid? Im not intending on paying them a penny as iv not used the gym so I refuse to pay anything for it. What I would like to know is how I can make this go away? If I just ignore it will they finally give in or am I better off writing to them and if so what do I say? They have also started phoning and texting me saying I must contact them? Thanks in advance for any help

Hi guys. Just after a little reassurance. I joined my local X4Less around November last year (2015) over the telephone. I was informed at the time that it was a rolling 12 month contract of £9.99, and i could leave if i moved away from the area, was made redundant, medical grounds etc etc... Roll on March 2016. I suffered a back injury and informed the gym of this. They said they needed proof so i went back to the doctors and asked him to give me a note stating i couldn't continue in the gym. I proceeded back down to the gym and presented this to one of the staff behind the counter. She advised me to fill in the online form to cancel. I told her i didn't have internet access at that time and she said she would action it for me. I noticed on my bank account 2 months later that direct debits were still being taken out so i cancelled them. I then was bombarded with texts from X4Less informing me my account was in arrears and every-time i rang they said don't worry we'll look into it. I then started to recieve texts saying my debt was being passed onto Harlands. And again every-time i rang Harlands and stated my reasons for cancelling the DD they said they would investigate. Then Harlands started sending letters telling me that £25 admin fees have been added to my account. And the whole process went round in circles until recently CRS have sent a letter threatening Bailiffs, CCJ's, Court action etc etc.. I have managed to speak to ROB Knight/ROB Avery whom is the collections manager as i never get any sense from the imbeciles in the office and to be honest he wasn't much better. He advised me to go back to the doctors and get another note stating i couldn't continue with the gym and CRS would end the dispute. I went back to the doctors at a cost of £80 BTW:shock: and faxed another note to them explaining my back problems. Today i receive another E mail from CRS saying thanks for the doctors note but as the account was already in arrears the debt needs to be settled.:mad2: I have spoke to the collections manager again today and he insists that what they are doing is Legal, they don't need to be regulated by the FCA and they have the full backing of the courts if required. Is it safe to just ignore all letters now? I don't see how i can be held responsible for someone at the Gym not carrying out instructions. And i have made a conceivable effort to try and sort this out but to no avail. Any help much appreciated.

Hi there been viewing a lot of advice from here with my case and its so far been a great help just looking to share my individual story and see what action I should take next and where I stand. in March of this year I went online and cancelled myself and my partners accounts with xercise4less, we had both made 13 payments and I understood due to the 30 day deal that I would still have a payment to make in april to which I made sure adequate funds were left in both accounts to pay for this amounts of 9.99 for myself and 9.99 for my partner. As those dates came I noticed that no funds had been taken. What I've since realised is I also a few days later cancelled my direct debit with my online banking, which ive now realised it says you aren't meant to do. From reading various forums on here I sent an email saying I accepted that I would pay the amounts of 9.99 each but the admin fees were unlawful and unenforceable, and if not accepted I wouldn't pay them a penny. In the email I sent regarding this I got a reply stating that my account would need to be cancelled, when I sent them a reply stating I had cancelled, they just replied again saying your account still needs cancelled. Since then I have moved onto letters from both harlands and now 2 or 3 from CRS and my partner now received a text from CRS as well threatening court action etc, doing our best to continue to ignore but 1. because I did cancel the direct debit and 2. due to constant threatening letters and increasing amounts due I'm just looking to clarify how my situation really is, my partner is also concerned about our credit rating which I'm sure shouldn't be affected? But any clarity on this would be greatly appreciated aswel. Thanks in advance Andrew

Hi all! Great job what you do here. On February i became a member of Advance Gym, it was a monthly pay membership so i paid the first membership on cash in advance when i started at the gym and i took the introductory session. I didn't like the gym and i cancel the DD and never came back. While after started the letters telling me that i owe 1 month, and after Harlans and CRS, now Spratt Endicott in asking for 156.49. I sent on June a mail to the gym through the web web page and the told me that i breached terms and conditions as i did't gave one month notice. Should i get an agreement and finish this? Or just ignore them? Thanks in advance for your help guys!

Hello Everyone I've noticed there is plenty of threads in regards to memberships with X4L but every single one of them seems to have some unique twist on it after a long time of receiving letters from CRS and now spratt edicott I decided to share my problem. On the March 13th 2015 I started 12 month contract with X4L which I wanted to cancel before the contract ended as the membership started to hit my budget after a while. Unfortunately the process to achieve this was rather difficult with my only option to give proof of redundancy according to the first email I sent to the gym. That was not possible in my case as at that time I had no job. JI was a university student with very little cash. I decided to just bite the bullet and cancel direct debit around February-March 2016 time as the contract ended. From that point I started to receive letters from X4L and CRS. I have sent them another email with a request to cancel my gym membership and the response you can see in the second screenshot . I have no idea where they got 1 remaining payment from as the contract finished and my cancellation of direct debit meant I don't wish to continue with their membership. HI would not cancel direct debit if they had an easier option to end the membership. Currently I'm being harassed with calls(which are ignored) from them and I'm constantly receiving letters from CRS lately I have received a letter from spratt endicott demanding £131.49 I've attempted to just ignore them but they don't seem to give up In and the advice I received from Citizen Advice was to just pay which left me bit disappointed. My question is what should I do? Continue to ignore them or accept my fate and pay?

Hi there, I received a letter from CRS yesterday stating that my Gym membership was in arrears despite previous letters being sent to me. They are adding £102.50 for their fees for getting involved making the balance I owe apparently £251.50!! I took out the gym membership in August 2015 and around 5-6 months ago I cancelled my DD with Energise gym in York due to myself and my partner separating and me moving to the other side of the city. At the time I couldn't get anyone on the phone, though I tried three times over three days so I left a message with my details saying that I wished to cancel my membership and I then cancelled the DD and thought no more of it. After receiving this letter from CRS yesterday I called my ex who had some post for me which turned out to be three letters from Harlands. I don't understand how they can suddenly find the correct address for me when I apparently owe them more money for not paying? The bulk of the letter I received says the following: We've been employed by Oaklands School as your membership remains in arrears despite previous letters being sent to you. As a result of this, our fees totalling £ 102.50 have been added. Therefore, your account balance now stands at £ 251.50. WE WANT TO REACH AN AMICABLE RESOLUTION WITH YOU! In order that we can do this, please ring our non-premium rate number - 01444 449165 WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS? 1. You want to continue your membership - The club want nothing more than for you to get the full benefits of your membership. Providing you can pay your arrears and set up a new direct debit with us for your future payments, then they're happy to welcome you back in. You may also be entitled to a discount if you are able to settle your account balance in one payment. 2. You believe you've cancelled your membership - We understand the numerous reasons why people stop going. We'll listen to your reasons and do everything we can to resolve your account in line with the terms of your membership. 3. You're experiencing financial difficulties - We know times can be tough and therefore have a variety of possible solutions to assist you, including monthly payment plans that you can afford and recommending independent organisations that may be able to assist you in severe circumstances. We'll cease further letters for 7 days, so please call us on 01444 449165 before then. CRS I called the gym and they said it's nothing to do with them and that I should speak with Harlands. I tried calling them yesterday but they were closed. Any ideas as to what I can do about this? Thank you. Jim

Hello, I'm wondering if anyone could help with this problem I have.. I'll start from how I first got to know about it, literally just as I walk in the house as I return from work and hour ago to a letter on the floor, There is more below about the options I assume you dont need to see that part but I can write the letter in full if needed. Now for the information behind the letter. . I signed up to Xercise for less in mid-2013 I believe, I stopped going after Christmas of 2013 but continued to pay ( dumb, I know.). l left a letter saying I would like to cancel membership and would not be interesting in renewing, in an envelope addressed - "FAO Manager" with reception at the gym in question in November or December 2014. I noticed a direct debit had came out in January this year so checked my online banking and noticed the DD was still in effect, I chose to cancel it thought nothing else of it. Fast forward to today and you can see the letter I have received. I haven't received any other letters as they have stated. Nor do I understand how a total of 119.97 minus CRS' so called 102.50 fees has come into existence. I have phoned the gym and asked to speak to the manager or persons in charge at 17:20 today, was told I would get a call back in 5-10 mins as he was busy with a customer. I still haven't had a phonecall back and here I am seeking assistance. As a precaution I've been reading other posts about said companies in question, and noticed a post made by a user regarding "The High Court case of The OFT v Ashbourne Mgt Svs Ltd" and I wonder, do this also relate to me? I have been a member over a year my contract is techincally fulfilled if this is true they should just accept the DD cancel as my membership termination regardless of receiving it in writing from me? Thanks, Dean.

Hi, I started at exercise for less in July of last year. (2014) They took a payment from me on July 1st of this year. Meaning my year long contract was now complete. I moved out of Nottingham and foolishly, I cancelled my direct debit thinking they would just cancel my membership and allow me to carry on with my life. Today, I received their CRS letter claiming I owe them £207.47. I've read a few other posts, but can't seem to find anything relating to this specific situation. My mind started running at a million miles per hour, like I'm sure most people's do, but a few of the posts mentioned that these guys mostly bullies trying to squeeze money out of people. Any help would be greatly appreciated. - Victor

hello, Quick backstory, cancelled direct debit for lifestyle fitness as i moved away to Australia. Received letters at previous address(relatives informed me) from harlands at first saying i owed 1 month membership and admin fees as DD failed, so emailed harlands explaining my address move with proof of current address, to which they replied acknowledging the change of address which according to the lifestyle t&cs online is a valid reason for cancellation. However they wanted me to pay 1 months membership via phone/debitcard. I emailed them referring to my current location and reason for canceling offered to pay 1 months membership with no administration fees and never heard back. that was september 2015. Harlands sent repeated letters to my previous address over the last 9 months with ever increasing amounts that then changed to CRS. I ignored all correspondents due to goggleing harlands and reading numerous websites about there letters and the fact they never responded to my compromise email dated september. Anyway now been informed about a letter from spratts, looks the same format layout and text as others who have received their letters asking for £142.48, from what started as £9.99 debt with £25 "adminfee". should i ignore this letter also or email spratts explaining my email in September where i was happy to pay 9.99 sorry for the long post

Hello, I have a problem, I have some debts with Lending Stream, I approached the CAB and informed lending stream of this and gave them a reference number so that they can communicate a payment plan. This has been going on since April, countless times my CAB officer has attempted to contact them to no avail, they do not respond. However I do get message still from CRS/Lending Stream about the debt, the other day I got a text message from CRS stating they had not received the payment from the plan agreed with my debt authority, which is not true because nothing has been agreed. My officer has contacted both parties yet again but to no avail. I've tried calling both parties also to see why they aren't responding to CAB but all I got was the debt it still with the other party and both sides not being helpful. Any advice on what to do or what may occur next?

For the attention of any members who may be able to help, I was a member of the Renfrew Xercise 4 Less - joined 2nd July 2014 - I have however, since then tried numerous times to cancel my membership (September 2015). I initially spoke over the phone and in person to members of the staff at the gym, where I was told with absolute authority, that I was "no longer a member". Although, I have now been receiving various letters from November to present about the erroneous procedure I apparently followed pertaining to the cancellation. Harlands Group is now attempting to get money from myself as part of their apparent contractual clause in the cancellation process. I was not made aware in any way, shape or form of the "correct" procedure in canceling, therefore I was under the impression I had successfully canceled the membership - which was stopping my Direct Debit. Now as some months have passed since September I have been incurring charges, of which they are compounding on a monthly basis. I have received a letter dated (6th January 2016) stating that I have limited days before my case is being transferred to a "Debt Recovery company". The debt company being CRS, note that I may incur further charges which can then lead to a court action. These charges and actions by the debt recovery company will adversely affect my credit score and future financing ability. This is an absolutely ridiculous situation I find myself in. As I have phoned and chased both Harlands and Xercise 4 Less over the past months (Nov 15 - Jan 16) I find myself in the same position, where I am receiving no help but only heightened charges. As a student I cannot be expected to pay these incredibly high figures, especially when the correct action was not made clear or mentioned by any member of staff. The now frightening part is that I have received a solicitors (Spratt and Endicott) letter stating that I have "7 days to contact" or legal preceding may take place. Thank you guys in anticipation, Connor.

Hi there i could really do with some help and advice dealing with xercise4less and harlands. when i moved to university i joined xercise4less gym in Leeds, i signed up online to a rolling monthly plan at £20 per month. This was fine, however as you may know leeds and yorkshire suffered with flooding around christmas time and the gym was hit forcing it to close. when they announced trhe closure they said that the gym would not re open till late feb. i decided to move to a diffreent gym in the city. Before i joined xercise4less i was with pure gym who operate similarly and had the same type of rolling monthly contract. when i left pure gym i cancelled my direct debit and this was enough to cancel my membership. i did the same with xercise4less thinking this would be the same for them. I recently returned to my home address after coming home from university and found letters dating every month from february from Harlands which stated they were unable to collect my membership fee and that they would keep adding a £25 admin charge every month i didnt reinstate my direct debit. I tried to contact xercise4less for over 3 weeks and could never get through to someone to talk about how i was only on a rolling monthly contract and ask about the letters harlands had been sending me. but like i said no answer on the phone for three weeks. I today received a letter from CRS saying that i now have till the 17th of june to pay my debt of just over £130!! I had a look online and apparently with xercise4less i was supposed to fill out an online cancellation form even though i was not on a fixed term contract this is why i have been getting letters from harlands and now debt recover firms. I have been away from home all year at university so this is why i am only just getting these letters. Please can someone help me and i'd be forever grateful! Thankyou so much Aaron

Hi there, I'm looking for a bit of advice on a gym membership gone wrong. I was a member at Xercise4less in Renfrew, I joined within a couple of days of the 8.7.14 on a 12 month option. By April 2015 I knew I was moving out the area and wanting to cancel after the 12 month period was up. I took a cancellation letter into main reception at the start May stating that my membership should cancel after my June payment. I didnt go again because I had moved house. It was only in January when I received a letter from CRS to my new address that I owed them £207.10 for missed payments of membership. I tried dealing the centre direct but they refused saying it had been handed over to the 3rd party. After reading on here I seen I wasnt the only one with the problem so I used a couple of the template emails that I seen and sent them off. All was quiet till April when they gave me an option 'to pay significantly less' and close the deal. It was still £140 they wanted so I ignored them. Now it has been passed over to the Zinc Group after receiving an email from them yesterday. Sorry for being long winded here but can anyone suggest what I can do next to get this lot of my back . They are a nightmare, not to mention a stress I can do without at the moment! Below I have put copies of the most recent emails CRS and the new one from Zinc. What frustrates me is that they had my email and mobile number the whole time but didnt once think to get in touch that way. Thanks in advance, Chris CRS email: Dear....... Re: CRS Ref No: / Xercise 4 Less Ref No: Further to our previous correspondence, we initially wish to advise that letters regarding your arrears have been sent to you on 27th October 2015, 11th December 2015 and 12th January 2016 prior to our letter of 5th February 2016. These earlier letters, however, were sent to the address you supplied, which was ********, Renfrew, Renfrewshire, . We have had to employ tracing agents to locate your current address and our costs in doing so have been added to your balance because of this in line with the terms of your agreement. The balance of £207.47 consists of three missed payments of £9.99, three £25.00 administration fees, £66.50 recovery fees and £36.00 trace fee. We have contacted the club regarding your request for cancellation and have been advised that: "This member never filled out a cancellation form and did not follow procedure, she has offered to pay us 9.99 for her final direct debit payment. This was refused." For the above reasons we must advise that the balance of £207.47 is correct and due. As a goodwill gesture we are willing to accept £132.47 as final settlement of this debt if paid in full within 7 days. Payment can be made by Credit/Debit card by calling us on 01444 449165. Alternatively, cheque/postal orders should be made payable to Credit Resolution Services and sent to CRS, 2nd Floor, Rockwood House, 9-17 Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 3TW. A payment plan can also be set up if you are unable to settle in full, although we do charge a little extra for this. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, there are organisations who offer free debt advice and assistance such as Step Change (0800 1381111), National Debtline (0808 8084000) and your local Citizen Advice Bureau. Please ensure a payment or response is received within the next 7 days, so we can avoid further action being taken. Yours sincerely, David Castle Collections Department Zinc Group email: Dear Sir / Madam, Welcome to the Zinc Group, we have been instructed by our client to assist you with the resolution of your account . We would therefore like to invite you to review the options we have made available to you as a priority customer, these have been designed to make the process as simple as possible while ensuring that you have full control of your circumstances. At Zinc we understand that not all of our customers are the same, but we are committed to treating all of our customers fairly. You can visit our website...................or contact your personal account manager in order to: Client CRS on behalf of Xercise 4 Less Your Zinc Reference Your Client Reference Current Balance £207.47

I have a gym membership with Lifestyle, but after just one month I had to file a grievance of sexual harassment towards one of the gym instructors and was not comfortable using the gym there forth. I told my husband, but he stopped the direct debit and sent a letter to Lifestyle regarding this. Now Lifestyle decided to ignore the complaint and sent the account to Harland's, again I sent the same letter to them and told them I was in a situation with Lifestyle. I heard nothing from Harland's that was back in March, it was not until mid April I received a letter from this CRS demanding £346.66 which was fees of £91.76 included. Now my 12 month contract comes to £218.55 - with these over priced fees the total comes to £307.64 I sent them an email offering payment, as it stated in their letter an option..and I quote 'You want to continue your membership - The club want nothing more than for you to get the full benefits of your membership. Providing you can pay your arrears and set up a new direct debit with us for your future payments, then they're happy to welcome you back. Now I offered two ways to resolve this which I sent in an email format to keep a record for myself. 3 x £35.98 payments spreading over the next six weeks to clear the outstanding arrears and to go back on DD plan of £17.99 which was my monthly gym cost. Or the full £107 cost from January to June to cover the past 6 months this was their reply, and by the way excuse the grammar of the sender. As Discussed today has been, the minimum we CAN the accept on a payment off-plan is £ 10.00 The per month. The All Our payment Plans have a one's off the set up closeup fee of £ 15.00 . Is added to This the balance SO you do not have to a pay the fee the set up closeup an upfront. Every installment has an installment handling fee of £ 2.50. Please call Our an office on 01444 449 165 the set up closeup your to off-plan payment. Yours sincerely, by Dean the Green the Collections Department at Credit Resolution Services and the CRS are trading styles of Harlands Services Ltd. About enterprise | Registered Office:: 2nd Floor, Rockwood House, 9 - 17 Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath RH16 3TW. Company Registration No. 2982925. VAT Registration No. 799 7113 70. IMPORTANT Now obviously they have not abided the option 1 which was given to me in the official letter sent by them, they are trying to set up a plan which I do not want their plan as I have offered to pay this money and get back the gym DD monthly as an option was offered. Then every instalment I will pay i get charged £2.50. I want this rectified and want to pay the outstanding arrears of £107 this Friday. I have sent them an email again outlining this in full, now waiting for a response from them, but I cannot believe they even have not investigated my first letter sent back in March, and now cannot even add together costs or even send a letter that is correctly written and spell checked. Many thanks for any enlightenment on this matter

Hi, Sorry for another thread. I have used this forum to help make my case so far, however I've had another letter and now I feel that i'm at a dead end. I've attached a copy of the letter I sent to CRS, this fully explains my particular situation. I did also send a very similar letter to X4L head office, but they didn't respond. I've also scanned in the response and I don't know what to do next. I don't have a copy of my cancellation form but I DID sign one. I was a loyal customer at X4L for 2 years and never missed a payment, so I absolutely will not pay a penny out of principle more than anything. I am extremely fed up as this has been ongoing since February 2016. I'm very close to sending a letter just telling them that I do not acknowledge the debt and they will have to take me to court (I'd also like to remind them that they will incur court fees if they lose, as they have said the same to me!) I just don't know if this is tempting fate, because ultimately I cannot prove I handed in my written notice - it will be my word against theirs. I can however demonstrate good character through loyalty as a customer and all my dates will add up (in terms of graduating from university and relocating to an area with no X4L facilities) as well as a good academic/professional record which shows that I wouldn't simply 'forget' to cancel my membership. Would this hold up in court? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Alex

I recently returned home from University and had received a letter from CRS stating that I owe a total amount of £207.47 after their fees of £102.50 have been added as a result of ignoring previous letters, none of which I have received. They are not at my term time address nor my home address. I did have a 12 month contract with X4L which I believe started in March/April 2014 and was told I could end membership anytime after this 12 month period by cancelling my direct debit payments by the staff member I signed up with. I cancelled the direct debit in approximately November/December 2015 due to inactivity and lack of funds as a student, but this was well after the 12 month period I was told I could cancel after with no penalty. The gym membership itself was only £9.99/pm so even with admin fees on top the amount payable should surely only be around £152. Any advice you can give me here will be greatly received. Carry.