Hi This is my first post and I was hoping for some advice and possibly to contact any other people with the same issue. My wife and I invested £4,000 in the Forest Holidays Membership Club in August this year which basically entitled us to discounted holidays at the cabin sites of Forest Holidays. The deal was that the initial investment was used to pay for the holidays and then you could top-up the money at any time over the next 25 years (the life of the membership) A few weeks ago they wrote to us advising that they were withdrawing the right for members to make any further top-ups so once the initial investment was spent that was it. They referred to a clause in the terms and conditions: "The Club reserves the right to vary Membership Benefits during Your Membership" I have written to Consumer Direct who have confirmed that this sounds like an 'unfair term' as per the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999. I have pointed this out to Forest Holidays but they are unwilling to reinstate the right to make top-ups. So the position I'm in now is that I think what they are trying to do is not legal, but Consumer Direct can't/won't tell me what Trading Standards are actually doing about it. I think my only course of action is to take Forest holidays to court for the potential loss of benefit (which I estimate to be about £25,000 over the course of the membership) Does anyone have any experience in this type of issue or can suggest another course of action? Many thanks Gary

Hi all On February 4th 2010 I joined a Gym called “Club U Fitness” near Kentish Town West overground station (North West London). This gym is ran by Ashbourne Membership Management. I first heard about this Gym from a friend who said it was around £15 a month. I thought this was really cheap for a gym so I decided to head down and sign up myself. I got there and there was an American Guy running the gym who apparantly is the Owner and the “Celebrity” Gym Trainer. Anyway he spoke to me and I told him about a friend that comes here and shes paying £15 and is not tied into no long term agreements, I also let him know that was exactly what I was looking for. He said they were not doing that deal no more so he mentioned I could join for £35 a month and not be tied in or £25 a month and be tied into a 12 month contract. As soon as he mentioned 12 month contract this is when I mentioned that I was moving away from the area in August so there was no point in signing up for a long term agreement. I also told him I didn’t want to pay £35 a month because I went there expecting it to be £15 a month. This is when he said the cheapest way around it is if I join the gym on a 12 month contract costing £25 a month and then because I am moving away to University and I wont be able to access the gym I would be able to cancel it with no problem. I believed him and went to sign the contract and started training. So I paid £25 each and every month till my last payment made on July 5th 2010. I received my first letter from Ashbourne saying I needed to pay my original £35 a month and a fee on top of this, this was already wrong as I didn’t pay £35 a month I paid £25 a month. Anyway I sent of a letter explaining to Ashbourne that I was moving away and that I already spoke to the “Owner” of the gym and he said it was fine. They did not reply to me for ages, not one word! Then another letter come through saying I had to pay more this time so they completely ignored my first letter. At the time I was already living up in Sunderland (North East England) so it was hard communicating with them as they kept sending of letters to my parents address in London. After finding out they were demanding more money I sent of another letter explaining my situation. They finally got back to me saying ok we need you to prove this with two types of postal letters to your new address. I proved this straight away with a letter from my university that said I was moving into halls and a statement from the bank. This was sent just before I went on holiday in December. I came back from my holiday in January 2011 to find a letter which says I still have to pay of the amount they were asking for even though I had proved everything. I don’t see why it was needed for me to prove anything for them to just carry on demanding money. Ever since then my parents carry on receiving letters demanding money and I have wrote back to them with the same response about proving I am living away from home and I cant get to the gym. But they insist in me paying back £290. I then received a letter from Johns & Saggar Solicitors who are now chasing me down for a total of £340. They sent the letter on the 30th March 2011 and say I have 28 days from this day to settle my account to prevent further court acction. I have not replied back to Ashbourne since my last letter which they clearly ignore and I have not contacted Johns & Saggar Solicitors at all. Im not sure what to do. Any support and advice will be great. Many thanks

Hi all, Well, i joined fitness first back in august 09' and took out a 12 month contract. i worked out for just over 4 months and had to leave due to breaking my arm, notified fitness first of this and they asked for proof from GP which i sent directly to head office. no news for a week then a letter about missed payments. i called and they said they had not recieved the letter. after a while i then recieved a letter from C.A.R.S. Debt collection demanding £204, How? I am completely torn to peices over this and i am loosing focus of other important things like college and family. I really need help on how to deal with this, could someone please give me some advice. Thanks alot. P.S i am 17 years old, i signed up while i was 17 years old and the parent signiture of my contract was forged, i was not made aware of this when i signed the contract.