Mailman, Holmes Place and ARC Credit Management

[mailmannz]

I had posted an earlier thread about my 12 month contract with Holmes Place suddenly becoming a "never ending 12 month contract" but unfortunately I cant seem to find that thread any more?

 

Anyway...I hope no one minds but Ill start a new thread as I have received a letter from a company called ARC Credit Management demanding a couple hundred quid or they will pass the matter on to their solicitors.

 

As some back ground, I had assumed (quite wrongly) that my 12 month contract with Holmes place would have expired at the start of May. However I have received a demand for £130 for 2 months that have not been paid.

 

I then called Holmes Place and asked why Im still be charged and the [nice] guy at the other end said I had to request the contract was cancelled. So I sent off an email to Holmes Place asking for the contract to be cancelled but to date I have not heard anything back? I got a received confirmation email from them so I know they did get my email.

 

Then on the weekend I got a letter from ARC Credit Management demanding I pay them £213 or they will send the matter to their solicitors with instructions to head to the county court.

 

Firstly...where has the extra money suddenly come from? Their charges? Isnt that unlawful (as penalty charges are unlawful under English Common law)?

 

So can I write back to ARC telling them that the "account" is in dispute with Holmes Place and until such time that the dispute is settled that they have no grounds to go to the county court?

 

Any help here would be most appreciated.

 

Regards

 

Mailman

[Rob S]

Yes, write back to them stating that the account is in dispute and that you have written and cancelled the contract with Holmes Place.

 

Holmes Place are pretty inefficient, in my own personal experience. I had membership with them at one of their clubs and decided to renew at another one. I paid my membership annually, so I let the membership lapse at one club and signed up with the other. A couple of months later I received a letter from club 1 telling me that I hadn't paid to renew my membership and that action would be taken against me if I didn't pay up!! I wasn't impressed!

[mailmannz]

Cheers Rob,

 

I was going to add in a bit about passing the matter on to my solicitors if ARC continue to make threats (on the grounds of harassment and coercion) but Ill wait and see if they send any more threatening letters.

 

Actually, I could probably include something about their actions infringing my human rights too..haha

 

Regards

 

Mailman

[mailmannz]

Right, here is the letter I am sending these f8ckers. Any further suggestions would be most appreciated.

 

BTW, can these companies add on extra charges to what ever is outstanding?

 

ARC Credit Management

Kent House

Churchfield Road

Walton-on-Thames

Surrey

KT12 2TU

 

Your Reference: xxxx

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Further to your letter dated 13 September 2006.

 

Please note that this matter is currently in dispute with Holmes Place Health Clubs Limited.

 

Until this dispute is resolved with Holmes Place Health Clubs it is arguable whether any county court action taken by your solicitors would be successful.

 

Further more the amount outstanding (according to Holmes Place Health Clubs) and the amount you are demanding payment for are quite different. If the difference is due to penalty clauses being enforced then, as your solicitors are most likely aware, any such action is unlawful under English common law and therefore unenforceable.

 

Also note that a request to cancel this membership has already gone to Holmes Place Health Clubs for actioning.

 

Finally, I hope to have this matter resolve amicably with Holmes Place within the next couple of weeks.

 

Until that time I would hope you will hold off any further action.

 

Regards

Mailman

 

Regards

 

Mailman

[mailmannz]

Got an email from Holmes Place a couple days ago...I cant cancel the membership until its paid up in full...and oh, btw you owe us £300 now!

 

This really has got my p1ssed.

 

I mean...whats the point in bothering to send letters to these people asking them to enter in to negotiations about closing up an account if all they are going to do is ignore what ever you send!

 

This really has got me riled up...did they not think that if I havent been going since August last year that maybe...just maybe I might not want the account to stay open with them?

 

F8ck them, Im going to unleash the dogs!

 

Mailman

[mailmannz]

Speaking about the dogs

 

I remember seeing a post about the credit contracts act (ie. sending statutory charge of £1 for a copy of the contract and if they didnt comply they would be breaking criminal law).

 

Just wondering if that would apply to this as well?

 

I have also sent the following letter directly to Holmes Place;

 

20 September 2006

Holmes Place

Member Service Centre

100 Aldersgate Street

London

EC1A 4LX

Dear Sir/Madam,

Further to your letter dated 21 August, my subsequent and numerous phone calls and my email dated 6 September.

I am disappointed that Holmes Place has referred my account on to a debt collection agency.

I was shocked to find that my membership did not lapse at the start of May as expected BUT would have continued in perpetuity if I had not chased this up when I received your first letter.

When I joined the membership was sold as being a “12 month” membership, after which the membership itself would lapse. However I now understand that this is note the case.

I have made a number of requests to cancel this membership prior to May 2006 only to be told that the minimum length of time was 12 months. This I accepted as being a part of the contract signed with Holmes Place.

However now, considering that I have not used the facilities of Holmes Place since some time around August 2005, I would hope that Holmes Place would accept the membership as being closed and that any subsequent outstanding amounts would also be wiped clear (in recognition of the fact that I have not actually used any facilities for nearly a year in itself).

I would hope we can both agree to the immediate cancellation of my membership and acknowledgement from Holmes Place that any outstanding amounts will be wiped clear. This would be a win-win situation for everyone involved.

If this is not the case then please forward a copy of the contract for my records so that I may pass this matter on to my solicitors for their consideration.

Also note that I have sent a letter to ARC Credit Management advising them that this matter is currently under dispute and that I hope to amicably resolve this issue without any further recourse to their services (on your behalf).

Regards

Scott Boswell

20 Ferguson Close

Isle of Dogs

London

E14 3SH

Of which they have not yet replied.

 

Im just wondering what the next step would be and whether their stance of not closing the account, which then continues to generate membership fees, is just a ploy to get me to pay up.

 

Any help would be most appreciated.

 

Mailman

[mailmannz]

Hello....can someone help please?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Mailman

[Dhelper]

Hi Mailman!

Wonder what's happened at the end with your case against Holmes Place and ARC Credit management? The thing is I got now ARC chasing me for cancelling memebership with Holmes place So I surfed through net if I could find more information of who they are and what to expect and found your postings in this forum! I wonder if I could get an advise

Cheers!

[mailmannz]

In the end I agreed to pay the one month outstanding subs and they agreed to wipe everything else after that.

 

Regards

 

Mailman

[diomonart]

hello, i have the same problem as you all. I cancelled my membership at holmes place in germany on end of june 2007 since i was moving from cities, and they sent me a letter saying that my membership was supposed to end on 01.01.2007, so I would have to pay until then. Of course I cancelled their direct debit. Now a collection agency is sending me letters saying that they will sue me in court if I do not pay 500 EUR. The interesting thing here is that on the contract it is stated that anyone moving city can leave the contract. Furthermore, it is stated on the contract that any member with more than 1 year membership can terminate the contract without any reason, and pay 2 months. So, the conclusion is that Holmes Place is a ****ING MONEY SUCKER!!! DO NOT PAY!!! THEY ARE GETTING YOUR MONEY FOR NOTHING!!!

[davy22]

hi,

very disapointed to see so many people are having problems like myself with regards to ARC. i iused my gym (la fitness) for the last time in november 07 and on leaving that night i gave a letter to the front of house desk clerk. the letter i explained was my 30 days notice dated from the 28th november. as i wasnt in any contact period ( the 12 month one had expired some time ago ) i thought that would be the end of the matter. i asked for some acknowledgment from this to confirm my wish.after the dec dd went out i canceled it down, but still i heard nothing from the la. then in mid jan i ot a letter from them saying that i owed them £62 and a further £ 40 would be applied to my “account” if this was not paid. i emailed not only the gym but also their head office to explain i owed them nothng. again no reply nor acknowledge, but low and behold today i recieved a letter from ARC. Phoning LA FITNESS TODAY TO COMPLAIN WAS A JOKE. THE “CUSTOMER SERVICE” ADVISER would not let me speak to explain the situation, constantly talking over me and generally rude. she promised to contact the local gym to trace the copy of my letter on my file. do you think they will find it? silly question. she has said she will contact me on monday, i wont hold my breath. next stop, ARC. spoke to a chap and he at least allowed me to speak. according to him i did not follow the correct proceedure when cancelling my membership. apparently according to the terms and conditions you have to contact not your gym but their head office and obtain a cancellation code to end your membership. yeah like i am going to have my terms and conditions from five years ago. why when they where aware of my decision didnt they contact me straight away and inform me of the correct proceedure? too much trouble i quess. i wont be paying them or arc anything as their lack of contact and proper proceedure has been sadly lacking.