Fitness First at their ways

[Sziszko]

Hello Everyone,

 

Last year May i had joined Fitness First on a corporate discount because it was close to work and I had one near to my house as well.

It was great until my job has moved me to a different location.

After a few weeks of not going to work out I thought, well let me go to the one that`s close to my house.

 

Without any warning, it was closed down. No signs, no explanations, nothing.

So, now I have no Fitness First in a 45 minute radius around me.

 

So, I went to one of the branches and asked what to do and why it was closed down.

They said they didn`t known. They also advised me that I am unable to cancel my membership because I am within the 12 months period.

 

So I contacted customer services and they say due to the riots they had to and it not their fault so they cannot cancel my membership within the 12 months

 

Here`s the correspondence below. Could someone please advise me on what to do?

 

My first e-mail to them! sent 02.02.2012., before this one I had sent one to the actual branch on 12.01.2012 which i got a response for 2 weeks later after a reminder from me!!!!

 

"Good Afternoon, My name is ...... and I am a current member of Fitness First at Paternoster Square in London. When I first joined Fitness First I was excited about my Platinum membership because it meant convenience for me.I could go on a regular basis because it was next door to my workplace and I also had one nearby to my house. The location of my work has recently changed and I now work close to my home which is in CR0 7EW. Recently I have found out that your branch in West Croydon (where I had been previously) has been closed down for unknown reasons. I could not find any information on your website regarding this and nobody at the gym seemed to know anything about it. The closest Fitness First to me now is in Streatham which is about 45 minutes away from both my work and my home and it is a black label club. I always enjoyed my time at Fitness First and I have recommended you to others who have since signed up for a membership however due to that fact that you have closed down the closest gym to me I have no choice but to cancel my membership. I have had some correspondence from Vinny Durrant from my branch and he explained that I am still in my minimum period therefore I cannot cancel my membership. As I have explained above I did not wish to cancel it however it is impossible for me to attend because Fitness First have closed down the nearest branch to me without any prior warning. I regret the situation however I do not wish to pay for something that I am unable to use due no fault of my own. Therefore I would like you to stop my membership with immediate effect. Please confirm in writing that it has been done. I will continue to recommend your gym to my friends. Thank you! Kind Regards"

 

This is their first ever response from customer service which came back the same day:

 

Dear ...........

 

Thank you for your recent email, unfortunately Croydon Fitness First was forced to close due to the recent riots in London.

 

As discussed with my colleague Vinny Durrant we are unable to cancel your membership inside the first 12 months. Currently the nearest clubs to your location are:

 

Beckenham - 2.9 miles - BR3 1NZ

Purley - 3.0 miles - CR8 1AA

 

If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Kind regards

 

Jordan Hopkins

Member Services, Fitness First Clubs Ltd, Fleets Point Business Centre, Poole, Dorset, BH15 3SS.

Tel: 08444122661 Fax: 01202 493234

 

My second e-mail to them:

 

Dear Jordan,

 

Thank you for your prompt response.

Thank you for explaining what had happened to your West Croydon Branch.

 

I have checked our journey times and transport and unfortunately both those clubs that you mentioned are way out of my reach.

I do not drive so it means I would have to take public transport.

 

I live at ..................

Please feel free to check that it takes at 40-45 minutes to get to either of those clubs.

 

I understand the conditions of my membership but I am certain that it is my consumer right to cancel it due to the fact that it is not possible for me to use your services.

I also understand that you might not be in the position to cancel my membership it that case I would like to speak to someone who is.

 

As I have mentioned it before I have enjoyed coming to the gym which means that if my circumstances change I will be rejoining.

 

I sincerely hope that you do not wish to make me pay for something I am not able to use due to no fault of my own.

 

Thank you!

 

Kind Regards

 

No response since 03.02.2012 so i e-mailed them again today!

 

 

Dear Jordan,

 

Since my last e-mail sent to you on 03.02.2012 I have had no response from Fitness First in regards to my query.

An other sum of money has also been taken out of my account on 01.03.2012 which indicates that you not only ignored my last message but have done nothing about it since.

 

I have now contacted the Consumer Action Group UK and kindly asked them for legal advice.

I have not cancelled my direct debit due to my contractual obligations, I will not so until we come to an acceptable conclusion.

I have also tried to take your advice of going to a different branch but despite all my efforts it is not possible for me to that due to long journey times, as previously explained.

 

Therefore, once we come to a conclusion and I receive my legal rights advice from The Consumer Action Group, I will be seeking refund for at least the past 2 months of my membership, of course I am happy to pay for the 1 time entry fee for the Clapham Junction Branch I attended a couple of weeks ago.

 

I have now decided that I will not be recommending your services to anyone from this point on and I will be warning my colleagues regarding my tortures in regards to your customer service methods.

 

Kind Regards

 

 

 

can anyone advise me on the above please?

 

Thank you!

 

Szilvia

[slick132]

Sziszko and welcome to CAG

 

Please note that, despite what you said in your email to the gym, CAG offers opinion and not legal advice. Read other cases here to see how others are dealing with their own disputes.

 

It is not your fault that the nearest gym to you has been closed, meaning the next closest is 45 mins travel each way.

 

If it really is 45 mins away by bus, you have, in my opinion, reasonable grounds to cancel m/ship and to cancel your DD mandate with immediate effect.

 

You could write saying :-

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

In the absence of a reply to my email of 2nd Feb, I have now cancelled my Direct Debit mandate.

 

I see you ignored my last request and took the DD payment on 1st March. I could exercise my right under the Direct Debit Guarantee and ask my bank to reverse the payment. However, I have decided that you can keep it as one month's notice of cancellation which I gave to the gym on 12th Jan and to your Head Office on 2nd Feb.

 

Just to clarify, the move of my job location means I can no longer use the facility at Paternoster Square and there is no gym within a reasonable distance for me to travel by bus.

 

I am aware of the difficulties that some gym members experience when trying to cancel a membership within the initial contract period. Accordingly, if you make further demands for payment, I will pass details of my case to the OFT who are taking a keen interest in gyms and their Admin and Collection systems.

 

I will not respond to further communications from you, nor will I pay any further monies to you or anyone allegedly representing you.

 

I trust I make my position clear.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

They'll probably respond saying you cannot cancel and must pay for the remainder of the initial contract period. But let us know.

 

[rebel11]

Hi sz

 

As they want you to travel to a different gym 45 minutes away because they have closed your local gym, find the quickest way to get there, probably train. How much would it cost you to get there? Send them a bill for 2 months train travel, could make them cancel. This is just a thought.

[locutus]

I actually laughed at this! If closing a gym (albeit not fitness firsts fault) is not to Szilvias material detriment I don't know what is! If I was in Szilvias shoes I'd ask for my months money back that they took and tell them to halt the contract until they re-open or canceling it entirely.

 

I would personally send a letter to:-

Fitness First Group Ltd

58 Fleets Lane

Poole

Dorset

BH15 3BT

United Kingdom

 

Stating that "Closing the gym I use is to my material detriment, and that this breach of contract leaves you with no choice than to regard the contract as void. If fitness first disagree they can take you to court, where you will be happy to discus this with a judge. As I have a serious dispute with any bill they say is owed, and as such they would be breaching OFT guidelines if they passed this to a debt collector."