Fitness First any help would be appreciated.

[worriedone]

I joined first fitness last year and paid 3 months but due to me losing my job I cannot afford to pay the membership fees,

 

I have asked the membership department to cancell the membership but they are refusing until the arrears are paid.

I cannot get jobseekers and I am a single parent.

I have offered to pay in small instalments but no not acceptable.

 

They have now passed me to C.A.R.S

I offered the same offer who accepted but they have advised that once the £80.00 is cleared they will be chasing me for the remainder

and putting a further late payment on my account.

 

I just want to cancel and terminate the agreement to stop the debt mounting up which I'm already in a financial pickle.

 

Ps When I did speak to the membership department they wanted a copy of my P45 which I am still waiting for.

[Conniff]

Whatever you do, DON'T send them a copy of your P45 - they have no entitlement to it

Basically by asking for that, they are calling you a liar.

 

Welcome to the forum. Slick will be along later, he is the resident expert on the gym rip-offs but you should only communicate in writing with the gym and collection company.

[slick132]

Hi Worriedone,

 

Firstly, please don't feel intimidated by the FF or CARS. They have no authority to make you pay anything that you can't afford.

 

Ignore CARS just now. This may seem like strange advice but I say this because they have no power over you at all !!

 

They may threaten all sorts of action but it's mostly HOT AIR. They'll threaten court action but never take it.

 

Don't speak to them by phone any more. If they call you, tell them to put anything they have to say in writing as you are taking advice on this matter, and then hang up. Nothing they have to say will be of any benefit to you.

 

Regarding the late payment or arrears charges they add to "your account", such charges are penalties and are NOT enforceable in law.

 

Now let's deal with the contract. Please let us know:-

 

1. When you joined.

 

2. What is the minimum contract period.

 

3. Did you sign up on the gym's premises, or elsewhere.

 

4. Did you discuss, at the time of joining, whether you could leave or cancel the contract. If so, exactly what was said.

 

When you give us some answers, we'll do our best to help you.

 

[chomerly]

I'd just like to add my pennies worth to this.

 

I used to be a member of Fitness First a couple of years back and i decided to leave because i felt they were not living up to their contractual obligations.

 

It started out when the amount of members being signed up and using the gym were more than the premises could hold.

I made a complaint to the reception team about the fact that my workouts were consistently being disrupted because of having to wait for up to 15 minutes a time for the use of equipment. And that isn't including the times that i had to wait for others who were in line before me.

 

I then started to complain about the condition of the men's changing area, showers and toilets.

The toilets were horrendously filthy and the showers were not being cleaned as the should have been.

A friend who worked there as a cleaner at the time told me that the gym hadn't had the required cleaning products for sanitisation for a couple of weeks and they didn't know when to expect them.

There was mildew on the grouting for the tiles and the tiles themselves would look orange in colour from a distance because of body fat.

 

I eventually had enough when environmental health came in and gave the place the once over.

They then slapped an order on the gym to sort out the cleanliness, or lack of, with 3 days or they would get shut down.

That was enough for me so i put in writing to the gym that my gym membership would be cancelled with immediate effect.

About 6 weeks later i received a letter from CARS stating that i owed X amount for the remainder of my gym contract.

 

I emailed the person who's signature was on the letter and the emailed back saying i would have to take it up with Fitness First.

I emailed back stating that there is no actual debt and there is no service being provided to me where a charge was applicable and that the Fitness First in question was under investigation by Environmental Health.

 

Never heard a thing from them again after that.

 

So, i would follow Slicks advice.

Inform them (Fitness First) of the situation and leave it there.

The more information you give to CARS the more they will come after you.

[Conniff]

Any update worriedone ??