David Lloyd Cancellation Problems

[benji0301]

Hi All,

I am also having problems with David Lloyd, we took out a family membership in Dec 2012 at a cost of £140 per month, after using sporadically we decided after noticing the payments had gone up to £145 to cancel in May 2014.

I wrote David Lloyd Ipswich a letter stating that I wished to cancel and gave my 3 months notice. In June we had not heard anything from DL so I called them up and asked if someone from membership team could contact me to confirm tha this had been action. I received no call and due to work forgot about the issue trusting that they would honour my request to cancel which would have taken effect fom 01/08/14.

I noticed in late Sept on a my most recent bank statement that they were still taking payments by direct debit. I called and spoke to someone in their membership department and they said they have no record of cancellation but they would action it now and I'd have to pay till 01/01/15.

Enraged by this I sent the following email:

Re: Membership Account Number xxxxxxxx

“Dear Catherine,

I am writing with reference to our conversation this afternoon regarding the failure of David Lloyd to cancel the above membership contract as requested for the 1st August 2014.

As we discussed I sent a letter sent to your gym on the 1st May detailing our wish to cancel the membership due to the cost increase and the fact that due to work commitments we were not using it. I came into the gym and asked to speak to someone regarding this in June to confirm this had been sorted but was told no-one was available from the membership team.

The receptionist took my contact details and told me someone would call. I never received a telephone call so I assumed the matter had been dealt with and hadn’t thought anymore about it until I noticed this morning in my bank statement that payments were still going out.

As discussed I am not happy paying this as we have completed the agreed 12 month membership contract and given the required 3 Month notice period in writing. I am not prepared to pay for another 3 months as your company has failed to action this stating that you had not received any letter. In your T&C and also your website it does not state that I had to send the letter via recorded delivery, had I know I would need it for this reason then I certainly would have.

I also demand that the payments taken in August & September 2014 are reimbursed into our bank account forthwith. If I do not hear from you in the next 7 days confirming that this has been done I will have no choice but to forward this as a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading”

I have received the following response:

“Good evening XXXX,

I have today received your email and have read the notes from my colleague Katherine.

I have tried to call to discuss further however the number we have for you on our system is not connecting.

I do understand your frustration in regards to the cancellation of your membership however we must follow the terms and conditions fairly and consistently to all members.

We work closely with the office of fair trading to make sure our terms are fair for our members. Our terms altered in 2014 to include an immediate cancellation clause to allow members who have seen changes beyond their control to be able to cancel memberships but aside of this it was thought that a three month notice period remained fair.

We do have to follow a three month notice period of cancellation. We can only process once intent to cancel has been received. Our process for cancelling members here at David Lloyd Ipswich is slick and I very rarely have to deal with emails such as this because of our strong processes. We do confirm cancellations to each member including their cancellation dates and times.

From what I can understand you sent a letter via mail to us, unfortunately we have not received this letter here at club. Our terms do state that if you have not heard from us within 10 days to check the letter has been received. The terms also mention that a proof of postage is the safest way to send a letter if required. Although frustrating without the intent we cannot process ( I have attached a copy of the terms for you).

I can see that you did leave a message at reception for us on 12th June 2014 for which we tried to call and made document of this on the 13th June. We left a voicemail on the number you had provided us and we also sent an email to the email address we had filled for you. Both of our actions have been documented.

We did not hear from you following this until the current date of 27th September so unfortunately even then we knew nothing of your intent to cancel membership.

I do understand your frustration but we have to abide by terms and conditions. I understand Katherine explained our immediate cancellation clauses but if you have seen a change in circumstance beyond your control for example redundancy/ relocation more than 10 miles from another David Lloyd facility/ illness or injury which prevents usage of the club, then please let me know so we can try and help where possible. Aside of this Katherine has placed a cancellation in for soonest point we have available to us 1/1/15. Katherine has sent confirmation of this to you.

Please do feel free to call me on Monday between 8.30 and 3pm if you would like to discuss further.

Kind Regards

Louise Lord

Member Relations Manager

David Lloyd Ipswich”

What do I need to do now?

 

[benji0301]

Advice needed urgently please guys...72 views and nothing yet?

[slick132]

Hi Benjii,

 

Please be patient. Folk here volunteer their time and have jobs, commitments, etc, especially during the working day.

 

Of the 72 viewers, only 3 have been by registered CAG users.

 

I'll come back to you shortly ....................

 

[slick132]

Hi Benjii,

 

DL are the only mainstream gym that insists on 3 month's cancellation notice. I consider this to be unfair to you as a customer and would always recommend that you challenge them on this issue. However, as you allowed the 3 DD's to be taken at the time, I would not recommend challenging this now.

 

The cancellation letter - was it handed in, posted or sent by email. Do you have any proof of delivery or receipt. Your computer (if done on one) should show data for the date the letter was written.

 

I would now contact your bank and request a refund of the DD amounts taken in August and September. The bank should do this for you under the DD Guarantee Scheme with no fuss although they may request your instructions in writing.

 

Then simply tell DL something like :-

 

I refer to your email of xxdate.

 

The August and September 2014 DD payments will be repaid by my bank under the Direct Debit Guarantee Scheme.

 

I will not be held responsible for the gym losing my cancellation letter and am aware that gyms have a bad "habit" of doing this.

 

Consider yourselves lucky that I am not seeking a refund of 2 month's fees paid for the cancellation period. All other gyms require only one month's notice and DL requirement for 3 month's notice is unfair to the consumer.

 

I will not be paying anything further and will certainly not pay fees up to 1st January next year. Further demands for payment will be referred to Trading Standards as a formal complaint.

 

Keep us posted please and don't worry if you get no reply here for a few hours. You'll hear from me or others as soon as we can get on to CAG

 

[benji0301]

Good afternoon XXXX

 

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Thank you for your patience in regards to your cancellation with us.

 

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I have spoken with our General Manager who has had discussions with head office in regards to your query with us.

 

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It has been agreed that due to the non usage for some time we will be able to cancel the membership with immediate effect so no further payments will be taken.

 

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We will also refund September and October payments in line with the cancellation letter sent in May 2014. this will total £290 and will appear in your bank within 10 working days please do not cancel your direct debit in this time.

 

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If we can help further in the future then please do get in contact.

 

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Regards

 

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Louise Lord

 

Member Relations Manager

 

David Lloyd Ipswich

 

01473 717600*Option 2

 

 

decided to go and see the customer relations manager on Tuesday and it didnt look to promising so was happy yesterday when i got this email:

[slick132]

Hi Benji and thanks for the update.

 

Did you tell your bank you wanted the August and September fees returned under the DDGS.

 

Or are you happy to just have the gym refund the September (and October?) fee.