Debt collection on a "no contract" gym membership.

[jriddex]

Hello everyone!

 

I am looking for some advice. 2 years ago I joined a Fit4less gym. When i joined, there were no joining fees an it was advertised as "no contract". Sure enough, i gave over my card details and a regular payment of £19.99 came out of my account every month.

 

A few months ago i decide that i wanted to quit the Gym so i simply stopped the payment from coming out of my account. I then received a letter and email from Fit4less basically explaining that unless i give 1 month notice and cancel my membership in writing then they will get the debt collectors involved.

 

So i guess i'm asking, are they allowed to get any form of debt collector in at all? I would like to point out that i didn't sign a single piece of paper nor consent to any "contract". Could this just be a clause in their TOS?

 

Any advice would be much appreciated! If you need to know anything more then please ask!

 

Thank you!

[renegadeimp]

DCA's cant do anything and it is very likely nothing will ever happen with a gym debt. As the original terms said you needed to give one months clear notice, i would do it, but direct to the gym. The non signing of a contract will unlikely stand as you attended the gym every month and the money was clearly coming out of your account allowing you to attend.

[slick132]

Hi Jri and welcome to CAG

 

Stay off the phone. If anyone calls you, say, "In writing only !", then hang up.

 

Don't worry about their threats of court action or admin fees being added. Court action will NOT happen and their admin fees should always be challenged as they are unlawful and unenforceable.

 

See other threads here and you should find a draft letter to adapt. but, Basically, you need to say :-

 

I cancelled my DD mandate in [xxmonth] because I no longer used the gym.

 

I now realise I should have paid one final month's fee for the notice period. I therefore now offer to pay £xx.xx in full settlement to close this matter.

 

If you accept my offer in writing within 14 days, I will pay you promptly. If you fail to accept my offer within 14 days, or you demand any higher amount, my offer will be withdrawn.

 

Let us know how they respond.