Harlands - Xercise 4 less

[littleyellowduck]

My son has a membership with this bunch,

 

 

he tried to use the gym a month ago and was refused entry as he had apparently not completed a health questionnaire. He had never completed one in the preceeding 11 months.

 

 

He completed one on his phone in front of the receptionist, but because her system was not 'real time' so it would not show up for a few hours, she would not let him in.

 

He told her that he wanted to cancel hi membership as it was over 12 months, and than cancelled his DD with his bank.

 

Today, a month on, he received the famous Harlands letter asking for £14.99 and £25 late payment fee.

 

 

Not knowing any better, and looking to get a mortgage and we have drummed into him the importance of a good credit rating, he rang up and paid it.

 

 

He has also cancelled his membership through the website which states they will take one more months payment.

 

I am going to wait for them to claim the next month and confirm his membership has been cancelled, then I am going to hit them with a Moneyclaim online summons for the total amount.

 

A) he should not have been refused access or given a manual form to complete (he never received any notification they were introducing this health form.

 

B) the £25 charge is punitive and not legal.

 

C) he advised the receptionist, as a representative of the Company, he was cancelling his membership.

 

It will be interesting if they come down from head office in Leeds to Essex to defend a £75 case, but lets see how they like it when the shoe is on the other foot.

 

 

If they do decide to come and defend (as an individual I can insist the hearing is in my local court) it will cost them a dam site more than it will cost me to issue the summons, and as I work from home, I can spend an hour at the court.

 

I have sued 5 or 6 Companies in the past 3/4 years and I am yet to lose a case.

 

 

Although in fairness, they all pay up as soon as they get the summons

[dx100uk]

well go do a chargeback on his card

 

write them [the std slick132 letter here]

 

offer them what they are actually owed..

which is the one payment after he cancelled at the gym desk.

 

smalls claims...I think the above will prove better..

[slick132]

Hi LYD and welcome to CAG

 

Please confirm how the £39.99 was paid. If by debit card, he needs to seek an immediate chargeback as they have no right to make their £25 admin (penalty) fee.

 

This will NOT affect any mortgage application as gym agreements no longer show on CRA records.

 

You normally have to give a month's notice to quit so, after telling the gym staff or website you want to cancel, you need to pay one final fee before cancelling the DD mandate.

 

However, in YS's case he was refused entry for no good reason so had every right to cancel the DD mandate.

 

You need to give the gym (or Harlands) proper notice of intent to sue before filing a claim according to the Pre-Action Protocol.We are always looking for a decent case to take Harlands to court but, before this is done, you need to take the correct steps.

 

Also, before any further action is taken, we need to know date of joining the gym; date entry was refused; date the DD was taken each month; date last DD was taken by Harlands.

 

[littleyellowduck]

Here is the letter I propose to send...I need to add a couple of dates that are currently missing....

 

Harland Services Ltd

 

2nd Floor, Rockwood House

 

9-17 Perrymount Road

 

Haywards Heath

 

West Sussex

 

RH16 3TW

 

5th March 2017

 

Your reference 45xxxxxxx

 

Xercise 4 less membership

 

Sirs,

 

I am writing to you as the agent for Xercise 4 less

 

Following receipt of your letter dated 1st March, I confirm the following:

I was prevented from entering the Southend gym on February 25th as the receptionist stated I had not completed a health questionnaire. I had been using the gym for many months up to this point, and this had never been mentioned previously. I stood at reception and completed the online form on my phone, however, she stated the form had not been updated on her system, and continued to refuse me access, despite my paid membership being in force.

 

At this point I told her to cancel my membership. I also cancelled my direct debit with my bank. I had been a member, and had paid 12 months fees by this point in time.

 

After receiving your letter advising me that you were charging me for the February membership payment, and the unlawful £25 administration fee (this is a punitive amount and unlawful), and threatening a further unlawful fee of £25.

 

I contacted your office on 3rd March, and have paid the sum of £39.99 UNDER DURESS to avoid further charges being unlawfully imposed. The person I spoke to also insisted my direct debit was re instated to collect any further payments.

 

I have also re cancelled my membership with Xercise 4 less, this time on line, however, the verbal cancellation given to the receptionist should have been sufficient, and is seen as such in law.

 

I am writing to advise you that unless you refund the unlawful admin charge that was collected on 3rd March, of £25, and confirm that NO FURTHER PAYMENTS will be collected from my bank account, within14 days from the date of this letter, I will have no hesitation in instigating proceedings against your Company through Moneyclaim Online. In order to strengthen my court case, I have to give you this opportunity settle before I issue the summons.

 

As you are no doubt aware, as I will be a private individual, issuing a summons against a Company, I can request the case be heard at my local court, which will necessitate your legal representation travelling to Southend.Also of course, should you opt to defend this case, should you lose, which I would expectas the admin charge is unlawful, this could very well set a precedent, and prevent you trying to impose unlawful admin charges on other innocent victims.

 

If I have to follow this route, I will be claiming the unlawful admin charge of £25, any further payments taken from my account, the cost of raising the online summons which currently stands at £25 for claims under £300. I will also claim a small amount to cover my costs.

 

Please also accept this letter as permission to speak to my father, xxxxxxxxxxxxx , of the same address, in respect to this matter.

 

I look forward to receiving the following within 14 days of the above date:

 

Your cheque in the sum of £25

 

Confirmation NO further payments will be taken from my account

 

My membership with Xercise 4 less has been cancelled

 

Failure to comply with this will result in a summons being issued against you,

 

Yours Sincerely

 

 

 

 

 

 

[slick132]

Hi LYD,

 

Why not seek an immediate refund of the £39.99 and tell the bank you were misled into paying an amount you believe you don't owe.

 

Once that's done, they boot's on the other foot and you don't need to ask Harlands to refund to you.

 

Then you can simply wait for Harlands to contact you once they know the chargeback has been made.

 

Depending how it goes, it may then be simpler to write to X4Less and tell them to call off the (Harlands) Dogs.

 

[littleyellowduck]

Thanks for the reply.

 

 

I could go down that route, but that means I will have to deal with the bank, and my son will likely get continuous letters from Harlands over the next months.

 

 

This option should hopefully kill it dead (I am only asking for the £25 as he was strictly liable for one further payment), but in a perverse way I get a certain amount of enjoyment out of taking companies to court, although I have never yet actually got to court as they all pay up beforehand (in 2016 both Mercedes Benz and John Lewis were on the receiving end!)

 

 

I am happy to report on my progress.....

[slick132]

Hi LYD,

 

Experience here over many years suggests that dealing with your bank initially will be easier than dealing with Harlands. I still think you should seek a chargeback as said above.

 

This would give you the upper hand and you can then one of two things :-

 

1. Simply ignore Harlands/CRS (but from your posts so far, I assume this is not your preferred modus operandi).

 

2. Tell Harlands AND X4Less that you'll take court action against them jointly seeking damages at the court's discretion for harassment by Harlands/CRS.

 

Seek the chargeback from the bank and let us know how that goes, so we can take it from there ...................