Gym Membership contract

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Gym Membership contract

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My sister has got her self in a slight pickle.

She signed up for a 12month gym membership contract with Fitness First
Last week she cancelled the direct debit through the bank and then phoned Fitness First to tell them she cancelled the direct debit and wont be a member anymore.

Today Fitness First have phoned her and told her she has to pay the remaining 7 months of her contract that amounts to £168.00

She is a student nurse and has already gotten a second job to help pay for her travel and car that she has just put on the road. Even though her university advice students not to get jobs.

What do you think she should do ignore them? or pay up or come to an agreement? Personally I think its the gym is an arse and will get money for nothing though she has signed a contract.
 
Im with fitness first to be fair they have done nothing wrong its in the contract that you have to complete your contract or pay up the remaining time left
 
Same as a mobile phone contract you have to pay it unless you can prove they have breached their service or some other agreement in the contract.

you do have a cooling off period but its only a few weeks from first signing up


I thought cooling off periods only applied if they harassed you? (eg, when reps come to flog double glazing). In instances where you go to them, it is assumed you have done your homework beforehand.
 
I thought cooling off periods only applied if they harassed you? (eg, when reps come to flog double glazing). In instances where you go to them, it is assumed you have done your homework beforehand.

Depends on the nature of the contract - I work in telephony and if someone calls us to sign up they still get 21 days to cancel. If they get "collared" in store it's 21+however-long-the-form-takes-to-arrive ;)
 
My sister has got her self in a slight pickle.

She signed up for a 12month gym membership contract with Fitness First
Last week she cancelled the direct debit through the bank and then phoned Fitness First to tell them she cancelled the direct debit and wont be a member anymore.

Today Fitness First have phoned her and told her she has to pay the remaining 7 months of her contract that amounts to £168.00

She is a student nurse and has already gotten a second job to help pay for her travel and car that she has just put on the road. Even though her university advice students not to get jobs.

What do you think she should do ignore them? or pay up or come to an agreement? Personally I think its the gym is an arse and will get money for nothing though she has signed a contract.

Fitness First are renowned for this - it's what they call a rolling contract, Virgin Active operate the same policy as well. Basically you can only cancel your contract with them during a 30 day period prior to the renewal date of your contract, BUT they will never send you any notice that your contract is due to expire/renew! This is perfectly legal and there isn't a great deal you can do to get out of actually paying any penalty payments outside of this 30 day period. :mad:

Mrs Dogs had similar problem with VA, but managed to negotiate the penalty payments down to 2 months due to moving and having no gym withing a reasonable travelling distance.

Do not ignore the letters, FF will only pass the matter onto a debt collection agency and that'll make life worse for you both.

Have a read of these links and you'll see you're not the only one. My advice is to write to them (send everything recorded delivery too) explain the situation and see if FF are willing to negotiate the penalty amount down to something more acceptable.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.u...er-issues/30691-fitness-first-membership.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2002/apr/05/uknews

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1357721
 
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As above I'd say try and sell it on, in the mean time speak to the manager and explain she's a student nurse, currently having to work 2 jobs plus uni and dont have the time or moeny to run a membership. Ask if they can at the very least reduce the payments as a gesture of goodwill - those 7 months have cost FF nothing after all, yet. If not ask them to suspend the membership for a period of time to sort it out. Play on the student nurse - nhs side of things.

Failing that if the membership is transferable get her to stand outside the gym offering it to anyone who comes close. Even if no one accepts it may push the manager to be more helpful - I saw a bloke go into a phone store, attempt to have a reasonable conversation with staff, get slated, and then stood outside shouting about how bad the staff were. Didnt see a single person going in there when he was there.
 
As above I'd say try and sell it on, in the mean time speak to the manager and explain she's a student nurse, currently having to work 2 jobs plus uni and dont have the time or moeny to run a membership. Ask if they can at the very least reduce the payments as a gesture of goodwill - those 7 months have cost FF nothing after all, yet. If not ask them to suspend the membership for a period of time to sort it out. Play on the student nurse - nhs side of things.

Failing that if the membership is transferable get her to stand outside the gym offering it to anyone who comes close. Even if no one accepts it may push the manager to be more helpful - I saw a bloke go into a phone store, attempt to have a reasonable conversation with staff, get slated, and then stood outside shouting about how bad the staff were. Didnt see a single person going in there when he was there.

You can't sell it on, and can't transer it - :bang:

However you may be able to put your membership on 'hold' - VA let you do that for up to 12 months, cost £5 a month but doesn't let you have access to their gyms, saves you having to cancel your membership and pay the joining fee at a later date.

As I said, write to them and ask if they are willing to negotiate the penalty period down, although as your sister was a member for less than a year I doubt FF would be willing to compromise much.
 
Oh yeah forgot to say, Fitness first gave up chasing the remaining balance.

My sister mentioned the aircon in the gym never worked so it was very sweaty, all the staff could do was open the doors. I think should could have used that as an excuse if she needed to.
 
maybe try another gym next time, im sure jjb have a 30day cancelation think, if u dont want the membership anymore just give them 30days notice( id advise to cancel the direct debit wit ur bank your self as there crap at it) and it ends the contract! was a while ago i worked for them tho so dont hold me to that one but i supose it would b worth askin if they still do it!
 
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