Charged 1 year gym membership for over 5 years

Kur4mA

Hi all,

I need some help from you guys before speaking to a solicitor. I'm unsure if that would be a waste of my time but I'm not letting this go.

A well known UK/Irish gym chain has been charging me a gym membership every month for over 5 years. I signed up as a member for 1 year in 2004 initially and have not been able to check my finances as frequently as I'd like. I wasn't in the gym that much and even stopped going before the year was up and then started travelling. Apparently, even though my membership was for the duration of 1 year it was my responsibility and part of the contract to tell them to cancel my Direct Debit up to 4 weeks before the end of the year.

I have been travelling and moved addresses 4 times since this and no longer have a copy of the contract. Essentially, they owe me over 3000 Euro as far as I'm concerned. Here is a quoted response from their head office in the UK:

When you joined *** on the 4th February 2004 you signed a membership agreement which governed the terms of your membership. Paragraph 4 of the membership agreement, provides for a rolling termination date and specifically provides that:

“Unless the Member, four weeks before the expiration of the current Membership, gives the Company written registered notice terminating the same the Member agrees that Membership shall automatically continue for a further year on the same terms as herein stated save that the payments due shall be the then ruling Membership Rate.”

Upon joining you also signed a direct debit mandate in the name of *** Limited, the company which operates the *** brand in Ireland. In accordance with that direct debit agreement and your membership agreement, monthly payments have been taken from your bank account and *** have, throughout the period, continued to provide you with the right to use all of its facilities at each of the *** centers.

Further, since you’re joining your direct debit payments have been made to *** and this is the description which appears on your many bank statements confirming monthly payments to *** since you joined.

As stated in your email we also wrote to you regarding your renewal in which it stated “If you currently pay by Direct Debit you don’t need to do anything to renew your membership.” As we received no response confirming your wish to terminate your membership, your subscription continued on the same terms and conditions.

Your email of 20th September 2010 was the first written instruction we received from you regarding terminating your membership.

Accordingly, we have cancelled your membership and the direct debit mandate.

Having regard to terms and conditions of your membership, and that the first written instruction we received from you regarding terminating your membership was on 20th September 2010 last, there are no grounds to justify refunding the monies previously paid.


However as a gesture of goodwill, and strictly on a without prejudice basis, and in full and final settlement of this matter we are prepared to offer you one year’s complimentary membership free of charge.

Should you wish to accept this offer I would be grateful if you could confirm by return email for my attention within 10 days of receipt of this email.


Yours sincerely
**********************

*EDIT* I've read the sticky on legal advice. Take a chill mods and DeVore, I'm not going to sue anybody and say boards told me so! I will take anyones advice on board and then seek legal advice out there in the real world also.
Help...

someday2010

I can't really see what they did that was not legal. You did not provide them with written notice to cancel the membership as per the terms of the contract and furthermore the direct debit would have shown up on your bank statement every month for four years. Buyer beware.

Although they seem to be offering you one years free membership if you accept within 10 days. Maybe this could be interpreted as an indication that they do not wish for you to pursue them because of the consequent bad publicity which could do them a lot of damage. So you could push them for more. Although given the current economic climate it would prove very difficult to get any hard cash from them and could open the door for others in your position to come looking for €€€.

It is common knowledge that some of these monthly gym direct debit contracts are the work of the devil and that the company in question are or possibly were the devil. They have a large ''fanbase'' in the fitness forum!

P.S. everyone who has a monthly direct debit contract with a gym please read the T&Cs now. I know of one gym that requires at least 2 months notice before the termination of the years membership or else they sting you for another year.

prinz

kyub wrote: »

Apparently, even though my membership was for the duration of 1 year it was my responsibility and part of the contract to tell them to cancel my Direct Debit up to 4 weeks before the end of the year..

Yes. Actually a standard enough clause in many DD contracts (internet providers/television etc). They are entitled to include such a condition in their Terms and Conditions, which you signed up for.

kyub wrote: »

I have been travelling and moved addresses 4 times since this and no longer have a copy of the contract.

Not sure what the travelling and moving addresses has to do with anything tbh. It is your job to inform them of a change of address/contact info to get in touch with. It's not their job to try and track you down. It was up to you to ensure they had a current address, phone number, email address whatever. You might have had a case if they had your contact info and didn't contact you, but if you have been moving around, the onus was on you to inform of a new address for written correspondance.

kyub wrote: »

Essentially, they owe me over 3000 Euro as far as I'm concerned..

Essentially they don't own you a penny tbh. They made a gesture which they are under no obligation to provide, accept it or don't.

Kur4mA

I won't be accepting their good will gesture. I stopped going to the gym while I was still a member for a reason. I will most likely be taking legal action and having someone pick the contract apart. My membership was for the duration of 1 year. I didn't notify them of a change of address because I didn't realise that when I left the country I would continue to get charged.

I take the point that I should have read the contract in full, but I am baffled at the legality of this? I chose to become a member of their club for 1 year, and they continued to charge me when I left before the year was even up...

prinz

kyub wrote: »

I take the point that I should have read the contract in full, but I am baffled at the legality of this? I chose to become a member of their club for 1 year, and they continued to charge me when I left before the year was even up...

It's perfectly legal. You signed up for a 1 year membership based on terms and conditions, one of those conditions related to renewing the contract.

tricky D

kyub wrote: »

I will most likely be taking legal action and having someone pick the contract apart.

Good luck with that seeing as you've already clearly lost.


You...
didn't read contract
lost contract
didn't cancel the DD
Contract rolled over = standard
Didn't check your statements or do anything about the monthly charge for 5 years

Your solicitor is going to love you and your money.

amdublin

You never cancelled the contract as per the terms and conditions of the contract.

You were receiving notification of the debit every month via your bank statement.

Seems black and white to me.

Kur4mA

Well thanks for your input but it seems more grey to me. Ok maybe their contract is legal and yes I'm well aware I haven't been checking the DD going out but I haven't had much access to my finances all that often and honestly never spotted it.

I still want my money back and will be going to the UK and Irish media about the company to hopefully spread awareness of their practices. I was a club member for one year and my membership was for 1 year. They have been taking money for over 5.

Thanks all for the legal advice and for pointing out my cockup.

prinz

kyub wrote: »

Well thanks for your input but it seems more grey to me.

It would because it's your money. Legally speaking it's more black and white.

kyub wrote: »

I still want my money back and will be going to the UK and Irish media about the company to hopefully spread awareness of their practices.

You have no grounds for your money to be returned that I can see. Learn your lesson about reading contracts. What you still don't seem to appreciate is that such clauses exist across many services and sectors, from gyms/telecommunications/broadband etc. It's nothing unique to this company.

Why ask for opinions at all? You acknowledge the contract is legal (it is, no maybe), and that you signed it, yet still want your money back? For what - they didn't breach the contract...

amdublin

prinz wrote: »

Why ask for opinions at all? You acknowledge the contract is legal (it is, no maybe), and that you signed it, yet still want your money back? For what - they didn't breach the contract...

Maybe the OP wanted somebody to babysit his finances rather than checking his bank statement himself (which btw most people check online nowadays - I just shred that piece of paper that comes in by post every month Not a great defence for not noticing the dd really.)

Does the OP think that the gym should be crosschecking payments received against whether the membership was being used and alert the member of this?? This was not the original agreement/contract.

The contract stated that they would keep debiting until the member cancelled their membership. The member accepted this and signed confirming this. The gym kept it's part of the contract but it seems that the member now wants to rescind the condition of the contract that they originally signed to accept.

It is not the gym's fault that the OP
- did not read the contract
- did not cancel the dd
- did not check their bank statement
- has not used the gym that they were paying for, for the last 5 years.

Again, seems black and white to me.

Ps. Re going to the media. Suggest you go to the Consumer Show (RTE). They will love something like this and schmooze all over you telling you are in the Right.

Why? Because it makes good tv when you look at it from your perspective only. When you look at it from both sides, you did not uphold your part of the contract (to cancel the dd) the gym upheld theirs (to continue debiting).

Advice: just because the media schmooze over you does still not mean you are right!

amdublin

Ps. IMO the fact that this went on for 5 years makes it worse from a legal standpoint.

eg. If it was 2 months fees you were looking for to be refunded it could be argued that you did not notice it. IMO the fact that you are arguing that you did not see something coming out of your account every months for 5 years does not bode well.

As a matter of interest how did you eventually notice it coming out of your account every month?

Kur4mA

I didn't create this thread for no reason. I was looking for legal advice and I've gotten it. I will take what you've said on board and take action regardless of the contract.

Yes, I admittedly made a mistake and yes, I most definitely want my money back. I joined the gym on the basis of it being a 1 year long membership.

I spotted the money coming out because I got access to online banking and was checking my normal monthly bills coming out at the end of the month then saw this charge coming out at the start and honestly had no idea what it was...
My bank didn't know what it was either so after some googling and a call to the club I found out what was going on.

Yes, I apparently breached the contract. I'm going to chase that up because I know for a fact that I signed up for a 1 year membership only. I was charged for a membership I didn't want or use. Thanks again for all of your input, it is all appreciated even if legally I am in the wrong.

Fighting Irish

kyub wrote: »

Well thanks for your input but it seems more grey to me. Ok maybe their contract is legal and yes I'm well aware I haven't been checking the DD going out but I haven't had much access to my finances all that often and honestly never spotted it.

I still want my money back and will be going to the UK and Irish media about the company to hopefully spread awareness of their practices. I was a club member for one year and my membership was for 1 year. They have been taking money for over 5.

Thanks all for the legal advice and for pointing out my cockup.

lol

amcalester

You signed up for a minimum contract of 1 year not a 1 year contract. You will not get any money back by claiming that you only signed up for a year.

You could try asking for a copy of the contract you signed. It'll cost you €6.35 and they have to provide it to you under the terms of the data protection act. If you're lucky they won't have a copy and then you might be able to claim the money back.