I always thought Duncan Bannantyne was a bit of a twat

Tiocfaidh Armani

Cancer survivor banned from Bannatyne gyms after court case


10:05AM GMT 17 Nov 2011

Bronwen Davies, 60, a nurse, asked for a payment break from her Bannatyne's gym while she received chemotherapy and radiotherapy on her cancer.


But she continued to be charged for her £41-a-month gym membership even though she lay in a critical condition in hospital.


Mrs Davies had to go to court to win a £164 refund for four months fees from the gym owned by the millionaire businessman.


But Mr Bannatyne yesterday branded the nurse a "liar" on this Twitter pages after the case finished.


He also sent her a personal letter banning her from all 61 health clubs across Britain along with her local gym in Llanishen, Cardiff.

Mr Bannatyne's letter to her read: "Whilst I do not agree with the Court's decision or its interpretation of our membership agreement and policies, I'm willing to accept it's decision.

"However, I am not prepared to ever reaccept you as a member at any of Bannatyne Group's health clubs because I strongly disagree with your conduct.

"Kindly have the good grace to accept my decision and let the matter rest."
He then took to Twitter to attack Mrs Davies, telling his 44,000 followers: "Only a complete moron would believe that story.
"The woman is a persistent liar. What can I do? Sue a cancer survivor for lying?

"She is very good at getting sympathy but disruptive to my club so therefore banned."

But Mrs Davies responded by accusing Mr Bannatyne, 62, of being "despicable by descending into public abuse."

She said: "I'm just disappointed, really disappointed that a man of his standing and a national club can behave in such a vindictive and petty way."
She responded to Mr Bannatyne's Twitter comments by saying: "You shouldn't call someone a liar when you have no evidence and a court has said they were telling the truth.

"I'm not a Twitter user but I understand he has been making a big spectacle of himself. It makes him like a bit of a twit."

She told how she first joined her nearest gym in Llanishen, Cardiff, in 2004 before it was taken over by Bannatyne's company.

In July 2009 she was diagnosed with cancer of the tonsils.
Two months later she began a six-week course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

As her health deteriorated, she remembered that there was an option to suspend her gym membership in her contract.

Mrs Davies said: "I was told by the manager that I had such a contract and in order to enact it I had to put it in writing to her.

"I could suspend my membership from October. I could ask for a month initially and then roll it forward if necessary by phoning up.

"As it turned out, that wasn't the correct information, I should have been told I could suspend it for between two and six months but nevertheless I acted on the advice.

"I was then extremely ill. I was in no fit state to be ringing or writing to anybody during the months that followed.

"My husband rang, on my behalf, to tell them I was far too ill and to ask that the membership should continue to be suspended."

The monthly membership fee for October 2009 was debited from her account although the company later reimbursed her.

But she said that membership fees for four subsequent months were also deducted.

Bronwen said that as her health improved in 2010 she wrote to the company to ask for a refund.

She wrote: "You've refunded a month of the five months that I was off and could I have the other four months money?'"
"I wrote half a dozen letters in 2010 to the head office including one to Duncan Bannatyne himself and also to ask what their complaints procedure was.

"But I got nowhere."

She took the issue to the Office of Fair Trading and eventually the county court.

"The judge found entirely in my favour and ordered Bannatyne to refund me and pay my costs," she said – saying she was given a total refund of £164.
Bronwen said she then wrote to Bannatyne asking to be reinstated, as she wanted to continue her rehabilitation and there was not another gym nearby.
But she hit out at the decision by Bannatyne to ban her as a member from his gyms.

"It has been a very long process and it has been very difficult for me. This court case just added to my stress.
"I felt like I was being punished for having the cheek to ask for my own money back.

"I was really very unwell – I looked like something out of the holocaust and certainly couldn't go to a gym.

"I was severely malnourished and there were times when I didn't think I was going to make it.

"I would like to go back to the gym to help me recover – as you can imagine I'm fairly fanatical about my health.

"Exercise is something which could really aid my cancer recovery. I'm disappointed about not going back but I will have to go somewhere else instead.

A spokesman for the Bannatyne Group said: "This story is not as it seems. The lady's membership was revoked because she was disruptive.

"The Bannatyne Group supports numerous cancer charities and sympathises with the plight of cancer sufferers, but we will not be submissively bullied by this former member as we have to act in the best interest of all our members."


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8896311/Cancer-survivor-banned-from-Bannatyne-gyms-after-court-case.html

ScumLord

It's about time someone stood up to all these "cancer sufferers", lying around all day smoking weed. No wonder this country, or indeed all countries are going to the dogs.

RichieC

You don't get where he is by being nice.

mailforkev

Ah'm oot

Dotrel

I don't think a guy with hairplugs as bad as his should accuse anyone of lying.

I Heart Internet

Two sides to this story I guess. Why would he take her to court over this? Maybe she was spoofing?

Tiocfaidh Armani

I Heart Internet wrote: »

Two sides to this story I guess. Why would he take her to court over this? Maybe she was spoofing?

The court said she wasn't. Why would she lie about having cancer?

orourkeda

A court case over £164?

You'd know he was a scotchman

syklops

"Management reserve the right to refuse admission"

Simples.

clashburke

orourkeda wrote: »

A court case over £164?

You'd know he was a scotchman

would aslo cost the him thousands in his and her legal fees!!

stimpson

WTF is "submissively bullied"?

I thought it was the "stop hitting yourself" game, but apparently it involves voluntarily contracting cancer to get a refund on your gym membership.

vicwatson

He then took to Twitter to attack Mrs Davies, telling his 44,000 followers: "Only a complete moron would believe that story.
"The woman is a persistent liar. What can I do? Sue a cancer survivor for lying?

44,000 twits more like it :rolleyes:

Saila

Im sorry how was she refunded when she paid for membership but didnt go, regardless of why

its a bit like asking for a refund for milk because you didnt use it

phasers

Seems strange that a public figure would call out a cancer survivor unless they had good reason. Maybe she's a bitch?

stimpson

Saila wrote: »

Im sorry how was she refunded when she paid for membership but didnt go, regardless of why

its a bit like asking for a refund for milk because you didnt use it

RTFA. She was allowed to do this according to the terms of her contract.

tfitzgerald

Seems like he does not like handing back money what a dickhead

Tar.Aldarion

phasers wrote: »

Seems strange that a public figure would call out a cancer survivor unless they had good reason. Maybe she's a bitch?

from the show alone the guy seems like a twat. but who knows.

Dotrel

orourkeda wrote: »

A court case over £164?

You'd know he was a scotchman

Copper wire was invented by two Scotsmen fighting over a penny.

phasers

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

from the show alone the guy seems like a twat. but who knows.

Ah yeah he's a major dickweed, but any good businessman should know when a good will gesture is in their interests.

The story just seems really bizarre.

Tar.Aldarion

very weird indeed, he could just be rich and old enough to know it doesnt matter any more if things are in his interests? even if he is in the right he looks bad, fair play that woman :pac:

si_guru

Why let the facts get in the way of a bit of public sympathy eh?

Bannatyne is rich so he must be a twat... she has cancer so she must be right!

..would you feel the same if she was romanian, a traveller or ... ENGLISH!

oppenheimer1

I always knew the telegraph was a shit paper. Look at all those one sentence paragraphs.

RichieC

si_guru wrote: »

Why let the facts get in the way of a bit of public sympathy eh?

Bannatyne is rich so he must be a twat... she has cancer so she must be right!

..would you feel the same if she was romanian, a traveller or ... ENGLISH!

isnt she english?

stimpson

RichieC wrote: »

isnt she english?

She's Welsh.

steddyeddy

The facts are she won her court case becuase her contract entitled her to a payment break. He then banned her from his clubs, called her a liar and let what pathetic excuse for gray matter he has dribble all over his twitter account.

The salient point is here that he is stupid and ignorant enough to rant like this over twitter.

si_guru

steddyeddy wrote: »

The facts are she won her court case becuase her contract entitled her to a payment break. He then banned her from his clubs, called her a liar and let what pathetic excuse for gray matter he has dribble all over his twitter account.

The salient point is here that he is stupid and ignorant enough to rant like this over twitter.

Whereas she is righteous enough to rant all over the telly and newspapers.

Chinafoot

He has said on Twitter that she abused his staff. The only example he gave was shouting.

steddyeddy

si_guru wrote: »

Whereas she is righteous enough to rant all over the telly and newspapers.

I think if I was called a liar I would be at least putting my side of the case forward.

stimpson

si_guru wrote: »

Whereas she is righteous enough to rant all over the telly and newspapers.

Poor Duncan. I hope his hair plugs and millions of pounds are some small comfort to him at this difficult time.

up for anything

Saila wrote: »

Im sorry how was she refunded when she paid for membership but didnt go, regardless of why

its a bit like asking for a refund for milk because you didnt use it

Or a bit like getting your motor insurance frozen if you aren't going to be using it for a few months? It's not that uncommon or unfeasible.

Ally Dick

I don't know why he is on Dragon's Den. He is a scabby f@cker

mickdw

I quite like him He tells it like it is usually.

K-9

Ally Dick wrote: »

I don't know why he is on Dragon's Den. He is a scabby f@cker

Always found him the least likeable of the Dragons. Doesn't surprise me at all.

Cuddlesworth

I get the feeling that although she was incorrectly charged she might have gone about recovering her money in the wrong way. Starting with shouting at staff and then suing them. And then she wants back in. Should have thought about that before suing them.

Although he would have been much better off with a nondescript comment or simply no response at all.

steddyeddy

mickdw wrote: »

I quite like him He tells it like it is usually.

He doesnt tell it like it is he tells it through the eyes of a narcissist.

K-9

steddyeddy wrote: »

He doesnt tell it like it is he tells it through the eyes of a narcissist.

I've noticed other Dragons making him look like a bit of a twat when he jumped to conclusions too quickly.