cancelling gym membership

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Not sure if this is the correct place so feel free to move!

I joined a gym in Oct 2009. Paid 120 joining fee and 55E a month DD. After xmas (and a large paycut) I realised I couldn't afford to meet gym payments, so I contacted gym at their head office by email (as detailed on cancellation part of contract) and told them about paycut etc and Ican no longer afford the luxury of gym membership. I paid the next DD (Jan) and cancelled the DD.
I received a letter from them a month later saying that they are not responsible for change in my personal circumstances and I am liable for balance or freeze membership for 6mths and commit to paying the remainder after 6mths. From reading posts on the net, I just ignored letter.
I have now received another letter saying they went in for DD and bank said it was cancelled. "this may be a banking mistake, if so please inform bank, if not please pay us balance of 400+ E within 7 days using form below). We may have to take further action.
Now I reckon they have already tried to go in for full amount using the laser card I gave on joining, but I have since changed the card.
What to do?? Ignore? Re-instate DD and just pay it? I certainly cannot afford the full amount and the 55E would be a struggle.
Anyone been in this situation? I know I signed contract, but the guy who signed me up said (when asked) that I could cancel by giving a month's notice at any time. Unfortuately I don't have that in writing. I did read the contract but didn't really think it was a legally binding doc (and I didn't read cancellation policy fool that I am!).
Any advice? I would have thought that if you were in financial diffculty that the gym was the first thing you cancel so surely they are dealing with this all the time?
 
Ignore and count your self lucky you changed the laser card. You should also keep an eye on you bank a/c incase they try and set up the mandate again.
 
Thanks for replies :)

jhegarty said:
Until the court case which they will win.
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Is something like this likely? I presume I could set up the DD again if it comes to something like that. Feel a bit bad about cancelling as I'm sure they need all the members they can get at the mo.. and the same time charity begins at home!
I know these things are notoriously difficult to get of, but I was wondering if anyone had successfully ignored them?
Surely they couldn't bring all cancell-ees to court?? Couldn't be a viable business move either financially or for public relations? Who would join a gym that they knew instigated court proceedings against past members??
 
I suppose there are some who would say that you willingly entered a contract & are obliged to fulfil it.

I presume that you did not use the gym after January.

The reality of the situation is that you cannot afford to pay, or if you did pay you would be neglecting more important bills/debts/repayments.

You could consider just waiting to see what happens.

If you start receiving debt collection agency letters, you could write a short letter outlining that you have already explained your current financial situation to the gym, & that your situation has not improved, so you would prefer for them to cease writing to you & that should your financial situation improve that you will inform the gym, & service the debt.

Alternatively, you could set up a standing order (not a direct debit) for €1 per week, or just make payments of €1 per week to the gyms bank account quoting your reference number. You could write to them informing that this is all you can afford for the moment & will increase payments as soon as your financial situation improves.

This way, even if things did go to court, you can show that you have made the effort to pay what you can afford & will be seen to have done so. I very much doubt that if you were to choose this option that they would bother bringing you to court, provided that you make the nominal payments on a regular basis.
 
Thanks Papercut, my situation is not quite that bad. I could pay the 55E a month if I had to and still make my essential bills but it would leave me very short. I've never cancelled loans/DD's etc before and always serviced my debt even as a breadline student so I do not like having to exaggerate my financial circumstances to cancel this. I'm moving jobs in the next few months which should mean a pay rise, so I may just freeze the membership until then (for an additional 20E!).
Thanks for all your replies :)
If anyone has a personal similar story feel free to share!
 
Weren't gyms taken to task recently by some regulator or other over the clarity of their terms and conditions?

If memory serves, the gist of the complaint was that elements of their terms and conditions constituted unfair terms for the purposes of the EC (Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts) Regulations 1995. An unfair contract term is unenforceable (but the fair bits remain in place). You might be able to find an angle with this and then press for some kind of settlement (eg pay them a couple more months and then they allow you to terminate).

My fear would be that if you just stick your head in the sand you'll end up in a far worse situation down the line.

Disclaimer: this is not legal advice of any sort.
 
I cancelled my gym memberhip and gave 6 weeks notice. However they said I had to give 3 months notice and it was in the contract. Does anyone know if they are entitled to make me pay 3 more months and if I cancell the direct debit do they have any recourse?
 
Society said:
they said I had to give 3 months notice and it was in the contract. Does anyone know if they are entitled to make me pay 3 more months and if I cancell the direct debit do they have any recourse?
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Did you double check your contract to see it there is anything about 3 months notice?
 
whats the name of the gym? I had signed up to a gym and they done the same. Told me I could cancel within a months notice. They are correct, but you still have to pay.......

I have not signed and will never sign up to a gym ever again.

A word of advice for anyone out there. I work in a bank. NEVER SIGN UP FOR DIRECT DEBITS.

The only DD I have is my mortgage. A DD is full control to take whatever they like from your account. And it aint easy getting it back.
 
Society said:
I cancelled my gym memberhip and gave 6 weeks notice. However they said I had to give 3 months notice and it was in the contract. Does anyone know if they are entitled to make me pay 3 more months and if I cancell the direct debit do they have any recourse?
Click to expand...

National Consumer Agency have some advice on gym membership here.
 
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