obligatory written notice to end membership of gym-otherwise keep paying.

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oldnick

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My (then) 17 yr old daughter joined a gym November 2011 and paid for a years membership.

She attended the gym twice in the first week and then never again due to medical reasons .This was our bad luck. We sought no refund from the gym.

A year plus later we've received demands for a few hundred euro, being "missed payments" for the second year of membership.

According to the membership agreement " In the first 12 months of membership you can end your membership by giving one months written notice . After the start of the 12th month at least three months calender months notice in writing".
In other words, unless you write well in advance that you won't renew then the gym will automatically renew and charge you.

To be honest, this condition,although in small writing amongst 30+ other conditions, is in plain English. my daughter and wife (who signed the membership agreement) should have properly read .

So I suppose we are obliged to pay another few hundred euros on top of the almost one thousand we paid over a year ago....

But a couple of incidents arose make me loath to pay...

1) In Jan 2012 we got demand emails and letter for "outstanding balance of €93".
After several phone calls from us we were told this was an error and to forget the letter.

2) A few days later we got another letter stating that as my daughter was now 18 there would be a increase cost per month. Again, further phone calls from us finally elicited the same response - this was a also an error and to forget that letter.

During that second argument my wife expressed her anger at the gym's inefficiency and pointed out that her daughter could no longer attend the gym but we were not the type of people demanding a refund etc.

Unfortunately, she did not put this in writing.

That's it basically.

1) Does the gym's twice trying to change the terms of the contract and causing us some distress mean that we can better reject their demands for second year membership payment?

2) Regardless of the gym's behaviour, is the condition that one must pay, unless one writes in advance that one does not wish to renew membership, a reasonable one in law ?
 
vandriver- very interesting link. some scope there. cheers

j hegarty, yes wife signed it, unfortunately(although the claims company are addressing letter to daughter)

Basically, I think this is an unfair term -relying on customer many months after joining to remember to write a cancellation letter ,rather than company asking client whether they wish to continue,-the penalty for not remembering to write such a letter being a payment of hundreds of euros.

I also wonder whether the company's erroneous claims for extra money shortly after joining means they were ,in effect, breaching their own contract.
 
How can they charge you for service which you haven't availed of, should be simple enough for them to see via their membership records that your daughters hasn't used the place. I would write to them telling them you're not paying full stop.
 
Those auto renew gym contracts should be outlawed-they are not consumer friendly. Gym owners should have to write to every member, in advance of remewal date, advising them of the upcoming renewal, cost to renew and giving a period of time to take up the renewal/cancel.

They probably have a joining fee too? Then the annual membership ? Ridiculous in the current Market.

I would say to them we are not renewing. They then must decide to pursue any breach. Then you can bring up the other events, and of course the medical matter preventing usage of the amenity.

While hindsight, you should have asked for membership to be frozen on medical grounds. A simple GP note would have sufficed-should suffice.
 
Yes, I'm starting to think I'll let them take us to court in order for that court to decide whether those conditions are fair or unfair. The National Consumers Association, to which vandriver directed me, has expressed doubts about the fairness of such rules. I wonder if someone from that organisation will come to court to express that opinion?

I should have made similar conditions when I was a travel agent . In the small print of the holiday booking conditions I could have slipped in a condition that if the client didn't give us notice in writing that they won't go on holiday next year with us we'd bill them !

Thanks for comments.All welcome. Will advise on outcome.
 
I had this issue a few year back. I was a member for the 12 month period and then emailed the manager to cancel my membership. They claimed not to have received the email and that I had to pay another months membership as they had to have 30 days notice in writing. I immediately cancelled my direct debit with the bank. I received several letters demanding payment but I refused and eventually they stopped bothering me. Seeing as your daughter couldn't even attend the gym I think it's disgraceful that they are trying to charge you.
 
The gym in my post states " we recommend that use recorded delivery when giving notice ".

I find it amazing that this con has been going on for so long and is common practise.
I suppose that some people just give in thinking they have erred in some way and send the money just to avoid hassle.
 
To cover yourselves if you do decide to let them take it further I would get your wife to write to them confirming the conversations that she had with them last year. If possible include a brief note from your doctor confirming your daughter's illness, stressing that she cannot attend a gym because of same and how long this has been the case. This type of stuff on paper should dampen their enthusiasm to proceed.
 
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