Membership fee queery

Hixxy9241

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I Took up kickboxing a few months ago which was a set fee of £48 per month which allowed me to attend 2 classes a week, initially there was a first month free trial then the payments would start after

I went along for the first class and gave my bank details to pay for gloves ect and to set up my membership fee after my trial would end, I did this as I wanted to stick with it as id left a different place a few yrs back and regretted it

I haven't been able to attend for a month and fell behind with my classes so I decided to cancel my direct debit, I told the admin guy that I'd fell way behind with my classes and he said they can freeze my membership I I put it in writing and hand deliver the letter

This is all good and well but I don't see myself been able to pop a letter in and Catch up on 12 classes soon

Today I receive a letter from a debt collectors requesting the membership fee for the 25th august plus £10

I haven't had a phone call from my gym asking about the money it's gone straight to this debt collectors

I don't believe iv signed any contract or anything like that so how can a debt collector contact me?

I signed 1 piece of paper when I signed up and that was to set up my direct debit

If anything they owe me because I haven't been in for a month and have missed 12 classes?
 
if thers no 12 month contract then surely you can cancel/leave anytime
 
Talk to the gym and tell them to sort it out?
 
Talk to the gym because it sounds as if you're very unclear about what you have or haven't done.
 
Although there may be no fixed term you normally need to give one month notice.

From your post it sounds like you spoke to admin but left it floating. They suggested a freeze if you put it in writing but sounds like you didn't do this.

It also sounds like you didn't say "no thanks I want to cancel completely".

So the club has been waiting for your letter one way or another and because they haven't had anything, another payment has become due and because you didn't pay it (because you cancelled the DD) you are now in arrears.

I guess you could speak to admin again and calmly play dumb saying that you thought it had been agreed to freeze the membership.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
Although there may be no fixed term you normally need to give one month notice.

From your post it sounds like you spoke to admin but left it floating. They suggested a freeze if you put it in writing but sounds like you didn't do this.

It also sounds like you didn't say "no thanks I want to cancel completely".

So the club has been waiting for your letter one way or another and because they haven't had anything, another payment has become due and because you didn't pay it (because you cancelled the DD) you are now in arrears.

I guess you could speak to admin again and calmly play dumb saying that you thought it had been agreed to freeze the membership.

Cheers,

Nigel

i considerd freezing my membership but it seemed like alot of hassle as id have to state when i wanted my membership to start back up when im not sure when i will have even caught up with my backdated classes

the part i dont understand is there wasnt any mention of fee's if i "missed" a payment (so the fee could of been £50 for all i new) when the guy was taking my direct debit details. im not to impressed i havent been able to attned therefore im owed over a months worth of classes yet i have a letter from a debt collectors because i cancelled the direct debit

writing this i simply dont wish to be a member anymore i feel there kind of false,they say "welcome to the family" but if you dont turn up for over a month they dont enquire aslong as the payment keeps coming :suicide:
 
You will find that attendance is not a pre-requisite to payment being deducted. You pay for membership, not attendance. Highly unlikely any sport or fitness class contract would be worded otherwise

It was a bad move on your part to just cancel the dd without cancelling in the proper form (as advised by the receptionist) as that can be construed as breach of contract and entitling the club to the remainder of the contract, trial period or not. As stated you sound confused and rather than continuing making assumptions should go back to the club and clarify the position
 
It was a bad move on your part to just cancel the dd without cancelling in the proper form (as advised by the receptionist) as that can be construed as breach of contract and entitling the club to the remainder of the contract, trial period or not. As stated you sound confused and rather than continuing making assumptions should go back to the club and clarify the position


thats the thing i havent signed a contract

i seen on there fb page a guy said he was cancelling his membership due to ramadam and the only reply he got was not to do so as he will be charged for a new membership when he rejoins
 
You are paying for membership not the classes. Being a member means that you can go to 2 classes per week but you don't have to.

The way it stands at the moment you have had the last month membership but you haven't paid for it - the fact that you didn't go to any classes is irrelevent.

Legally it is you that are in the wrong.

You need to tell them you are cancelling, you can't just stop the DD.

I fear by doing nothing you have now started your September payment period so will soon be two months in arrears.

You need to speak to them ASAP.

Play dumb but nice and say that you had called them in July or whenever you spoke to them and cancelled so don't understnd what is happening now.

What is odd is that it has been passed onto debt collectors so quickly. Are you sure it is from debt collectors and not just the club. It is very odd for a club to do this after just one missed payment because there may be a genuine reason and the last thing they want to do is hack off a happy customer by sending the boys round.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
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What is odd is that it has been passed onto debt collectors so quickly. Are you sure it is from debt collectors and not just the club. It is very odd for a club to do this after just one missed payment because there may be a genuine reason and the last thing they want to do is hack off a happy customer by sending the boys round.

Cheers,

Nigel
i pay £48mnth which allows me to attend 2 classes per week which i havent done in over a month

im 100% sure its from debt collectors as it says "debt collectors agency" at the top then goes onto say there acting on behalf of my gym for a missed payemt for the 25th august
 
You could try posting messages on an online forum instead of speaking to the gym and see if the problem resolves itself.
 
i pay £48mnth which allows me to attend 2 classes per week which i havent done in over a month

Allows being the operative word.

I pay hundreds of pounds on car insurance which allows me to make a claim in the event of an accident.

Much as I would like to, if I don't have an accident I can't ask for my premium back because I didn't use it.

You have paid for membership of the kickboxing club. Whether you attend any of the sessions is entirely up to you.

The problem is that you haven't told them you want to cancel, and until you do the arrears are potentially going to keep racking up.

im 100% sure its from debt collectors as it says "debt collectors agency" at the top then goes onto say there acting on behalf of my gym for a missed payemt for the 25th august

Obviously you've got the paperwork, I haven't seen it, but it seems totally bizarre to me that the debt collectors would be called in over a payment that is 6 days overdue.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
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Is this for real?

Your membership allows you to attend 2 classes a week, but you haven't been going, thats not their problem. I'm 99.99% certain the classes have being going ahead without you.

As per the Direct Debit agreement, you cannot just cancel a DD and assume it cancels whatever it is paying for.

Does nobody read anything these days?
 
thats the thing i havent signed a contract
A contract can be oral and valid. Further it is not in dispute you agreed to join as a member
 
if he's not signed a contract then how is it he owes for classes or not.... he could argue he's paid for classes he's not used and thus is owed money himself.....

no contract - no debt!

Just to add, i did some BJJ a couple of years back and didnt get on with it, advised i was leaving and was told no problem just to cancel the DD. Then i got chased for lack of payment by a "debt collector" told them to send me a copy of the contract and never heard a thing from them again....
 
£48 is in the ballpark.

My son does TKD. When he started out it was £15 a month (as a child) but now it is £40 (as an adult).

Price increase is a combination of inflation and losing the child rate.

Sounds a lot but he typically does at least 2 sessions per week.

That works out at £4.60 or less per session.

I'm surprised the OP didn't have to sign anything. Normally they would need at least consent and usually insurance to cover themselves aginst injury.

I do agree that as businesses they do seem to be run a bit sloppily. My son doesn't have a contract but I know for certain that we did have to complete an application and consent form.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
I think that was just another episode in the "deride all sport as a waste of time" series, Nigel:)
 
£48 is in the ballpark.

My son does TKD. When he started out it was £15 a month (as a child) but now it is £40 (as an adult).

Price increase is a combination of inflation and losing the child rate.

Sounds a lot but he typically does at least 2 sessions per week.

That works out at £4.60 or less per session.

I'm surprised the OP didn't have to sign anything. Normally they would need at least consent and usually insurance to cover themselves aginst injury.

I do agree that as businesses they do seem to be run a bit sloppily. My son doesn't have a contract but I know for certain that we did have to complete an application and consent form.

Cheers,

Nigel

Correct. I pay £600 once a year, and that includes membership / insurance any classes i want, and general usage of the gym.
 
mooperman said:
if he's not signed a contract then how is it he owes for classes or not.... he could argue he's paid for classes he's not used and thus is owed money himself.....

no contract - no debt!

Just to add, i did some BJJ a couple of years back and didnt get on with it, advised i was leaving and was told no problem just to cancel the DD. Then i got chased for lack of payment by a "debt collector" told them to send me a copy of the contract and never heard a thing from them again....

Shouldn't the charges be in writing if I fail to make a payment ect ??

I understand that I should give them notice if I wish to leave ect but I could argue that I haven't signed or been any paperwork to say that I need to do that or even been told
 
They are debt collector charges. If a debt collector has really been called in then they will have bought the bad debt off the Kickboxing club and are now pursuing you. They are free to add their recocery fees.

These wouldn't have been in any contract because it would have had to describe what happens if it gets sold off as bad debt.

How these debt collectors work is this. The Kickboxing company will sell the £48 debt for a lower amount, let's say £20. The debt collector will then chase you to get more than £20 so that they make a profit. But they know that a lot of debts cannot be recovered as Mooperman describes so for the ones they collect they want to get as much as possible. So they will start with the full amount, perhaps add some fees - they are chancing their luck - and it works because many get scared and pay up. If you hold out you will find they make increasing lower 'once only' prices.

But as I said, I'm really surprised they have called in the debt collectors after just 6 days. They could be hacking off a decent customer who has just changed banks and not all of the DDs have worked. Usually makes sense to find out what the problem is first.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
Showed a friend my letter from the debt collectors yesterday and my friend believes they arent allowed to involve debt collectors so fast, the money was due on the 25th aug and the letterbis dated 30 aug allowing me 7 days to make payment. My friend has sent they have to atleast send a formal letter themselves asking for payment then go through the "final notice" route before involving debt collectors

Will this have effected my credit rating?

I will be going to the company today with my letter of membership termination
 
IronGiant said:
I think that was just another episode in the "deride all sport as a waste of time" series, Nigel:)

Glad to see its not just me picking up on it then !

I pretty much hate cats, but don't take the opportunity to deride them in every related or unrelated thread in GC :)
 

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