Tiggy Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 (edited) im sorry if this is a bit of a rant but I get so much info here i thought Id share with you. I joined David Lloyd last christmas in an effort to get OH & myself a little fitter, seemed like a good idea at the time, but when i didnt want to renew it this year I got a horrible letter from a debt agency. apparently you cant just cancel you have to give 3 months notice & pay I was due to have a knee op & the lady at the club said that if i got a GP letter they could suspend it for 3 months then see how I was after that. So I got the letter had my op & then went back to the club but my knee will not have any of it & now I can only exercise under physio supervision. I went back to the lady at the club who was fine but asked for another GP letter & said they could cancel my membership now I had quite a shock later when sorting out my tax return & noticed that whilst my membership was 'suspended' the payments had carried on & they had taken an extra £240 I contacted the club lady again who looked into it & then told me this was a mistake and they would refund my money, but today I got an e-mail to say they would refer me to the debt collecting agency again because they had tried to take a further payment & Id stopped by direct debit I rang them & explained the situation & was told that my refund could now take several months because Id denied them access to my bank account the point of this story - be very careful what you sign up to, you may think its a gym but beware Edited August 6, 2010 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 On no I'm so sorry, we had that sort of problem with exactly the same gym, you really do have to read the small print. They are all smiles when you want to join but trouble when you want to leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 I've heard similar tales - why not contact Trading Standards? The more people complain about such practices the more likely they will be stopped Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 Google them. You will find you are far from alone! Good luck dealing with them, hope you get your money back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figarogir1 Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 We had the same problem with LA fitness and did manage to sort it out eventually - but only because I have a very forcefull and determined husband who does not like to get ripped off. It wasnt easy for him either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsylabrador Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 We had similar problems with Fitness First. These companies must lose a lot of custom as word starts to get around or at least I hope they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted August 6, 2010 Author Share Posted August 6, 2010 I ve got my refund the lady at the local gym seems to have had to deal with lots of people in this situation, she made a cash transfere on Wed because she knew the club would try to take another payment just before they closed the account, I had of course informed my bank & stopped the direct debit. She has been very good about all of this, it's a shame the company do not work as she does. Unfortunately she will probrably not stay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docsquid Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 I'm so pleased you got your money back. It should not be a struggle to do this. Sadly this it seems to be normal practice for gyms to intimidate those who are thinking of leaving. Staff who don't aggressively pursue sales and instead follow their common sense are frequently given the boot. I hope that the nice lady you dealt with doesn't get forced out. They need to ask themselves why she had a backlog of refunds to make in the first place.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A chickychickychick-ENN!! Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 The charming Duncan Bannatyne's gyms' contract states similar. I had moved house - completely out of the area - and I had to pay my subs til the contract ran out, even though I had loyally given them cash for two years. It's scummy. Glad you kicked refund derriere though. Go you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 Well done Tiggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...