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Good morning, I am on the hunt for some advice and guidance from you lovely people here at Legal Beagles!
I am wanting to cancel my membership with Total Fitness, since joining both my employment and financial circumstances have changed, it is becoming un-affordable for me and I also rarely have the time to attend due to working arrangements and childcare ( I work various shifts between the hours of 7:30am - 22:00pm).
Below is my first letter to them, then their reply, then mine and so on........ until today's date, this is where I'm at:
Dear Sir / Madam
I would like to cancel my membership to TOTAL FITNESS LEISURE CLUB to take effect 4 weeks from today’s date 22.06.2015 – 20.07.2015
One of the main reasons of me joining the club was because of its location and it was close to my place of employment allowing me to visit before or after I started work, However my place of employment has now changed and the gym is no longer considered local to me and there are no other Total Fitness gym’s near my home address and work address.
The costs involved for me to travel to and from the gym no longer make it financially viable.
My payments to the gym are up to date with the latest Direct Debit due on the 01.07.2015 of which I will allow to leave my bank account, as such there will be no further payments from this date.
I would also like to add that my experience using the gym has been very positive and I hope my final opinion of the gym will continue to be a positive one.
I look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your help with this matter.
Yours faithfully,
Aaron Maher.
I did not hear anything from them after this, so after the 1.7.15 I cancelled my direct debit as I informed them I would in the letter (may I also add I have continued to pay the membership over the last few months without even attending the gym, so they are quid in!)
2 days after I cancelled the DD I got a letter saying something along the lines of
'' bla bla, your bank told us you cancelled the DD, please contact us bla bla something'' So i then sent them this letter:
Dear Sir / Madam,
In response to your letter dated 24.07.2015, I would like to bring to your attention the letter I previously sent to you dated 22.06.2015 informing you that I wish to cancel the contract I have with Total Fitness.
That letter consisted of me giving the club 4 weeks’ notice of cancelling my membership along with my instructions of making a final payment of £39.99 on 01.07.2015.
The 4 weeks’ notice has now passed, hence the reason I have cancelled the Direct Debit from my bank account.
I understand there may be a cancellation fee, if that is the case please inform me of the cost and I will arrange a re-payment schedule with the amount I can currently afford.
I have also attached a copy of my previous letter for your consideration.
I look forward to your reply.
Many thanks,
Aaron Maher.
As you will see where i have underlined I have told them I am willing to pay a cancellation fee should there be one. anyway, this is their next reply:
Re: Total Fitness Membership Number: 1246448
Thank you for contacting us requesting the cancellation of your membership due to a change in your place of employment.
Total Fitness cannot be held responsible for a change in a member’s circumstances and cancellations within the first year are not normally permitted as per the terms and conditions of the signed twelve-month membership agreement.
However, we note that your home address is only within a 10 minute traveling distance from the Bolton club.
We do not see this as an unreasonable distance to travel and therefore unfortunately we confirm that we will be unable to cancel your membership.
We thank you for your co-operation in this matter.
Yours sincerely
Membership Administration Department
Total Fitness
So then again I responded with this:
Further to your email. Thank you for noticing that my home address is only 10 minutes away from a gym. Unfortunately however you failed to take notice of my daily working hours which makes it impossible to fit the gym around my childcare, which obviously comes first.
As per my previous 2 letters I WISH TO CANCEL MY MEMBERSHIP. I have given you 1 months notice from June and informed you that I will be cancelling my direct debit from July, which I have. I am aware that I may need to pay the outstanding balance which I am willing to do. I am also aware that there is no admin fee as per my conversation with your Head Office. However, due to a change in my financial circumstances an agreement will have to be arranged as to how much this will be.
Failure to do this will leave me no option but to report you to the trading standards. Please also note the OFT guidance on unfair terms in Health and Fitness clubs (see below). Job/ childcare and financial changes in circumstances are classed at ‘beyond a member’s control’.
I therefore hope we can come to a fair solution in this matter and a reasonable compromise be offered.
In addition to this here is an excerpt from the OFT Guidance on unfair terms in health and fitness club agreements which is relevant to my circumstance (with sections in RED being particularly relevant).
‘5 Financial penalties on members
Paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 states that terms may be unfair if they have the object
or effect of:
(e): requiring any consumer who fails to fulfil his obligation to pay a
disproportionately high sum in compensation.
Other factors affecting unfairness
5.4
Many factors influence the fairness of terms that require full payment of the
subscription from the member who cancels early. For example, does it reflect the
supplier’s reasonable losses in such circumstances, were other membership options
available to members, was the term clear and prominent, was the member misled,
and what is the effect of other terms in the contract? Some of these factors may be
relevant only to individual disputes, in cases where a term that is generally fair may
nevertheless be unfair in a particular case in light of the actual circumstances.
Sections 2, 4, and 18 of this guidance are also relevant, together with the discussion
of Minimum Membership Periods in Part III.
Circumstances beyond a member’s control
5.5
The fairest terms allow members to transfer their membership or to cancel the
contract without penalty if the member, for example, has to relocate, or has suffered
redundancy, or has a medical condition that prevents his use of the gym. Such
terms take positive account of the interests of the member.’
Kind regards,
Aaron.
So its been 11 days since I sent that last letter, today I received this:
Dear Mr Maher
Re: Total Fitness Membership Number: 1246448
Further to your recent email regarding the above Total Fitness membership.
Your comments are appreciated and have been noted accordingly.
As previously advised cancellations within the first year are not normally permitted as per the terms and conditions of the signed twelve-month membership agreement.
Total Fitness is happy to look into the cancellation request if a member’s circumstance have changed since joining.
We note from your previous correspondence that you have not relocated but have changed your place of work.
Therefore you still live in the area where our Total Fitness Bolton centre is based and we feel that you live within a reasonable travelling distance to the Bolton centre which is still available for your use.
With regards to you being unable to use the club facilities due to your working hours, we confirm that the centre is opened from Monday to Friday between 6am-10pm and from Saturday to Sunday between 8am-7pm. We believe this is very flexible opening hours and suits the needs of all our members.
Whilst we are sympathetic to your situation we are afraid it will not be possible to make an exception in your case and cancel your membership earlier. We aim to treat all members equally and realise you may be disappointed at this decision, but trust you can now appreciate why Total Fitness cannot grant your request and cancel your membership for the reasons you have stated.
However if you are able to provide proof of your working hours showing that your attendance is limited we can review your case. Please forward relevant documents to the address below.
We thank you for your co-operation in this matter.
Yours sincerely.
And that my friends is where I am at, I haven't responded to this most recent letter yet as I am not sure what my next move will be, so I am hoping someone on here can offer some guidance.
As stated before, if it came to it I am (not happy, but) willing to set up a payment plan to repay them, I don't think their charges should be the remainder of my contract though, 5 months @ £40.00 = £200 which I feel is a bit steep if I will not be attending at all, they are not exactly at a loss. (they have not stated this will be their fee, this is just my assumption)
Any help is very much appreciated. thank you so much for reading this MEGA post
Aaron.
I am wanting to cancel my membership with Total Fitness, since joining both my employment and financial circumstances have changed, it is becoming un-affordable for me and I also rarely have the time to attend due to working arrangements and childcare ( I work various shifts between the hours of 7:30am - 22:00pm).
Below is my first letter to them, then their reply, then mine and so on........ until today's date, this is where I'm at:
Dear Sir / Madam
I would like to cancel my membership to TOTAL FITNESS LEISURE CLUB to take effect 4 weeks from today’s date 22.06.2015 – 20.07.2015
One of the main reasons of me joining the club was because of its location and it was close to my place of employment allowing me to visit before or after I started work, However my place of employment has now changed and the gym is no longer considered local to me and there are no other Total Fitness gym’s near my home address and work address.
The costs involved for me to travel to and from the gym no longer make it financially viable.
My payments to the gym are up to date with the latest Direct Debit due on the 01.07.2015 of which I will allow to leave my bank account, as such there will be no further payments from this date.
I would also like to add that my experience using the gym has been very positive and I hope my final opinion of the gym will continue to be a positive one.
I look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your help with this matter.
Yours faithfully,
Aaron Maher.
I did not hear anything from them after this, so after the 1.7.15 I cancelled my direct debit as I informed them I would in the letter (may I also add I have continued to pay the membership over the last few months without even attending the gym, so they are quid in!)
2 days after I cancelled the DD I got a letter saying something along the lines of
'' bla bla, your bank told us you cancelled the DD, please contact us bla bla something'' So i then sent them this letter:
Dear Sir / Madam,
In response to your letter dated 24.07.2015, I would like to bring to your attention the letter I previously sent to you dated 22.06.2015 informing you that I wish to cancel the contract I have with Total Fitness.
That letter consisted of me giving the club 4 weeks’ notice of cancelling my membership along with my instructions of making a final payment of £39.99 on 01.07.2015.
The 4 weeks’ notice has now passed, hence the reason I have cancelled the Direct Debit from my bank account.
I understand there may be a cancellation fee, if that is the case please inform me of the cost and I will arrange a re-payment schedule with the amount I can currently afford.
I have also attached a copy of my previous letter for your consideration.
I look forward to your reply.
Many thanks,
Aaron Maher.
As you will see where i have underlined I have told them I am willing to pay a cancellation fee should there be one. anyway, this is their next reply:
Re: Total Fitness Membership Number: 1246448
Thank you for contacting us requesting the cancellation of your membership due to a change in your place of employment.
Total Fitness cannot be held responsible for a change in a member’s circumstances and cancellations within the first year are not normally permitted as per the terms and conditions of the signed twelve-month membership agreement.
However, we note that your home address is only within a 10 minute traveling distance from the Bolton club.
We do not see this as an unreasonable distance to travel and therefore unfortunately we confirm that we will be unable to cancel your membership.
We thank you for your co-operation in this matter.
Yours sincerely
Membership Administration Department
Total Fitness
So then again I responded with this:
Further to your email. Thank you for noticing that my home address is only 10 minutes away from a gym. Unfortunately however you failed to take notice of my daily working hours which makes it impossible to fit the gym around my childcare, which obviously comes first.
As per my previous 2 letters I WISH TO CANCEL MY MEMBERSHIP. I have given you 1 months notice from June and informed you that I will be cancelling my direct debit from July, which I have. I am aware that I may need to pay the outstanding balance which I am willing to do. I am also aware that there is no admin fee as per my conversation with your Head Office. However, due to a change in my financial circumstances an agreement will have to be arranged as to how much this will be.
Failure to do this will leave me no option but to report you to the trading standards. Please also note the OFT guidance on unfair terms in Health and Fitness clubs (see below). Job/ childcare and financial changes in circumstances are classed at ‘beyond a member’s control’.
I therefore hope we can come to a fair solution in this matter and a reasonable compromise be offered.
In addition to this here is an excerpt from the OFT Guidance on unfair terms in health and fitness club agreements which is relevant to my circumstance (with sections in RED being particularly relevant).
‘5 Financial penalties on members
Paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 states that terms may be unfair if they have the object
or effect of:
(e): requiring any consumer who fails to fulfil his obligation to pay a
disproportionately high sum in compensation.
Other factors affecting unfairness
5.4
Many factors influence the fairness of terms that require full payment of the
subscription from the member who cancels early. For example, does it reflect the
supplier’s reasonable losses in such circumstances, were other membership options
available to members, was the term clear and prominent, was the member misled,
and what is the effect of other terms in the contract? Some of these factors may be
relevant only to individual disputes, in cases where a term that is generally fair may
nevertheless be unfair in a particular case in light of the actual circumstances.
Sections 2, 4, and 18 of this guidance are also relevant, together with the discussion
of Minimum Membership Periods in Part III.
Circumstances beyond a member’s control
5.5
The fairest terms allow members to transfer their membership or to cancel the
contract without penalty if the member, for example, has to relocate, or has suffered
redundancy, or has a medical condition that prevents his use of the gym. Such
terms take positive account of the interests of the member.’
Kind regards,
Aaron.
So its been 11 days since I sent that last letter, today I received this:
Dear Mr Maher
Re: Total Fitness Membership Number: 1246448
Further to your recent email regarding the above Total Fitness membership.
Your comments are appreciated and have been noted accordingly.
As previously advised cancellations within the first year are not normally permitted as per the terms and conditions of the signed twelve-month membership agreement.
Total Fitness is happy to look into the cancellation request if a member’s circumstance have changed since joining.
We note from your previous correspondence that you have not relocated but have changed your place of work.
Therefore you still live in the area where our Total Fitness Bolton centre is based and we feel that you live within a reasonable travelling distance to the Bolton centre which is still available for your use.
With regards to you being unable to use the club facilities due to your working hours, we confirm that the centre is opened from Monday to Friday between 6am-10pm and from Saturday to Sunday between 8am-7pm. We believe this is very flexible opening hours and suits the needs of all our members.
Whilst we are sympathetic to your situation we are afraid it will not be possible to make an exception in your case and cancel your membership earlier. We aim to treat all members equally and realise you may be disappointed at this decision, but trust you can now appreciate why Total Fitness cannot grant your request and cancel your membership for the reasons you have stated.
However if you are able to provide proof of your working hours showing that your attendance is limited we can review your case. Please forward relevant documents to the address below.
We thank you for your co-operation in this matter.
Yours sincerely.
And that my friends is where I am at, I haven't responded to this most recent letter yet as I am not sure what my next move will be, so I am hoping someone on here can offer some guidance.
As stated before, if it came to it I am (not happy, but) willing to set up a payment plan to repay them, I don't think their charges should be the remainder of my contract though, 5 months @ £40.00 = £200 which I feel is a bit steep if I will not be attending at all, they are not exactly at a loss. (they have not stated this will be their fee, this is just my assumption)
Any help is very much appreciated. thank you so much for reading this MEGA post
Aaron.
