gah debt collection

Abraxaz1

Abraxaz1

Abraxaz1

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OK here the short story;
Joined a gym in September last year was going fine till Christmas, then the gym over subscribed itself, a wait of 5 minutes for equipment turn to 30 minute waits.
I ask to leave the contract I was in because the service provided was unsatisfactory and a more specialised gym closer to my house had a maximum number of customers to reduce waiting times.

Any way after being told I couldn't cancel my contract, I paid one last visit to the gym in march where I was able to do One strength exercise in the 40 minutes I was there and 10 mins on a tread mill as a warm up. I decided to cancel my direct debit and move to the better gym.

Anyhow, I have now had a letter from a debt collection agency, claiming I owe the gym money for the last 4 months plus there addon even though I haven't used there service for this time. The total comes to £200+ which isn't much I know but its the principle that's preventing me from paying.

Any advice
 
What did you think would happen after you just decided to stop paying for a service you were contracted to?
You're going to struggle to get out of it now that it's been sold off to a collection agency.
Pay up and remember for next time.
 
mrbell1984 said:
If you entered a contract it must be fulfilled regardless of the situation. Sorry to say this but just because you didn't use the gym it doesn't mean the membership contract should stop. :(
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Yeah but when I went to the gym I was unable to use it, I was unable to use any equipment whatsoever
 
Don't sign up for contacts and then cancel the payments expecting them to go away.

Assuming £200+ is the correct total for the gym membership since you cancelled your direct debit to the end of the contract time.
 
Unfortunately you signed a contract with said Gym to pay the fees for using there gym over a 12 month period.

You were most probably made aware of this when you signed with them saying you cannot cancel after 7 days or before a year.

The best thing to do is to phone the Debt Collectors and tell them you have sent a letter to the gym's head office about the situation earlier in the year, they will freeze your account for a week or so (I am guessing it is Moorcroft as they work for A LOT of companies). Write a letter to (or phone/email) the gym's head office detailing what was happening earlier in the year and ask if there is anything they can do to reduce the amount owed, make sure it is sent recorded otherwise they may 'lose' the letter.

When you get a reply from the gym you can then inform the debt collectors what they said and hopefully pay a much reduced amount.

Hope that helps.
 
Done this with Virgin Active. Ridiculously busy gym and I cancelled my DD. had a few letters from an ambulance chaser, a few threats of some strain. Binned the letters and never heard anything again.
 
Did you put any of your grievances in writing to the gym, at the time. If not then I would say you don't have a leg to stand on.
 
and crap all over your credit rating in the process, this alone would be worth more than £200 to me.
 
Jaffa_Far said:
Don't do this. The debt collectors will eventually go through legal channels and challenge you in court (CCJ?), if you fail to turn up, then it is a police matter IIRC.
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Go to court if it leads to that, most of the time though they will give up before doing this.
 
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