Advice needed - owing money to Fitness First

[verbal]

My ex-girlfriend signed up for a Fitness First gym in March on a years contract. The guy who signed her up said she could cancel the contract and say she had moved house to somewhere more than 10 miles from a Fitness First gym.

In July we split up and she moved to Liverpool. She told them she was now more than 10 miles from a Fitness First and wanted to cancel. They phoned her back and told her there was one 9.3 miles away and she couldn't cancel the contract. She doesn't drive so there's no realistic way she was going to use this other Fitness First in Liverpool. I advised her to simply cancel the direct debit which she did.

Yesterday she got a call from a debt collection agency saying she has to pay all the monthly fees she missed and what she owe's until next March plus a £25 admin charge and she is barred from all Fitness First gyms.

I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas of how to avoid paying or reducing the charges. The whole thing seems very unreasonable to me. She is having to pay for a service she is not using.

 

[verbal]

But this isnt Fitness Firsts fault its all the customers fault for trying to wriggle out of a contract she signed and agreed to.

The thing is that she wasn't sure she would want to stay as a member for 12 months and that's why she asked if she could cancel it. As I said the guy who signed her up said that technically it was a 12 month contract but that she could just tell them she had moved 10 miles or more from a gym. We checked and that guy doesn't work there anymore.

 

[verbal]

The situation is what it is. It was bad advice for me to tell her to cancel the DD. I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas or experience of dealing with debt collection agencys. I wonder if there is any point in offering to pay half the total amount owed up front in return for them cancelling the rest. At the moment they are saying she can pay it month by month.

Now would be a good time to mention the fact that she is very very short of money and will struggle to pay the debt. People are right to point out it's not my problem, I'm just helping her out if I can.