Advice needed - owing money to Fitness First
- Thread starter verbal
- Start date
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.
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.
I would suggest that you agree some repayment deal with the debt agency, from experience when I got into financial trouble as a student they are mostly reasonable people as long as you keep up the payments. It might be worth her talking to them and paying an amount as a guesture of goodwill... if it does progress further she then can show she was willing to pay and that they are being unreasonable in their demands for more payment.
More importantly something like this can seriously screw your credit history and affect you later in life when you want to get a morgage etc... the worst thing you can do is ignore the problem she needs to be on the phone to them sorting out a replayment plan that she can keep to and that they find agreeable and get the debt cleared
More importantly something like this can seriously screw your credit history and affect you later in life when you want to get a morgage etc... the worst thing you can do is ignore the problem she needs to be on the phone to them sorting out a replayment plan that she can keep to and that they find agreeable and get the debt cleared
Soldato
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On bread
The most annoying thing about a gym is the DD, they intentionally do it because they know you might not come for a month but they still want the money!
Realistically at best you might be able to come to a discounted price if you have a talk with the manager.
Realistically at best you might be able to come to a discounted price if you have a talk with the manager.
First step is to call the debt collector and inform them the the agreement is in despute, and they will have to stop persuing her untill an ammount, if any is agreed.
Next get her to request a (signed by her) copy of the agreement, if they cant provide a copy, then there is no agreement.
after that, you will need further advice, the consumer action group website is probably a good place to start, along with citizens advice.
Next get her to request a (signed by her) copy of the agreement, if they cant provide a copy, then there is no agreement.
after that, you will need further advice, the consumer action group website is probably a good place to start, along with citizens advice.
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Firstly - they cannot force you to pay X amount of money up front or each month etc.
If you want to pay them you could do a budget sheet, send them a copy and say what you can afford and then just pay that amount each month. It can be as low as a £1 each month **if that is what you can only afford to pay***
There are lots of things you can do if you want to challenge the DCA. But never be bullied by them - their bark is worse than their bite
First thing is to ask them for the original credit agreement.(CCA request) They cannot enforce any debt without it. (they should then ask for it from Fitness First).
Which DCA is it?
Secondly after youve sent the CCA request and they send it to you. Make sure the one they send you is a copy of your original signed agreement (and not just a blank copy etc) and includes all the necessary parts filled in. (every single letter or documentation you send to them you must send via recorded delivery or similar)
Then if its all good and proper. (actually unlikely!!! You wont believe how many DCAS dont have the proper authorized paperwork to chase people)
Send them a SAR (subject access request) It sound like they are charging you for letters and whatnot.
So you should begin the process of claiming back unlawful charges made against you/her.
At all times whilst you are doing all of the above -they cannot legally continue the case against you- until they have complied with your requests. (basically a hold is placed on the account because it is in dispute)
I'm all for businesses making a profit but never at the expense of the rights of the individual consumer. Regardless what any t&Cs says.
In fact my advice to anyone is to ignore t&Cs unless they give you greater rights than common law. And you know what? At the moment no way in hell do they in 100% of cases ive read about.
Finally - Tell her to visit this site, register and READ everything. Very very helpful, informative site.
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/
Soldato
Unfortunately it was her own fault. Contract and T&C are then in B&W
- Pea0n
- Pea0n
Firstly - they cannot force you to pay X amount of money up front or each month etc.
If you want to pay them you could do a budget sheet, send them a copy and say what you can afford and then just pay that amount each month. It can be as low as a £1 each month **if that is what you can only afford to pay***
There are lots of things you can do if you want to challenge the DCA. But never be bullied by them - their bark is worse than their bite
First thing is to ask them for the original credit agreement.(CCA request) They cannot enforce any debt without it. (they should then ask for it from Fitness First).
Which DCA is it?
Secondly after youve sent the CCA request and they send it to you. Make sure the one they send you is a copy of your original signed agreement (and not just a blank copy etc) and includes all the necessary parts filled in. (every single letter or documentation you send to them you must send via recorded delivery or similar)
Then if its all good and proper. (actually unlikely!!! You wont believe how many DCAS dont have the proper authorized paperwork to chase people)
Send them a SAR (subject access request) It sound like they are charging you for letters and whatnot.
So you should begin the process of claiming back unlawful charges made against you/her.
At all times whilst you are doing all of the above -they cannot legally continue the case against you- until they have complied with your requests. (basically a hold is placed on the account because it is in dispute)
I'm all for businesses making a profit but never at the expense of the rights of the individual consumer. Regardless what any t&Cs says.
In fact my advice to anyone is to ignore t&Cs unless they give you greater rights than common law. And you know what? At the moment no way in hell do they in 100% of cases ive read about.
Finally - Tell her to visit this site, register and READ everything. Very very helpful, informative site.
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/
wtf, i mean the guy at fitness first who told her how to cancel was obviously exploiting a technicality - that if you move more than 10 miles away you can cancel. it clearly is NOT a normal way of cancelling a contract.
now there are 2 things:
- if she wanted to be dishonest then she should have found an address that indeed was 10 miles away from a fitness first
- she should have realised that if you enter into a 12 month contract, IT IS A TWELVE MONTH CONTRACT, therefore she should have expected to pay for 12 months.
dont get angry at fitness first, it is a combination of your fault and hers. and you owe her £25 administration charge for telling her to cancel the DD.
daven
Soldato
This is why I'll never sign up to a gym where they demand a 12 month contract. I think it's totally unreasonable and nothing but a money grabbing scam.
It's gotta be said that just cancelling the standing order and thinking that Fitness First would forget about the money that she owed them was very naïve.
She signed the contract, so she's liable. She should pay what she owes - including the debt collection agency's fee - and consider it a valuable lesson in life... sticking your head in the sand and hoping a problem will disappear is never a solution.
No matter how much she owes, it's not worth getting her credit rating adversely affected by having a CCJ against her (which she'd be extremely unlikely to avoid considering she knowingly signed-up for the duration and intentionally cancelled the standing order).
She signed the contract, so she's liable. She should pay what she owes - including the debt collection agency's fee - and consider it a valuable lesson in life... sticking your head in the sand and hoping a problem will disappear is never a solution.
No matter how much she owes, it's not worth getting her credit rating adversely affected by having a CCJ against her (which she'd be extremely unlikely to avoid considering she knowingly signed-up for the duration and intentionally cancelled the standing order).
Soldato
It's worth checking the distance to see if it really is 9.2m, if they have calculated the straight line distance then you have a loophole as the actual road distance may be over 10m.
Did none of you actually check that her new house was over 10m from a FF before evoking that clause? technically the salesman didn't lie to you, someone 20m away will be allowed to cancel, but she's not that far so they have every right to claim the money back. If the two of you just thought he was giving you a sneaky way out if you wanted to then thats very naive, it's his job to sell you something and your job to read the T&Cs.
If you find a loophole then good on you, but she isn't in a very strong legal position at all.
Did none of you actually check that her new house was over 10m from a FF before evoking that clause? technically the salesman didn't lie to you, someone 20m away will be allowed to cancel, but she's not that far so they have every right to claim the money back. If the two of you just thought he was giving you a sneaky way out if you wanted to then thats very naive, it's his job to sell you something and your job to read the T&Cs.
If you find a loophole then good on you, but she isn't in a very strong legal position at all.