Under 18, 12 month gym contract

Terk

Terk

Terk

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Hi, I wanted to join my friends gym and they told me which one they have available for under 18's but it also meant that I had to be signed up for 12 months, but arent legal binding contracts not available/legal for under 18s?
 
Seems odd, most gym contracts (or, rather those I've joined) are generally 12 month contracts. I would have thought it was the opposite for an under 18 as you aren't old enough for the contract ... unless I'm mistaken.
 
I was under the impression that you can enter a contract under the age of 18, but only with a parent's consent.

I imagine there's an extra box for a guardian's signature next to yours.
 
I signed up to a minimum 3 month gym membership when I was 16, decided to quit after a month and told them I wasn't paying the remaining 2 months as the contract wasn't binding, being under 18.

They didn't even argue.
 
One More Solo said:
Yeah, how dare they enforce the terms that people sign up to. More like the average consumer is a ****ing idiot for not reading their contract.
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Yeah, how dare the government think the law trumps a gym's terms and conditions! More like the gym are trying it on to get a sale...
 
Swifty55 said:
I don't get why you have to have a 12 month contract to join a Gym anyway?
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If people only paid for when they used the gym, there wouldn't be any gyms lol.
People tend to join gyms as a "news years resolution" go for 2 weeks and then forget about it.

My parents signed up for a 3 year deal, it was pay up front £550 or subscribe to a 24 month £35 a month deal....they chose the pay up front, and went 3 times :D

Obviously you have your hardcore that sign up to actually use the gym.
 
One More Solo said:
Yeah, how dare they enforce the terms that people sign up to. More like the average consumer is a ****ing idiot for not reading their contract.
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Actually I was more referring to the lying about what the contract includes, lying about the contract term, lying about the special offers, stealing from customers and trying to enforce contracts which were never signed to the point of involving debt collection agencies.

But if you think that's a perfectly legitimate way to carry out business, good for you.
 
Haggisman said:
Actually I was more referring to the lying about what the contract includes, lying about the contract term, lying about the special offers, stealing from customers and trying to enforce contracts which were never signed to the point of involving debt collection agencies.

But if you think that's a perfectly legitimate way to carry out business, good for you.
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If the contract hasn't been signed, good for you. If you've signed it and it doesn't contain what you expected, that's your fault for not reading the contract. The latter is what happens 99 times out of 100.
 
One More Solo said:
If the contract hasn't been signed, good for you. If you've signed it and it doesn't contain what you expected, that's your fault for not reading the contract. The latter is what happens 99 times out of 100.
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Still, a contract can't have unfair terms in it, by law.
 
One More Solo said:
I never said it could, I was just pointing out the "gyms are bad waaaaaaaah" argument is ridiculously one-sided.
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Then you've been lucky.

Summary being - signed up for 3 month contract (double checked when I was signing). Didn't use it enough so cancelled after the 3 months. Was told it was 12 months, showed them my copy of contract, told them to do one and cancelled the DD. They then charged the fee to a card they shouldn't even have had on file (used it to pay first month in advance with chip & pin machine, so they must have skimmed the card or something!), and then when I reported the fraudulent transaction and blocked any further transactions from them, I started getting debt collector letters. At which point I went in and refused to leave until it was sorted, asked them to provide their copy of the 12 month contract which I had apparently signed, for them to come back to me having conveniently lost it and then have the sheer audacity to say "as a goodwill gesture we'll write off the rest of the contract". Not even an apology. I personally know 2 other people who've had similar experiences with the same gym, and if you look on the net there are literally thousands of similar stories.

So you'll have to forgive me for not believing that those con-artists are the pinnacles of ethics and morality you're making them out to be.

Surely the fact that they're trying to force an illegal credit account on a minor (because that's basically what a 12 month gym membership is) is evidence enough that their business practices are shady at best?
 
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Haggisman said:
Then you've been lucky.

Summary being - signed up for 3 month contract (double checked when I was signing). Didn't use it enough so cancelled after the 3 months. Was told it was 12 months, showed them my copy of contract, told them to do one and cancelled the DD. They then charged the fee to a card they shouldn't even have had on file (used it to pay first month in advance with chip & pin machine, so they must have skimmed the card or something!), and then when I reported the fraudulent transaction and blocked any further transactions from them, I started getting debt collector letters. At which point I went in and refused to leave until it was sorted, asked them to provide their copy of the 12 month contract which I had apparently signed, for them to come back to me having conveniently lost it and then have the sheer audacity to say "as a goodwill gesture we'll write off the rest of the contract". Not even an apology. I personally know 2 other people who've had similar experiences with the same gym, and if you look on the net there are literally thousands of similar stories.

So you'll have to forgive me for not believing that those con-artists are the pinnacles of ethics and morality you're making them out to be.
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Well a gym raped me and murdered my family.
 
Use the cash and buy gym equipment on a interest free credit card then after 12 months when it's had two months use at least you have something.

I got out of a girl we joined a gym at that they run a 300% over subscription but this was 10 years ago
 
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