Gyms agree to allow earlier cancellations
Bannatyne Fitness, David Lloyd Leisure and Fitness First Clubs will offer better cancellation rights to their members following an OFT investigation.
Three fitness and health clubs have agreed to change their contract terms to offer improved cancellation rights to their members, following an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
Bannatyne Fitness, David Lloyd Leisure and Fitness First Clubs have all agreed to the following changes:
- extending rights for members to cancel their contracts early if their circumstances change in such a way that attending the gym becomes difficult or unaffordable, for example through losing their job or suffering an injury;
- a commitment to not describe membership as being of a fixed duration, if the contract automatically continues on a rolling basis at the end of the initial membership period;
- improved transparency about key membership features, such as initial membership periods and cancellation rights. These need to be provided up front.
The OFT’s investigation into gym contracts was sparked by a previous High Court ruling against Asbourne Management Services, a gym management firm, back in 2011. Members had been locked into contracts for unfair periods of time and without adequate cancellation rights. The OFT believed others may be behaving in a similar way.
The OFT now has a section on its website dedicated to your rights when taking out a gym contract. It says it is continuing to investigate other companies in the sector.
If you want to keep the cost of getting fit to a minimum, be sure to check out The frugal guide to gyms.
More on your rights
Beware recurring payments and Continuous Payment Authority
Sneaky tricks firms use to keep you as a customer
Why some contracts aren't worth the paper they're written on
'Price match' and 'money back guarantees': your rights
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Comments
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My experience of gym behaviour is not stricly relevant because I was not on a contract but it does show the way they try to extract money from their customers. I joined the local Fitness First gym a few years ago. I paid a joining fee and £25 a month and would have to give a months notice of cancellation. They insisted on being paid by Direct Debit. My work took me overseas for around 6 months of the year so after 5 months I said I wanted to cancel. They said I could but I then would have to pay another joining fee when I came back or they could reduce the payment to £5 a month while I was away and then I would stay a member and not need to rejoin. Financially there was little difference so I took that option and said I would let them know when I was back so they could change the payment again. In the event I was only home for a month before having to go away again so I didn't reactivate my membership but I noticed from my bank statement that that they were taking £25 again. I went in to complain but the local manager said she couldn't do anything about it as it was all controlled by head office. I told her to cancel my membership at once but she said I had to give a month's notice. I said that as I was being charged in advance for a service I wouldn't receive and which I hadn't authorised that was unreasonable but she said it took them a month to change the payment details. I said that was ridiculous and I could stop the Direct Debit in 5 minutes with a call to my bank and she said if I did I would be blacklisted and they would blacken my credit rating. So I finished up being charged for another 2 months as I was only aware of the increased charge from my bank statement and had to give the months notice from that time and obviously the reainer I had been paying while I was away was wasted too. Needless to say I have had nothing more to do with Fitness First or any other gym either as they all want payment by Direct Debit and I am definitely not making that mistake again. I have bought my own exercise cycle and rowing machine, which are actually not that expensive, and keep fit at home.
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09 March 2013