Any bods on here from Trading Standards?

[Guest Chaser81]

Okay, my mate and me signed up for a well known gym (not mentioning any names yet though they have annoyed me no end) on a "2 for 1" membership deal where I signed up for their top-tier package and he got a membership free of charge. We signed up at the start of the month, and the bird who did the contract for us told was telling us about payments and stuff in a conversation that went like this:

Me: "So when is the money for the memberships going to come out of my account?"

Bird: "It comes out on the last working day of the month, so this month (feb) it will be the 28th"

Me: "Ah.. Thats no good, there wont be enough money in the account then for it, I dont get paid till the 3rd march"

Bird: "Oh dont worry, we have a special relationship with the banks whereby if there isnt enough money in your account, they will simply re-arrange the direct debit to come out again seven days later"

Me "Er.... What about the charge for the direct debit bouncing?"

Bird: "Oh there's no charge thanks to this special setup we have with the bank"

Me "Are you absolutely sure about that? My bank charges a lot (£30) for a bounced DD and I dont wanna fork out for that"

Bird: "Yes yes, dont worry, now lets get you bound into a blood-sucking 12 month contract which you cant get out of and earn me lots of commission"

So as you can see above, the gist is that I was worried about the DD for the money bouncing, but I was assured that there was nothing to worry about and that there would be no bank charges involved if there was insufficient funds in my account.

I was basically lied to.

On the 28th, sure enough, they tried and failed to take the money from my account, and what did I get for my trouble? A £30 bank charge. Not only that but I have since found out that she was talking crap about any "relationship" with the banks and that it doesnt automatically get re-arranged, I have to set up another Direct Debit with them.

I am annoyed to put it mildly and the gym is trying to wash their hands of the affair. What do you guys think I should do? Do I have any recourse through trading standards? I want my £30 bank charge back off them!!

[Guest A.Hughes]

Hi There, to start, what a classic example of mis-selling a product, just like the good old endowment.

First thing to do, write a letter of complaint to the Gym, to the manager and cc a copy to the MD. Outline your complaint, as you have detailed in your post, and explain that you are going to pass on this issue to your solicitor. You must also confirm that you are cancelling your DD and membership forthwith, and that you will be sueing for your costs of employing a solicitor, any membership fees paid thus far, and the charges incurred from your bank.

Close the letter by asking for a reply within 14 days, after which,if you have received a suitable reply, you will instruct your solicitor to begin proceedings.

Send your letter, wait for a reply, if you havnt heard in 14 days, pass to a solicitor, its as simple as that!!

What should happen, and normally does is they back down, but dont accept anything less than the cost of your charges, some form of free membership, and most inportantly, a written apology, if its a big name gym, they will not want the hassle and publicity, any problems just get back in touch.

Good luck, the law is on your side with this one, just be patient, oh nearly forgot, send your letter by registered post so they cant deny not receiving it.

Regards

[Guest Chaser81]

@A.Hughes

Thank you for the reply, some useful info in there. I dont want to cancel my Gym membership, however, as I really like going, I simply want a refund on the £30 bank charge I incurred.

I have sent a complaint email to the gym's head office via www.howtocomplain.com, and have given them 14 days to respond, so I will wait and see what happens.

[Guest Confused Stu]

Can't add much to this debate, but I'm a manager in a Bank (no, not a department responsible for charges! We do nice stuff, like answer calls and change addresses). I know it's a little late for you, but if anyone EVER tells you they have any special arrangements like this with the Banks - they are lying!!

As the charge is made by your Bank, not theirs, for this to be true they would've needed to get this arrangement set up with EVERY possible bank you might hold your account at - all the high street ones, the internet ones, potentially even foreign ones. You then need to make sure that every computer system and every single person in the lending departments and personal banking managers know that "If you bounce a Direct Debit for company xxx don't charge the customer."

It's completely ludicrous and nobody anywhere has something like this set up - hey, if we bounce a DD from our Credit Card division you still get charged! What she might well have meant is that they've negotiated a tariff with their Bank where the company don't get charged if a DD they request gets bounced?

Like I said, sorry for adding my two pence worth, and appreciate I'm bolting the stable door in your case, but just in case someone else tries the same thing to someone who reads this thread...

Good luck getting your money back mate. Let us know what happens. [-o<

[Guest Chaser81]

@Confused Stu

Yeah, beginning to feel like a bit of an idiot for believing her in the first place... Oh well, I will let you all know how it turns out.

[Guest Confused Stu]

Sorry Chaser - response honestly wasn't meant to make you feel bad. I didn't know jack about banking before I started working there - pretty sure I know nothing about any other professions!

Bear in mind, you're talking to someone who (at 17) got their first motorbike. I was told to flick this switch (the "choke") to help it start. Nobody told me I needed to flick it back - why should I bother? It only helped it start! Bike never was that reliable....

Hindsight's a beautiful thing, my friend. :D