Exercise caution if joining a gym
Friday 10th April 2009, 9:11AM BST.
LETTER: I am writing to warn other readers against 12-month gym memberships.
In Aug- ust 2008 my husband and I joined our local Cannons gym, choosing a 12-month off peak membership.
I have been unable to use the gym since November due to being diagnosed with osteoarthritis in both of my knees.
In February I found I was unable to make the monthly payment so had to cancel the direct debit to avoid any extra charges made by my bank for unpaid direct debits.
I then received a letter from a debt collection agency called Connaught Collections, saying if I did not bring the account back up to date then I could end up going to court.
I am still battling with Cannons, now known as Nuffield Health.
I just feel that the public should know that when they sign a contract with a gym it is technically a credit agreement and should they falter on a payment it will be referred to a debt collection agency which in turn could affect your credit rating.
If this is the case, why do they not do a credit check as they normally do when you take out any kind of credit?
I will not be renewing my membership with Cannons, nor will I be recommending any of my friends or family to use their facilities.
I truly feel that in the current economic climate these gyms should be making it very clear to customers what they are actually signing.
Rachel Conner
Dawley Bank
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read the small print !! this is the norm with all gyms you should be smarter
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It’s the reason i won’t join a gym, they might have to rethink this kind of membership as people don’t have the money to join for 12 months. The cheapest membership i could find in my area was £600 a year, would rather spend the money on a holiday and walk in the fresh air for free.
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You didn’t mention in your letter whether you discussed your specific medical condition with Cannons before cancelling your Direct Debit – it sounds to me like you didn’t and if that’s the case then you should expect the action they’ve taken. If you talk to them, preferably with the support of a doctor’s note, they may call off the hounds.
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i experienced problems with bannantynes. My husband was due to relocate jobs 8 months into my contract. as there was no banantynes gym near where we we moving to i presumed that it would be no problem as a legitimate reason! no such luck i still had to pay the outstanding months even though i was 100 miles away! As i got chatting to others one person told me she had been diagnosed with brest cancer and still the gym wouldn’t allow her to cancel her membership despite being on a heavy dose of chaemo! i really do think in these cases they could override their policies?
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I agree people should learn to read the small print.However people do sign anything in this day and age with out reading every last detail .If you need time to read the small print ask to take the paper work home to read before signing, if the answer is no then yours should be NO THANKS.
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gyms are a rip off anyway, hardly worth the amount you pay compared with the amount you actually use your membership.
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Or use a local authority gym and just pay monthly, cancel at short notice if you need to.
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Not realy true jane .We have a family membership and go at least 3 times a week some times more the children swim 3 times a week all for under 90 quid a month . If we went to the public swimming baths that many times how much would it cost ? and we do not get the use of a gym at the public baths that is if they have one and you have the pain of having to go when the public baths are open for family swims etc .Gyms are a waste of money (never a ripp off at all) if you join and then only go once or twice a month then you are the fool for joining .Just becouse you cant sustain a good routine dont blame the gym.
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There seems to be alot of people having the same sort of problems with being contracted to a gym membership. I had the same problem when i was looking to join a gym, it was either 18, 12 or 6 month contracts i would of had to sign upto, not only that i was told i would have to pay upto £40 joining fee! Thats until i went to ‘life @ whitehouse’ gym (Opposite AFC Telford Football Ground) NO JOINING FEE, NO ADMIN FEE, and best of all NO CONTRACT!! tel: 01952- 221 185 to find out more, hope this has helped.
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Jane if you dont use a gym membership you are ripping yourself off nobody else is! I use my gym and pool 4 times a week which works out approx £2 per session. The local council gyms are slightly cheaper and dont have a minimum contract period but quite honestly I think it is worth paying a little extra for the better facilities and cleanliness.
Although currently a member with another gym I have to say that Cannons are without doubt the best gym locally and in my experience are very straightforward to deal with.
The clue to a 12 month membership is that it is called a “12 month membership” surely some of the first questions you ask are ‘What if I cannot make the payments’ and ‘Can I cancel the membership before 12 months?’
The only reason I’m not a member of Cannons/Nuffield currently is that its so bl**dy expensive TBH, but for cleanliness, facilities and quality of staff Cannons is IMO second to none.
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Andrew i can cope with routine, we want to take the kids twice a week swimming and i would like to use the gym when the children are in nursery but the cheapest place we have found is Rowton castle at over £100 a month, we can’t afford that. If we went everyday it wouldn’t seem so bad. As it is we go to shrewsbury baths once a week, kids get in free so it’s not to expensive.
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I too have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis of both knees and the consultant advised me that exercise and strengthening the muscles around the knee would be good for them and put off the inevitable knee replacement..
As for just not paying the Direct Debit.. I’m sorry but they are only following policy – if you had discussed your medical issues with them they may have been able to help.
I was a member of Ladies Fitness and Wellness in Oswestry, who went ‘bust’ in September last year having paid for a 12 month membership up front.. I am still chasing the money from that but not holding out much hope – following that another Ladies only gym has been set up by previous members and staff, it is called ZEST. They charge monthly, with no contracts and I am in charge of my Standing Order.. so now I can exercise my aching knees in the secure knowledge that no-one is going to nick my money!!
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…they didn’t do a credit check? so what – the credit check is to prevent the body giving credit from risk, not to protect the person signing the agreement, if they chose to take on the risk then thats up to them – would you expect to be letout of other payments that you sign up to because of ill health? no need to pay for my car or insurance this month because I’ve been illand didn’t use them! You agreed to pay a fee for them to provide you with facilities for a year, they agreed to let you spread the burden over a number of months, they kept their part of the agreement – if you wanted out you should have contacted them at least, rather than just cancelling your payments.
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read the small print!! we are a nation only now waking up to the folly of hire purchase agreements
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I wrote the letter mainly to make people aware that when they join a gym that they are signing a credit agreement as i know many people are unaware of this. I too have been advised that excercise will help the problem with my knees but at the moment even walking on them is painful, but that is really besides the point my main concern really is the way that some of these establishments treat you, even head offices attitude was terrible, after speaking to someone there i was told the only way to get out of the gym membership was to die and if people cant afford the payments even if they are destitute it is not their problem, with these big companie you are just a little fish in a big pond and as long as they get their money they really don’t care, if i do use a gym again it will be one in the local leisure centre.
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jane check the family membership at rowton again. I am syre it is not over 100 a month.
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