Newsroom

Press releases

8 January 2007

Weighing Up the Cost Of Joining a Gym

Shed the right pounds and don’t risk becoming financially unfit, warns Consumer Direct East Midlands

Credit agreements buried in the small print could trip up thousands of people who rushed to join a gym as part of their New Year’s resolutions, warns Consumer Direct.

Whilst January is a peak time for joining gyms and getting fit, Consumer Direct East Midlands cautions that financial fitness could be compromised if the novelty of a work out regime wears off in a few weeks or months.

Joining a local gym is often the first step to getting fit, but how many people realise that they can’t just cancel their payments when they change their mind, lose interest, or if their personal circumstances change. The advice from Consumer Direct East Midlands is to always check the terms and conditions before you sign up to anything and think about what you are committing yourself to - or you could end up shedding pounds from your pockets, rather than your waistline.

People joining gyms are often oblivious to the fact that a lot of membership contracts include credit agreements covering monthly membership fees. In many cases the agreements are based on a fixed period of time – typically one to two years. Consumers are bound by these terms and conditions and cancelling a gym membership will not cancel the credit agreement.

Consumer Direct East Midlands’ Sara Barry advises:

“Don’t put your financial fitness at risk in pursuit of physical fitness. If you’re joining a gym make sure you know what you are signing up to and always check the small print.  Consider the cost of joining fees, monthly membership fees and any cancellation fees in addition to how close the gym is to your work or home, and what it offers, so you don't waste your money in 2007.”
“A contract cannot always be cancelled simply because the member has a change of heart.  Even life changing events like moving home, changing job or starting a family may not affect your contract.”

Gyms are legally obliged to give copies of contracts to customers who ask for them, so you can always double-check your terms and conditions.

Sara Barry continued:

“The best advice I can give someone who is tied into gym membership and wants to cancel is to read the terms and conditions of the contract before stopping their direct debit.”

“If you’re not sure where you stand and you’d like further advice, Consumer Direct is on hand.”

Consumer Direct East Midlands offers the following advice:

• Don’t be pressured into signing a contract immediately – take it away and read it carefully first. The terms of any contract must be fair, including not taking away your legal rights.  If you’re unsure if a contract is fair, ring Consumer Direct to check.

• Check the terms for rights to suspend or terminate the membership.
  
• If you want to terminate your membership put it in writing, rather than in person or over the phone, to avoid any potential dispute in the future.  And remember to keep a copy of all correspondence.
  
• Don’t stop paying monthly direct debits to your gym until your membership has concluded.  If you do the gym can claim outstanding arrears or pass these onto a debt collection agency.
  
• You may be able to stop your gym membership within the contract period if the gym fails to provide a satisfactory quality of service.  You would still need to continue paying membership fees until you notify the gym in writing with the reasons for terminating the contract.
  
• If you have a dispute and you are still tied into the contract it is best to keep paying, but inform your bank and gym that you are paying ‘under protest’ until the dispute is resolved.
  
• Even if your contract is coming to an end, you should still notify your gym in writing if you do not want to renew your membership as some gym memberships renew automatically and you could find yourself tied in for another 12 months.

If you want to check your rights before joining the gym or if you think the terms and conditions of your membership are unfair, you can call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06

"Back to top