I asked and asked and was told yes but as soon as they had my money they said no

[Notwhatiaskedfor]

I have come into some money from the sale of a house and as a treat we decided we would quite like to have gym membership for me and dd 14 and ds 12. The only problem we have is because of work, school, after school activities, Saturday jobs and rehearsals on a Sunday and because we have to be up early to get children to school miles away and they most nights do not return home till quite late we wanted a gym that opened at 6am, that myself dd and ds could use and was in a particular area so we would not be spending more time travelling.

Most gyms either were not in the right location or were adults only or didn't open until 6.30am or 7am.

Sorry to be so long but we found one that looked really nice and ticked all the boxes. Opened at 6am, within our most convenient area, dd would be able to use the gym on her own and ds would be able to use the gym with adult supervision. Because of when we would be using the gym we went for the off peak membership.

I repeated that ds would be able to use the gym under my supervision and dd would be able to come on her own and was given a yes to both questions. I was also handed a list of after school activities that ds could do starting at 4.30pm each weekday. I handed the list back pointing out that as I had said several times before that we were only able to attend the gym first thing in the mornings and because we were going for the off peak membership we were not eligible for the things that started at 4.30pm.

I paid for a years membership and left, returning later that day to go through with someone how the machines worked. The first thing he said was that ds would not be able to use the gym but if he was on the gym floor he would turn a blind eye. I checked once again with the reception who told me catergorically that under 14's were not to go on the gym floor. I was also told as I had entered the building after I had paid then my membership could not be cancelled.

Am I right in thinking that as I have paid for something that was not what was described I am able to get my money back through my credit card company?

how many memberships did you buy?

Wankers. You can claim back via credit card if items over £100, not including combined items that only when combined come to over £100. So, what you paid for what will dictate whether you can try the credit card route.

Have you spoken to the manager/business owner?

Surely you will have a 2 week cooling off period where you're allowed to cancel. Speak to a manager x

I had trouble with a gym once and I just cancelled the standing order. I thought let the fukkerss come after me, I'll fight it. But they never did. I feel for you that you paid the year up front. I would contact your credit card company.

Immediately put into writing why you're cancelling. Mention the name of the person who made these lies promises. "As agreed with ..."

YY to credit card claim, if that's how you paid.

Good luck.

There should be a cooling off period. Write now
And say you are cancelling your membership because xx (named person) lied to you and you only bought a membership because you believed his lies. Cancel the standing order.

I paid for 1 adult my self and 2 children dd-age 14 and ds age 12.

The cooling off period is 7 days or when you next enter the building. Which ever is sooner.

What annoys me most is that in their rule book it is very wooly in that on one page it says that the lead adult has to write a letter saying that the child/children will be supervised at all time whether they are or are not using the facilities. However it then says that children 14 and over do not need supervision.

It also says that children aged 13 and under cannot use the gym unless it is for an actual lesson. However speaking to the person who ran the lessons she said he could go to the lessons which are on at 5pm in the evenings Mon-Fri and Saturday morning. I had to keep repeating myself to tell her that as we were on off peak membership we were not allowed in the building at that time. And when we asked the guy who signed us up he said that as long as ds was supervised by myself then he could use the gym.

I was not given the rules and regs booklet untill after I had paid.

The gym superviser who showed us the gym equipment could not have been nicer which really inspired ds which made it all the more harder to tell him he was not allowed to use the equipment. The gym superviser flagged that it could be a problem because of ds's age but he was quite happy for him to be on the gym floor when he was around.

I could understand if ds was a small child where the equipment would be too big for him but ds is taller and bigger than a lot of adults. He is also a very sensible boy who is not going to run around and cause problems.

I got in touch with my credit card company yesterday but as the transaction was not showing yet apparently I need to ring back today.

All I want to know is how do you drag your teenagers out of bed to be at a gym at 6am?!? Especially when the rest of their time is jam packed?!

They've misrepresented the situation to you with regard to whether a 12 year old could use the gym. This is a crucial thing for you as the membership wouldn't work otherwise. The contract would be invalid even if there is no cooling off period. Go back and sit there until they cancel your membership and refund the money.

Small claims I wonder if that work as you were giving mis information. Cab might be worth looking into. Certainly write to them the gym. Awful way to behave but from what I hear its common behaviour. Makes you wonder why people bother...

This talks about the effect of misrepresentation on contract (I assume you're in England or Wales). Rescission is the contract being completely undone. That is what you want to do.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misrepresentation

I wouldn't go to small claims yet. Talk to them first if they don't cancel the membership and refund you set it out in writing in full. Only if you still get no joy would you resort to the small claims track.

Their policy on the age of children who can use the gym equipment is possibly dictated by their insurers. So the gym instructor telling you he might turn a blind eye is almost certainly a red herring because if DS were to get injured the gym might well not be covered. It's very bad that they misrepresented this to you.

Like waroftheroses I am somewhat flagbbergasted that you and your chilren feel the need/have the energy to go to the gym at 6am when you have such busy and active lives anyway, but if that's what makes you happy....

What you need to do is write a very clear and concise letter to them. Do not use emotive language like "lies".

Something like this:

"I spoke to [insert staff member] on [date] and explained that we were buying the membership so that my 12 year-old son could use the machines. I was clear that he had other commitments that prevented him from joining classes, so the gym was the only part of the facilities that he would be using. [staff member] assured me that there was no problem with him using the gym provided that I was with him at all times. However it has now been confirmed to me by [paragraph X of the members' Handbook"] and [name of receptionist] that children under 13 are not in any circumstances allowed to use the gym.

I purchased the memberships in reliance upon an assurance about access to the facilities. However that assurance has turned out to have been mistaken and, as a result, the memberships cannot be used by me or my son. I should therefore be grateful if you would refund the fee to my credit card within 7 days. "

For a first letter don't treaten legal action or small claims court or get over dramatic. Write as if you are giving them the benefit of the doubt that perhaps they made an honest mistake. Keep chasing them for a reply - polite chasers at first, then perhaps something like "I shall have no alternative but to seek the requested refund in the Small Claims Court" if they ignore you totally after, say, a month.

And definitely don't use the gym in the meantime!

Well I called them yesterday as no one had got back to me and the manager of the person who signed me up said he would refund me my money. I just needed to return the paperwork.

I went in and returned the paperwork. Then they said something so breath takingly illegal I actually questioned it three times.

I paid on credit card but when they did refunds they only refunded into bank accounts, they did not refund back onto the credit card used.

The words money laundering and fraud sprang to mind. Not only are they giving cash out on credit cards without giving the credit card company their %age they are transferring a credit card debt which should be used for goods and services into cash. Dh deals with IR and was aghast that a large chain would act in that manner.

Think they will be having an IR audit very soon.

Oh and apparently it takes 5 working days to refund the money.

I am glad that you are getting a refund but like a few others I am pretty surprised that you are taking children to a gym at 6am, especially since they have so many activities!!!

In answer to dc getting up at 6am, they are up at that time anyway in order to get to school. They go to two different schools miles apart in completely opposite directions. The way I was looking at it was that instead of running 3 baths per night which takes time and takes away from their down time in the evening and sometimes they get in so late that they just want to veg for 1/2 hour before bed instead they could have a shower in the morning at the gym instead. It would work out overall much quicker. They are also dc who have bags of energy. Dd has been up since 5am dancing in the living room to a music video.

No the gym is not LAF or VA. I would prefer not to say which one it is just incase I have got it wrong re the CC to cash information. I still cannot believe what they said about this as it is quite clearly not how to act when refunding money.
Personally I have spoken to a lot of employees at this club and when you ask a direct question I just get the impression that no one quite knows what is going on. Everything is very woolley and they are asking each other what happens in certain situations that they must have come across before.