Cancelling gym membership

[Naddd]

Hi

I cancelled my monthly jd membership by cancelling the direct debit.
I have today received a text message saying I owe money because I didn't give the required notice.
However their own t&c's say I can end the contract by cancelling the direct debit
Have I messed up?

Depends if you signed a year's contract and then cancelled 6 months in or not.

A bit confusing with 11.1.1 and 11.1.2 as there should be an "or" after 11.1.1.

Point them back to clause 11.1.2 as, providing you are a monthly member, you can just terminate the DD.

Ref 10.3
What are the acceptable reasons for cancellation covered elsewhere in paragraph 7?

You first need to comply with a reason for cancellation and then you can cancel via these methods.

I'm not sure on this because they seem to contradict themselves by requesting you give them 30 days notice to cancel and then saying you yourself can cancel immediately by cancelling the direct debit.

What does paragraph 7 say about reasons for cancelling?

At our club you give 30 days notice. So if you wanted it to end at end of December you would give notice and after 1st December direct debit has gone out it would be cancelled. You’d still be able to use gym until the end of the month. If you cancelled direct debit yourself you’d owe the 30 days notice. (Think that made sense 😵‍💫)

It's a monthly membership

It doesn't say anything about having to give 30 days notice just that it would be helpful to do so

7 doesn't even refer to cancelling

1. GYM CLOSURES

7.1 If any individual gyms are forced to close for a prolonged period of time for any reason (“Closure Period”), then: 7.1.1 we shall be entitled to immediately suspend our provision of gym and/or membership services to you for the duration of the Closure Period; and 7.1.2 we may freeze your membership and suspend all collections of your payments to us for the duration of the Closure Period. 7.1.3 We reserve the right to offer access to nearby clubs as an alternative to freezing

Unless within the stated cooling off period of 14 days, cancelling the Direct Debit just cancels your method of payment, and does not form any legal cancellation of the contract, product or service.
You should and would need to actively cancel by putting it in writing.

I would just email or write a letter requesting to cancel the contract, saying that you're currently experiencing financial difficulty and that your gym payments are having an adverse effect on your current situation.
Even if you are subject to a contract, saying that you're in financial difficulty by continuing with the contract will normally be enough for them to release you of such contract, as it would look bad on them to enforce the contract knowing that you are struggling financially.

@Naddd I agree that it doesn’t say that anywhere, it’s not very clear

It's actually ridiculous if you can't end your membership without giving notice then why does the contract say you can end it by just cancelling it?

Do you have a link to that contract? i.e, something that can be scrutinized without typing it myself...

There's SO much you could pick apart with this contract. As roses2 said, as long as you comply with 11.1.2. That on its own is enough!

I presume the 'reasons' in clause 7 are those I found on this Reddit page:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UKPersonalFinance/comments/19782gv/cancelling_a_direct_debit_for_jd_gyms/

...so if they want a reason, just say pregnant! They can't prove otherwise.

But another issue is that ALL contracts have to be CLEAR ("Certainty of terms"). This contract has SO many contradictions. As long as you comply with one of the terms, even if another is contradictory, you're set.

As long as you are outside any fixed term, it looks to me like you can cancel by cancelling the DD.

Interestingly I had a contract for an outdoor bootcamp and it specifically said you couldn't cancel by just cancelling the DD, even if you were out of contract. So I had to email the guy who ran it.

But another time some years ago I cancelled a direct debit and the gym got narky (I was out of fixed term contract but they said I had to give them notice as well but eventually once I said they could see very clearly I hadn't used the gym since I cancelled the DD, they left me alone).

The new rules about subscriptions can't come in soon enough but they don't begin until 2026, and then only for new contracts :(

Then you're all good. The contract is clear that for a monthly member, cancelling the DD is an acceptable way to terminate the contract.

This might be something Blackbelt Barrister had to deal with himself... It really rings a bell how wonky some of these companies are.

It's honestly disgusting. I rung the gym and the lady insisted you have to give 30 days notice.When I said then why is access revoked she said you have to ring to be let in! Which contradicts their own t&c's. I then messaged the gym with a screenshot of the t&c's(I couldn't bloody find them when I was on the phone) n they've said they use an outside company to handle the dd's n it is them that send these texts n emails n too ignore them

https://www.jdgyms.co.uk/terms/#:~:text=Please%20read%20the%20full,Terms%20and%20Conditions%20HERE

It literally says in the contract that you can cancel the membership by cancelling the direct debit if you are a monthly member.

OP. I'd reply back to the email and refer them to their own cancellation policy and tell them you don't owe them any money and you now consider this matter closed.

Yeah, to me it also appears clear that all you needed to do to end your monthly contact, according to the terms, was cancel the DD at your end before it was time for the next payment to be taken. You did that - no notice period required.

Yes do this.

So my membership jd gym DD is paid monthly on the 13th, I have cancelled my direct debit today on the 4th. This means there is six working days Until my normal payment date.

Should I contact my bank? my request has gone through in time?

It should be fine. Just be prepared for lots of contact from their dd provider
You do NOT have to give them any notice.
I rang the gym and the lady basically lied saying you have to give 30 days notice. You don't. Unless it was a contract you took out which I don't think they even offer