CAN THEY CHARGE ME?

I had a 12-month contract with a gym for which I authorised them to withdraw P550 through bank direct debit.

My contract just ended on 28th February. Beginning of February, I went to fill in termination forms that I will not be continuing.

A week after that, someone called me saying they would like to offer me a monthly subscription at half price for March and April. I told them that I had no time to go to the gym and that I have been paying without going just because I was on contract. The person on the phone said that it was not a contract but just a discount offer. Then I said ok. My understanding was that if I wanted to continue they would charge me at half price for the next two months.

I didn’t know that they would proceed to debit P225 from my bank in March even when I did not go back to them to sign for it. Now they are saying I agreed to the discount on the phone and they would not refund me.

Kindly explain where I am wrong.

I’m not an attorney but I know one thing about the law. Once an agreement is in writing, then that’s all there is to the agreement. If you filled in forms cancelling your membership then I think you can argue that the deal is definitely over. However, that doesn’t alter the fact that they’re taking your money and they might have a recording of you agreeing to this new discounted deal.

I also know that Section 22 of the new Consumer Protection Act says that a consumer “may rescind a transaction resulting from any direct sale or mail order sale without reason or penalty … within 10 working days after the date on which … the transaction or contract between the supplier and consumer was concluded”. The question is whether the phone call they made to sell you the discounted deal was a “direct sale”. I think it was.

I suggest that you call the gym and explain the law to them and tell them very clearly that you’re no longer interested and that they do not have your authority to take your money.