Help Needed

This is a trivial matter, but it bugs me so I'm hoping someone on here can help me out.

I'm a member at a gym. I don't use the gym that much but I do take my two children swimming there most weeks.

My kids aren't members, I buy guest day passes in advance that works out a bit cheaper than full membership or paying on the door.

You can buy adult passes or kids passes. Adult day passes are £6 and kids day passes £4. But for some reason they let two kids in on one ADULT guest pass so obviously it makes sense for me to buy adult passes.

Just before Christmas they had a special offer on where if you bought 25 day passes you got 25 free. Bargain. So I bought 25 adult passes thinking that would cover my two kids swimming every week for almost a year.

Anyway, this week the gym has decided to change their rules and from 1st April kids must use kids passes, they will no longer let two kids in on one adult pass. I have no problem with that, but what bugs me is they will not honour the passes already purchased.

In other words, after 1st April they will only let one of my kids in on one of the adult passes I purchased at Christmas.

To me this is like buying a £10 HMV voucher and then being told it's only worth £5 a few weeks later.

Is the gym breaking any laws by not honouring the passes I bough prior to their rule change?

p.s. I told you it was trivial!

Unfortunately i think that the gym is entitled to change their policy on "2 kids getting in on one adult pass" as it's an internal policy and not part of the contract you effectively sign with them when purchasing the passes.
That said, I think that if the practice was in widespread use, it's a bit naughty of them to "close the loophole" without flagging the intention up when they promoted their offer so I think that if you are reasonable about it they would perhaps come to some arrangement in the interests of customer service.

I'd imagine, unless it states on the passes you bought about letting 2 children in with the pass then you may not have a leg to stand on as it's an actual adult pass and not a childrens one, if that makes sense.

I would defiantly argue against it as you may get lucky but with them changing the Ts and Cs it will be tricky, too me though it sounds like they knew exactly what they were doing by getting people to buy all these passes then suddenly changing it a couple of months later.

Passi, you need to ask for a copy of their terms and conditions of sale, which must be available to the public.

If they can't either supply you with a printed copy or direct you to an electronic copy, or they do supply a copy and there is no mention of this, their terms are unenforceable and you should advise them you are going to submit a claim in the Small Claims track of your local county court for whatever the passes cost you + 8% per annum + costs.

If they do not back down, put this in writing, giving them 14 days to respond. If they do not respond, or respond negatively, give them another 14 days and then submit your claim online.

If they haven't got advertised terms and conditions of sale, or maybe even if they have, you might still be able to take action under the unfair terms in consumer contracts act... then a county court judge would laugh his ass off at them. Their head office would end up settling.

Even if you're not comfortable with suing them, If you just threaten them as above in a letter.... they will back down.

Thanks for your answers, especially yours Largehat.

I've read their standard terms and conditions and there is not even a mention of guest passes. I will ask them tomorrow if they have specific guest passes T&C's, but I doubt very much they will have.

I don't want to go down the route of suing them, but if the law is on my side it's easier to shout at the manager!

Yeah, if you feel it's going down that route, register and post a new topic at www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk

Absolutely brilliant site for stuff like this, there are people who will provide free expert advice and provide template letters and so on if you get to that stage.

Passi - you are bright - cancel your membership and use the adult passes for yourself for the next x amount of weeks?

Maybe.

But he already said he hardly goes himself, and his kids are still going to want to go.

largehat wrote:Yeah, if you feel it's going down that route, register and post a new topic at www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk

Absolutely brilliant site for stuff like this, there are people who will provide free expert advice and provide template letters and so on if you get to that stage.

Wow, that's a great site Largehat, thanks. Makes my guest passes problem even more trivial when you read some of the things other people are facing, but I can't help but read them! That's my evening sorted anyway.

Suggest you phone your local councils Trading Standards Office - they will tell you what your rights are.

Bollock's to all that, Just ring the A- TEAM, BA will sort it for you.

largehat wrote:But he already said he hardly goes himself, and his kids are still going to want to go.

Yes so if he hardly goes he may as well not pay a monthly membership... and just use the passes when he does go. And in turn by cheaper kids passes for the kids.

I think most companies are allowed to change T&C's and give only 28 days notice. That does seem to be standard with most contracts.

jayjay23 wrote:

largehat wrote:But he already said he hardly goes himself, and his kids are still going to want to go.

Yes so if he hardly goes he may as well not pay a monthly membership... and just use the passes when he does go. And in turn by cheaper kids passes for the kids.

So let himself be shafted then.

largehat wrote:

jayjay23 wrote:

largehat wrote:But he already said he hardly goes himself, and his kids are still going to want to go.

Yes so if he hardly goes he may as well not pay a monthly membership... and just use the passes when he does go. And in turn by cheaper kids passes for the kids.

So let himself be shafted then.

Oh yeah.
I overlooked that.

Tell them you expect them to honour your purchase as a gesture of goodwill or they can expect a cancellation from a (long-standing) member... Most companies will do you this courtesy. If they literally can't accept the passes as payment for 2 kids then ask them to exchange the adult passes for double the number of official kids passes. It will cost them nothing to do that...