Formal compliant against Virgin Active.

I am writing to express my formal complaint against Virgin Active regarding a gym membership contract that I was allegedly signed up for on 27 February 2025. I was approached by a Virgin Active staff member who presented the benefits of joining the gym, and I expressed my interest in joining. However, I informed the staff member that I am a student with limited financial resources.

The staff member assured me that the monthly fee would be R200, which I agreed to. I provided my personal and banking details, and the staff member showed me a settlement agreement on their cellphone screen reflecting the R200 monthly fee.

However, I was surprised to receive a message from Virgin Active within 7 days stating that I owed R650, which I did not expect. I attempted to contact Virgin Active for 2 months, but my calls were largely ignored. On one occasion, a representative answered and spoke to me in a rude and unprofessional manner.

Despite my lack of payment, Virgin Active deducted R650 and then R967 from my account. Today, I received a call from a Virgin Active representative informing me that I had signed up for a promotion with a membership fee of R199 and 3 months of R200 payments, in addition to the company's initial fee of R650.

I requested to cancel my account, but I was informed that I would need to pay a cancellation fee of R3500 and an outstanding fee of R1600. As a 19-year-old student with no income, I am unable to afford these fees.