Review of Virgin Active – Unfair Account Handling

I am extremely frustrated with how Virgin Active has handled my account. In 2022, I phoned the call centre to request that my account be closed or de-registered. The consultant I spoke to assured me that this could be done for me. At no point was I informed that there were any closing fees or further requirements to ensure that my account was properly closed.

In 2023, when I wanted to reactivate my membership, I was shocked to discover that I supposedly had an outstanding balance of R10,000. I went to the Houghton Old Eds Virgin Active branch to query this because it made no sense. Now in September 2025 I am being told that this balance has grown to R15,000.

I find this unacceptable. Virgin Active claims that they attempted to contact me regarding the account, but I have not had a single conversation with any consultant about an outstanding balance. I have received no calls or communication that made me aware that my account was still open and accumulating fees. If there had been consistent and clear communication, I would never have allowed the amount to get to this point.

For a long period after my initial call in 2022 I did not receive any debit order notifications from Virgin Active, which to me confirmed that my account had been closed. It is unfair for Virgin Active to now hold me liable for R15,000 when they failed to do their due diligence in keeping me informed about the status of my account.

To make matters worse, I have recently been informed that my monthly payments have increased, yet once again this was never communicated to me at any point by phone or in writing.

It is unfair that Virgin Active allows debt to build up without proper communication. It is equally unfair that membership benefits and costs can be changed without customers being informed. I would like Virgin Active to advise me on how to move forward with resolving this issue because as it stands, I do not believe this is a fair reflection of my responsibility as a customer.