Stuck, Confused and Irritated

Late November, i decided to head back to the gym and get ahead of the people who flood to gyms in january. So i picked up the phone to make an appointment with a salesperson and check what documents i would need to bring along. at this point i was told that i cannot get a new membership as my account is in arrears.

My account in arrears? that couldn't be.

So i follow up with sales, turns out that they cannot help me and instead, refer me to the call centre. Contacting the call centre was simple, and we begin to delve into these 'arrears'. See my issue with the arrears allegation is that when i left Virgin Active in 2016, i specifically inquired as to how much i need to pay in order for us to have a clean parting. i was given a sum which i paid immediately at Virgin Active Hazeldean and that was that.

So how do i end up in arrears in late 2017/early 2018? How do i go from owing nothing to owing several thousands seemingly overnight? I didn't. My father, on the other hand, apparently never finished paying off a membership that he got for me in 2006 when i was in high school. When i was a minor. Since he owes Virgin Active money, I cannot be a member.

However, in the 12 years in between, i have had 3 seperate memberships with Virgin Active. All of them in my own capacity, all of them paid on time and in full, and there had never been a mention of arrears, yet, i cannot rejoin. I asked why that is so and i was told that the case was being handed over to their collections agency. Fair enough, would the debt collectors be attempting to collect the money from me? i was told not. So clearly, i am not the person who owes anyone money.

After several phone calls and many a conversation, i eventually get my point across and i get an email that says that i may go sign up and that the matter would be taken of. So that's what i do... only to have to have the same conversation at the gym as i have been having on the phone.

Eventually, that gets sorted out with another call to the call centre, i sign up, register, pay and leave. Two days later i get a phone call from the salesperson saying that i cannot be signed up on their systems as their software still shows me as being in arrears and we can't move forward as things stand. and thats where we are. At an impasse.

I asked for the original contract document to see where it is that i signed and where i accepted liability for the payments (which i couldn't have because i was a minor), obviously that was not produced. I asked for an explanation as to why i'm suddenly "in debt", i was told that there was a change in policy in 2016. so at this moment, i am feeling like i'm being *********ed. i must either pay debt that i didn't commit too (after having satisfied my own commitments) or not be a member. As a client acting in good faith, this doesn't seem just to me

Regards M. Kgobe