Virgin Active – Failure to Refund Despite Contract Cancellation

Virgin Active – Failure to Refund Despite Contract Cancellation

During October 2025, my mother was misled by a sales consultant at Virgin Active Rooihuiskraal into signing a membership contract based on incorrect and misleading information. A formal complaint was submitted to Virgin Active, after which they acknowledged the issue and agreed to cancel the contract.

We were specifically advised by Virgin Active not to cancel the December 2025 debit order, as they confirmed that my mother would be refunded for December.

However, when my mother checked her bank statement, Virgin Active had:

Deducted the December monthly levy, and

Deducted an additional amount of R876.

Despite weeks of follow-ups, no refund has been paid. Every enquiry is met with a different excuse as to why the refund has not yet been processed. There is no accountability and no sense of urgency.

This situation is extremely unprofessional and unacceptable, particularly given that:

Virgin Active admitted fault and cancelled the contract;

The deductions should never have occurred; and

My mother is an elderly pensioner, now forced to repeatedly chase her own money back — just before Christmas.

It is deeply concerning that a large corporate such as Virgin Active would allow an elderly customer to struggle for weeks to recover money that should have been refunded without question.

Virgin Active’s handling of this matter reflects very poorly on the brand and its treatment of vulnerable consumers.