Virgin Active Sales Representatives making customer sign contracts under FALSE PRETENSES

We joined Virgin Active at the Loftes Club in March 2018 and my boyfriend on October 2018 on the Young Adult Package. I was aged 24 and he was age 25. The Sales Representatives told us it is a two year contract where you will pay R499.00 for the two years every month. I explicitly asked if we will then gym for R499.00 per month until we turn 27 years and they did confirm to me and said YES. They were very adamant on making us sign while we are still 25 years of age as I understood this was one of the requirements. On the evening of 1 April 2019, my boyfriend received a debit order notice that Virgin Active has deducted R890.00 of his account instead of the signed amount of R490.00. When we enquired about this the reception said because he turned 26 years the contract has now lapsed and he is on a normal contract now and she suggested we sort it out with the signing club. I then called Sales Representative on 2 April 2019 to ask and he said no he did inform us and that’s how the contract works. After telling him various times this was not the case we concluded the conversation as he is not will to assist any further. In the conversation I asked him why would we sign a 2 year contract if we knew that the contract will laps in 4 months’ time?! He had no answer. After zero effort and help from Sales Representative, I contacted Virgin Active Head Office and they suggested I should contact the Club Sales Manager and the Club Manager to try and resolve the matter. When I contacted the Club Sales Manager on 2 April 2019 to inform him of the situation, he bluntly rep**** the Sales person should have informed you of the clause and he will talk to them but that’s just how it is. He said the only option is then to downgrade to a cheaper plan but that will still be more than R499.00 per month. When I said we can’t afford a more expensive option he rep**** then you can cancel by paying 40% of the remaining membership fees of the contract. I then tried to contact Club Manager without success and decided to go to the gym personally together with my boyfriend in the opening hours of 3 April 2019. After discussing the situation with the Club Manager she merely said we should read the contract and she can’t help. We asked her to please point out where in the contact this was stated. Under point 14 in the contact it said “Note, when you no longer qualify for the above membership types, your membership will automatically continue at the prevailing rate for the next qualifying age bracket or at the prevailing public rate for your Home Club and membership type, as applicable..” When we said to the Club Manager they never informed us that you no longer quality for the contract when you turn 26 years and why would you sign a contract that will only be valid for 4 months – she only rep**** we cannot expect the Sales representative to inform us of all the details. I then contacted Virgin Active Head office and they only said the will escalate the matter and give us feedback by Friday 5 April 2019 – with what other membership options we can choose from.

According to me this is one of the most important clauses in the contract? How can you not be informed of this? No one ever told us you will no longer qualify when you turn 26 years – they only told us you must sign while you are 25 years of age. To make matters worse – only my boyfriend received a contract, I never received her copy of the contract. We feel we have been lured into this contract under false pretenses and with them not giving us all the important facts – AFTER I explicitly asked if this means we will pay R499.00 until we are 27 years and them saying YES! No one informed us that the contract conditions are now expiring in April 2019 for him and you will continue on a normal contract – NO money just gets deducted of your account without your consent. For me it is unacceptable for Virgin Active to just say the sales representative should have told you about this clause and we can’t do anything to help. The bluntly **** to us then when we asked if we will be paying R499.00 until we are 27 years just to make a sale!

After taking the matter to head office further, they simple said they can’t assist as it is the Sales Representatives word against ours, they can only assist with a down grade and as a gesture of good will if we want to cancel they will only charge us 20% of the remaining membership fees instead of 40% as a cancellation fee.

Their customer service and the lies they tell for you to sign a contract is ridicules!! They only want money – don’t care at all about the customer!