Virgin Active South Africa - No way out

I have had a Virgin Active membership for about a year and a half now, and the establishment's customer service experience, as well as the legality with which it manages its contracts, is both horrific and unsettling. During the span of my membership I have experienced two significant monthly fee hikes, about which I enquired at my home club in Potchefstroom. I was told that the price of my membership would automatically increase as I age, and given that aging is unavoidable, it seemed I was in for a few sly price hikes in the future. I continued to pay the monthly fee until November 2023, when I realised just how useless this uber-expensive "investment" had become. At the signing of my contract in July of 2022 I was told that I could not exercise at any club other than my home club, which explained the initial affordability. I was told by a so-called "service ambassador" that I could temporarily change home clubs, for a small fee of course. The customer experience ambassador I spoke to in November of 2023 quite matter of factly told me that someone, either at her own head offices in Claremont or my home club in Potchefstroom, had changed my contract from a club membership to a "youth premier membership". This had in fact allowed me access to all clubs nationwide. She further cited this change as the reason for the two monthly fee increases. She apologized profusely and offered me three months 50% discounted fee "for my troubles". Yet, the full monthly amount was deducted from my account on 1 December 2023. Since, I have received conflicting information from Virgin Active representatives at both clubs and the head office. Some employees say that my contract has remained unchanged since first signing it while others agree with the alternative version of events. What remains fact is this: if the terms and conditions of original contract had been amended, a simple notification does not legally suffice. Nothing about a contract may be changed without either of the parties' consent, and whether this included the inclusion of terms and conditions that were improperly presented (and therefore *******) or the upgrade to a new membership does not change that it remains, in fact, *******. Thus, Virgin Active not only breached the terms of my contract with their company, but offers abominable service along the way which includes: customer service representatives from headquarters hanging up the phone in your ear about nine times in a row, doing the same to wonderfully helpful club employees, not answering emails and dismissing your concerns with rude and hostile responses. The only reason I gave this establishment one star, is because one has to award at least one to write a review. The only thing I exercised at Virgin Active was my patience.