Rondebosch Zone Fitness dishonest in selling memberships

<p> My son's gym membership expired 31 July. He was convinced by the Rondebosch branch to renew his membership a bit early, being told that the price would increase if he waited until August to renew.</p> <p>On the 1st August the amount for the new membership was debited off his account. On the 2nd August he received an sms, informing him that Rondebosch will be closed for 3 months from end August, to re-open at an as yet undisclosed location. For those 3 months he can use any other branch of the gym. This information was never disclosed to him on the 18th July when the salesperson convinced him to renew.</p> <p> </p> <p>My son is a student, lives in Rondebosch, has no transport, and therefore cannot get to any other branch of Zone Fitness. I contacted the Rondebosch branch on Thursday 3rd August, requesting them to cancel his contract and refund him fully. Their response was that he had a 5-day cooling off period, and since this was after that period, he could not cancel nor expect a refund. The best they could offer was to transfer or freeze his contract for that 3 month period.</p> <p>Information was withheld from him when he was convinced to renew his contract. Had he known that they would be closing , he would have either joined another gym, or waited until after the renovation period to join this gym, should their new location still be within walking distance for him.</p> <p>I spoke to Solly, manager at the Rondebosch branch on 3 August. He promised to phone me on Friday 4th August. No phone call. I then phoned Solly again on Monday 7th August at 12.30. He promised to respond by 2.30, no phone call. I then sent messages on their website, twitter and FB. They sent me a message promising to resolve it, but all I got was a phone call from Solly today, again telling me that the 5-day cooling off period is past, therefore my son cannot get a refund nor can he cancel. They keep promising to get back to me, but I have had no joy.</p> <p> </p>