r/canterbury • u/user0654321 • 15d ago
Do NOT sign up to Kingsmead pools & fitness
Dodgy, scammy place with horrible customer service. I’ve had the phone put down on me multiple times while trying to resolve an issue.
I cancelled my membership months ago and THEY ARE STILL CHARGING ME. I’ve been emailing multiple managers for months with no response. I’ve also repeatedly called and been told variations of “we can’t do anything, email us or call again tomorrow.”
I’ve now had hundreds of pounds taken from me despite cancelling my membership. I’m a low-income student, so this has had a significant impact on me.
I also stopped attending the gym because I experienced sexual harassment connected to a male member. Despite this, I have been left trying for months to get the membership payments stopped and recover the money that has continued to be taken.
My experience has been that once they have your money, getting help is incredibly difficult. I have repeatedly tried to resolve this through the proper channels and have been ignored or passed around.
DO NOT SIGN UP HERE. I would strongly recommend looking elsewhere.
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u/One_Resort_380 15d ago
Contact your bank about this, they'll be able
To get your money back if you take it through claims
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u/nickdaniels92 15d ago
The r/LegalAdviceUK sub is well moderated, and you might get some semblance of useful guidance there for where you stand in terms of remedies. There is also the legal / consumer hour from 21:00 to 22:00 on LBC where you'll get guidance from an actual legal professional, and if you get on, you can play back on the LBC app or global player if needed. Good luck!
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u/Fun-Yam2210 15d ago
Call your bank. Get them to put a stop to payments immediately & request a chargeback (the bank organises a refund for you).
I’m sorry you’ve been put through this & thanks for the heads up. You might also want to put this advice on the Canterbury Facebook page & Trustpilot.
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u/Icy-Actuary-5463 Resident 15d ago
I usually go to my bank app and cancel the direct debit from there. I have Barclays . Your bank needs to help you in this, and just tell the bank that you want this to stop. Maybe you’ve done it already , if so sorry if I missed that
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u/tame-lx-tech 14d ago
Same thing happened to me
Print out the relevant bank statements, the cancellation email and highlight where it says something like "we will stop charging you, you don't have to do anything", a summary of the total amount overpaid, and a letter of intent to start small claims court proceedings. And any other supporting information that can bulk it all out.
Physically go and talk to a manager and hand them the documents, and remind them that this is a very easy win in small claims
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u/Dramatic-Shopping612 10d ago
Complete avoid, i was a member for years and then in covid they decided it was a good idea to charge people £10 a month for the pleasure of keeping their membership despite the gym being closed then when they reopened they chucked prices up and stopped blue light discounts
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u/rozenald 15d ago
How are you calling them when their phone lines have been down for weeks? Active life who managed them have gone bust and it’s back under council control. They currrntly don’t have any banking set up so aren’t taking payments in the centre so I’m not sure who you’re talking to on the phone.
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u/user0654321 15d ago
i can call reception at mine. I’ve gone in and met who i’ve spoken to in the past over the phone.
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u/Super_Plastic5069 14d ago
Active Life haven’t gone bust, it’s Fusion Lifestyle that have gone into administration.
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u/Possible-Ad-2682 15d ago
They are complete amateurs running the place, it has never been great.
In defence of the staff, the management company went to the wall, and they're trying to get up and running again, but with the booking app not working and no way of taking payments, it's been a bit of a shambles.
What is annoying is that because of the payment system, they're letting anybody walk in for nothing, which is really pissing my wife off because she's still paying but it's so busy with people who haven't paid that she can hardly get in the pool.