I am having a problem with the Virgin Active gym chain over its cancellation policy, which has left me apparently owing £1,200. I called my club (Wandsworth) to end my membership last year when I moved out of London and cancelled my direct debit. The membership was way over the one-year contract period.

A few weeks later, in July 2015, Virgin Active called me to say I hadn’t paid my membership fee. I told the representative I had cancelled, but that I would probably want to rejoin, so we discussed the possibility of suspending the membership instead. A staff member told me he would get back to me if there were any issues. It was all very amicable so when nobody called me back, I assumed it was sorted and forgot about it.

I am now settled in a different area and decided to rejoin Virgin Active. I went to my local club to sign the contract. But when I tried to use the gym a day later I was told my membership had been suspended because of a debt at another club and that I would not be able to come in.

I called customer services who told me that my membership had been running without being cancelled or suspended, and that I now owed in the region of £1,200. I was told that they could see on the system that I had a conversation in July 2015 and someone would call me back. As I was becoming distressed, I asked them to cancel my new membership and send me email confirmation that this had been done.

I’m now worried they will try to pursue me for a large sum of money and that it might be difficult to reach a resolution given their poor communication. TL, Northampton

Your letter highlights a crucial issue with gym memberships. Many people assume, not unreasonably, that cancelling a payment by direct debit after the end of a minimum membership period effectively ends that membership. But gym companies insist that you remain a paying member until you formally cancel your contract as well as your direct debit.

Indeed, this is the line that Virgin Active took, telling us that members also need to provide a month’s notice directly to their club. It said because you had not cancelled your membership for June you were required to pay the outstanding balance for that month, which was never done. But it has admitted that you asked for your membership to be frozen, yet this was not implemented.

The good news is that you will no longer be chased for the £1,200. A spokesperson for Virgin Active said: “We have a clear policy on freezing and cancelling memberships: members on flexible monthly packages are able to cancel their membership at any point, as can members who have completed their 12-month initial contract. In this instance, TL cancelled his direct debit with his bank rather than informing the club that he wished to cancel his membership. This is why TL’s membership remained active. Following this, he decided to keep his membership active but requested a membership freeze. Due to human error this was mistakenly not implemented … We are pleased the matter has now been resolved.”

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