Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about changes to gym membership fees implemented by the Council and its failure to properly publicise them. This is because no useful outcome is likely to be achieved as a result of an investigation by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr B, says the Council, without sufficient publicity, introduced new fees and terms and conditions at the gym he attended. These require existing members to cancel their old memberships and sign up for a further year and he says this is unfair and discriminates against longer term members.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. In considering the complaint I spoke to Mr B and reviewed the information he provided, including the Council’s response to his complaint. I gave Mr B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

4. Mr B and his wife were members of a gym, the management of which the Council took over in 2018.
5. In March 2019 Mr B became aware that he and his wife were being charged £7.50 more a month than at other Council gyms. On enquiring about this he was advised that charges were being reviewed and in October changes were introduced.
6. Mr B expected to be moved automatically to the new, lower tariff but instead his payment remained the same. Dissatisfied with how the Council had dealt with the changes, and with its lack of publicity about them, Mr B complained to the Council at the beginning of November.
7. The Council responded by stating that it had been making gym users aware of the changes by means of posters, TV screens signposting to its website, pricing guides and staff communication. It explained that it was up to existing customers to decide whether to cancel their existing membership and rejoin under the new terms and conditions or to remain on their old contract.
8. It told Mr B that some customers preferred to keep their old membership terms and conditions with the higher price for a variety of reasons. It gave examples including, not being eligible for the new concession membership and having a joint or family membership which the Council did not sell anymore but would honour. The Council noted that another key factor for many members not changing memberships was that they would have to sign up for a further 12 months when existing members could cancel with only 30 days’ notice.
9. Unhappy with the situation, Mr B and his wife decided to cancel their membership altogether and have not taken out a new contract.

Assessment

10. I understand Mr B was upset that to avail themselves of the new, lower fee, he and his wife would have had to have cancelled their old membership and sign up under the new terms and conditions and the 12-month agreement. However, this is not evidence of fault by the Council and it was up to Mr and Mrs B to decide what to do.
11. Mr B clearly felt the Council provided insufficient information and publicity about the fee and contract changes and has said he was concerned for other gym users. However, he was aware of the changes and so was able to make his decision based on them.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because no useful outcome is likely to be achieved as a result of an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman