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Cancer victim Bronwen Davies wanted to suspend her gym contract. In court, she won a £164 refund – sparking a furious response from TV's Duncan Bannatyne
Dragons' Den star Duncan Bannatyne has been accused of behaving in a "vindictive and petty" way after he banned a nurse, who was recovering from cancer, from his health clubs – after she had the audacity to complain to Guardian Money about her treatment by his firm. Bronwen Davies successfully took Bannatyne Fitness to the small claims court, where she won a £164 refund and a similar amount in costs. But Bannatyne, in what looks like a fit of pique, is refusing to allow her to rejoin her local gym, despite several personal appeals. Instead, the multimillionaire entrepreneur, whose wealth is estimated to be £430m, has launched a ferocious Twitter campaign against the 60-year-old from Cardiff, describing her to his 440,000 followers as a "persistent liar" – a claim she says is "despicable and untrue".
Bannatyne's PR company was briefing the press this week that she was banned for being "disruptive", and he personally claimed it was because she had been rude to staff. However, just two days after her story appeared in Money, the company wrote to her saying she could no longer attend the club, but made no mention of any alleged disruptive behaviour....Read more here---> Dragons' Den star under fire over 'vindictive' gym ban | Money | The Guardian
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'Recieved a Post-card from his Gym, entitling me to a Free Month in November 2011 if i vist and sign up before the 16th November. But the card arrived on 18th November'
Not much incentive, but had to laugh, as that promo would've cost a fortune in markerting (as where did they get my address from in the first place), Posting (Mail service) to my address, and not get a member to register as it was out of date offer........
Sometimes i suppose we need to throw money away on marketing.....
Cavendish Elithorn, Senior Director of the OFT's Goods and Consumer Group, said: 'Millions of people are members of gyms and a membership contract can easily be a financial commitment of over £500 per annum. We were concerned that contracts could unfairly lock people in if their circumstances changed - forcing them to continue paying even if they had lost their job.
We welcome these changes from Bannatyne's, David Lloyd and Fitness First. As well as making contract terms clearer, the revised contracts also grant members, and prospective members, more flexibility. Meanwhile, we are continuing our investigation into some other companies in the sector and will provide an update in the coming weeks.'...Read more here: Source: OFT