Fitness Centres, Yoga Studios, and Other “Continuing Service Contracts”

This script discusses future performance contracts, fitness club memberships, and other similar contracts. It also explains how you can cancel if you want to back out. Then it discusses time-shares and time-share contracts.

What is a future performance contract?

An agreement where you don’t receive the goods or services immediately, or you don’t pay in full upfront, is a future performance contract under the Business Practices & Consumer Protection Act. Examples include a contract for home repairs and a contract to join a fitness club. But contracts under $50 are not included.

What a future performance contract must include

The Business Practices & Consumer Protection Act lists all the information the contract must include. It must be in writing and you must have signed it. And it must include:

• The supply date.
• The date when the supply of the goods or services will be complete.
• The name, address and telephone number of the seller.
• A description of the goods or services.
• The costs, including taxes and shipping charges, plus the total price.
• A detailed statement of the payment terms.

Cancelling a future performance contract

You must be given a copy of the contract within 15 days after you sign it. If the copy you get doesn’t have all the things that the Business Practices & Consumer Protection Act requires, then you have up to a year to cancel it. Consumer Protection BC has information and cancellation forms to complete and send to the business.

Continuing services contracts

With a continuing services contract, you receive services over a set time, not all at once. It is limited to dance lessons, personal training (like boot-camp), weight-loss programs, self-defense lessons, gym memberships, and travel-club memberships. A continuing services contract cannot be for more than 24 months.

Cancelling a continuing services contract

In the first 10 days—you have up to 10 days to cancel a contract after you sign it and get a copy of it. In fact, the contract has to say that you have this right to cancel any time within the first 10 days.

Partway through a contract—you can cancel a continuing services contract if there’s been a material (significant) change in the services that the seller was going to provide or in your personal situation. For example, you signed up for tango lessons and the seller now offers only tap-dancing classes. Or the seller moved their dance studio. Or you moved more than 30 kilometers away and the business can’t provide the same service in your new location. Or you signed up for boot-camp but broke your leg. In each case, you would have to show what the material change was (for example, proof of your new address or medical documentation explaining why you can no longer participate in the activity).

If you cancel because of a significant change in your personal situation, you can get a pro-rated refund based on how much of the service you’ve used, minus 30% to cover the seller’s costs. If you cancel because the seller’s services changed, you can get a pro-rata refund without any deduction.

Consumer Protection BC has information and cancellation forms to complete and send to the business.

Direct sales contracts

A direct sales contract is one that is signed at a place other than the seller’s permanent place of business, for example, at your home. But if you invite a supplier into your home more than 24 hours ahead, then any contract you sign with that supplier is not a direct sales contract. There’s a limit to the down-payment a seller can require in a direct sales contract. For example, a door-to-door salesperson who comes to your home and sells you a vacuum cleaner cannot ask for a down-payment of more than $100 or 10% of the purchase price, whichever is less.

What a direct sales contract must include

The Business Practices & Consumer Protection Act lists all the information the contract must include. It must be in writing and you must have signed it. And it must include:

• The supply date.
• The place where the contract was signed.
• The name, address and telephone number of the seller.
• A description of the goods or services.
• The costs, including taxes and shipping charges, plus the total price.
• A detailed statement of the payment terms.

Cancelling a direct sales contract

In the first 10 days—you have up to 10 days to cancel the contract after you sign it and get a copy of it. In fact, the contract has to say that you have this right to cancel any time within the first 10 days.

If a contract lacks a required part—if the direct sales contract you sign have all the things that the Business Practices & Consumer Protection Act requires, then you have up to a year to cancel it.

If you don’t receive the goods or services—if you don’t receive the goods or services within 30 days of signing the contract, you have up to a year to cancel. So if you don’t receive the promised vacuum cleaner within 30 days, then you have up to one year to cancel, as long as you don’t accept the goods or services later.

Cancel in writing

It’s best to cancel a contract in writing—by email, fax, or registered mail. Or you can deliver a cancellation notice (the links for forms are in each section above) to the seller. Keep a copy of your written cancellation and proof that you delivered it within the allowed time.

Will you get your money back?

If you cancel a continuing services contract or a direct sales contract within 10 days, you are supposed to get a full refund within 15 days after cancelling—even if you’ve already received the goods or started using the service. Once you’ve received your money back, you must return the goods.

What happens if the seller doesn’t give you a refund?

If you try to cancel a future performance contract, including a continuing services contract, or a direct sales contract, and you don’t get a refund, contact Consumer Protection BC for more information and possible next steps.

What is a time-share?

A time-share is a legitimate form of owning an interest in property. Often, the time-share is for one week at a vacation resort. Typically, you go to a presentation, tour a condo unit, and then sign a contract. But before you sign anything, make sure the deal is right for you. And don’t sign a contract unless you understand it completely.

Can you cancel a time-share contract?

BC’s Real Estate Development Marketing Act says that if you make the contract in BC, and later decide you acted too quickly, you can back out of the contract if you cancel within seven days. This applies whether the time-share relates to property in or outside of BC. But—and this is very important—if you sign a deal outside of BC, say in Mexico for a Mexican time-share, BC’s Real Estate Development Marketing Act does not apply. Instead, the law of the country where you signed the deal applies.

More information

• Check with Consumer Protection BC or call them at 1.888.564.9963.
• Check sellers with the lower mainland Better Business Bureau (604.682.2711) or the Vancouver Island office (250.386.6348). Check the Business Practices & Consumer Protection Act (also available at law libraries).

[updated April 2015]

---

---