Pilates, Yoga or F45 Studio Keeps Charging After You Cancelled? How to Stop the Debits and Get Them Back

You sent the cancellation email. You got a cheery “we’re sad to see you go!” reply. And then, a fortnight later, another $59 for reformer Pilates, $45 for hot yoga or $65 for F45 disappeared from your account. Then another. When you chased it, the studio owner said your “membership agreement” requires 30 days’ notice, that the notice has to go through a specific app, or that you’re “locked in” until the end of an 8-week challenge you finished months ago.

Boutique studios are worse than the big gym chains for this, because the person ignoring your emails is often the same person who set up the direct debit. There’s no head office to escalate to. But the law is identical, and it favours you.

Your rights

A studio membership is a standard-form consumer contract under the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010). The provisions that matter:

• Unfair contract terms (ss 23–28 ACL). A term is void if it causes a significant imbalance, isn’t reasonably necessary to protect the studio, and causes you detriment. “Cancellation only via our app”, 30-day notice periods that run from the studio’s acknowledgement rather than your notice, automatic rollovers after a challenge or intro offer, and exit fees that dwarf the studio’s real loss are all squarely in this category. Since November 2023, relying on an unfair term is itself a contravention with penalties.
• Misleading or deceptive conduct (s 18 ACL). If the front desk said “no lock-in, cancel any time” and the fine print says otherwise, you can hold them to what they told you.
• Unconscionable conduct (s 21 ACL). Continuing to debit after clear written notice, or deliberately obstructing cancellation, can be unconscionable.
• Due care and skill (s 60 ACL). Administering your membership and payments correctly is part of the service. Debiting money they know they’re not entitled to is not “due care”.
• The Banking Code of Practice. Your bank must act on your instruction to cancel a direct debit authority. It cannot tell you to “sort it out with the studio”.

Also: a cancellation takes effect when you give notice, not when the studio gets around to processing it. Every debit taken after your notice (plus any notice period that was actually disclosed and reasonable) is money they have no right to hold.

What to do right now

1. Find your original cancellation. The email, the app message, the DM to the studio’s Instagram. Screenshot it with the date visible. That date is when your membership ended.
2. Tally every debit since. Go through your bank statements and list each post-cancellation charge with its date and amount. That total is your refund figure.
3. Cancel the direct debit at your bank today. Call or use the app. Quote the Banking Code of Practice if they push back. Do this even if the studio says you “can’t”. If the payments go through a third-party biller (Ezidebit, Debitsuccess, PaySmart, Stripe), tell the bank that too.
4. Send a formal demand. One letter that confirms cancellation as at the date you gave notice, orders all debits to stop, demands refund of every post-cancellation debit to the original card, and rejects any exit fee imposed after your notice. Cite the sections above, give 14 days, and name the tribunal you’ll file in.
5. Escalate if they stall. State Fair Trading for conciliation, then your state’s tribunal or Magistrates Court (Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania use a court). Filing fees depend on your state, the forum and the amount, and you don’t need a lawyer.

The boutique-studio excuses, and why none of them work

• “You cancelled through the wrong channel.” Notice is notice. An email or message to the studio’s official account that clearly says you’re cancelling is effective. A term requiring one specific channel is exactly the kind of one-sided term ss 23–28 target.
• “You’re locked in for the 8-week challenge / 12-week transformation.” If the challenge ended and the debits kept going, the studio converted a fixed-term product into an open-ended subscription. Unless that rollover was clear and prominent when you signed up, it’s unfair and the post-challenge debits are refundable.
• “Our billing company handles that, not us.” The studio is the supplier. Ezidebit or Debitsuccess act on the studio’s instructions. The studio is responsible for telling them to stop, and liable when it doesn’t.
• “You signed the agreement.” You did. The ACL still applies to it, and void terms can’t be enforced no matter whose signature is on the page.
• “We’ll freeze your account instead.” A freeze is not a cancellation. Say no in writing.
• “There’s a $150 cancellation fee.” An exit fee has to reflect the studio’s genuine loss. A fee that appears only after you’ve cancelled, or that exceeds a fortnight or two of membership, is a penalty.

Who to complain to

Your state Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs office (NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria, Queensland OFT, Consumer Protection WA, CBS SA) for conciliation. If the studio or its franchisor is a member of AUSactive, complain there too. If your bank refused to cancel the direct debit, that’s a complaint to the bank and then AFCA. The ACCC collects reports on fitness cancellation practices and F45-style franchise chains are on its radar. For the money: your state’s tribunal or Magistrates Court (Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania use a court).

Put the cancellation in writing — $49

Stop reading. Start doing. Claim Done drafts a Gym Cancellation & Refund Demand that confirms your cancellation from the date you gave notice, orders every direct debit to stop, demands refund of each post-cancellation charge to your original card, and waives any exit fee they’ve tried to add since.

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