Claim for refund of remaining amount following termination of fitness membership contract 게시글 상세보기 - 등록일, 조회수, 첨부파일, 상세내용, 이전글, 다음글 제공
Claim for refund of remaining amount following termination of fitness membership contract
Date
2020-06-24
Hit
1142
The petitioner concluded a 12-month fitness club membership with the respondent on June 24 2017 (membership valid from July 2 2017 to July 1 2018) and paid KRW 980,000 on June 25 that year. The petitioner started using the facility on July 2 that year, requested a pause on the membership for personal reasons on November 28 that year, resumed on January 3 2018 but later became no longer able to use it in March that year, with the last attendance on February 28 that year. The petitioner asked the respondent to terminate the contract that is the subject of this case and return the remaining membership fees, which the respondent rejected.
1.The petitioner(consumer)
The petitioner asked the respondent for the termination of the contract and the refund of the fees on January 27 2018 with the last attendance on February 28 that year. Thus, the petitioner claimed the refund of the remaining membership fees after the actual use of the membership through to February 28 that year, save for the period in which the membership was on pause, from November 28 2017 to January 30 2018.
2.The respondent(business operator)
The respondent claimed that the petitioner heard of and agreed to the terms and conditions in the contract and offered benefits such as access to the sauna facilities and having the membership on pause, hence unable to accept the petitioner’s request.
Below are the provisions related to refunds in the contract:
1) For refunds, deductions will be calculated based on the full prices, rather than any discount offers that might be applied at the time of signing up for the membership.
2) (Fair Trade Commission) Standards on the Calculation of Surrender Values Following the Cancellation of Prepaid Installment Agreements Ten percent of the total membership fees paid at the time of signing the contract as cancellation charges and registration fees (KRW 55,000) [in addition to the 10% cancellation charges, computer network link service, workforce standby costs, body care design consultation services, etc., will be additionally deductible] will be deducted.
4) In the event of termination, periods held on pause for personal reasons will be counted towards the period of membership used.
[Grounds] Indisputable facts, the contract
The contract that is the subject of this case constitutes a recurring transaction under Article 2(1) of the Act on Door-to-Door Sales, Etc. Under Article 31 of the Act, consumers have the right to terminate the contract at any time during the contract term. For there is no contest between the parties that the petitioner asked the respondent for the termination of the contract and refunds on January 27 2018 and attended the fitness club on February 28 that year, it should be considered that the contract was lawfully terminated on February 28 that year.
For the scope of refunds following the termination of the contract, Article 32(4) of the Act provides ‘if it is necessary to prevent disputes arising in connection with a claim for penalty under paragraph (1) and the refund of proceeds or the reduction of a penalty under paragraph (2), the Fair Trade Commission may establish and publicly announce guidelines for calculating penalties and refunding proceeds,’ and under Schedule to Article 4(1) of the Standards on the Calculation of Surrender Values Following the Cancellation of Prepaid Installment Agreements of which authority comes from the entrustment by that provision, penalties shall be 10% of the total contract amount, and under Article 5(1) of the Standards consumers are entitled to claim refunds after deducting unit prices corresponding to units provided until the time at which the contract is terminated or the intention to terminate reaches the business, the values of additional products, and cancellation charges under Article 4 from the contract amount paid to the business, and the provision on refunds in this contract that is contrary thereto shall be invalid under Article 52 of the Act, and the exact scope of refunds shall be calculated pursuant to Articles 4 and 5 of the Standards.
For the period during which the membership was on pause, the petitioner claimed the period being 36 days from November 28 2017 to January 2 2018 and the respondent did not submit information on such a pause, hence it is reasonable to consider the period to be 36 days, hence the duration of membership use considered 206 days, deducing the 36 days from the 242 days counting from July 2 2017 and February 28 2018.
Thus, it is reasonable that the respondent, pursuant to the Standards, return to the petitioner KRW 328,000 {total contract amount KRW 980,000 ？ unit price provided until the delivery of the intention to terminate KRW 553,095 (KRW 980,000/365 days × duration of use 206 days) - cancellation charges KRW 98,000 (10% of total contract amount), rounded down to the ten thousands place}.
Taken together, the respondent shall pay the petitioner KRW 328,000 no later than June 13 2019. If the respondent delays the payment, late-payment penalties at a rate of 15% per annum calculated from June 14 2019 to the date of full payment under the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Door-to-Door Sales, Etc., shall be added.
[Relevant laws and notifications] Articles 2, 31, 32, and 52 of the Act on Door-to-Door Sales, Etc., Article 13 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Door-to-Door Sales, Etc., Articles 2, 4, 5 of the Standards on the Calculation of Surrender Values Following the Cancellation of Prepaid Installment Agreements.
Therefore, the decision has been made as stated above on the above-stated ruling ground.
