Can I get a refund from Places Leisure?

Yes in two situations. **Cooling off:** you can cancel for any reason within 14 days of joining by giving written notice to the Manager at your centre or completing the 14-day money-back form, and your initial payment is refunded. **Payment taken after notice:** if a direct debit is collected after the date you gave written notice, ask for it back and quote the date and the cancellation confirmation email. Outside those, there's no pro-rata refund of a collected month, and activity bookings for pay-as-you-go customers are stated as non-refundable and non-transferable.

Does cancelling my direct debit cancel my Places Leisure membership?

No, and this is the single most expensive mistake with Places Leisure. The membership terms set the order explicitly: they cancel the membership, notify you by email with the expiry date, and *then* it becomes your responsibility to cancel the direct debit instruction with your bank. Cancelling the mandate first doesn't serve notice, so the membership keeps running and the unpaid fees sit on your account. Serve written notice via the form or `enquiries@pfpleisure.org` first, wait for the confirmation email, then instruct your bank.

Can I freeze my Places Leisure membership instead of cancelling?

Yes. You can freeze by giving at least **15 days' notice** before the next direct debit collection, requested through your centre or the membership change request form. Freezes run for a minimum of one full calendar month and a maximum of three at a time, and are **free of charge** for an ongoing medical condition (including pregnancy concerns), redundancy, religious grounds, or temporary relocation 15+ miles away. Outside those reasons a charge may apply, check the freeze terms first. You can still use the facilities while frozen by paying the standard non-member casual rate.

How do I cancel a Places Leisure class booking without being charged?

From 2 January 2026 you need to cancel at least **6 hours** before the session starts to avoid the **£4 late cancellation fee** (up from £2.50). A backfill rule means that even if you cancel inside the 6-hour window, you won't be charged if another customer takes your space. Cancel through the Places Leisure app or your online account. If something genuinely unexpected happened, their FAQ says to speak to the team at your centre, who review cases individually. Places Leisure also noted late-cancel and no-show charges were temporarily paused during a booking-system update.

Can I transfer my Places Leisure membership to another centre instead of cancelling?

Yes, the FAQ answer for members who are moving is literally 'You don't need to cancel!' Find your nearest centre on the Find a Centre page, then email `enquiries@placesleisure.org` or `enquiries@pfpleisure.org` and they'll transfer the membership. Worth knowing if you're moving but staying near a Places Leisure site, since it avoids a new joining fee and a fresh Minimum Term. If the nearest centre is 15 miles or more away, that same distance triggers the right to cancel mid-Minimum-Term with evidence of the move.

Is there a cancellation fee for Places Leisure membership?

There's no advertised flat exit fee for a membership cancelled after the Minimum Term, the cost comes from timing. Because processing takes up to 15 days, a late request means one more full monthly payment is collected, and that payment isn't refunded pro-rata for unused days. Within the Minimum Term you can't simply pay to leave; you either qualify under clause 11.4 with evidence or see out the term. Separately, class no-shows and late cancellations carry a £4 fee. Send notice right after a collection date to minimise the cost.

REFUND GUIDE

How to Get a Places Leisure Refund After Cancelling.

Places Leisure refunds are per-order, and their own policy gives you a 14-day window. Miss it and you still have tools, a clear email, a card-issuer chargeback. Here's the playbook.

Last verified 19 days ago against Places Leisure’s own Terms · UK, US, and EU rights covered below

The short answer

Two different things get charged here and the rules differ. For the MEMBERSHIP direct debit: cancel within 14 days of joining and you're in the cooling-off period with your initial payment refunded; after that there's no pro-rata refund of a collection already taken, and because cancellations take up to 15 days to process, a request made inside 15 days of your next collection date still triggers one more full payment. For ACTIVITY BOOKINGS and pay-as-you-go sessions: these are stated as non-refundable and non-transferable, and late-cancel/no-show fees are handled per booking at your centre rather than by any refund window. Course and swimming-lesson fees follow the membership route (member change request form) but refunds are decided case by case by the centre. If a payment was taken after you gave written notice, that is the strongest refund ask, quote the date of your cancellation request and the confirmation email.

Or let yoink chase the refund.

30 seconds to set up. yoink emails Places Leisure, cites the policy, escalates if ignored, and surfaces the win when the money lands.

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What Places Leisure actually says

“You have the right to cancel your membership for any reason by sending or taking a written notice of cancellation, addressed to the Manager at your Centre within 14 days of joining (i.e. within 14 days of purchase).”
, verbatim from Places Leisure’s terms

14-day cancellation windowPro-rata refund: no

How long does a Places Leisure refund take?

Most merchants agree to a straightforward refund within 1 to 3 working days of a well-written email request. Once agreed, the money itself takes another 3 to 5 working days to land, that part is card-network processing and no merchant can skip it. If nothing has arrived 10 working days after a written “refund approved”, reply on the same thread asking for the ARN (acquirer reference number), which your bank can trace.

Note Places Leisure’s own policy works on a 14-day window, ask inside it and the request is routine; outside it you’re relying on goodwill or statutory rights.

What you can claim

The law where you live is the strongest hook, lead with it when you contact the company.

United Kingdom

Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013
Full refund within the 14-day window.
Inside 14 days of starting any Places Leisure subscription, you’re entitled to a full refund of any payment taken, no questions, no policy override.
Citizens Advice + Trading Standards
For repeated bad-faith refusals.
Free escalation lane: file with Citizens Advice (08082231133), they pass it to Trading Standards. Slow (8-12 weeks) but creates a paper trail Places Leisure can’t ignore.

Worldwide

Card-issuer chargeback
Visa/Mastercard chargeback works everywhere they do.
Open a chargeback for “subscription not cancelled” or “services not as described”, your bank initiates, Places Leisure has ~45 days to defend. Works regardless of where Places Leisure is headquartered.
PayPal Buyer Protection
If you paid via PayPal, open a dispute.
PayPal’s Buyer Protection covers “item not as described”, applies to services that didn’t deliver. Resolution typically within 20 days.

Rights in other regions (United States, European Union)

United States

Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA)
Dispute any credit-card charge in writing within 60 days.
For US credit-card payments, the FCBA gives you 60 days from the statement date to dispute a Places Leisure charge in writing. Your card issuer is required to investigate and may withhold the disputed amount during the process.

European Union

ECC-Net cross-border escalation
EU Consumer Centre network mediates against EU sellers.
If Places Leisure is based in another EU country, your local European Consumer Centre will mediate the dispute for free. List of national contacts at commission.europa.eu.

The Places Leisure refund email

Email the right address
Use enquiries@pfpleisure.org, the route yoink has verified actually gets read for Places Leisure.
Use a clear subject line
Subject: Refund Request, [your account email]

Send this body

Hi Places Leisure team,

I'm requesting a refund for my Places Leisure order (reference [order number], placed on [date], for [amount]). I'm within the 14-day window your policy allows for this.

Please process the refund to my original payment method and confirm by reply.

Best,
[your name]

Wait 7-14 days, then escalate
If you haven’t heard back in 14 days, escalate via the regional route above, a card-issuer chargeback works in every market.

Refund FAQ for Places Leisure

Places Leisure frame it as processing time rather than a fixed notice period: cancellations take **up to 15 days** to process, and if you request one less than 15 days before your next direct debit you'll be charged for that next period. Collections run on the **1st, 8th, 15th and 24th** of each month. In practice that means the effective notice can be anywhere from two to five weeks depending on where your request lands in the cycle, one Trustpilot reviewer complained head office told them exactly that. Send your request immediately after a collection, not just before one.

Cancelling rather than claiming money back? See the Places Leisure cancellation guide. For every other support channel, the Places Leisure contact guide.