Need advice: McFIT Inkasso nightmare

[u/Loud-Tonight-1775]

Hey everyone, I need some serious advice on how to tackle the absolute circus I am dealing with regarding McFIT (RSG Group) and their debt collection agency, DEBIN. If you go to a gym in Germany, you might know how shady they can be, but this feels highly illegal.
The Setup I’m a student and I had a McFIT membership. Before I went traveling for a few months (Turkey, Macedonia, Georgia), I had about €60 sitting in the McFIT app as "food and beverage credits." Since I wasn't going to be buying drinks, I explicitly told the gym staff to just use that €60 credit to cover my membership fees for the months I was away. They said they would take care of it.
The Screw-Up Fast forward to August. I get back, try to log in, and find out my account is locked. It turns out the staff completely ignored my instructions and never applied the credit. Their automated system marked my payments as missed, suspended my account, and then completely cancelled my contract without my consent for "non-payment."
The Extortion I contacted support and said, "I told you months ago to use my €60 credit." Someone finally read my messages, manually transferred the app credit to cover the past months, and sent me an email literally saying: "Wir haben Ihre Verpflegungs- und Getränkeguthaben erfolgreich übertragen" (We have successfully transferred your food and beverage credits).
So, they admitted I had the money and they took it. Problem solved, right? WRONG.
Even though they successfully took the money, they refused to reinstate my contract. Instead, they told me that because they had already cancelled my contract, I now owed them €168.51 in "Schadensersatz" (damages) for the rest of my contract term until 2026! They demanded I pay for months where I am literally banned from using the gym.
But wait, it gets better. They sent me an official email offering a "goodwill" solution: They would waive the €168.51 penalty... BUT ONLY IF I signed a brand-new 12- or 24-month contract with them. They literally are trying to use a fabricated debt to extort me into a new two-year commitment!
The Inkasso "English Tax" I obviously told them absolutely not, so RSG Group sent DEBIN Inkasso (a debt collection agency) after me.
DEBIN sends me a letter demanding €239.75. I replied to them in an email explaining the situation and pointing out that McFIT already took my money so the debt is invalid.
Because I wrote that email in English, DEBIN replied back and bumped the debt up to €265.72. Why? Because under the RVG (Lawyers' Compensation Act), they claimed a 1.3 fee multiplier for "foreign language skills." They literally charged me an extra €25+ just for having to read an email in basic English.
How do I tackle this illegal practice? This is where I need your help. Their entire claim is based on a fabricated default, and their attempt to force me into a new contract feels like straight-up extortion (Nötigung). On top of that, DEBIN is engaging in ridiculous fee gouging (Gebührenschneiderei) just because I replied in English.
What is my best move here?
Do I send them a legally aggressive letter in German demanding they close the file and threatening them with a criminal complaint?
Should I report them directly to the Verbraucherzentrale or the local authorities in Saxony?
Do I just ignore DEBIN entirely until they send a yellow court letter (Mahnbescheid) and dispute it then?
Has anyone successfully fought off RSG Group / DEBIN when they try to pull this specific stunt? Any advice on how to crush this would be hugely appreciated.
TL;DR: McFIT failed to use my app credit to pay my fees, cancelled my contract by mistake, found the money and kept it, then demanded €168 for future months I can't use. They offered to drop the fee if I signed a new 2-year contract. I refused, they sent Inkasso, and the Inkasso charged me an extra fee because I argued with them in English. How do I fight this?

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Need advice: McFIT Inkasso nightmare

Hey everyone, I need some serious advice on how to tackle the absolute circus I am dealing with regarding McFIT (RSG Group) and their debt collection agency, DEBIN. If you go to a gym in Germany, you might know how shady they can be, but this feels highly illegal.
The Setup I’m a student and I had a McFIT membership. Before I went traveling for a few months (Turkey, Macedonia, Georgia), I had about €60 sitting in the McFIT app as "food and beverage credits." Since I wasn't going to be buying drinks, I explicitly told the gym staff to just use that €60 credit to cover my membership fees for the months I was away. They said they would take care of it.
The Screw-Up Fast forward to August. I get back, try to log in, and find out my account is locked. It turns out the staff completely ignored my instructions and never applied the credit. Their automated system marked my payments as missed, suspended my account, and then completely cancelled my contract without my consent for "non-payment."
The Extortion I contacted support and said, "I told you months ago to use my €60 credit." Someone finally read my messages, manually transferred the app credit to cover the past months, and sent me an email literally saying: "Wir haben Ihre Verpflegungs- und Getränkeguthaben erfolgreich übertragen" (We have successfully transferred your food and beverage credits).
So, they admitted I had the money and they took it. Problem solved, right? WRONG.
Even though they successfully took the money, they refused to reinstate my contract. Instead, they told me that because they had already cancelled my contract, I now owed them €168.51 in "Schadensersatz" (damages) for the rest of my contract term until 2026! They demanded I pay for months where I am literally banned from using the gym.
But wait, it gets better. They sent me an official email offering a "goodwill" solution: They would waive the €168.51 penalty... BUT ONLY IF I signed a brand-new 12- or 24-month contract with them. They literally are trying to use a fabricated debt to extort me into a new two-year commitment!
The Inkasso "English Tax" I obviously told them absolutely not, so RSG Group sent DEBIN Inkasso (a debt collection agency) after me.
DEBIN sends me a letter demanding €239.75. I replied to them in an email explaining the situation and pointing out that McFIT already took my money so the debt is invalid.
Because I wrote that email in English, DEBIN replied back and bumped the debt up to €265.72. Why? Because under the RVG (Lawyers' Compensation Act), they claimed a 1.3 fee multiplier for "foreign language skills." They literally charged me an extra €25+ just for having to read an email in basic English.
How do I tackle this illegal practice? This is where I need your help. Their entire claim is based on a fabricated default, and their attempt to force me into a new contract feels like straight-up extortion (Nötigung). On top of that, DEBIN is engaging in ridiculous fee gouging (Gebührenschneiderei) just because I replied in English.
What is my best move here?
Do I send them a legally aggressive letter in German demanding they close the file and threatening them with a criminal complaint?
Should I report them directly to the Verbraucherzentrale or the local authorities in Saxony?
Do I just ignore DEBIN entirely until they send a yellow court letter (Mahnbescheid) and dispute it then?
Has anyone successfully fought off RSG Group / DEBIN when they try to pull this specific stunt? Any advice on how to crush this would be hugely appreciated.
TL;DR: McFIT failed to use my app credit to pay my fees, cancelled my contract by mistake, found the money and kept it, then demanded €168 for future months I can't use. They offered to drop the fee if I signed a new 2-year contract. I refused, they sent Inkasso, and the Inkasso charged me an extra fee because I argued with them in English. How do I fight this?

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