Bally Total Fitness

**iba2dat** · February 5th, 2006, 02:30 PM

Curious how many EFers have membership with Bally Total Fitness.

As a member of Bally's a couple years back I was subjected to insane contracts.

Nowadays I see advertisements claiming no money down and low monthly dues.

Unfortunately I was unable to read the microscopic font on the bottom of their TV commercials.

gotti911 · February 5th, 2006, 02:56 PM

yeah my aunt and cousin were stuck w/ the contract paying lots of money. They even bargain down to $8 a month and then they decided to join again. The Bally in my area and the one my aunt goes to is like a garage. Concrete floors in the machine area and old equipment in the free weights area.

My aunt and cousin barely goes to Bally.

**HotOne** · February 5th, 2006, 03:08 PM

I'm in So. Cal. and was a member at Bally's for 10 years...they were starting to get run down...2 years ago I switch to LA Fitness...more expensive, but a nicer club...b-ball and r-ball...now Bally's is sending me outrageous offers now, $20 less a month than what I paid 2 years ago...I'm staying at LA Fitness....

**wallyman** · February 7th, 2006, 02:45 PM

I got burned by a Bally's contract a few years back - stinkin' salesman lied right to our faces.

Live and learn.

In this case, I learned that they will have the Stanley Cup playoffs in hell before I get any closer to Bally's than is required to drive-on-by.

My brother-in-law goes to Gold's Gym, and is pleased with it.

swimmerfan · February 7th, 2006, 04:02 PM

Wallyman. Me too...I joined one and was told that if I moved away from the area and there was no Bally's within driving distance then my contract would be cancelled. I moved. No Ballys. LOL. 15 years later and they're still trying to get me to pay. It's a shady operation.

meverett · February 19th, 2006, 10:59 PM

i'm in illinois.the gyms are in decent condition. nothing special really. i like the fact that i can go to any gym in the area based on my membership level. I feel i've gotten my money's worth after the contract because I only pay $16 a month. It used to be $7, but goes up $1 per year.

I have to say that the salesmen are totally shady. I tried to sign my wife up and had to walk out because of the flat out lies.

if you want quality, this isn't the place. No perks.

**JimmymonFreddy** · February 20th, 2006, 04:01 AM

I quit going there, and now I got a bill of $1200 bucks from signing a 3 year contract

swimmerfan · February 24th, 2006, 09:28 AM

JimmyMonFreddy. Be careful. That's exactly what happened to me. I severed the contract according to the rules a salesman stipulated and their billing department disagreed with his interpretation....Good luck.

binster · February 24th, 2006, 09:50 PM

As with any contract you must read the fine print and don't sign if you don't understand something. I've been with Bally's for 7 years and it works for me. I can go to any Bally's in the country. I can take the wife and kids and put the kids in the Kids Club while we workout. That is a nice feature.

After we paid off our memberships we now pay $20/month in dues. Bally's in IL (Chicago area) are pretty good except for the OLD Lombard one. That place is a dump. They have become much better now.

bk

**illiniballfan112** · February 24th, 2006, 10:19 PM

i hear ballys is going out of business or they got bought out....anyone else hear anything?

essadmin · March 3rd, 2006, 11:55 AM

I initially had a bad experience with Bally's about 5 years ago. Not only did I get the hard sell on a long term contract, but it was a busy club and they wanted me to commit to working out during off-peak hours.

I joined a different Ballys club in PA last year during a $99 1st year promotion, and I have been fairly happy with it. They have adequate equipment and keep it pretty clean. The staff could use some training in customer service though.

**iba2dat** · March 8th, 2006, 02:57 AM

Bally's aint gettin it.

According to the news in the Fresno Area several lawsuits against Bally's have surfaced. Seems their contracts are under fire again.

When will they learn?

Revoluti0n · March 8th, 2006, 06:40 PM

I've seen a lot of stuff on the Internet with lawsuits against Bally's and Gold's. I don't knnow, it seems to me that most gyms have some tough contracts. With this being the case, which one is better:
Bally's
Gold's
World Gym

???????

**ppsuprise** · March 8th, 2006, 06:55 PM

well they all have contracts which are prolly th e same conditions but now youll just have to see which one is nicer gym and accomidates more to your needs. i go to worlds and its nice new looking but small and notmany people there in the morning. bad news is, is that i wnat to move outa the area and they dont have any other worlds close by int he other town and the other town isnt 30 miles awasy which would cancel the contract so im screwed living in the same area which isnt bad just not my choice.

lucho18 · March 21st, 2006, 01:47 PM

I hate Ballys! theyre a bunch of scammers and screw a lot of people. I was a longtime member with them but then they started some ridiculous contratc thing that basically signs you with them for life. They actually had my sisters bank account locked cuz she wanted out and didnt even have a contract anymore, then they wanted her to pay some ridiculous amount to have her bank account unlocked. It was a nightmare dont ever give these people your bank info or get tricked into their "automatic payment every month" youll be stuck forever. I prefer the smaller more private gyms. You can actually work out there instead of having some dude staring at himslef for half an hour taking up all the machines. I go to A Tighter U in LA and its great!!

**ppsuprise** · March 21st, 2006, 03:59 PM

yea im learing tha ti want to be part of a "real" gym like back at home where its not that big but it doesnt need to cause it doenst have evey person in the city going to it. also the small home-town gyms charge you like 20$ a month with no startup fees and you just pay it every month and they give you the code to the door for entry. im starting to miss those gyms and cnat wiat to end my contract with worlds, granted i have no problem withthem cept i cant really move into the area i work cause theres no worlds there and i have to stay in my gym area instead.

lucho18 · March 21st, 2006, 06:23 PM

I definitely agree. I might pay a little more to go to a more private gym but the way i look at it is im there to get myself into better shape not sit there and watch someone else get into shape.

ihateballytotalfitness · April 1st, 2006, 07:04 AM

On 3/28/03, I signed a three year Contract with Bally's. First of all, I was promised under the plan I chose to receive 2 free sessions with a personal trainer. I made the appointment and the trainer never showed up. It was such a hassle that I gave up trying. As much as a hated the club, I knew I had to take responsibility for the Contract I signed. The dreadful 3 years (money every month down the drain) finally arrived. I paid the membership in full and according to the Contract the Automatic Payment Plan should not be in effect anymore. The Contract states in bold print, "Your Automatic Payment Plan election will remain in effect unless and until all amounts due under this Contract are paid in full (which I did) OR (not and) until you give written notice that you revoke this authorization to us at the address noted in Paragraph 6 on Page 2 or to your bank." I did not authorize any renewal nor did I want to continue membership. However, Ballys took it upon themselves to debit money from my account without my approval. I called Member Services hoping to have the money credit back and they refused. I asked to speak to a manager and that was also refused. The member service rep. began the conversation with rudeness all the way to the end. I hate Bally Total Fitness and I will not let them take a penny more from me

**Carlos_Hathcock** · April 1st, 2006, 07:30 PM

one of my buddies down here is a customs agent, and his wife works with the IRS, Balls tried some shit like that with them, little did they know they were trying to screw with 15-year feds. Ballys got their assess handed to them, the place was shut down for 3 months pending tax and earning investigations.

**Doughboy** · April 1st, 2006, 07:37 PM

wow its like everybody hates the place, I went there once as a guest of another member. It was a dump too lol. IMO Lifetime Fitness is the best Gym Ive been to.