Bally's Total Fitness

[aem1517]

Bally's Total Fitness Misleading Post-Contract Cancelation Mailings

Hello,

I have already successfully canceled my Bally's contract after the three-year term expired. (Even though my three year contract had expired, it was my understanding that if I did not follow their rules for cancellation, they would continue charging me month by month. I sent a certified letter stating that I was canceling, and they sent a letter back confirming it was canceled).

Four months later, in mid-February, I have just received a document from Bally's that is formatted to look like a bill. At no point on the document does it state that it is not a bill. The following are portions of this document:
______________________________________________________

Current Month Dues: $19
Prior Monthly Dues: $95
Total Dues Amount: $114

Your account is 45 days past due. Unfortunately, until your account is brought current, you will be unable to work out at the club. To continue your membership and avoid future start up fees, please pay $114.00...

If your intent is to cancel your membership, please bring your account current by paying your Total Dues Amount of $114.00 today and include written notice of your request to cancel....

_________________________________________________________

It does not seem to me that the wording of this document should be legal. It is extremely misleading. I had canceled my membership over five months prior, and yet the letter stated that if I wished to cancel my account, I should send them $114. I called Bally's (Which in itself is a long process, as they do not list any contact numbers on their website that allow you to actually contact a human. I had to do a google search to find a good number though a random website that was in no way associated with Bally's), and the employee assured me that my contract had been successfully terminated in October, and that letter was not meant to trick anything, it is simply an innocent attempt at inquiring if I would like to continue going to their gym.

I was just wondering if a letter worded like this is legal. I would hope that it isn't.

 

[fbhero]

aem1517: I also got that a few days ago. I panicked a little and called them to ask. They told me it was weird that I got this since my account has been closed since September and the guy gave me a number and told me to fax them the letter I got and to explain the situation. I faxed them the letter I got and asked them to explain what it's about and they haven't responded yet.

When I canceled my membership I asked if I needed to send a letter and they told me I didn't have to. They did send me something that gave me a special offer to renew and it also stated that my membership expires at xx/xx/xx etc. but would this also consider as a confirmation that its been canceled? Also if anyone knows how to get them to stop sending me special offers or letters to renew my account that would be great. Thanks!

 

[ssayreaz]

Bally's Total Fitness - resolution option

I also had a nightmare of a time getting Bally's to cancel my contract - even though I had documented proof that I was living overseas for a year! They even dinged my credit report for nonpayment.

I finally found someone who could help me. If you need to resolve a contract cancellation problem with Bally's, contact:

Bally Total Fitness
John Sennett
12440 E. Imperial Hwy.
Norwalk, CA, 90650
Phone: 562/484-2700 Fax: 562/484-2455
Category: Fitness Center, Health Club
Email: jsennett at ballyfitness dot com

********************
Note: I agree with the previous posters that if you sign a contract, you should own up to your responsibilities of the bargain. I signed a 3-year contract, fully expecting to fulfill it. When I went overseas, I also fully expected that Bally's would uphold their contract - which they did not.

 

[luficram]

Bally's contract is equivalent to a rental agreement.

I'm in a similar situation and have been thinking about this for quiet a while. I contend that a Bally's contract is equivalent to a rental agreement, i.e I AGREED TO PAY BALLY'S TO USE THEIR SPACE FOR A SET LENGTH OF TIME.

When you fail to pay your rent you are taken to court to have a judgement against you but the court only asks you to pay from the time you defaulted to the time the rental agreement is cancelled by the court. You get evicted and can no longer use the apartment.

When you fail to pay your Bally's contract shouldn't the same apply? The membership is cancelled by Bally's and you cannot use the facility. Why should someone have to pay beyond the time when the contract was cancelled? After Bally's cancels your contract they can now sell the space and time that you would have otherwise occupied to another person so in effect they do not lose any money. I think Bally's is being greedy. Please someone let me know if I have used faulty logic and why.

 

[Peoples_Aid]

Bally Fitness Cancelation Notification Address

In order to cancel a Bally's membership (BY ALL MEANS THE WORST COMPANY TO DO BUSINESS WITH):

1. Send a letter (certified is better), at least 10 days prior to the carge date.

2. Address:

PO BOX 96241
Washington DC 20090


3. Pass an email to friends and family regarding your experience with Bally. Hopefully you will have saved at least one person from falling into the same situation that we did.:angel

 

[Katerina]

Bally Total Fitness Cancellation

Hello,

I write now because two years ago I was verbally "tricked" into a contract with Bally. I remember this moment well because it turned out to be so significant: I was sitting in the West Hartford, CT office of Bally to sign up for a trial period. Friendly representative Steve handed me the contract which I then began to peruse. He laughed at me and said, "are you seriously reading a GYM contract?" And I thought, yeah silly me, reading this contract! It's just the aspiring lawyer in me I guess. So I put my John Hancock on it. I realize now that this was entirely my fault and lesson learned. I suffered the consequences and paid them every month until the contract is due to expire, which is next month. I just called the corporate office to ensure that they would in fact stop charging me and the woman told me that I had to send a written letter to California. Why this is necessary when I'm sure she's sitting in front of a screen with my account open is really unclear to me but I'm just going to follow through. I have no reason to trust these people at this point though, so my question is, will they actually cancel my account now? Has anyone just suffered through the contract and then succesfully washed their hands of Bally? All I want is to never hear from them again.

Thanks.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Katerina -

I'm sorry to hear about your story. Without defending or praising Ballys, a "company" isn't necessarily evil and sometimes it is individual people who work there that might be a problem. Apparently you met with a slick salesperson who fooled you into signing a contract without reading.

With regard to cancelling and requiring you to send written notice - I couldn't agree more with Bally's requirement but wait until you hear my answer as to why. In the past, I've had all sorts of people who want to exact revenge against another. They would do things like sign up people to things they don't want or cancel things they do - like gym memberships. How could an administrator of a company provide some proof on record that you are who you are and to have it documented that notice was received? The easiest way for me is to have a written letter, with postmark, that I can put in a file and point to in the event of fraud. Honestly... what is so difficult about writing a letter and putting it in the mail?

I don't doubt the experience has been difficult for you. But search the forums. We do have representatives that show up here from time to time who try to make things right. I was very impressed and perhaps there are some people there who do care about what happens.

 

[jtatsiue]

Bally Fitness

The membership fees are automatically deducted from your bank account so what are the consequences of simply closing that account, switching banks, etc...? I recently moved across the country but unfortunately there are several clubs within 25 miles of my new address. Still, I'm planning on sending the certified letter. I've read the contract thoroughly and it doesn't specifically state that my membership terms are for 3 years or for any amount of time. Verbally, I was told that the membership incurred only a month-to-month commitment and the contract appears to comply BUT the rules for cancellation are the usual, death, moving to an area without a club within 25 miles, disability, etc... So, does that mean that Bally's expects me to remain a member for the rest of my natural life barring the loss of ambulatory function and moving to area without a nearby club?

 

[Velvet]

I've become very scared; I got into a monthly membership when I started college (yeah I'm the stereotypical dumb young kid who got into a scam) because a friend wanted us to work out together, but months after I want to cancel I find out all this scamming. I have a question though, I hope it's ok to post it here:

I've got a friend who's residence is outside the 25 miles radio and I lived for quite some time with them. Since it was a friend, I've got no bills or anything, but my driver's license still has the address, would a copy of it work to get me out of this mess? I also don't have a Bally's card, but I do have my account number, do I need to make a copy of that card or would the number be enough?

 

[wraeraew]

haha

oooh military member haha WOW!!!

Lawprofessor,


I am a military member trying to cancel my membership. The problem I have had is for the past few months I have been trying to cancel my membership. I sent the letter with two forms of change of address b/c I moved to Kodiak, AK where there is not a Bally's for over 1000 miles. Along with this letter that was sent certified mail and has the change of address, I sent a $50 cancellation fee. Which they have already cashed over 2 months ago and they are still taking payments out of my account. The contract says that you will get a letter back saying that you are cancelled, and i have yet to receive it. I realize i signed the dotted line but I went to the gym 4 days a week every week for over a year. Now that I have moved back home, I can't shake these people from my life. I appreciate any info you have. THanks,

Rob

 

[naqecabofo]

My family is in the same situation, we've had a family " lifetime" contract for about 9 years now. My mom and I hate this gym, and we've been there not more than 5 times. If there's a way to stop them from stealing our money each month, please let me know.
K.

 

[savvyshopper]

I became a Bally's member well over 10 years ago. I signed a contract like many other ppl without reading the fine print. I went for a week, had a personal trainer.. He put me on a high protein meal plan and had me doing strength exercises..... Well I am 5'4 and I was bulking up like a weight lifter "I'm a Girl"!!! I had no desire to continue after the first week... i had to put some money down initially to start the contract. in my opinion they didnt deserve more money so i stopped paying after intial payment.. Ok so i get it that i broke the contract. and they most likely reported me to the credit agencies perhaps? well this is my question. how can i tell they reported me to credit agency. i got a phone call from a debt collector 10+ years after the fact. if they reported me 10 years ago they cant report me again? how can i find out? and how do i get collector to stop calling me if ive already been reported to credit agencies? Also would like to know, is this a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act?

 

[kaloshi]

Hello any one can help me to stop ballys charge me to the credit card?
My name is adil kaloshi give me a call 718 564 8412.ballys sent me offer for one year i join bicose my wife like to join i and my wife not join since january 2012 and my membership expire may and ballys charge to my old credit card american express sent bill to me? This is 100% froud againts me.i am disable person i cant join workout only sweem souna,steem?when i go there every time problem souna stemm no have wirpool close?i stop from january now i recieve bill from bally fitness.

 

[ourbubblepond]

I have been in a nightmare cycle of collections agencies with Bally's since we used one of the 3 "outs" in our contract 6 years ago. We moved across country and therefore were allowed to "cancel", but after being billed for two months after the move and complaining to the manager who kept claiming the account was closed, Bally then sold the closed account to a collections agency who has then harrassed us at least once a week for 6 years and recently had the gall to actually file a claim on my credit. There have to be better laws to prevent consumers from this type of fraud.

 

[guestposter]

Instructions
1
Verify that you are up to date on all your scheduled monthly payments. You must be up to date on all your payments in order to proceed with the cancellation process.

2
Write a letter stating that you wish to terminate your membership contract. You may cancel your membership at any time, but must send in 60 days notice if you have a one-year agreement and 90 days notice if you have an 18-month or two-year agreement. Send the cancellation notice to:

Early Exit Option

C/O Bally Total Fitness

ATTN: Cancellation Dept.

12440 E. Imperial Hwy., Ste. 300

Norwalk, CA 90650

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3
Prepay your last two monthly payments if you are currently in a one-year agreement. Prepay your last three monthly payments if you are currently in an 18-month or two-year agreement. Your notice of cancellation authorizes Bally's to charge your credit card or checking account on file with the scheduled monthly payments due during the 60-day or 90-day notice period.

4
Contact a Bally's representative and verify that the scheduled monthly payments have been processed and that your membership has been canceled. If Bally's is unsuccessful in processing your payment, your notice of cancellation is null and void and you have to restart the cancellation process.

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Tips & Warnings
During the notice period you can still use Bally's gym.

If your are a Premier National Access one-year or two-year member of Bally's in the Colorado, Cleveland and Baltimore markets, you have the option of utilizing the "Bally 30-Day Promise." This allows users not satisfied with their experience after 10 workouts within the first 30 days to cancel their membership.

Once your final payments have been processed they are not refundable.



Read more: How to Get Out of a Bally's Gym Contract | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_7456303_out-bally_s-gym-contract.html#ixzz24o0VygPr

 

[guestpost]

bally's sucks .. there are much better places to work out. there business model is crooked, why else would there be so many complaints about them?

 

[guestpost]

These rat bastards should fry!!!

 

[chopsmomma]

I was aware of the contract and had no issues with it - one year. But one month since I joined I have realized from going there that the classes they advertise - dont really happen. The sauna they advertise as part of membership has been broken since before I joined. The place is filthy. Equipment broken and disgustingly dirty. I have tried to speak with Bally's corp. took me 3 weeks to get a hold of someone who put me on hold after I explained my concerns and then they hung up on me. His name was Kent. I have tried to speak with the new owner of the gym - no response. I have written many emails to Bally's as that is listed as a way to contact them. I get an apology and no other help. I feel if they arent providing the amenities they advertise with membership and arent keeping the gym safe, clean and usable - then I should be able to get out of my contract. I have pictures of the filthy gym. I have copies of what the gym claims to offer and I have copies of all emails I have sent to the corporate and to the owner. Is there anything I can do? I dont feel they are keeping up their end of the contract, so there should be a way out of it.