Bally's Total Fitness

Yes I lost 16 lbs going to Bally's in Chesapeake, Va, But it was from my own will. My husband was deployed for 7 months to war and I had to lose weight. Bally's was the WORST experience. The gym stunk so bad like BO, that sometimes I would walk in the front door and walk right back out. The TV's never worked and if they did, I would have to call the front desk to reset the music videos every single day for 7 months! If I was lucky one person out of the whole place would know how to work the TV's. The place is very unmotivating.The equiptment was always broken, I had to stop taking showers there due to the moldy showers causing me to have medical problems. I was so happy when they finally got a Zumba instructor, eventhough we had to pay a separate fee for the classes. But the zumba instructor got tired of Bally's bologna also and quit. She said that Bally's charged the members too much for her classes and her cut of it was rediculously small. Bally's promised to get a new Zumba instruct... Read more

WORST PLACE IN THE WORLD. DO NOT TRY!!!!

Bally Total Fitness at Maple Shade, New Jersey pisses me off so much, I quit. They keep temperature in exercise areas at 77F all year round and they even do not turn fans for fresh air when it is colder outside. When raining outside, all windows get so wet inside from the sweating members you can not see through. Feels like in tropics.They removed paper towels in the locker rooms too. So after hand washing members add more heat from hand dryers. No wonder I got sick so often during last year since the breathing air is not refreshed. But hold, every year they cut work hours. From yesterday, September 14, 2010 they cut one hour from a week day (was opened till 10pm, now to 9pm), and three hours from weekend (Saturday was opened till 7pm, now till 5pm and Sunday was opened to 6pm, now till 5pm). And this is going every year. I have flexible hours but can't find a slot where I have reasonable access to exercise equipment since member density increased so much. And now I have to break my... Read more

Quit Ballys twice but they would email me an offer that i couldn't refuse.Dont pay with a credit card or they'll keep charging you.I had purchased a "Lifetime"membership that every year they would bounce the renewal fee to what ever they wanted so i would quit.In Cincinnati there was at one time five or six gyms now there is one ,so its not even worth it.While they took no pride in their gyms it was cheap enough that the one on my way home was worthwhile to stop at occasionally.

I join Bally Fitness few months ago with my brother and sister, which i made mistake of addding them on my account because when they visit the gym it was very dirty and decided to cancel the membership and go back to YMCA. That's how the problem started, when I went to thier office to cancel they just give me a number to call for cancellation because they dont handle it and when I did call, they just told me to that I have to write a letter to Washington DC. We been sending lot of letter (3) but they been saying it was not recieve...such a bullshit!!!The sad part was, while waiting for the cancellation to happen, prior to that, nobody from the customer service representative tells us to cancel the EFT, so they continued to deducting money from my bank...i was very mad, but they assure me that I will get a refund out of it. Later that i found out after sending my fourth letter that there will be no refund for it...BALLY FITNESS is such a SCAM..Dont make mistake by joing this club, and i... Read more

Think if you really need this gym. There are better gym's than Bally;s. I was stuck with this membership for 2 years and finally get liberation from it.. they have this worst contract. You cant cancel service else u pay $300 penalty. They dont have a direct customer service line and the only way to contact customer service is by phone. The club locations dont take care of anything. When you dial for customer service there is now way to get hold on them ..everythin is voice operated which sucks... I moved to texas and this location is extremely pathetic. Gym stinks, AC doesnt work and the wash room is always a mess. Will never ever take this membership again.

BEWARE!!! Don't Do IT!!!! Bally's has a recent trend of closing down local gyms. If you try to cancel your membership because they closed down the gym you were using they will tell you that you can only cancel if there is not another gym within a 20 mile radius from your address. I was 1.5 years into a 3 year contract whey they closed down the gym in my city. My only method of transportation is a bicycle which I used to ride to the local gym. Now that my local gym is closed the only option I have is to ride my bike 15+ miles through extremely busy city streets. I was told that since the next closest gym was under 20 miles that I would have to keep making payments for the next 1.5 years or pay it all off now. I told them to charge me the full amount just so I could be done with this miserable company. The gym that I used to go to was dirty anyway and the equipment was getting pretty run down. I guess they did me a favor since I will definitely move to my membership to 24 Hour Fi... Read more

DON'T GO THERE!!!! They lie so much. Bally encourages its employees to lie to potential customers in order to sign them to the gym. I signed up for 1 year contract and was reassured MULTIPLE times by the general manager of the gym that I could cancel my contract and get my money back for the months that I DIDNT use. He told me so much crap that ended up being 1/2 of lies. When I got pregnant 3 months into my contract, I tried to cancel my 1 year contract but they wouldn't give me my money back for the unused months. When my baby pops out, I'm going elsewhere to workout. The money is not the problem. I just don't like being manipulated and lied to. Be aware of hidden details, don't sign the contract based on what the person tells you but call the company with your questions where things are recorded over the phone.

I USE TO WORK FOR BALLY TOTAL FITNESS AS A SALESPERSON. I KNOW ALL THE SHADY DIRT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS GYM. IF YOU'RE CONSIDERING BUYING A MEMBERSHIP THERE, DON'T!! TRUST ME NEVER BY A GYM MEMBERSHIP THERE. IT'S THE DIRTIEST PLACE EVER. WE USE TO HAVE WEEKLY HEALTH INSPECTION FOR THE POOL AND SPA AREA, THEY NEVER PASSED INSPECTION. THEY FIRED ALL THEIR CLEANING STAFF AND PASSED ON THE JOB TO THE SALES GUYS TO SAVE MONEY. THE SALES GUYS WOULDN'T DO IT OF COURSE, THEY WERE TO BUSY SELLING MEMBERSHIPS. THE SALES PEOPLE ARE SO SHADY, THEY USE TO SELL FREE GUEST PASSES AND CHARGE PEOPLE FOR DAY RATES WHEN THEIR FREE. WHEN THEY CHARGED YOU THEY WOULD RUN THE CREDIT CARD FOR THE AMOUNT FOR A DOWN PAYMENT ON A 3YR MEMBERSHIP AND SIGN THE SLIP THEMSELVES. INVENT SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS AND RUIN PEOPLES CREDIT. WORST OF ALL THE MANAGERS WOULD CONDONE THAT TYPE OF BEHAVIOR, THEY ACTUALLY EXPECTED IT FROM US. EXPECT TO PAY AT LEAST 75-100 DOLLARS DOWN WITH A 3YR CONTRACT AND 30 A MONTH. OF COURSE ... Read more

Things there are always broken. The steam room at the the Bally's in Hollywood California NEVER WORKS. I joined there because I like steam after a work out. Don't bother joining because the steam room there never works and the management staff either does not care or is incapable of hiring service staff that can keep things like the whirlpool, steam room or pool working and clean.

Worst company to deal with. Hire an attorney to interpret their contract before signing it. If not, and you have an issue, you will regret it. Best to find a company that will play straight with you.

I cannot agree strongly enough with all the posts I have read. I had a 3 year contract, and during that time most classes were cancelled at my gym, the company went into bankruptcy, the bathrooms have been filfthy, the staff in person and on the phone rude and unhelpful. My contract expired at the end of last year, and they continued to attempt to deduct money from my account until I threatened to sue them (fortunately I work for a large law firm.) Please- DO NOT SIGN ANY KIND OF CONTRACT with this company. They are quite literally criminals.

I would give Bally Total Fitness 0 stars. I signed a 3 year contract with Bally total fitness. It was paid in full. The last 6mo. of my membership I was getting collection notices. I called them and they said it was for a membership I had 11 years ago. I asked " Why did you not notify me about an old contract when I was signing a new one?" They said " That the old contract had nothing to do with the new one." I said " If I new I owed you money I would have paid the old membership instead of getting the new one" I did not renew my contract on the second membership and they are still billing me. They do not let you out of your contract even when you do not renew. They keep trying to take your money even when your contract is over!! STAY AWAY FROM BALLY FITNESS !!!! You will regret getting a membership with them. Michelle Valdina ( 24 Fitness Best gym ever )

I'm very frustrated after trying to cancel with Bally's for the past 2 weeks. The gym I went to was fine, however, I wasn't using it as much as I should have been so I decided to cancel. I was not under any contract, luckily. So for the past 2 weeks I had called the member service line several times and kept getting the same automated response that the line was experiencing extremely high volume and they would not be able to cancel my membership at this time. Then it hung up on me! So I tried emailing Bally's and received no response. Finally I decided I would pretend to be a new member so I could maybe speak with someone. Sure enough, that worked!! After being asked about 10 questions of why I was quitting and offered deals that probably wouldn't be fulfilled, I was finally able to cancel. I am very frustrated and disappointed with Bally's. While I had been calling, they charged me for another month.

NEVER SING A CONTRACT. DEMAND YOUR RIGHT IMMEDIATELY. THEY INTENTIONALLY IGNORE YOU WHEN TRYING TO GET OUT OF A CONTRACT. I signed up for service with Ballys' However, two days later I new I was not able to pay the contract. I went personally on the third day to get out of the contract. As stated on my contract, I had 3 days to recind. However, once there I was totally ignored. They sat me in a room for 45 minutes, telling me there was no one on the premises to attend to me. That the manager was not in. That I had to speak to him personally. I got frustrated and walked out. Its been one year and still not resolved this matter. I'm taking them to court and summoning the video tapes of that third day to proove that I was there. They are sneaky and terrible customer service.

DO NOT SIGN ANY CONTRACTS WITH BALLY'S. I made the mistake of signing a 3 year-contract with Bally's. The gym was ok at first, but then the company closed the only location near where I worked/lived with no more than 1 month's notice. They did not offer any sort of compensation whatsoever, and would not refund ANY of my payment despite the fact that the next nearest club was at least 45min - 1hr drive away and did not have anywhere near the type of facilities that the club I had signed up for had (e.g. swimming pool, etc). They ignored my request for refund letter completely and were extremely difficult to get a hold of by phone. I would NEVER do business with Bally's again and would NEVER recommend them to a friend.

The Ballys in Santa Ana, CA has a clientele that must have needed approval from their parole officers to join. There's more gang and prison tats on the members than in an episode of Prison Break. The "trainers" do nothing when one of these winners sets up camp on a particular machine and does 10 sets, slugging down Monster and texting in between.

Bally's is a horrible organization. Never ever sign a contract. They put you on hold for hours and don't send correspondence. I cannot say enough- DO NOT JOIN. I don't even think this place deserves one star.

A little background on me. I've worked for this company for 10 years! First as a Certified Personal Trainer,(next) as a Fitness Director, and (last) as a General Manager. So I know the ins and outs and everything there is about Bally Total Fitness. I've worked all over the country for Bally's; Arizona, California, Colorado, New York and especially the main base in and around the Chicagoland area. I even know of the old corrupt CEO that gave himself a huge raise and bonus just before his termination. So all of you that wondered where your Bally's stocks went..... thank him! .........He still works out at Bally's! Despite all this scandal, as for ground level personal trainers, this place is a good stepping stone. They have better training and education then any of the large branch chained facilities. ............Ok. Back to the carnage. This place IS CORRUPT! They do steal from you! -Locked on Long Term memberships....(3 years? Come on!) -Unannounced Raise in Monthly... Read more

Joined Bally's on Dec. 30, 08. Should have followed my gut feeling. I sensed dishonesty and fakeness right away but dismissed it. They pressured me into signing up so I did, yea, it was good until they started calling me everyday 2-3 times a day to ask me to come in and do the one-on-one training with a personal trainer. I politely refused the first few times until it started getting old. Seems like a new person was calling everyday to pressure me into working out one-on-one. I later found out that they get commission if someone does one-on-one training. At the same time I called the club and asked for hours of operation they told me "we close at 10". I said okay, and came in sometime between 8:57 and 9:03 on a Friday night to use the pool and sauna. The girl at the desk was yapping with some guy and just scanned my card. I sat in the sauna for about 40 minutes with music still playing and no one in the sauna or pool. When I came out the whole gym was closed, lights were off and doors ... Read more

bally is the worse experience i have had in my whole life. i am still fighting with them presently. we need to come together and do something about this. i am currently in the process of suing them. i wrote a letter to their so called "i promise to you" department. Promise Program c/o Bally Total Fitness, 12440 E. imperial Hwy. Ste. 300, Norwalk, CA 90650. ATTENTION: CANCELLATION My name is ****** *** and my account number is 2888********01. I have a grave problem that I wish you could assist me with. On the 21st of August 2008 I signed up to join Bally Total Fitness with Mrs. ********** ***** at the Gaithersburg location. I also included my sister ****** **** to my account. My monthly payment came up to $64.56, and I was satisfied with that. Mrs. ********** ***** contacted me on the 23rd of August to inform me about a better plan for my sister and I, with a good discount. She had me cancel my prior agreement and sign up for a similar ... Read more

I am really disappointed in the Bally Total Fitness in Thornton, Colorado and here is a letter that I wrote to them today. This pretty much sums up the experience my sisters and I have had there. I'm sure others are just as disappointed.... "Hi! I am really interested in cancelling my membership...I pay for my two sisters and myself to have a membership at Bally's and we are totally disappointed. I talked them into Bally's instead of 24 hour and regret it. We go to the Bally's in Thornton, CO and it is disgusting. There is mold growing in the sauna and it stinks like dirty wet towels (I don't think it ever gets cleaned), the women's bathroom stinks like the elephants at the zoo (no joke), you can feel the dirt on the bottom of the hot tub floor, there is no dress code and people work out in their jeans (I can live with this but it's annoying), there is not enough paper towels or spray to clean the machines and the front desk people are never available to help with the machines and are... Read more

Bally Total Fitness is the worst gym ever. People get drawn into a scam by signing contracts that make them responsible for paying membership many years in a row. This is the only reason Bally has the cheapest rates. Plus it stinks, is dirty and is filled with fags and old farts. Going there seems like such a drag but it is cheap. So if you want a cheap, smelly ass experience Bally is the place to be. It smells like a fat dirty butt hole on a hot summer day.

I have had no trouble with Bally in Tucson. I have a month to month membership. Staff is supportive and friendly.People make the mistake of getting into a big contract that they default on. That's (one) of the reasons why these clubs loose money.Spend within your means. Robert

Riadh Hamdi is a criminal employed at Bally Total Fitness!! Your Social Security Number and personal information are at risk. To find out more, log on to: www.riadhhamdiisaretard.blogspot.com

Well, i went into the gym just to check out out and see the offers. Well, this one guy in north seattle kept pushing and pushin it on me. So, well ye i signed the dam contract. Well, they say cancelation policy is within three days... but I got a call from my family back in Russia saying my grandfather passed away and I needed to go their for a yr or maybe less to take care of my grandmother and help her out. Now, its been six days since i got the membership and i need to cancel it.. and they told me wel that guy told me at that gymi need a letter from my grandmother from russia saying that i will be leaving with her. I man thats frekain crazy... he is an ass whole or what. I mean family emergency its an emergency, and if tey really had a great customer service they would of returned my 109 dollars back to me and just let it go..i mean i just found this all about chapter 11 stuff from a friend of mine couple days ago. so, now I have to call copperate and try to deal with them.

Bally's of Inglewood is the most unfriendly gym I have ever been to! I went to ask for some info. about joining, they told me about prices and initiation fees. I was a little shocked about the initiation fee being 150 dollars so I asked if it was ok if I thought about a little further while I used the gym for a bit, just so I could let it grow on me... The employee told me "haven't you ever used a gym before?"... If this is not rude I dont know what is!!!

Bally Fitness was very very happy to making the money from unhappy customers.They are kind of sadists.While joining they will say they are very very best and there is no need to take the contract which are very wrong.I joined month to month member ship and i now tried to cancel my membership due to lost my employment.But they said you made signature on our contract and its not possible to cancel it.So i paid the rest of the amount and i asked them send me the cancellation letter.They said very happily there is no need to cancel the membership once you finish the three years if you did not made any payments it will cancelled automatically.I dont believe these guys words.Can some one can help me what i have to after 3 years.Now i am scaring my contract may extend 3 more years after this period finish.Can someone please help me what i have to do for not extending my conract.It's highly appriciated if omeone send suggestions to my email([email protected])

dont even look in the direction where bally's is ... bloody idiots ... went to the gym n told manager that am i just here fr 3 months ... he told me how valued i'm n gave me special offer so special that now ven i want to cancel my membership i've told i cant and need to send them all the proofs which they rcv nstill dnt care to act ... so nvr in life join f**** bally;'s and yes the manager who signed has left ....

Rating is "-5"..bally is worst...DONT SIGNUP.. Its a oneway. You can not come of of membership even you want to. Even you give proper document like relocation proofs, utility bills of new location etc , they don't cancel your membership. They sell your account to collection agancy which forces you to pay the huge amount. While signing contract , the manager told me that I can cancel my membership any time by paying $50 penalty. later I relocated to other place and called up them to cancel membership. Now they are saying that the manager gave you wrong information and that manager is left his job. Its a bullshit....they are crazy guys....Don't get membership in bally at all....

A bargain you don't need. There are better options in the market. Your self esteem should be worth than $19 a month and broken promises.

I was signed up to Bally by a guy, obviously on steroids, who said it was so easy and simple. All contracts, he said, were month to month and I could cancel any time for any reason. That was a complete and bold-faced lie. I ended up moving unexpectedly after a month at Bally and called to cancel. Well, guess what, it turns out that there is no such thing as a cancel any time policy. I was lied to! So I tried to cancel due to relocation. Now I have to pay some BS $50 relocation fee. That doesn't seem fair at all, especially since I moved to take care of a family member having brain surgery. I sent off a proof of relocation which they conveniently "did not receive" so I am still getting bills for hundreds of dollars they claim I owe them and phone calls with threats to be turned into collections. I called the guy who signed me up and he said not to pay anything and I have the right to cancel. The people on the phone say otherwise. This is all crap and I feel totally scammed! Do not sign ... Read more

Bally's Total Fitness is a dishonest company. I purchased a LIFETIME membership in 1990 in which they falsely advertised as a free membership for the rest of my life. After the lifetime membership was completely paid off they came up with an administrative fee in order to keep the membership. Each year they have increased this fee which has gone from $60 to $227 annually. This last increase was $46. I would not recommend Bally Total Fitness, they are nothing more than dishonest, scamming, con-artist CROOKS! Unhappy so called lifetime member.

I worked for bally total fitness for the last 5 years as a fitness director and I can tell you that most of the upper level managers are not concerned about anything but numbers. They have all forgotten what customer service and compassion for someone trying to change their life is. The reason the company has a 90% turnover rate is because they don'y pay enough and tell you that you have a chance to earn way more that is realistic. I stepped down as a manager because of the practices of my managers and the way I was treated, I was told that I was an emarassment to the company and that my family should be embarassed of me if my numbers were not as good as they should be. Also I was repremanded for taking off for passover, i'm pretty sure that is illegal. When I stepped down to go back to being a trainer I took my 2 weeks of vacation before and when I got my check they paid me min wage for my vacation time. It took me a month and a lawyer to get paid correctly. Then after that the... Read more

Worst experience of my life. I told them that I would be there for three months so they set me up with a contract that was good for 3 years and then they said that they would cancel it after 3 months when i moved. What happened? They didn't cancel it, the man told me I was all good and don't need my paperwork anymore so I threw it out, and then this man quit and Bally's said quote "We cannot and will not contact this former employee and don't honor his word." Not only this, but they somehow "misplaced" my records. It's as if I don't even belong there but I'm still getting charged a monthly fee. This is by far the worst cue-card reading group of people who claim to be running a business, even though it is a nation-wide scam, that I have ever dealt with in my life. Horrible horrible horrible. I want to puke just thinking that I ever dealt with these people.

I have also had the most difficult time trying to cancel my contract with Ballys. I was entitled to 60 days before I can cancel contract with minimal requirements. I called the facility to inform them the reason I stopped coming (my 2 yr old son was sick with scarlet fever and strep throat with a temop of 104.4) and requested an extension. They denied me and told me I had to have a doctors note which i got, and now they wont return my phone calls and give me the run around. I was one visit away from my requirement. This is the most injustice facilty operation I have ever been involved with. Now that my son is well and I can continue, they are overcharging me with a plan that I do not want or fit my lifestyle. I would NEVER reccommend or suggest ANYONE to sign or reactivate a contract with Ballys. It all started with a "free pass"! Thats how they get you... the staff at the facility is very unprofessional and inconsiderate. This was a very big and bad mistake joining this fitness club,.

I'm on official Military Orders to ship out overseas. In the process of this my orders indicates certain schools I must attend before shipping out overseas. Bally's refuse to cancel my membership indicating that I'll be doing "training" before I deploy overseas. They stated that I will not be able to cancel until my actual deployment date. I will be attending these schools while on base and leaving the base is limited. They will not cancel my orders. The worst gym, customer service, satisfaction, and relations in the world. I do not and will never recommend Bally's. Guess what gym I wouldn't be attending if god spear life when I get back?

Hmmmm, you guy's are making me rethink reactivating my membership. I recently moved and lost my job but the $35 monthly fee isn't bad, but my paypal debit card that was set up for payments never pulls the money from my account. So I was backed-up and paid half. I'm trying to catch back up but now their saying my membership was written off. Maybe I should let it be. I did like the gym though. I will miss the classes. But if I'm due for the hassles you guys are going through maybe I'm better off?

Bally Total Fitness is a joke, like most fitness centers, they are only after your money. I wasn't given a membership card but now there trying to charge me over $100. I have never once gone to there gym. It is really unfair and they do not allow cancellations.

The Bally's Total Fitness Club in Redford Michigan If another member commits an assault and battery against another member them most they will do is send a warning letter to the offender. That comes directly from the Corporate Office. Also they have a cleaning service now MIDWAY that employees mexicans that cannot speak English. I am not sure if they are illegal or legal. But this looks alot like what happen to the Wal-Mart stores which did the same thing and they turned out to be illegal. They used to employ local people to do cleaning.

I joined Bally's a few years ago, when I signed the contract I was told that I was to pay 37 dollars a month for three years, then after the money is paid in full, I would have a lifetime membership of 15 dollars a month. Well I've paid about 2 thousand dollars to learn there is no lifetime membership and they want me to sign another 3 year contract, yeah I don't think so. (The funny thing) The new contract they wanted me to sign is for 38 dollars a month for another 3 years. One, I learned: never sign a contract without reading every word of it, and two NEVER sign anything at Bally's! The gym was always dirty too!

I joined Bally's through Globalfit.com because I get a discount through my health insurance. I think it was better that I joined through them rather than going directly through Bally's. So far, I haven't had any problems and *crossing fingers*, won't have any problems since my membership is through Globalfit.

AWFUL membership terms, AWFUL service, SUB-PAR, OVERCROWDED facilities and equipment in all 3 locations I lived in. It's the worst membership I ever had to any company.

Bally's gyms are generally dirty and out-dated. They do not seem to invest any money in reniewing and replacing older machines.Not to mention the contract that they make you sign. You need to die (and mail them the death record) in order to cancel it. Beware!

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My friend and I signed up for a 3 year membership together on the same account and we were lied to by the sales rep(as it seems many people have been). We were paying $70 total ($35 each). And we were told that if one person cancels the other could continue at half the price ($35). However now that my friend needs to cancel due to a medical problem, I'm responsible to pay the whole amount ($70). Don't ever join Bally's. It's a complete scam and rip off. The employees are very rude everywhere and there is no sense of customer service. It tried calling the manager at the corporate office and it took me a long time/several tries to get in touch with her and she was also very rude. She tells me to file a complaint with the area director and that they will contact me in 30 days... of course nobody ever contacted me... I can't wait till my membership is over so I can switch gyms.

I joined Ballys a year ago and the facilities were in good condition, but then they went "bankrupt" and soon afterwards they rolled out a cheep membership package and ever since, the gym has gone down hill. The machines are not maintained, the place is always dirty and the locker rooms are just bacterial breeding grounds. Plus on top of that it is now permanently over crowded and with people that are not your typical gym goers. I have tried to get out of my contract, but no matter how hard I have tried they will not let me out. All they do is repeat the same thing over and over and in the end your only option is just to pay off the account and wait till it runs out. Ballys has the worst customer service, and they are very rude and unfriendly. I would advise anyone that I meet who is interested in a fitness club not to join them, for their policies are shady and they are only interested in your money and not you as a customer. Ballys is a terrible fitness facility and frankly SUCK... Read more

Never in your LIFE join a Bally Fitness.