Selling Bally's Contract...?

[where'smyturbo?]

well i signed up for a membership at bally's in June, i was one of those dumb teens who didn't read the entire thing before signing......

well i don't want to go there, because i cannot really afford to continue paying it.
Does anyone know if you are able to sell your contract to someone else?
its another year and a half at $45/mo.

[ITSTOCK]

I believe it depends on what contract you signed (well duh), but I think that if you bought a lifetime membership you can sell it (used to be able to, there was a couple hundred dollar transfer fee though).

[where'smyturbo?]

its a 2 yr.

and before its said, i know i'm an idiot.

[Scapegoat]

Eh, I have a 3 yr contract that is up soon. its $39/month. I haven't used it in a year, but I'm heading back tonight :-D

I'm probably gonna cancel it and negotiate a new contract. I have a full gym at work I can use for free. I think I'm gonna work on them to get another contract for $20 a month for 3 years... people have done it...

[den9]

ask them how much they want to rip up the contract?

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by den9

ask them how much they want to rip up the contract?

they usually want the full amount of the contract paid...

[Jeffros Spec V]

I'm pretty sure my brother got out of a contract at Bally's but I'll find out for sure and if he did I'll ask what he had/had to do.

[gpzjack]

They are con artists...lol...my cousin won a big lawsuit against them a few years ago. I hear they are in bankruptcy right now ...maybe they will fold the tent.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by gpzjack

They are con artists...lol...my cousin won a big lawsuit against them a few years ago. I hear they are in bankruptcy right now ...maybe they will fold the tent.

this is a year old: http://fitnessbusinesspro.com/forpro...lancing_bally/

and something else I found:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gym operator Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. on Thursday said it has may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors if it is unable to restructure it's debt.

The company said it has $45 million in cash and $827 million in outstanding debt.

Chicago-based Bally also said it told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it is unable to file its annual report for 2006.

[gpzjack]

My dippy wife signed a contract there a while ago when i told her not too. Her main thing was that they had a day care...well it would have helped if anyone was ever there...bunch of BS I hope they go under...L A fitness is just as bad...i knew a kid that worked there...they are a bunch of slimeballs too.

[where'smyturbo?]

yeah...... i hope that all hell brakes loose, and bally's closes, and i don't have to pay off my balance.

[SovXietday]

I hate contracts.

[K-Rex]

Originally Posted by Jeffros Spec V

I'm pretty sure my brother got out of a contract at Bally's but I'll find out for sure and if he did I'll ask what he had/had to do.

I got out of it and it wasn't easy.

I will say right now, that **** was my fault for taking someone's word and a handshake and not reading the fine print, but that doesn't make what they did right.

I knew I was moving in 6 months but had put on some weight in the last year. Went in the Bally's across from Oxford Valley Mall and said I just wanted to join for a couple of months because I would be moving. The guy said it be $49.99 a month and that I would have to pay a $50 cancellation fee. Signed some paperwork and began working out.

The place was ****ing disgusting. I remember going into the steam room and seeing the same bloody band aid 3 weeks in a row.

Just before I moved away I called Bally's to cancel and find out I was signed up for a 5 year contract and unless I died or moved somewhere that was 25 miles away from the closest Bally's I couldn't get out of the contract and would have to pay the remainder of the 5 years.

I called the guy who singed me up to ask him why he signed my up for a five year contract when I specifically told him that I wanted a 6 month contract, and without even provoking him at all he called me a "stupid asshole" for not reading the small print and hung up on me. Nice business practice they have there. Called all the way up the chain and got the same attitude.

Fortunately, I moved somewhere that 25.3 miles away from a Bally's! Paid the $50 and got out of the automatic credit card charges.

What you need to do is read the contract and see what the radius is for how far away you need to be from the closest Bally's to get out of it.

Then find a relative or a friend who lives that far away and change a credit card or cell phone bill to that address for a month. You will need to then fax them a copy of that bill with the new address, an explanation that you moved, a fifty dollar check, and mapquest directions to the closet Bally's that shows its further away than what's on your contract.


**** Bally's! Seriously, Google Bally's and look at all the web pages devoted to their shady practices. Apparently its SOP to trick people into signing up for extended contracts.

In fact a student of mine once told the she worked for their sales division. To bring up her sales she was told to call poorer areas hoping to get someone who didn't speak English so well, because it was easier to trick them into long term contracts. She said she never felt right and quit after a few weeks.

[where'smyturbo?]

yeah i've been trying to find someone i know good enough to get my mail forwarded there, and not worry about not getting my mail.

however, is not as easy as i would have thought.

i'm hoping there isn't one close to lancaster or doylestown, i have an aunt living in both places.

[ozthunder]

Jesus christ that sounds horrible, good luck!

[K-Rex]

Here try this. Says there is one in Willow Grove.

http://bally.know-where.com/BallyFitness2/

I'm so glad to hear that Bally's might be shutting down.

[where'smyturbo?]

no in the bally's club locater, there is none near 17601, Lancaster, PA.

my aunt lives there.... if she doesn't work with me on this i will really want to smother her with a pillow made of vinyl.


i signed up at oxford as well....... it is a **** hole.

[ozthunder]

I've been reading testimonials, and boy, am I glad I go to a school where we can use their gyms. This **** is unbelievable.

[ITSTOCK]

Originally Posted by ozthunder

I've been reading testimonials, and boy, am I glad I go to a school where we can use their gyms. This **** is unbelievable.

So long as you don't listen to ONE WORD of the LA Fitness staff, it's pretty nice there.

On a side note, last week my girlfriends sister had set up a "training session" with one of the LA idiots. The kid didn't show up, and my girlfriends sister decided that she wanted to cancel it. Well, that was on a Monday, and when she talked to the manager, the manager said that she only had 3 days to cancel it and that she had to keep the contract. it was her choice whether or not to stay. She went home, read over the contract, and it was "three business days", which in the contract, excluded Saturdays and Sundays. She signed up Thursday, so the manager damn well knew that if she didn't cancel while she was there on that Monday, she would be stuck paying for her personal trainer. She called the number when she got home (again, Monday), and canceled out of it.

You really do have to be careful, and like stated above, "CON ARTISTS" is probably the single best description. Do NOT take their personal trainers on, whether it be their sessions or just simple advice. And even worse, don't sign ANYTHING there unless you read it 10 times over. It's pathetic, but for $27/month, it's by far the best place to work out (LA, that is. I know a couple of people that quit Ballys to join LA and like it a million times more).

[ozthunder]

What about the staff there? I'm curious as to how these business's rape as much as they do. The fitness craze really must be as profitable as you'd think, eh?