Bally Total Fitness

If you're looking to cancel your account with Bally, be prepared to make it a full time job. First, there are no options when you call to speak with a customer representative unless you would like to add a member. Second, none of the representatives speak fluent English. Finally, they are not interested in being helpful. I called to cancel my account and was told by the representative with a heavy Indian accent that I would need to submit something in writing. When I expressed my frustration with the delay as that would require me to pay an additional month's fee, the representative notified me that if I want, he can do it over the phone for a fee of $30.

When I realized the type of customer service I was dealing with, I gladly agreed to pay the fee to get over with this. However, the next day, although the fee was already withdrawn from my bank account, I still didn't receive the confirmation email that I was promised. I called back and asked the new Indian speaking representative, who told me my account was still open, to speak with a manager who speaks English. She transferred me and after waiting on hold for about 10 minutes, the line went dead. I called back and asked yet the third Indian speaking representative if he can transfer me to an English speaking manager. After approximately 10 minutes of waiting, a fellow named William **, claiming to head the customer service department picked up.

William, too, spoke with a heavily accented English and sounded like he just arrived from India. I must give it to him. He was very nice on the phone and told me that the account was indeed cancelled. He sent me an email confirmation that mistakenly omitted the word "cancel" and had other spelling and grammar mistakes as well. Oh well, at least he took care of my problem. After this tiring experience, I am left wondering. How is it that anyone would willingly sign up with such a company with knowledge of this information? I, therefore, feel it is my duty to report this to the public in any means available.

This is the third complaint I'm making against Bally Fitness. I opened an account in February but failed to go to the club for a couple of weeks. When I was ready to return, I called my local club and was told that this membership was closed and had me open another membership. Then come to find out that I was still being charged monthly for the first account. I called and explained the situation.

I was told that they would cancel the second account and open a case for a refund of the deposit. Now three weeks after I requested a refund, I am being charged the monthly fee for that same membership that was supposed to be canceled. I don't understand what is going on. It seems like every week I'm having another problem with Bally and I'm getting fed up. I have already sent you guys a direct message with all the information.

I recently posted a complaint about Bally Fitness. The local club had me open a membership when I had one already valid. I called Bally, and they said I would get a refund in ten business days. I called to inquire on the status of the refund and was told that I would get it on Friday. I called Friday, and I was told it was still pending. It's the same thing on Monday, Tuesday, and today, Wednesday. I am getting tired of this. Someone needs to contact me as soon as possible. Or give me a number to call, because those people from customer service don't have a clue on what they are doing.

I purchased a Bally Total Fitness Premier Plus Membership for almost $3K back in 1993, to go to any BTF in the U.S.A. Over the next two decades, I had periods of both active and inactive usage but was always able to reconstitute my "lifetime" membership by simply updating my annual dues (usually ranging between $99-$130). My local gym in Kennesaw, GA, closed without any notice in 2010, which then made the next closest "open" BTF too far away to be useful for me. Regardless, I continued to receive correspondence from BTF asking me to update my $99 Premier Membership dues throughout 2011, including the last letter from January 2012.

I finally decided to make the 90-minute, one-way trip to the closest BTF in March 2012, only to discover that the building was completely vacant. I had received absolutely no notification of LA Fitness' acquisition of Bally here in GA. When I called them up, they identified my membership number, and immediately told me that all my information has been transferred over to LA Fitness, and advised me to go to the nearest LAF to my home address. I did that, and LAF couldn't find me in their system, and referred me back to Bally. I have been back and forth with BTF and LAF for the last two months without any resolution.

LAF told me that if I was not up to date with my dues, then most likely, my "Lifetime Membership" was simply cancelled without any chance to be restored, regardless if the dues were one day after the expiration day. I'm very familiar with the terms of my BTF contract and it stipulates a "one-time transfer" of my membership (active or inactive) in the event BTF was ever purchased by a third party.

I called an attorney to discuss filing a lawsuit and he redirected me to this site, because apparently, BTF is responding to these complaints. If that is so, I am looking forward to your response. My membership # is **. Indeed, this is not a way to conduct business, and no doubt that this transition was a strategic one, to get rid of the naive "Lifetime Membership" holders. I will do my best to fight this battle until I see its resolution.

At the end of January 2012, I opened an account with Bally, but have not gone for about two months. Last week (end of April), I decided to start going back, so I called my local gym to inquire if my account was still active. The manager told me it was "no longer active" and had me open a new account. I paid the down payment and everything. Today, going through my bank account, I noticed a charge from Bally. I called my local gym, gave them my first account and was told that it was still active. So I'm like why did I just paid $79 for a new account when I already had one?! I believe that is considered fraud. I understand the employees make money by commission, but it is unfair what they are doing to people who work hard everyday. I called corporate and my calls keep dropping. I would like to know if this will be resolved.

Six months ago, I called in to cancel my membership because I didn't like the gym. I wanted a refund and they said they'd call in three months. No call. I got the bill. I paid in advance for the entire year. The money was taken off my credit card. Fine.

If you decide to join this gym, you might have to sacrifice your first born child to get out of the gym.

P.S. If you call Bally's at 1-886-402-2559 and go to the option of canceling your membership, the automated phones says that it will redirect you to an operator and then hangs up. You have to go to the option of adding a new member onto your account to get an operator.

On April 19th, when I was finished in the pool and jacuzzi, I smelled a horrible odor on my skin. Both were unsanitary. Please make sure the pool is clean periodically.

I called them to inquire where I can go to use my Bally's Total Fitness membership. Nothing happened. I just got put on hold and the next thing you know, I got disconnected.

About 15 years ago, I went to a nearby Bally Total Fitness to see about a trial membership. The salesman/personal trainer (same name as mine), assured me that I could cancel at anytime. After I went one time, and I saw the dirty changing rooms, and workout areas, no adequate help at all, no one's even on my first visit.

I got a new job about 14 miles further from where I currently worked at the time in Maple Shade, NJ. And I was going to move in with my girlfriend at the time in Browns Mills, NJ which would be about 45 minutes to an hour and 26-28 miles one way. Seeing that my work and travel schedule was going to conflict with Bally Total Fitness if I were to get a membership, I told a Bally's employee that I needed to cancel said trial or membership, as it was less than 2 weeks. I was told to my face that it was canceled and it would be forwarded to the headquarters. Note, that I have never received any membership packet, ID card or anything EVER! I should know because my mom still has the same address, and I still get occasional junk mail that she holds for me, just in the off chance that I may need it.

Now, some bottom feeder law firm is garnishing my wages, and I have 3 kids and a family to support. I find it very disturbing that this company can still cause so much chaos, after reading a lot of messages in the forums all over the web. It is downright impossible to get in touch with anyone that can handle complaints or questions. I hear the foolish naysayers backing the company from time to time, but are people really this crazy? I do not try to judge people, but the BBB should really start looking into the business practices of this very slippery company, and maybe reduce their credit status or rating.

On Wednesday, 4/11/2012, I left my iPod in one of the treadmills. Once I noticed that it was missing, I called the gym. The lady at the front desk told me she had the physical iPod in her hand and described it to me. Therefore, I know she had it in her possession. The young lady assured me she would keep the device in the gym's safe so that I could retrieve it the next day. When my sister tried to retrieve the iPod for me the next day, no one seemed to know where it was. I spoke with the branch manager and he said he did not see anything either. But my iPod was in the gym's safe box; therefore, someone who works for the gym took it. I will involve the police in this because it is unfair that people who are paid to offer the customers a good service are actually stealing from them. The consequences are that no one seems to take responsibility for things that happened within the gym's own personnel, who at the customers' slightest distraction, snatch the gym customer's property.

I cancelled my membership since February and I am still getting charged and I have the email with cancellation to prove it. I call and the wait time is always above 10 minutes. I want them to stop charging me already.

I signed a personal trainer contract for the amount of $1,276.00 on January 25, 2012. Grand total of my checking account was charged $1,528.00, which was an overcharge. I was told by my trainer (San Jose, Hamilton Ave. location) that a refund was released on March 29th and told that it is 7-10 day process. As of today 4/11/2011, I have yet to receive any payment.

I have spoken to Bally's corporate reps directly and to my local branch management numerous times but only get conflicting information ranging from, "we cannot estimate when you will receive the refund to," and "the refund has been processed and on its way". As of today April 11th, I have not received any funds. I get no call backs from the reps that promise me that they will look into the issue. I am very frustrated that I cannot get a straight answer from anyone associated with Bally.

I refuse to up my personal training experience due to the awful way this is being handled. What really aggravates me is that I upheld my contractual obligation and paid my billing on time. In addition, the customer service aspect of this corporation is pathetic. No one seems to want to take any responsibility for "doing the right thing" to the customer. The time I have spent trying to get my hard earned money back has been trying and totally unacceptable. Bally's needs to spend more time taking care of their customer issues and less time trying to steal honest hard working people's money!

Every time I come to the gym, it is filthy. I don't understand why there is no staff helping with the upkeep and keeping it clean. Almost every time the garbage is all full and overflowing onto the floor. The disinfectant sprays are always empty. The women's bathroom always smells and the toilet paper is all over the stalls. Why is no one doing hourly checks? Why is staff not doing hourly checks on the equipment and cleaning up the nasty stuff? I had already gotten a staph infection by my nose after the gym back in November. And I had gotten a bacterial throat infection in February. I have not had a throat infection since I was 22 and had my tonsils removed. So this has got to tell you that no one cleans. The cardio machines are always taken and people are inconsiderate of others. They should have a time limit on how long you can use the elliptical, etc.

Also, the front desk people are always so unfriendly. They never say hi and they never say good bye. Sometimes, the girls are eating their lunch or dinners at the desk and it is not very good customer service. They are standing around talking and not doing any work. They should be cleaning the equipment, empty the garbage or cleaning the restrooms. I am seriously trying to find a new gym right now. I guess there is a reason it is only $9.99 bi-weekly. For me to pay that three times for family members, it is $60 plus annual fees - it really is not worth it.

In March of 2006, I signed a contract with a Bally's gym in San Antonio, TX. About a month and half later, I moved back home for school where there was no Bally's. When I called in reference to how to cancel the contract, I was told by an associate there that they would have a manager call me back. The next day, a manager contacted me with an address to mail my cancellation request to. He told me to mail a letter along with proof of address change to their corporate office.

I mailed the letter and proof to the address given to me. I assumed all was taken care of. About 2 years later, after I finished college, I got a job back in San Antonio and moved back. I started receiving letters from a collection company, stating that I owed them over $1,000 due to non-payment of the contract. I called and tried speaking to a Bally's associate and they told me that since my account had already been taken by the collection company, there was nothing they could do. I called Bally's corporate office, the same results. I attempted to talk to the collection company on several occasions and pretty much got nowhere.

The collection agency simply didn't want to hear my story, just wanted their money back. I took the steps necessary to cancel my contract, just like the manager told me to. 6 years later, I'm still receiving phone calls from this collection agency in attempt to collect money. I'm extremely angry with this situation. No one from Bally's is trying to help. They simply turn the other way and tell me I have to deal with the collection agency. The collection agency argues with me over the phone and just tells me that they can't do anything but attempt to collect money I owe. I don't feel like I should have to pay for something that should have been cancelled years ago!

I wanted to cancel my membership since I received it. I was very unsatisfied with the gym at Church and Flatbush in Brooklyn, NY. So I called and ask to cancel my membership because the salesman lied. He said that a gym was opening downtown Brooklyn and I could go there. A gym never opened there. So for close to two years, I paid membership dues and never went. I also paid close to $500 in personal training fees and I never went. So, I wrote a letter and I gave it to the salesman and stated that I would like my membership cancelled. He said that it will be faxed to corporate. In August of 2011, I spoke to a representative and he said that your membership will be cancelled in November and there is nothing more that I need to do.

I assumed that it was taken care of. In March 2012, I received an email stating that they didn't receive my membership fees. They were still charging me. So I called the customer service and I explained. The guy said to me that he could only refund me for two months, but I wanted the full refund. I asked to speak to a manager for the other months' refund. He then explained to me, and I quote, "Well, if you speak to a manager, he will void this transaction and he won't give you any refund." I said again, "Well, refund me the months as you stated and I will speak to the manager for the rest." Well, the customer service agent was like, "Well, I am not giving any refunds now and you can take your chances with the manager."

The manager is like, "I am not giving you any refund and you do not deserve any refund because you should have written to us in ten days and that's that." Then he proceeded giving me an address and he was like they won't give me a refund and I am wasting my time. He hung up after that. This is the worst company I have ever dealt with in my life. The customer service is horrible and **is very unprofessional and rude. All I wanted was my refund of eighty dollars.

Today at Bally Gym 1915 3rd Ave New York, NY 10029, (212) 369-3063, my Tag Heuer watch of great sentimental and monetary value was stolen at approximately 2:20 pm. I weighed myself in the lobby where I took my watch off and placed it on the adjacent manager's office window ledge. I then walked out the door and when I put on sweat shirt on, I realized that I was missing my watch. I immediately turned around and ran back in to the gym to the scale where I had placed my watch about 90 seconds before. It was gone.

After asking all of the staff about it and having them search and ask each other, it became apparent that it had been stolen. I realized at this point that there is a camera in the lobby that faces the scale where the theft had taken place. This was of course a great relief because it would be very easy to review the footage and see the thief in action. When I pointed this out to the staff, I was told that I would need to file a police report in order to review the footage. This made some sort of sense as a protocol. So I calmly followed through and placed the report.

When the police arrived after explaining the situation, they asked to see the recording as well. We were then informed that the TV for viewing the disk was not working and they did not know how to play it and did not want to try. The police responded that all they could do at this point was pass it on to the detectives unit for review and I would be contacted later.

It is appalling to me not only that Tag Heuer watch my wife gave me was stolen in broad day light, in less the two minutes, in front of the manager's office and that no effort was made to mention that it was recorded on video security system, and that I was required to make a police report in order to review the evidence. But when all of this was said and done, both the Police and I were thwarted in viewing the security footage that has the theft recorded on it.

I have filed a case with the detective squad at 164 E 102nd ST Manhattan New York 10029 and have been assured that they will follow up and subpoena the disk. But I must say that I am baffled, perplexed and very disheartened that Bally is the type of institution that would blatantly disregard its members' safety and property and not only turn a blind eye to thievery on Bally grounds but actually assist in its success by taking proactive measure to hinder reviewing security footage evidence.

I must make it clear that I was calm clear headed but firm and the only person engaged in offering up solutions for finding the stolen property. And when I discovered that the entire event had been recorded the onus was placed on me to point this out. When the footage needed official intervention to be viewed the onus was again placed on me to request for the police. When the police arrived and we were then told that detectives would be needed in order to review the footage because Bally's staff did not have a way of looking at the footage. I was and am obviously distressed but the senselessness of making no effort to assist in the viewing and securing of perfect and full proof evidence by the people who have it is difficult to swallow.

The window for catching the thief is quickly closing as disk that recorded all of this is erased every two weeks. The person or persons who perpetrated this act have most likely left the building and will not likely carry the stolen item back into the Bally Club.

I am an even tempered and well spoken man. I am well educated, outgoing and friendly. I am a company owner myself and a commercial director. I can sympathize with many things but not thievery or indifference to it. So, I am quite certain that the request on my part to find my watch by using the security system that had recorded the event was made politely and very clearly articulated and explained repeatedly. It was and is valid and would most definitely produce the criminal in this manner. On the other hand, the response by their staff that was there was either incompetent or ill intended. It has most likely cost me the watch which is of great sentimental value, my image of Bally and any respect that I had for the gym. And all of that seems so senseless when such a clear solution to such an obnoxious social problem is at hand.

If there are any thoughts or ideas on this, please let me know as soon possible as I am still very concerned and obviously keen on the return of the Tag Heuer watch my wife gave me five Christmases ago.

I sent two checks to Bally's; one for my renewal for 2 years and one for a tag. My check was cashed and I received the renewal. I never received a tag. In the interim, LA Fitness took over Bally's on Commercial Blvd. I also purchased $30 worth of wrist bands that were required by Bally's for a Zumba class. I used one which was worth $3.00 and when LA Fitness took over, the bands were no longer required. In total, Bally's owes me $37.

I set up an account with a new Bally Fitness that opened up in my area on 3/9/2012. I actually really like the gym and everything they offer, but I did run into one huge problem that has really taken a toll on me. Bally offered me a free personal training session, which of course I agreed to. I had a great time with the personal trainer they picked out for me. After the session, the personal trainer set me down to have a talk regarding my fitness goals and of course the price of personal training. Currently, I do not have the money to afford the cost of personal training and I told the personal trainer that. She then got the club manager to come sit and talk with me.

I have never had any try to push something so hard on me, but the club manager of this Bally had me in tears while telling me about how I need this training. He pretty told me that I was way over on my body fat index and that I will pretty much die a young age unless I did the personal training. I told him that with the extra money I have a month that is for emergency purposes only as well as food and such. All he had to say to that was, "You can't live your life on what ifs' and you need to take advantage of this personal training sessions." He pretty much told me that not having extra money for the next few months is worth the results I will never see while working out alone.

This guy was pushing the personal training sessions on me so hard for about 30 minutes and had me crying for about 20 minutes. It was really frustrating to have him tell me that if I don't spend the $2,000.00 on the personal training they were offering me, then I will forever be unhealthy and will most likely die before I hit middle aged. I was so angry that day that I have pretty much lost all of the motivation I had to start with and find it really hard to go to this particular Bally's and feel like cancelling my membership.

LA Fitness is not honoring family memberships. In 1987, I got an executive family membership from PacWest Club that later Bally acquired. Now LA Fitness has purchased Bally but is not willing to honor the entire family, only taking two adults from the family of 5. My kids, 8 & 9, are not able to use the gym facility and therefore have lost the benefit. Also, we cannot use any tennis. Is Bally going to reimburse for this loss of service? Is there any class action lawsuit for this?

I have been a member of Bally for a few years now. I started the membership in Chicago and recently moved to the Bay Area. I heard from the news that the Bally Fitness Centers in Chicago got acquired by LA Fitness. Bally Fitness Group, in the process, passed on my credit card information to LA Fitness, and over the last several months, I am getting charged by both companies.

I called up both companies and they are not willing to resolve this issue. Bally Fitness says it is LA's problem and similar remark is being provided by LA. No w I am going to call up my credit card company and report this as a fraud!

I went to LA Fitness (old Bally) In Chatsworth, CA where I have been a member for 2 years and the staff cannot find me in their system. This was December 2011. It has been over 2 months now and they still cannot find my membership. I called the Bally Total Fitness Customer Service (866 402 2559) and they found my membership and informed me that it is valid till September 2012.

They gave me the LA Fitness number to call and confirm my active membership and to finally start working out. I called LA Fitness, gave them all the information, correct spelling, account number, etc., and still they claim that I am not in the system. I am being flip flopped by these two companies and the next thing you know, it's September 2012 and LA Fitness will finally see my info in their system and tell me it's expired!

Is there a Fitness Association who can fix this problem? Or is this one of the fraud cases that everyone will just talk about and become a victim of? I only work part time because there is no job out there, but I wanted to stay healthy so I made sure the little income I make, I can use for that. And now I can't. Who can help? Please!

Two weeks ago, my son was approached by a personal trainer, and told if he didn't stop training his aunt, he would lose his membership. My son has been helping his aunt for a couple of months, and does not receive compensation for his help. Ironically, there are several posters that read bring a friend to help you workout. I went to the training manager, and reported the incident. He directed me to the general manager and the district manager, neither of whom have responded to my complaint.

The training manager informed me he had spoken to the trainer, and asked her to bring any concerns she has to his attention, and he would address it as it should have been. This week, she didn't approach him. She just paced back and forth ten feet from him, staring and laughing at him. I complained again, but after speaking with several of the other trainers, my fear is she is friends with the upper management, and will not be admonished at all for her behavior.

Speaking in person with the manager at the local Bally, I activated my free 1 week membership. I then told Mike that I would join and pay in full for two years, per the deal, at the end of my trial week. Mike and I spoke again 4 days later, and I confirmed that I would pay in full on Monday, March 12, the last day of my trial membership. When I went to pay on the last day of my trial membership, I was told that the rate was not $259 for one year, plus a $67 fee. I was quoted just 50 hours earlier a flat rate of $359 for two years.

I had no notice given to me by mail or by email, that my lifetime membership had been sold to LA Fitness. I came to the Bally Gym that had been conveniently located between my home and school for many years, and it was closed, with a notice taped to the front door that my membership was sold to LA Fitness, and I was to call the phone number provided.

I recently visited the closest LA fitness Gym, and it is nowhere near any route I take, which is so far out of my way. I talked to members at this location, and they suggested the only other location that would be the next closest location, and that gym is in another area that I do not go into, for the reason that it is completely inconvenient for me as well. I had paid nearly $1,700.00 for a lifetime membership, not counting monthly dues since 2004, and now I have no gym to go to. I would like to know if there is a lawsuit pending, so that I can receive any money entitled to me by this breach of contract on behalf of Bally Fitness?

I enrolled my daughter with Bally's in 2011, ending in November 2011. I still have money withdrawn from my checking account and she has not been at the gym since before Thanksgiving of 2011. There is not a location where she could go; it is actually closed. I checked with LA Fitness and they claim that they are not billing us and do not even have my personal or banking information. Yet I am receiving no response from Bally's on how to cancel and also get my money refunded to me for a gym membership that does not exist.

I have been a premiere member from 2005 and I have had access to all their services including their child services. About a week ago, I was informed that membership doesn't have child services. The rude girl at the front desk gave me a number to call to inquire about the said services. That same day I spoke to one of the nicer front desk personnel, and I was informed that Bally removed all childcare services from the memberships as of January 1, 2012 and that I would need to call to have it reinstated.

After I called Bally customer service, the rep on the phone told me that I never had children services on my membership even though she found a record on my account for a complaint about their childcare facility at the Fordham Road branch. After I explained that I have been using their childcare services for the past 5 years without issue, she adamantly told me that I never had the service and there isn't any record of it on their system. After back and forth of me explaining my case and them telling me otherwise, I was told to take my contract to my participating Bally to prove that I have children services on my membership.

I did not expect to have to keep a 3-year contract. I now pay membership dues, after 7 years to prove membership services especially since their own customer service center doesn't have access to my contract either (according the manager, it's being made into an electronic version). When I signed up, my membership allowed, and I have been using access to the Bally's children services at the Fordham, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Co-op City and Union City, NJ branches. Each facility has scanned my card to verify the use to their children services.

For Bally to strip services, to only have to enforce a new fee for me to have the same access that I have had from the beginning is BS. The fee is not the issue nor will it break my account, but the principal of matter. Currently, I have my wife's membership, my daughter's taekwondo membership and my membership, all with Bally Fitness and the manager would rather lose all three than to properly reinstate my services.

I have held a Bally Total Fitness Lifetime Premier Plus Membership for some time. Over the last year as the old club fell into shambles, I was advised that I had nothing to worry about and that my membership would transfer to the new club, and that I would get to enjoy all the amenities that I had come to appreciate at the new club.

Well, once the new club was opened, I soon realized that the New Bally Sport was not Bally Fitness. I was advised that since my membership originated at the Club, I was upgraded to a Sport Basic Membership. I would have access to the club machine, and pool only. All of the classes, studios, etc., I would need to update my membership or go to one of the other Bally Total Fitness Clubs. Bearing in mind that the old club had an indoor running track, pool, group exercise, etc. Given that I have a lifetime membership and pay a nominal fee each year, I was advised that upgrading would be the best option.

I was advised to upgrade my membership would be $300 more a year; substantially more than I currently pay to use a club wherein the only main difference is that they have a yoga studio and two indoor squash courts. On attempting to find out if I could just pay a nominal fee for fitness plus classes, I spoke with Richard who advised me that he was just too busy at the moment and that he did not have time to speak with me about my membership as there were only 5 people in the club, and he needed to be somewhere else. I attempted to leave a message for the general manager at the club, and at this point have not heard back from anyone.

All I want is the same level of membership I had before the changed the name of the club to sport. Also, I just want to be able to add my wife to my membership so that we can workout together. But sadly it looks like I will have to find alternative places to work out.

I purchased a full "every Bally's in America" membership in April of 2009, and although I travel full time for work and am not always near a Bally's, I have been paying it faithfully every month and holding it for periods of up to 5 months at a time just to get to the end where every month for the rest of my life would be $19.99. I've had many problems with Bally's over the years, including over-charging, but the rate was worth it, especially because of how much I travel. Well, finally I get to the end of 24 months (after 8 months total of paying to hold my account) in November 2011, a month that I was astronomically busy and just didn't have time to make it to the gym. The next month, I noticed that my $19.99 hadn't come out of my account on my regularly scheduled day but didn't think much of it until I went to the gym and was told my membership was no longer valid.

Turned out Bally's transferred my membership to LA Fitness, the closest one being in another state, and failed to inform me. When I called, I was told that I would be refunded for the months (at that point 2) I had paid to LA Fitness and someone would call me in 4 days to let me know that my Bally's membership had been re-instated. That was on January 16. I'm certain that another (now my 4th) payment is going to come out of my account and go to LA Fitness. Although I could contact LA Fitness, I was told if I cancel there and then go back to Bally's, I'll lose my$19.99/month rate that all this has been for.

I'm a Premier Member since 1996 and can use my membership in any state. I'm enrolled in San Antonio, TX. Then I moved/changed permanent address to Illinois in 1999. I received a renewal offer on 1/14/2012, indicating the cost and a response date of 10/14/11. I contacted the club in regards to renewal; they indicated the contract had expired on 12/29/11. There's no renewal notification until 1/14/12 and still no notification of the club selling or closing all facilities in the state of Illinois.

Bally's purposely did not notify Premier Members in Illinois in order to continue receiving the funds for premier usage in other states .Bally's did not give the option to renew and transfer membership to La Fitness. Bally and stated that because my membership originated from San Antonio, TX, Bally's would have no reason to notify me in Illinois of the sell of the clubs in Illinois.

To date, Bally's has verified my permanent Illinois address on file dating back to 1999, which was when I submitted a change of address. All renewal offer letters have been mailed to me directly each year at the same permanent home address in the state of Illinois since 1999. And I spoke to customer service and requested to speak to a supervisor, then I was put on hold for about 8 minutes and hung up on. Bally's is saying they will honor the renewal but will not transfer to La Fitness new owners though there's no Bally in my state of Illinois.

3 years ago, I got a membership contract then cancelled it the next day and paid cash for a full year. Since then, I have been prepaying for a full year and now Bally's has me in collection and reported it to my credit. They never cancelled the contract. Now I owe money for a contract that was cancelled. I still have a current membership that I prepaid for a full year. I need to take this off my credit. This is unfair because I don't owe Bally's anything.

I have been a member since 1991. When they had specials for family and friends that can join off your membership, I got them at least 6 new memberships. I never authorized them to take money out of my account to renew memberships or monthly payments. If I made a payment on my debit card at a location, they automatically stored my information and put me in automatic payments without my permission.

They took out money not only for my membership, but the other six people that became members and my wife, who they already took out a renewal fee from my wife's account without her authorization either. This is illegal and they have no authorized signature allowing them to do this. I called and had them reimburse me the money and also stop this bogus automatic payments.

So anyone who used their debit card to make a monthly payment, beware because they are going to be taking money out of your account. I'm not sure if it will happen with your credit card, but I'm sure if they are taking it out of bank accounts, then they are doing it to credit cards, too. I never had this problem in the past, but it has happened in the last two years. I am contacting an attorney to see what is my recourse.

I paid for a lifetime membership in 1996 to have access to the swimming pool and running track at the nearest Bally's. During renovation, the track and pool were closed for about 2 years. I contacted Bally's asking when the pool would reopen, they could not give me a date. They agreed to suspend my account, free of charge, until the pool reopened. When I found out the pool had reopened, it was under ownership of LA Fitness. LA Fitness have no record of my account, and I am unable to contact the previous employee of Bally's that agreed to suspend my account. LA Fitness want me to open a new account, I feel this is unfair as I have been a full member since 1996.

I have a Bally Lifetime premier membership, which was transferred to me from its original owners in WI, to me in Stone Mountain, GA, back in 2007. I have never had an issues, prior to now, when I chose to renew my membership, and have received renewal offers, way after the expiration date of previous renewals, and have renewed successfully. My most recent renewal expired on 9/30/2011, and I did not renew my annual, until I received another annual offer at a discount rate in Jan 2012. I accepted the offer, and payment was received. Unbeknownst to me, (because I received no communication by mail or email, other than the renewal offer), all the Bally locations in the state of GA have been acquired by LA Fitness. I work out at my local gym, and I am turned away, because they don't have me in their system, and I was told to contact Bally, to have my info transferred to LA Fitness by corporate.

I spoke with a rep who assured me that it would be no issue, gave me a confirmation number, and told me to wait up to 10 business days for the transfer to be complete, and that their systems upload the info every Thursday. We are approaching the 2nd Thursday, and I called to check the status of my transfer, and I am told by LA Fitness that they see nothing, and to contact Bally again. I did, but this time, I am told by a rep that my membership could not be transferred, and I would be issued a refund. Since then, I have not been able to speak with a Bally rep, concerning this matter. I have been told to contact the following numbers, but to no avail; 866-402-2559, 888-210-4725, 800-515-2582, 949-255-7200, 562-484-2000, 562-484-2741, 562-484-2728. At this point, I am beyond disappointed. All I want is my contract to be honored, and be able to continue to work out at the local LA Fitness near me. I cannot get anyone to help me. This is neither fair, nor a good business practice. I am sitting here with a paid up lifetime membership, with no gym.

I posted on here about wrongfully having my two accounts created at the same time in my name. Then only one cancelled when I wrote in and being charged over $200 for two years, when I was nowhere near a club. The company finally provided me with an e-mail contact on here, but then there was no response when I contacted them! It's been weeks! This company truly does not care about its customers or standing by their service.

I purchased a Bally Life Membership for $3,000.00 back in 1993, to go to any Bally, not only in the USA, but internationally. I called up Bally a week ago, since a colleague of mine informed me about the LA Fitness's acquisition of Bally here in GA. When I called them up, they identified my membership number, and immediately told me that all my info has been transferred over to LA Fitness, and advised me to go to the nearest LAF to my home address. I did that, and they couldn't find me in their system, and referred me back to Bally. I have been back and forth with Bally and LA Fitness for the last 5 or 6 days, without any resolution.

They told me that if I was not up to date with my dues, and most likely my "Lifetime Membership" was simply cancelled without any chance to be restored, regardless if the dues were 1 day after the expiration day. I don't think that is the way to treat a person who paid $3,000.00 for a "Lifetime Membership", that has been paid for all these years' the dues. I called an attorney already to file a lawsuit, and he redirected me to this site, because apparently, Bally is responding to these complaints. If that is so, I am looking forward to your response. My last 6 digits of my membership is **. Indeed, this is not a way to conduct business in USA, and no doubt that this transition was a strategic one, to get rid of the naive "Lifetime Membership" holders. I will do my best to fight this battle, until I see its resolution.

I have a lifetime membership with Bally Total Fitness with a low renewal fee. When I was going to the health club they had in Somerville, New Jersey it was closed. When I started to go to the health club in Woodbridge, New Jersey it was closed. Finally, when I started to go the the club, they had in East Brunswick, New Jersey they sold the club to LA Fitness. They seem to be closing the clubs, they sold lifetime memberships to with low renewals and opening clubs which are called Sports Clubs which people with lifetime memberships don't have access to. I'm told the Sports Clubs have more features. I have been to the Bally Sports Club in Clark, New Jersey and obviously to the Bally Total Fitness in East Brunswick, New Jersey and think the East Brunswick was actually better. I think Bally Total Fitness is just adding the name Sports Club to rip off the people they sold lifetime memberships to.

I am a lifetime member of Bally's. They sold the club, now I must travel to Bally's club, which is 1hr. and 20 minutes away.

I went into a Ballys near Memorial mall and a girl Mayra basically said that she could start me a month to month contract with a cheaper monthly payment. I advised that I already had a contract. She said that she could cancel my other one and start me this one. Well, she started one all right. But I came to find out she did not cancel my other one (according to Ballys reps there is no way to do that). She just changed my mailing and contact numbers so I wouldn't be contacted. The next thing I know I was served advising that I owe them money. I denied and sent the denial to the court. Well, the next thing I know I have a letter in the mail advising that I have a summary judgement against me. I did not know what that was so called the local court that issued it. To my surprise, apparently there was a court date that I did not attend and they won. Well, the notice was supposedly sent to my house advising of the court date, and I was told I could appeal.

The only thing is I only had 10 days from the notice in which it was a holiday weekend. They were only giving me 1 day to go in and appeal. I went to the court house and got copies of the notice that was sent to me and it was apparently mailed to the wrong address (my neighbors, I don't know why they didn't send it to me). I of course did not have time to research anything on how to appeal, so I could not. Ballys told me to send a copy of my DL with my signature and sign my name 5 times on a sheet of paper. Then, I was to mail it and they would have to review. Well, I sent it certified and never got a call so I had to keep calling. Well, I finally got a hold of a supervisor and he said that the department has verified it is my signature. I insisted I did not sign anything and asked for a copy of the contract. He said that he could not provide me with one. I asked why not and he said due to legal issues. So now, I am left to have to figure this all out due to their employees' actions. Ballys is a horrible corporation! It's no surprise they are going under.

I am a lifetime member of Bally's since 1990. In October 2009 I renewed my membership for 3 years at $266, making it active until October 2012. I went to LA Fitness in January 2012 only to find out my membership was not transferred. I called Bally's from the gym and was told that they were going to research and all my information would be available in 4 to 5 days, needless to say this didn't happen.

Today, February 10 I called to follow up and was told that I have to send proof of payment to corporate office. Okay, when does this end, I feel like I am on trial. Bally's keeps putting up one road block after another one, excuse after another. For example, they don't have access to records, can't see payments or user history, all they know is if you owe them money. My gut tells me I am fighting a losing battle even with proof of payment.

The Bally location I belong to closed on 8/17/11, with absolutely no notice. I walked in for my bi-weekly personal training session, to find that the gym was closing this location effective immediately. I was given a letter, stating the reason for closure, lease terminated by the building owner, with a phone number to call to discuss my membership and personal training package. The representative that was at the gym told me that I would be able to get a refund for the prepaid training package, if I called the 800 number. When I called in on 8/19/11, I was told that I would receive a credit to my credit card for the unused session within 7-10 days.

A few months later, I realized that I had never received a credit, and called the 800 number again, to find out what was wrong. The representative, Renee, could not find any information for me, without a membership number. I had thrown away my card, after the membership was canceled, stupid me, and didn't have that information available. She said she could not find any record of me in the system, after searching by name, maiden name, address, and previous addresses. She took my info, and said I would be contacted by someone the following week.

A month later, I had still not heard from anyone, but happened to find an old membership card, when cleaning my office. I called the 800 number for the third time, spoke to Leticia, and was told that I could not receive a credit for my unused sessions, because there was another club within 25 miles. I would have to file a "case", and Bally would review my claim, and decide whether I should be paid or not. She said I must have received the wrong information from all the other Bally representatives I had spoken to, and there was nothing she could do. I am tired of getting the runaround from this company, and will be sure all of my friends and family know about the terrible customer service, and poor management of Bally.

I called Bally to see if I could transfer my membership to someone else, and was told that when I had come into the club in June 2010, and paid my yearly member dues of $54.00 a year, I authorized them to charge my debit card each following year! In June 2011, they charged my debit card $180! I was so upset, and asked why and for what is this charge for? My yearly dues hadn't changed for over 10 years! It has always been $54! He said I was charged for some promotion they were running! It was news to me! The guy wouldn't give me my money back, but the guy said he would extend my membership until June 2013. I went to LA Fitness in Oakbrook, IL, to transfer my membership the other day, and the guy was so rude, and told me that my annual renewal is $180 a year! Needless to say, I didn't transfer the membership, and Bally wont even talk to me. LA fitness said it is what it is, and that I am stuck with the $180 renewal a year, take it or leave it. Help!

I joined Bally on 4/3/2010, and paid $299.99 for a yearly contract. My account stated that my next bill date was 5/3/2011. On 3/9/2011, I was able to extend my contract for another year, by paying $209 (199 + $10 phone fee), and my next bill date reflected 5/3/2012. Knowing that LA Fitness would be acquiring Bally, I extended my contract another year on 11/29/2011 by paying the same $209 as I did previously. Apparently, LA Fitness never got information from my account reflecting my payment on 11/29/2011. They still have my next bill date as 5/3/2012. I was able to see my membership date (5/3/2013) on the online system on 11/30/2011, but was kicked out of Bally's website on 12/1/2011. Now, I can't get information from Bally, regarding my contract or data, from when the actual transfer was supposed to take place. They refused to help with anything. I was cheated out of $210, and a year of a gym membership.

I'm a member since 1990 - $5 renewal fee. For the most part, the only notification I got was when I went through the turnstile at the gym. At one time I did receive a letter because I hadn't been to the gym in a while. They charged a penalty along with the renewal fee. I paid and asked if I could pay 10 years in advance or if they could just automatically deduct from credit card and/or checking account. The answer was "no". So anyway, this December I received a letter stating that my account was now being overtaken by LA Fitness. I went into the club and obtained my new card. On my second visit with the new card, I was informed that my account with Bally's had expired in October and they could not honor or renew it. I would have to purchase a new membership with them. I've tried contacting Bally's several times via phone and email to no avail.

It's been over 6 business day since I emailed my "General Inquiry Case ID: **" to Bally, and even though Bally emailed me back and told my they will reply within 2-3 business days, no one has contacted me. Bally has all my contact information from the email inquiry. On 09/23/2011, I renewed a 3-year membership with Bally Total Fitness, based on a renewal notice offered by Bally. Although my check (#**) was cashed by Bally, my membership status was never updated to active. Since, my membership was not active when the transfer took place on 12/1/2011, my membership was not transferred to LA Fitness.

I called Bally's customer service line (866) 402-2559 on 1/10/2012, and talked to Jay at extension **, I was told that he will notify LA Fitness, and transfer my membership over. Two weeks later, LA Fitness still can't locate me in their system, I called Bally's customer services line, and got hung up on 3 times, as soon as the representative heard my story. More than once, Bally's sales representatives told me my membership has already been sold to LA Fitness, and they can't see my information in their computer and I know they are obviously lying to me.

My last phone call to Bally was on 1/26/2012, talked to Ana, and once again I was promised my membership will be transferred to LA Fitness in 5 to 7 business days. I just verified with LA Fitness this morning (2/6/2012), my membership still has not been transferred.

In 1984, I purchased a family membership with PacWest, a club near Seattle, WA. Bally bought the club around 1994. They gave me 2 memberships, for me & wife, at same price. In 2003, they canceled my wife's membership without notice. I continued to pay the same price up to present. We continued to use the facility only about once yearly- we live too far away. There was no mention of loss of my wife's membership. Recently, Bally was sold to LA Fitness. LA Fitness only got my membership info, not my wife's. Bally is not cooperating to add my wife in as a member.

I signed up with Bally Total Fitness in 1993, at the Aurora, CO location. That location is closed and they have moved. Now, they are telling me that I have to pay additional at the new location, because I didn't sign up at the Aurora location, which is false. If you check my records, you will see all of my personal training was conducted at the Aurora location. I asked Marc if my membership was good before we move to the new location, and now there is problem. I have been a loyal member since 1993 and know which location I signed up at. The location you guys have on the system doesn't even exist. My membership is scheduled to automatically renew in Feb. 2012, and now I don't have a gym to go to.

I'm not paying an increase, when BTF (Marc) is letting people who originally signed up at the Aurora gym, by-pass the increase. I signed up at the Aurora gym in 1993, thus I should be able to go to the new gym. I need this resolved as soon as possible, so I can return to the gym. Lastly, the staff there is so unprofessional and rude. They need some customer service courses, or need to be fired! That gym needs new management, as soon as possible!

Bally's just responded to my recent complaint on consumeraffairs asking me to "contact them directly. " I believe this is them just making a hollow gesture to mitigate the bad review because:

2) I have written them two letters via post to their headquarters in DC. They have not responded to either.

How exactly am I supposed to contact Bally's directly? Their automated customer service phone number just says they are busy and hangs up, no way to leave a message.

I sent in a cancellation letter cancelling two accounts that were created in my name when they made a clerical error in the office. However, Bally's only cancelled one account. Come their sale to LA Fitness, I get a letter stating my "active" account is being transferred!

I haven't lived near a Bally's in over two years! They are refusing to refund the over $200 they charged me. Of course, they have lost my cancellation letter that lists the two account numbers. This is a terrible experience. I feel completely robbed by them.

I am a Ballys Total Fitness preferred member, meaning I can go to any Ballys location. I purchased my membership originally in Englewood Cliffs in 2003. I have since paid the membership renewals yearly online. Recently I went to the location closer to my house in North Bergen, NJ. I was told they were sold to LA Fitness and my Ballys membership would not be valid, even though I have 5 months left on this year's membership and I am a lifetime member. Ballys' headquarters will not answer the phone when I call the headquarters. I am without resource and feel LA Fitness owes me compensation for my membership as they bought the club with its members.

I've been a member of Bally for about 10 years. I agree with these other people, that the club is extremely dirty, but it's the closest one to my house. Since they've been sold to LA Fitness, the whole system is messed up. They are saying that people's accounts are not located, people who paid for 3 years, now only have 2 years, and they are saying my membership expired, and I have payment confirmation that I paid in May.

I have been a member of Bally Total for about 20 years. Like in most of the cases described here, my membership was transferred to LA Fitness. My dues were drafted from the credit card I used the last time to pay my dues, without my authorization. It is the first time Bally drafted the dues without my authorization, I guess they knew that I would not pay if I learned of their upcoming changes. I would probably keep going to the same club, as there are not that many swimming pools in the area. But the club is disgustingly dirty, beyond any acceptable standards. On Sunday morning at 8 a.m., when I entered it, their garbage cans were overflowing with trash, hair on the floor, backed up sewer in the middle of the dress room floor, with a full condom (sorry, but I could not leave it out) next to it. Absolutely disgusting! I'm in the process of canceling the membership and requesting the dues back. I will never go back there again. I'm also looking into filing a health violation complaint as their conduct is below the acceptable minimum standards and the club condition poses serious health risks.

My problem is identical to J. of Hacienda Heights on January 19, 2012. I transferred a Bally lifetime premiere membership from a member in Springfield, New Jersey. This club is still a Bally's. I have been using my membership for over 10 years in Southern California. Both the Puente Hills Bally's (now LA Fitness) and Diamond Bar LA Fitness cannot find me in their system, because the "home club" is not one of the acquired clubs.

I don't mind LA Fitness buying out the SoCal Bally's locations. But I want my membership transferred over to transfer over.

I opened a membership with Bally in 2007. About 1 1/2 years later, my sister got a membership under my account. After my 3 year membership was over and my sister's membership was canceled (since she was in the military and she did not have access to any Bally's gym), Bally put me on a collection. I spoke with many different representatives and managers from the call centers in Costa Rica, Tijuana, and South Ca and they told me that I was on that collection by mistake. That it must be someone else by my name that they put on the collection list and they used my social security number. All representatives refused to give me the phone number to their corporate office or even just call the collection company to stop the collection. They said they would take care of it themselves and up to this day, they have not. It's been about four months and I am still getting rude harassing calls from the collection agency.

I was a member for 6 years and Bally's closed the 2 locations that were within a 25 mile radius of my home. My contract states I have the right to cancel if club(s) close and no longer open within a 25 mile radius of my home. They let me cancel but will not refund my $96 worth of membership fees I paid for before the location I was using closed. They also did not notify me that the location was closing and sent me a renewal notice and let me renew for another year at $127.07 although, they knew no locations were open within the 25 mile radius.

My wife and I are both living in NYC, and we took over two "lifetime" memberships in 2005 from family members who joined Bally in the '80s at two different locations outside of NYS. One of which is now an LA Fitness location, and one remains Bally.

One of our membership is being transferred to LA Fitness, but per its website, we are not allowed to use any of its gym in NYS since our original membership was not purchased in NYS, unless we pay $30/month extra to LA Fitness. In addition, our second membership was purchased at a Bally location which is not part of the acquisition, so it remains with Bally. The way this whole situation is being handled by Bally and LA Fitness has basically render both of our memberships useless, since we can no longer work out together; we are now members of two different gyms.

When LA/Fitness took over Bally Landmark, I got a short email notice from them that they transfer my account to LA Fitness. I then stop by Landmark, Alexandria VA 3 times and was told their computer is not working. I then called in to check if machine is working yet, the account manager Larry told me I can just change my band card information so I will not be charged by LA Fitness also membership will be cancelled.

I want to ensure he was correct. I called in again and conference with my husband. He said the same story however I start getting a call day and night from them saying I owe them money. Meanwhile, I also sent cancellation form twice to CA address. However, today, I still received a bill saying I owe them money. I had been canceled my membership since December multiple times until now. I need them to stop harassed me and close my account forever.

Bally has been charging me a monthly amount of $26.99 for two years. I just received an automatic withdrawal for $31.99 without any notification. I have tried to leave a direct message online and failed about 6 times. The message "An Unexpected Error Has Occurred" has appeared every single time I clicked on submit. I would love to cancel my membership.

I joined Bally's in 1986 and purchased a lifetime membership (President's Premier Plan) to where I could go any where in the United States. I received email that Bally's sold my membership to LA Fitness. LA Fitness said I can now only go to the 2/3 Bally's in Illinois and they are not honoring anything else. Bally's left me out in the cold after paying several thousand dollars. I pay an annual fee but LA Fitness said that also will be changing. I asked for a copy of my contract. I was told to call Bally's. I wrote to Bally's and they emailed me back that I need to contact LA Fitness. They are giving me the runaround. What options do I have? My home address is xxx *** in Chicago but I am registered under my business address for billing purposes.

It sounds like I am one of 1000's being left out in the cold by Bally's. I bought one of those lifetime Premier memberships 20+ years ago in Chicago, and used in it for a few years until I moved to California where there were no Bally facilities. They did open one in my town and offered me an annual membership deal, which I took and have renewed for 6 years or so.

Now, I am told by my club that my "original club", back in Illinois was one of the ones sold to LA Fitness. But Good News! Even though Bally's will not honor the legal contract they entered with me, taking my dollars in advance for 1 year, I can certainly join my local Bally's Club for a 250% increase in monthly fees! And of course, the nearest LA Fitness is an 8 hour drive downstate, no problem right? I am going to call the FTC, the Attorney General, "7 on my side News" until I find someone who can help me. I can see from this site that dealing with Bally is going to be pointless.

I live in the Los Angeles area. In late 2011, I was notified via e-mail late about the pending takeover of some Bally's clubs by LA Fitness. I hold a National Premier Plus membership which I purchased from Bally's in Pittsburgh, PA in 1996. There was no indication in those e-mails or on the Bally or LA Fitness websites that the terms of Bally's contracts would change. I continued to pay my dues online via single credit card payments each month.

Last week, I went to the club and the employee at the front desk told me that he would be exchanging my Bally membership card for an LA Fitness card. When he issued the LAF card, he swiped it through an electronic card reader and asked me to sign the screen of the card reader. The text on the screen was completely illegible - a series of dashes filled the screen with no visible words. I asked what I was signing. The employee told me that I was confirming my receipt of the membership card and agreeing to the current dues structure - which he assured me was the same as I was already paying. I was wary of signing, but did so.

The employee then asked me whether I wanted a copy of my contract. I was surprised to hear the word "contract" and I said I did want a copy. He went back into the office and returned with a LAF contract -- with my electronic signature on it! The contract indicated that I agreed to have my bills automatically debited from my bank account or charged to my credit card monthly. "Not my preference", I thought, "but I guess I can address that with someone later". However, upon reading further, I saw that my National Premier Plus contract would not be honored in NY. This is disturbing to me since I am a NY native, my family lives in NY and when I'm not in CA, I'm generally in NY. This contract which I had "signed" was not in keeping with the original indications that Bally contracts would be honored by LA Fitness. The terms of my contract were changed and LA Fitness used a very deceitful tactic to obtain my signature on a new and revised contract.

I bought a life membership from Holiday Fitness later on purchased by Bally Total Fitness. Bally's is now purchased by LA Fitness who is refusing to honor the obligations of Bally's.

I was a lifetime member of Bally's since 1999 with an annual renewal fee that varied from $99.95-$129.95, depending on the amount of years I paid for in advance. I found out in Dec. 2011 that I had to visit the club in Deptford to pay the yearly fee, since the club was sold to LA Fitness. Upon arriving at the club, I was given the runaround and referred back to call the corporate office of Bally's. This went on for a month. Neither Bally's nor LA Fitness could find my membership, but I stood in front of the club manager and employees with the ID card from Bally's. I have called corporate at least 6 times with no response or assistance from Bally's. LA fitness also states they cannot help me, because Bally's did not forward my membership information to them. This is totally unfair to every Bally's member that has had to deal with this runaround.

A big thank you to attorney Christopher ** for filing a class action lawsuit on our behalf.

I have been a member of Bally total fitness since 1985. When LA/Fitness took over Bally, I found out that they could not find my membership in the clubs. I started this in December around the 15th. So, I called Bally to find out that my membership had been transferred to LA/Fitness. None of the employes of LA.F seemed to be able to help me.

They just gave me a phone # to call the main office but could not find me. I finely called Bally again, talked with an employee and they told me that my membership was ending Jan. 9th. So as not to loose my membership, I renewed hoping that I would be found by LAF. Is there any thing we can do to help the 1000s of Bally members left out in the cold. Please let me know where I can go to help the 1000s of us.Thank you.

I have been a member with Bally Fitness for last years. Due to lack of time, I stopped using it and called to cancel, but instead I was convinced to keep my membership and pay $140 plus tax a year. This was back in July 2011. Since December LA Fitness bought the facility and promised to honor all contracts, but they refused to honor mine and they charge me this month $26. All my calls to Bally were promises to resolve and send the updated information to Bally Fitness. So far nothing. Please either resolve the problem or refund my money.

My situation is similar to David's below. I transferred a Bally lifetime premiere membership from a member of an Arlington, TX, club which was not acquired by LA Fitness. I have been using this membership for years at Bally clubs in Southern California, which were all bought by LA Fitness. Unfortunately, LA Fitness is not recognizing this membership since it was not one of the "acquired" clubs.

I want to emphasize 3 main issues with the way this acquisition was conducted:

1. The news of the takeover was really hushed up. The Bally sign is still up and showing at most locations. I was not told by email, US mail, phone call, any staff, postings inside the club, prominent website announcements on either Bally or LA Fitness, that there was ownership change until recently when I read it in the news. Had I been notified earlier, I might have been given an opportunity to change memberships for a 2-4 week window in December (according to a Bally phone representative).

2. I have a lifetime national membership and pay membership dues to the parent organization - not to an individual club, so how does LA Fitness exclude national members based on where the original club membership was purchased? In effect, do they really expect national members to reside in the same location for 25 years after they have purchased membership in order to utilize their membership? That is why national memberships were established in the first place - mobility!

3. As a result of this acquisition, my Bally Lifetime Premiere Plus membership has significantly diminished value since it can only be used in a third of the clubs that it could before the acquisition. It is 3 years paid in advance and was worth close to $1,000 dollars before the acquisition. Now I cannot use it.

Bottom line, I want LA Fitness to transfer membership of Bally lifetime national members regardless of where the membership was originally purchased. I will gladly give up the privilege to visit existing Bally Clubs in exchange for LA Fitness national membership under the same terms and conditions as I once had.

"I have been a member of Bally Total Fitness since 1997. I bought my membership from a friend who was a member since 1989. There was a time when you could do that. You bought someone's membership and also paid Bally Total Fitness a processing fee of $100. (Bally is known for their reinstatement fees, processing fees, and all kinds of fees you can think of).

Anyway, I was mailed my annual renewal bill in the mail. I went and paid my bill for the next year at Bally Total Fitness. Two months later, I went to Bally Total Fitness to work out, and I saw that Bally Total Fitness is now LA Fitness. I never was told or notified of this business take over.

I then went to get my LA Fitness card, thinking that there would not be a problem. Wrong! The manager on duty could not find me in the system. I told him that I bought my membership in Wisconsin and have lived in Los Angeles for the last 11 years. He told me that my membership was not part of the new takeover. He said that he could not do anything about it, except that I could sign up for an LA Fitness membership.

No notification. They billed me and took my money without informing me of what was going to happen. Deceitful, unlawful, bad business and completely wrong!"

First of all, there was harassment from an employee. Secondly, I was moving over 25 miles from the gyms, and Bally used trickery of getting a low class collection agency to call me, and repeat recordings of 15 minutes, using up a lot of my mobile phone times over and over. They damaged my credit rating. This is an expensive loss of minutes on my mobile phone.

Bought a Premier lifetime membership with Bally back in 1992. Active member of the club as of today but could not work out anymore due to LA Fitness took over all Bally gyms in the Southern CA. LA Fitness did not honor my membership when I came to work out and told me to buy their membership instead. Furthermore, Bally has all kind of excuses not to work out the issue with their members. Would like to join action law suit.

I purchased a Lifetime membership from Bally's which included a $0.00 annual renewal in concert with countrywide access to all Bally's Clubs ~ I purchased that contract in the early 1980 prior to Bally's construction of the Club located in King of Prussia, PA. I have enjoyed the club and access to other locations since the original purchase/contract.

Bally's recently sold the King of Prussia location to LA Fitness, and since that time, I have been unable to get any information regarding my membership and how LA Fitness will honor the membership from Bally's. The Manager of the King of Prussia Club advised me that I will have an annual charge for using the club but he could not provide any further information. I have not received any information or communication from either Bally's or LA Fitness regarding the sale and how it will affect my Lifetime Membership and my rights to use the clubs. It seems they are operating under some form of questionable legal/contact practice.

I purchased a lifetime membership from Bally's in 1988. I made my monthly payments as set forth in the agreement until the membership was paid in full. My annual renewal fee was $50. Over the course of the past 24 years, on one or two occasions, I was unable to use the gym and would defer my annual renewal fee until I was able again and was always permitted to bring my membership up to date again by catching up my annual membership fee.

My annual renewal fee was due again in February of 2011. Due to health issues, I was not attending the gym at the time. I received a notice in October of 2011 indicating that my 2011 renewal fee needed to be paid by November 10. Prior to that date (approximately the beginning of September); I'd stopped into my local club to pay my annual fee. The staff member that I spoke with checked my account and it indicated that my renewal fee was $156. When I stated that my annual renewal fee was $50, he suggested that I not pay the $156 because that would possibly bind me to new terms and conditions and provided me with the customer service number for Bally's.

I made many attempts to call customer service but their hours conflicted with my work hours, 8-5, M-F. They were closed during the evenings and weekends. I emailed customer service and received a response stating that my renewal fee was, in fact, $50. After many unsuccessful attempts to log-in to the website to make my payment over the next weeks, I eventually emailed customer service in December. I was informed that my account had been locked but was now available. I again attempted to log-in but was directed to the LA Fitness website. I attempted to use my login credentials on that site but was denied access.

Finally, I had a holiday for MLK's birthday so I called Bally's customer service. They informed me that my account had been sold to LA Fitness and said that I needed to call them. When I looked for a contact phone number for LA Fitness, I was given the number of my local Bally's. When speaking to them, I was informed that my membership no longer exists and the only option is to agree to a new membership with LA Fitness.

I renewed my membership because Bally membership afforded me the ability to visit gyms around the northeast as I travel a lot. I paid in full for three years and right after I went to my home gym and was told I could no long use it unless I join LA Fitness along with other locations I go to. I called Bally's customer service and they told me I could go to another location (Rockville center). I informed them that I have been there before and it is one of the dirtiest gym I have ever been too. I decided to try it. It was the worst place I have ever seen. Urine was all over the men's room. Mold was growing in the shower. When I spoke to the manager, he said Bally's only clean once at night. Something has to be done.

I have been a member of Bally Total Fitness since 1997. I bought my membership from a friend who was a member since 1989. There was a time when you could do that. You bought someone's membership and also paid Bally Total Fitness a processing fee of $100. (Bally is know for their reinstatement fees, processing fees, and all kinds of fees you can think of).

Anyway, I was mailed my annual renewal bill in the mail. I went and paid my bill for the next year at Bally Total Fitness. Two months later, I went to Bally Total Fitness to work out, and I saw that Bally Total Fitness is now LA Fitness. I never was told or notified of this business take over.

I then went to get my LA Fitness card, thinking that there would not be a problem. Wrong! The manager on duty could not find me in the system. I told him that I bought my membership in Wisconsin and have lived in Los Angeles for the last 11 years. He told me that my membership was not part of the new takeover. He said that he could not do anything about it, except that I could sign up for an LA Fitness membership.

No notification. They billed me and took my money without informing me of what was going to happen. Deceitful, unlawful, bad business and completely wrong!

I have been a Bally Total Fitness member for over 30 years and continued to renew my membership every three years at preset prices. All of a sudden Bally informs me that based upon my contract they have the right to increase my fee $2 per month for each of the years that I was a member. I decided that since they were impossible to contact directly, whether by phone or email, I would not renew. The initial expiration was in June of 2011. I received many phone calls after that date to renew at various offers.

I finally agreed to renew my membership for another year at $89 and made full payment in August of 2011. I recently received notice that my membership expired in December 2011 even though my payment clearly shows up in the records. Calls are ignored because of "call volume" and I am disconnected. Emails responses from Bally do not address the problem. Is there any way this fraudulent company can be shut down? It appears to be a total scam at this point.

I bought a lifetime membership on Bally's on Colorado Springs and when moved to Florida was told that I could use the West Palm Beach location. I get to find out that this location has closed. I will read my contract. I remember there was a clause that I could get a refund if there was not a location in less than 15 miles but there is not one in that distance. How do I get a refund on my membership? I would like to see how I can get a refund of my lifetime membership. Please keep me informed on what can be done.

I am really angry with this company! I recently received a notice on my Privacy Assist of $1,118.00 from an account that should have been closed in 2005 per my request. Six years later they are putting on my records as unpaid debt. Is this a scam or what? I'm not sure who to write to but they don't have me on file and I've talked to two different agencies that can't give me any information other than how much are you going to pay. Furious!

I purchased a lifetime membership from Bally's in 1988. I made my monthly payments as set forth in the agreement until the membership was paid in full. My annual renewal fee was $50. Over the course of the past 24 years, on one or two occasions, I was unable to use the gym and would defer my annual renewal fee until I was able again and was always permitted to bring my membership up to date again by catching up my annual membership fee.

My annual renewal fee was due again in February of 2011. Due to health issues, I was not attending the gym at the time. I received a notice in October of 2011 indicating that my 2011 renewal fee needed to be paid by November 10. Prior to that date (approximately the beginning of September); I'd stopped into my local club to pay my annual fee. The staff member that I spoke with checked my account and it indicated that my renewal fee was $156. When I stated that my annual renewal fee was $50, he suggested that I not pay the $156 because that would possibly bind me to new terms and conditions and provided me with the customer service number for Bally's. I made many attempts to call customer service but their hours conflicted with my work hours, 8-5, M-F. They were closed during the evenings and weekends. I emailed customer service and received a response stating that my renewal fee was, in fact, $50. After many unsuccessful attempts to log-in to the website to make my payment over the next weeks, I eventually emailed customer service in December. I was informed that my account had been locked but was now available. I again attempted to log-in but was directed to the LA Fitness website. I attempted to use my login credentials on that site but was denied access.

Finally, I had a holiday for MLK's birthday so I called Bally's customer service. They informed me that my account had been sold to LA Fitness and said that I needed to call them. When I looked for a contact phone number for LA Fitness, I was given the number of my local Bally's. When speaking to them, I was informed that my membership no longer exists and the only option is to agree to a new membership with LA Fitness.

In 2008, my wife had a Bally membership, and at the time of signing the contract, the representative stated that if we were to move to a location that didn't have a Bally within 50 miles, that we could cancel the contract. In 2009, I departed from the army, and we sent a letter stating we were moving to a location that didn't have a Bally within 50 miles. Nothing was received, until a few months later, when we got a collection notice for the membership. I have been fighting and disputing this ever since. It's ridiculous that they couldn't have contacted us in the first place. Now, we have to deal with all these collection companies, as it keeps getting transferred from one to the other.

I purchased a Premier Lifetime membership from Bally's in 1990 at the Landmark location in Alexandria, Virginia. It was renewed last July for another 3 years through their Costa Rican office. My friend told me, not Bally's, of the sale to LA Fitness. I tried to use the Landmark location, but they could not find me on their system. I was told to allow a few days to pass so the system could "download" my name from the Bally's computers. LA Fitness has of yet to get my information from Bally's and proof of my payment and lifetime membership status. After more than a month of haggling with Bally's, it is apparent that no one at Bally's is capable of forwarding my account history and membership information to LA Fitness. I am angry and frustrated, and considering in joining the Class Action Lawsuit that was filed in Chicago less than a week ago. If anyone knows of any local class action suits being taken, I would certainly like to be involved.

I have paid for personal training total amount $2373.00. I have been having terrible pains while being trained and requested to stop the training. I have been constantly requesting refund for the money that has been taken out of credit card. I have been given a run around by Bally as well as LA Fitness. The personel speaking to me is very rude and several times have hung up on me. I have followed all the procedures such as provide them with the doctor's note, and fill out a form to request a refund.

Bally's tells me to collect from L.A. Fitness and L.A. fitness tells me since the money was paid to Bally. Both of these company's are very rude and I have tried several times to get the refund but am not able to succeed. I am not happy with their service and I will not recommend anybody to deal with Bally nor LA Fitness.

I have a lifetime membership with Bally since 1984 (28 years). My annual dues are $30.00 per year. My contract originated 28 years ago in Bay shore, NY. I moved to Florida six years ago, and immediately contacted Bally for a change of gym. They told me I didn't need to do this, because my membership afforded me any Bally Gym. I had a Gold Membership and that I could use all clubs throughout the US. I have paid all my renewal fees and have never been late in 28 years!

I went to the gym last week in West Palm Beach, and Bally was closed, I then found out Bally has sold every gym in Florida to LA Fitness. I went to LA Fitness today and they told me that they will not honor the Bally membership since it originated in NY, and there are still clubs there. Basically, they are telling me to go back to New York to work out!

.

In 2003, I was in my early 20's and living with my ex in Selden. After we broke up, I got a better job and moved to Long Beach, NY. When I signed my contract, I was told if I moved 20 miles away or more, I could get out of my contract. I moved and asked to be released from my contract. They told me that I needed to file a written letter asking to get out of my contract, as per their policy. I did.

They said that there was a Bally''s within 20 miles of Long Beach but it wasn't as nice as the one in Centereach and even though it was less than 20 miles, the traffic to get there made it a 30 40 minute drive. I did not want to be a member of the facility. I went back and forth, even offered to pay a cancellation fee but was told that under no circumstances was I ever to be released from my contract. When I signed the contract, I am signed up for life and there is nothing I can do but move 20 miles away from the nearest Bally's. Is this legal?

I've been a member of Bally Total Fitness on and off for years. Taking advantage of the yearly rate of $99, I received the renewal form in the mail a few weeks ago and decided to renew. I've now been told that since I was not an active member nothing was transferred and they will not honor the renewal rate that I just received. I'm not being told by very rude customer service in Miami for LA fitness, too bad and the only thing I can do is renew with LA fitness at their regular rates! Ridiculous!

I have been a lifetime member at Bally's since the 1980's. I used to go all the time and paid the $99.00 per year dues. I have not been able to go for quite a few years due to health issues, but went in on 1/11/12 to get going again. I asked about my membership and was told that since I was not current with my dues that L.A. fitness did not pick up my contract. I asked why nothing was sent to me informing me that I had to be paying dues in August of 2011 to be able to transfer to L.A. fitness. Katie could not answer my question. I paid over $600.00 for a lifetime membership and my life isn't over yet. Please keep me informed if a class action lawsuit is started as I would be very interested .

No stars. I am a lifetime member with a Premier Bally's Membership. My club was sold and my membership transferred to LA Fitness, and they now want $156 for my membership fee and I cannot use the gym until I sign a new contract with them! I've been calling ** for more than a month and I cannot get anyone to answer the phone. I, too, am interested in seeking legal action against them. Count me in for a class action suit.

I was left holding a worthless Bally's lifetime membership when LA Fitness acquired Bally's Total Fitness. In December 2011, Bally's confirmed my membership would be transferred to LA Fitness to find out today (January 12, 2012) this wasn't the case. I find myself without access to the club that I was regularly attending on Commercial Ave. in Florida until now. I purchased a President's Membership from Lack ** (Bally's Total Fitness) on July 9, 1984 in New Jersey. I paid over $1000 for the membership to take advantage of the low annual membership fee of $59 and the nationwide access.

I spoke to Bally's again and they confirmed that my membership would not be transferred without providing any additional information. I believe Bally's defaulted on the term of my contract. I would like to find out if anybody is pursuing legal class action against the company or how to escalate the complaint in the company.

I was robbed at Bally Gym on Rockville Pike on 1/10/2011. Some other 10 people were also affected in that spree. Thief broke the locks on the lockers and stole wallet, key, etc. Lacks security at the facility - do not recommend this chain.

We have been continuous primer tennis members of Bally in Tacoma, WA since 1991. Suddenly, on Dec. 1, 2011, the club was closed down and memberships were transferred to LA Fitness. Unfortunately, LAF does not have tennis facilities so we cancelled our membership with LAF. Our dues were paid on an annual basis with the last payment on July 1, 2011. Thus, there were 7 months of our dues that cannot be used. Now we are looking for a refund of the remainder of our dues.

We inquired about refunds at LA Fitness and were told that LAF is not responsible for any prepaid dues and needed to get our refund from Bally. I have tried online at the Bally's website and by telephone to get through to someone (all are automated phone numbers) for a couple of weeks to no avail. We are hoping that Bally would have the consideration and honesty to refund longtime members of their club dues for the unused portion of their contract. The club has now been closed for almost 6 weeks and there has been no communication from Bally. Where to go next?

My experience has been horrible in the past 2 months. Apparently, Bally sold many of their clubs to LA Fitness. I had a lifetime membership with $99.00 per year dues. I went to my regular gym in Levittown one day and I was told they couldn't find me in the computer. I was so confused because that's my regular gym and I wasn't advised in away way ever about the buyout.

Finally after I got tired of waiting, someone advised me that I could use the gym for another week and then I would have to join LA fitness. I was so upset. What happened to all the money I paid for a lifetime? I called Bally's Corporate and I called LA fitness. Both places acted like they didn't know anything about how the issues were being resolved. Finally, I got a call from Michelle at Bally's ** on December 16th, 2011. She said that there was an error and that she was submitting my contract to LA Fitness so I can be added and it would take a few days but she wasn't sure how long.

I waited patiently through Christmas and new year's as they kept on telling me at all the nearby LA fitness gyms that I wasn't showing up on their computers. After the new year, I became angry and called Bally's once again. Then I received a call from Martia ** from Bally's advising me (via voicemail) that she was apologizing because my contract is not being transferred and she would submit for me to get a "prorated" refund for whatever difference I didn't use from the $99.00 I paid for the year. But mentioned nothing about the fact that I had a lifetime membership.

I learned that LA fitness bought many gyms. 'If" you were originally signed up at that gym, and your contract was in that computer hard drive, then your membership was honored for use at LA Fitness. So the rest of us are out. How many people realistically stay at the same location for 20 years? We were sold memberships that can be used nationwide in all their existing locations that were on their geographical maps at the time. We were advised that we can use them all. Now, half of those locations are non existent. Its not fair that some members that signed up get to continue to use their gyms and some of us can't.

Since I have done everything I could to work this out with Bally's Total Fitness, I have been left with no alternative but to start a lawsuit. I am currently in the process of considering the next steps to take to get justice.

I have a lifetime membership to Bally's that originated in Chicago, IL (since 1986). Bally's never notified me of LA Fitness buying out Bally's and the conditions that may affect me. I am told that some of Bally's still exist in Chicago. Can I use both LA and Bally's if Bally's is still in Chicago? Also, will I be able to use the clubs state to state? When I stopped by Bally's today, I was informed that as of December 2011, Bally's no longer exists. They gave me a key tag ID and have taken a new photo. But they did not give me a photo ID. Why the photo? They also gave me back my Bally's card. The club (87th & Danryan) Chicago Ill did not have anything in writing about the takeover and couldn't tell me where to get the documentation. If my membership has changed to not benefit me, I would contact an attorney to complain.

Have a lifetime membership since 1975. Originated with Jack LaLanne - acquired by Bally. Bally recently transferred all active accounts from their Lake Grove, NY gym to LaFitness, Lake Grove. I went to pay my fees this morning and workout and was told that it no longer existed. I have been to both Corporate Offices and both "Customer Service" lines. Bally claimed that they did not know of our accounts and that they cannot help us.

Bally took action here that affected the property of others. They did not notify anyone in writing of the risks that would surround this transfer they saw fit to make. I believe that you legally have made a mistake. I am going to seek legal advice with a Corporate Attorney and see if they aren't others who might benefit by placing your organizations' arbitrary policies under legal inspection in a "Class Action Suit".

In the past, Bally, you forced us to do this and we will do it again. I hope you have the time and the money for it. Would it not be simpler to resurrect those "dormant" - "trashed" membership account numbers and carry on with good business practices.

I have a lifetime membership, signed and honored during your last corporate upheaval that should be honored for our lifetimes.

I am a Lifetime member for $69 dollars per year. I sent an early payment for next year. They cashed the check and never forwarded the payment to LA Fitness. Their website does not submit, you can't get a human on the phone, and they waited till December 1 to cash my check, the day the accounts switched hands. They also always bill you early but sometimes don't send the bill when due.

I have the same story as many others who have just posted complaints. I have a lifetime membership to Bally's that originated in NY, but I live in LA. LA Fitness bought out Bally's here and I am told that because Bally's still exist in NY, I cannot use the gym in LA.

I have been a Premier Plus member of Bally Total Fitness since 2000. I added my fiancee to my account and also purchased sessions with a personal trainer. Five years ago, I moved from Cleveland to Chicago, a fact that Bally knows because they send me bills here. My trainer was fired, along with the rest of the staff, and no one has told me how to redeem my sessions or when I can expect a refund. Also, I have been told that I am not welcome in LA Fitness because Bally retained my membership. I have 7 months left on my paid term. No one from Bally answers the phone and LA Fitness just plays dumb.

My fiancee's membership, which was started in Chicago is getting him the same treatment. He can't get into the clubs either. Has anyone in this forum gotten results? If we all bond together can we get a class action suit against one or both of the clubs?

Bally's in California got bought out by LA Fitness. Now, they will not honor my Premier Plus membership that I have had since 1994. I paid them for the year in September and can't even get a refund for that.

I left for vacation on 12/2/11 and returned home on 12/13/11. I went to the gym on 12/15/11 only to find the gym closed and a note directing me to the nearest LA Fitness. After several weeks of waiting for my membership to transfer from Bally's to LA Fitness, I learned it did not transfer because the membership originated in Ohio, and those Bally's were not sold. I've been going to Bally's in Michigan for the past five years. Now I'm without a membership.

At the end of my three-year membership I began the cancellation process with Bally Total Fitness. After waiting on hold for approximately one hour I was instructed to mail in a notice of cancellation, which I did. This was in May 2011. I am still getting billed in January of 2012. I have made repeated attempts to get this rectified even going so far as to say just quit billing me and you can keep what you owe me in overcharges! This is the biggest scam I have ever seen. They will not let you cancel! Do not ever join this club!

I joined Ray & Clair Stern 1967 at Stones Town in San Francisco which became Jack La lane, Holiday when I upgraded in Colorado 1982, then Bally's when I moved to Baltimore in 1990. I have no health club now because I am told LA Fitness did not buy Bally's in Colorado.

My membership started in San Francisco and I have been going to the gym for over 40 years. Now, at 70, I am told that I have to buy a new membership with LA Fitness. I have paid on time for all these years to keep my blood sugar in check, now I can't exercise because my contract has been trashed.

I have a lifetime membership at Bally's in FL. LA Fitness is unsure what to do. Either way, I have no club to go to even though my membership is still valid. I live in FL where there are no longer and BTF clubs. BTF said I would have to go to my original club, but that's in CT. I should not have to go to CT from FL to workout in a club that I paid for. That is the stupidest idea that ever came out of BTF.

I have been a premier member of Bally since 8/15/1984. I received a letter telling me my membership was transferred to LA Fitness. I have tried calling Bally and did not get to a real person. The machine said my number was no good. I called LA fitness and they wanted to charge me $300 for their membership. I only paid Bally $100. I have used this membership in Illinois (where it was purchased), in Cleveland, and in Dearborn, MI.

I have paid my dues the last 6 years even though there was no Bally near me because I wanted to keep the membership. After all these years, I can't believe any company would treat its members like that. I would like my Premier membership back which was between $800 and $1000.

I have been a membership owner since 2006, when first enrolled decided to pay extra $10.00 for the Childcare benefit. When the contract was active for 4 years I will pay $29.99 for the membership plus $10.00 for the Childcare. When my contract expired and went to month to month payment, the Childcare disappeared from the computer system and the gym. I was denied by the service, so I talked to corporate office people and I was told my contract will be honored.

Since July last year I made calls to have the Childcare benefits back in the system and notes were entered in my account letting everyone know I did have a childcare benefit. My membership was sold to LA fitness, now the notes and Childcare benefit is gone again. Customer service from Bally Total Fitness refused to help me after numerous calls, phone number from corporate office denied me. LA fitness have told me to get something in writing from Bally but they refused saying they did not have any information any more. I was even accused once by a manager at the Bally of steeling the service from the gym. Bally total Fitness **!

I have premier membership since 1984, $59.00 annual membership fee. Without notice, they sold clubs to LA Fitness without transferring my membership with the same or close to same membership or giving me advance notice with options. I feel they should compensate me $1000.00 USD.

Any Illinois Bally members having trouble with getting their memberships transferred to LA fitness? Please send us your stories and any information! Thanks!

I was in Bally's yesterday in Rogers Park, IL. I showed them my membership card (premier member). These dues are paid until April 2012. They looked up the card in their computer and they said that it was "coming up" in the system--they gave me the customer service number to contact. The representative stated that they are no longer transferring any memberships to LA Fitness. Only yesterday, other members were getting new cards without a problem. Has anyone else had the same experience? My yearly dues are pretty low—is this why? Please help.

I lodged a complaint against Bally with the Minnesota Attorney General's office. I just got a call from Lisa ** (AG Office), who said the state has reached an agreement with Bally and LA Fitness that our contracts, in full, will carry over. She said just go to LA Fitness, and get a new card. LA Fitness should have your contract details.

My wife and I are no longer able to use our membership at Bally's/LA Fitness and we still have four months left before our renewal . We have been premier plus members for over 15 years and now we have nothing to show for it. Are we screwed or what? I hope this falls in to some kind of lawsuit. They should not be able to do this to people.

I purchased a Bally premier plus, lifetime transferable membership over twenty years ago. Bally has sold all their operations in Maryland to LA Fitness and transferred my membership without my authorization. In doing so, they are in breach of contract with long term members such as myself. For example, they will not honor my membership when I visit family in Boston, unless I pay for yet another membership. I will gladly join in any class action against them. This is absolutely outrageous.

I called the Bally's membership renewal number, and was told by the automated service that my Premier Plus membership had been assumed by LA Fitness. I am fuming mad, since I purchased this membership several decades ago, for the price of $800.00, and to be disrespected in this manner without even a letter of notice is totally unprofessional and dead wrong! Please help! If there is a class action suit, please count me in.

When I went to the gym this morning, the clerk tried looking up my membership and she stated that she could not find it. Then, I realized that I signed up for Bally's in NY and not PA. According to the clerk, LA Fitness bought the PA membership and not NY. This explains why she could not find my information. What's interesting is that when I signed up for Bally's in NY, I was still living in PA. I thought nothing of it because my Premier membership allows me to use any Bally's in the US. Now I am being told I have to travel to NY to use a Bally's gym or terminate my membership.

you over to an automated message that says the account is being serviced by LA fitness.

I called LA fitness and they have no record of the account, I called Bally again and after over an hour, my call was answered by a sarcastic person who simply said LA Fitness is having a problem updating their database and that my membership was transferred. Two weeks later, LA Fitness has no record of my account and they switch me to the new account section.

I purchased an upgrade to lifetime Premier/Premier Plus membership with Bally on 4/25/95. This membership gave me access to all of Bally's fitness network, and a fixed lifetime annual membership charge. It seems now that LA Fitness has acquired 171 of Bally locations. I am being affected by this change.

My membership has been downgraded to a one location membership, and I am being told that the only way I am able to patronize other LA Fitness locations, is to upgrade my membership to their VIP program with monthly dues. I feel if they acquire our contracts, they should be honored as written. It seems I am not the only one who feels this way about this merge or takeover with LA Fitness and Bally.

I had a Premier Plus Bally's membership since 1989 with annual dues that I have not paid this passed year since I have been hospitalized twice with two operations and have not gone to a gym. Now that I tried to go I have been getting the run around from both Bally and LA Fitness, which I just found out took over my club. I was told finally after making numerous visits and phone calls that I am no longer a member because I lapsed in my dues and was not transferred to LA Fitness. I was never notified of this status or take over and was told I can purchase a new membership from LA Fitness. I told the salesman that I have paid about $3000 in 88 and have always paid my membership at a club when they told me it was due since I have taken time off over the years. But probably never over a year.

I think thousands of dollars and annual fees should count for something or some correspondence from Bally's. I have been very happy with Bally's or Jack ** when I joined until this point. I have traveled and was always glad I paid for the gold membership that I could use anywhere. I would have given 5 stars; now it appears I am not even a member. Help or can you add me to some law suit? I need to get healthy and cannot afford LA Fitness' prices of $60 a month. I can not go to the gym without buying a new membership and need some advice on what to do.

I am a premier plus lifetime member. My home club is listed as Sheepshead Bay. I have lived in Suffolk County and used the Lake Grove facilities for the last 20 years. Since Sheepshead Bay was not sold, I was denied access. There is no club in Suffolk county I am qualified to go to. I feel this is wrong.

I have a paid 1 yr membership through Bally till 3/16/12. However, no record as per Lakeland's Bally which is now LA fitness.

I've been a member since '98, and would like to join a class action suit, regarding the transfer of membership to LA Fitness, as soon as there is one. It started when I recently spoke with an LA Fitness rep this morning, who was advising me that my billing information needs to be updated. That's when I noticed my bank account was being charged exactly $4 more in May per month, without my permission, by Bally. Since inception, my contract as been increasing annually, from pennies to under a dollar, with no exact amount, for cost of living. I noticed in May 2011, that I was charged exactly $4 more per month, without my authorization.

Today, I spoke with both Bally and LA Fitness twice, with not one of them having any billing history info, only what I was currently being charged, the $4 additional. Now I know I should've caught this billing error earlier, but I haven't had a billing issue for the past 13 years, so it slipped through the cracks. Now that I caught it, I believe I have the right to find out why I was charged more money, without my authorization. I got nothing but dead ends. So, if there is going to be any sort of lawsuit against Bally, I'm in. LA Fitness doesn't even have my original contract, and I've tried both corporate and local offices.

I purchased a Gold membership in 1988 in a NJ gym (that is still apparently open and was not bought by LA fitness). However, I live in NY and used to go to the Bally in Bay Shore New York. There were no Bally Total Fitness nearby that I can go to anymore and LA fitness said they don't have our information in their computer. Bally Sport said I could upgrade and pay higher prices. Problem was, I bought a lifetime membership that I am current on dues with ($33.00 a year) and I cant go to the gym.

It seemed to me they breached their contract to me and I would like to be added to the class action suit. Not to mention the gym in my town which I had an additional membership with, closed 2 months after I gave the $499 for a year upfront. They need to have more legislation regarding memberships. Since then, I realized that you cannot buy a membership for more than three years. However, in 1988, I purchased a lifetime membership for $1000 and that was a huge amount of cash back then. Now when I really need it, it is gone!

Bally's ripping off its long term members, you are a fool if you join this club. They are selling or closing existing clubs, leaving their current members with no access. Why would you join this organization?

I have a Bally's Premier membership. I originally joined U.S. Swim & Fitness in 1984. This membership transferred to Bally's. Now, even though I pay an annual membership fee, I can't get a refund. I intend to inform the Minnesota Attorney General about this abrogation of contract.

I've been a member at Bally for 10+ years, and found out at the counter that they were bought out by LA Fitness. I pay my dues annually, and was told I had until the end of the year to visit the LA Fitness closest to me, then I had to start a new membership. This is ethically wrong on both Bally & LA Fitness. Class Action Lawsuit? I'm in.

Since LA Fitness took over Bally's, LAF say they do not have me in their records. I have been a life member since the 70s and have been in other takeovers with no problems. I transferred to FL from CT in 1989 or 1990. I use the gym 3-4 times a week. LAF told me to call Bally's. I did and they stated at Bally's that I could go to Texas. When asked how, "you can take a plane". Sure! Great answer! But no answer as to where is my record of life membership. I was able to use my membership before at any Bally's. I used both Bally's on US 19 in the Largo-Clearwater area.

I was sold a nationwide subscription to Bally and now they are telling me that they sold all the clubs in Florida. I live in Florida for the last six years and I can't access the gym in Florida.

Bally's is committing a fraud. Long time memberships are no longer being honored unless you upgrade and pay more for the same services. We all must contact the attorney general in our states to get their attention otherwise we lose. Go, the states sits and file your complaint today. All memberships must be honored with no changes. Do something today. Don't wait. Can u believe that these clubs have the nerve to advertise on this site?

I have a lifetime membership and there's no Bally in FL. LA Fitness is unsure what to do. Either way I have no club to go to even though my membership is still valid. Choke the person who made this stupid decision.

I did not hear about this merger until I got a letter in the mail. At the same time, I was planning to renew my membership, which I pay $99 per year. However, I was told that I have to pay the "new" dues of around $160 per year to use only one of the clubs. If I wanted "premier" then that's extra. I have been with Bally's for 9 years. This is a shame how companies like this put people before profits. I also never authorized Bally's to release all my information to LA Fitness. If there is going to be class action lawsuit then I would be more than glad to join .

It is completely unethical that Bally members were not warned that BTF was being bought out/sold by 24 HR./LA Fitness, whoever owns who? I don't know. Worst case now is that long-term member's contracts are not being honored. I am one of those members that pays $100 annually and I am nowhere in the system now. This is complete "ratness." They are totally trying to make more money off us.

I was told after LA Fitness took over that my premier plus contract would not be honored. They purchased the business but not the contracts. This sounds illegal. Is there a class action in place that I can join?

I rate my experience as a total loss and a negative experience with my credit. I signed up for a promotional membership canceled within the 30 days. What happened next was there was no action taken in the computer system. And my membership must have continued without my noticing and now Bally's is listed as an unpaid bill.

I am a lifetime member of Bally's Fitness Centers. I went to the gym this past weekend and they told me my membership is no longer valid! They were bought by LA Fitness. I tried calling Bally's and cannot get a real person on the phone. My annual dues are paid through February 2012! LA Fitness will not even honor that!

I have a lifetime membership with Bally which I paid off, and my dues for lifetime are $5 per month. My contract originated 23 years ago in New York. I have been living in Florida for 15 years. My membership afforded me any Bally Gym. Bally sold every gym in Florida to LA Fitness. They are telling me they will not honor the Bally membership since it originated in NY, and there are still clubs there. Basically, they are telling me to go back to New York to work out.

I think it's disgusting, that they wouldn't make provisions for members who have been loyal, and have moved to another state. Not even recently, I've been here 15 years. I'm mortified now that I have no place to work out, unless I pay an exorbitant amount for a new membership, which I cannot afford. I took a $12000 a year pay cut. To just cut all their members off, without trying to change addresses for members so that they wouldn't lose their privileges, I think it's disgusting.

First it was reported they would honor these memberships. Now I find, they won't. I think something should be done here. This is disgusting of what they did to members.

I was notified by Bally's that LA Fitness had bought them out and my membership was not being honored, and my fees were going up. However if I wanted to cancel I will need to go to a "real LA fitness" whatever that meant since Ballys had no updated system. I found to be inconsiderate, and just plain unprofessional. I had to go 15 miles out of my way to cancel. LA fitness will never get my business.

I have been a member of Bally's for nearly 10 years at the Dale Mabry (North Carrollwood) location. In Oct. 2011, they charged my credit card $128 for my membership renewal. The funny thing is that they were not supposed to charge my card. But I let it slide after discussing this issue with them on the phone (they apologized for their error). My membership "renewed" on Nov. 28, 2011. On approximately Dec. 5, 2011 (seven days into my new membership for the 2011-2012 year, which I paid in full when they "accidentally" charged me in Oct. 2011), I was notified LA Fitness was taking over.

I spoke to LA Fitness and was told, "We are all new here and have no idea what corporate wants. You can use your club through Dec. But after that, it's an upgrade to our LA Fitness prices." I asked for a refund and was told, "Call Bally's. We got no money from them." I called Bally's and was told, "The best thing you can do is try to dispute it with your credit card company because we are not refunding your money. LA Fitness owns the club now. Sorry." This is **, to tell me that they didn't know they were going under a month before they falsely charged me, and then refuse to refund my money. LA Fitness is forcing us to pay their rates. I was told, "They will not accept Bally's contracts as far as pricing. We're LA Fitness." They won't even let us ride our contract out. So, LA Fitness "buying" Bally contracts is a crock of **. Put me in a class action lawsuit.

I received a letter in mail on 12/13/11 dated 12/1/11. The letter said that Bally Total Fitness transferred my membership to LA Fitness. I'm a premier member paid up for the next three years at Bally. I called Bally at 888-210-4725 and 866-402-2559, and I was transferred to a tape saying that I should contact LA Fitness, since my membership is with LA Fitness. I called LA Fitness at 516-355-2302 and talked with Damien, and he didn't honor my payment for 3 years, nor transfer my membership back to Bally. Is there any lawsuit against Bally and LA Fitness?

I am a premier plus member since 1992. I moved from Queens to Long Island in 2001. I switched my local club from Queens to Levittown on their website several years ago. The Levittown location converted to LA Fitness. Bally's switched back my local club to Queens at the time of the switch on their website and LA Fitness of Levittown will not honor my contract. LA Fitness wants me to sign up for one of their plans. Bally's says that I could travel to one of their other locations, which is not convenient and keep my current contract. All of this happened because Bally's never switched my local club on their books and who collected my membership fees, even though I made the change on their website years ago.

I received a letter in mail on 12/13/11 dated 12/1/11. Bally Total Fitness transferred my membership to LA Fitness without consent or assent. I'm a lifetime premier member paid up for the next three years at Bally. I'm also a signature member of LA Fitness paid for the next two years, so the transfer to LA Fitness is worthless for me. I called Bally on 12/13/11 at 888-210-4725. Oscar refused to reinstate my membership. Aren't there laws against this kind of stuff?

I also hold a lifetime membership with Bally's that LA Fitness will not honor. I also would like to be a part of of any legal action regarding this issue. Financial loss, negative health impact, also causing an unforeseen financial burden resulting in undue stress causing your health to deteriorate due to a severe change in lifestyle.

I purchased the bi-weekly plan for my son 12/23/2010 at Bally Total Fitness in Lacey, WA for a Christmas present. I was assured by the club manager the plan could be cancelled at any time, that it was a "pay as you go" plan albeit two weeks at a time. My son went to the club a couple of times and met with a trainer once. He also went swimming once but he thought it was filthy and he got a weird feeling from some of the other "regular" customers and told me he didn't think he would go back and that I should cancel the membership asap.

I called the club and they told me that I had to cancel according to the contract. So I looked up on the contract how to cancel and it said it had to be in writing and to a specific address and it had to be sent by certified or registered mail. In February of 2011, I mailed the letter as stated and never heard a response. Honestly, I don't use my credit card much and have made a major purchase on it in the past, that my bill pay sends a monthly payment out on.

So imagine my surprise when December 7th, I get a letter from Bally's and a letter from La Fitness telling me about the switch (imagine that Bally's went under?). At first I thought odd that they would mail me as my son is no longer a member. So anyway, I checked and since cancelling the membership the way I was supposed to, they have been charging my card 2-4 times a month! Since mailing the letter, I have incurred 22 bi-weekly charges for a total of $286.66. I tried calling Bally's and just got a phone tree with no options to talk to a human and LA fitness referred me back to Bally's (whom I assumed they know they own now).

For all you Ballys member **, we don't want you at LA Fitness. Find another gym.

I have had a Premier membership since 1989; my yearly dues are $89. Every year Bally's would send me a higher renewal price which I would turn down then would send me the regular one. On November 30, I received an offer for the $89 along with an offer to add a family member and/or pay for more years. Nowhere in the letter did they mention the sale, only a deadline of December 15th. I tried calling to ask for more information regarding a family member addition and was told my membership was sold to LA Fitness and I was their problem. I spoke to the LA Fitness/Bally's Tustin and was told I had to pay a higher amount for the membership and it would be only for 1 gym site. Needless to say, I am not happy and this cannot be legal. I have my most current letter from Bally's although LA Fitness tried to take it away from me.

I was sent a letter from Bally's. It states that my Premier membership was acquired by LA Fitness and that they would be honoring my contract which I have had since 1982; the original membership date was with American Fitness who sold it to Bally's. It included everything except rackettball and was usable anywhere there was a club. Now the letter from LA Fitness states differently. I would be limited to only the Bally's club I was affiliated with.

I have repeatedly attempted to contact Bally's for a refund of my membership due to the fact that, no fault of my own, I cannot use the facility anymore. Ever since I joined in February of 2011, there were problems with the pool, the sole reason I joined. Finally in September, the pool and the entire health spa were rendered out of service and have never been restored. I have written emails and called and gone in person to resolve this to no avail. I am asking for a refund so I can resume swimming, which is imperative to my health. I cannot use the other facilities and I made it very clear that I joined because of the pool and that it was within walking distance from my home.

I was swimming at a public pool 20 blocks away which required me to take public transportation and because of the brutal winter last year, I decided to spend more to have something closer to home. That membership only cost me $75 a year and the Bally's was around $350. As low income person, I am in no position to just lose that money as I need to rejoin the public pool before I lose all the momentum and my health further deteriorates. They seem to be embroiled in a battle with the building owners about fixing the ceiling and therefore have kept postponing the reopening of the pool.

At this point I see no imminent resolution and my membership is due to run out by the time it is fixed if ever. Yet they are holding my money hostage. They have been extremely unprofessional, making me wait to speak to the manager at the club for 1/2 an hour at a time and he never comes out. It's beyond ridiculous and disrespectful at this point. Bally's really doesn't seem to care about its reputation which is getting worse all the time. It's just about how many members they can snag and if there are disgruntled ones, so be it, they'll just keep the revolving door turning for the masses whose standards are low and who won't take the time to complain and will hopefully just give up and go away.

After months of calling and emailing "district managers", the club manager and the corporate offices, I finally chatted with someone today online. She refused to issue a refund. I have a transcript of that conversation which I can send. This is unacceptable. They have had my money to invest for almost a year and the club is in shambles, unusable. Besides the pool being out of service indefinitely, the club is filthy and I believe the health department would shut it down if they inspected.

I purchased a Bally's Premier lifetime membership in 1991 which includes dues of $10 per month. This membership allowed me to use Bally clubs nationwide. I received a letter from Bally's dated 12/1/11 saying that my membership had been assumed by LA Fitness. I am told by LA Fitness that I can now only use the Bally clubs purchased by LA Fitness and that I will not be allowed access to other LA Fitness clubs after 12/31/11.

In order to use their other clubs, I am told that I must upgrade my membership and pay an initiation fee. The membership they purchased gave me access to clubs nationwide so why do I have to upgrade to use their clubs? Also, if they purchased my membership, have me in their system and issued me an LA fitness card, why must I pay an initiation fee when I am apparently a member? It seems to me that LA Fitness should honor the terms of the contracts they purchased with no additional cost to the holder. I would like to be a part of of any legal action regarding this issue.

I am one of yet so many Bally's fitness members that was belatedly informed that LA Fitness had bought the Bally's clubs in my state. This has left us with questions, sales pressures, and lies from LA Fitness about what was occurring with our memberships and original contracts. Firstly, LA Fitness staff are not letting Bally members know that the Bally membership contracts were in fact assumed by LA Fitness, which under basis contract law means that they have to honor the terms of those contracts as if they themselves had signed it. It is an assignment of the original sellers of the contract to the new owners. Pure and simple, LA Fitness is breaking contract law and you shouldn't sign any new contract with them, at least without reading it first and if you weren't given it to read first.

That is also a violation of the Consumer Protection Act and you would have a basis in such a case to void that contract. If you did get the contract prior to signing and didn't read it, then you usually only have 3 days to cancel the contract and you have to follow the rules in the contract for informing the company that you are cancelling the contract. In any case, LA Fitness is out and out lying and using various sales tactics to get the transferred Bally's members to sign new contracts. They have told numerous Bally's members that they can't just let Bally's members carry over their old contracts since the rates aren't the same. Well, that doesn't matter since a contract is a contract and they bought the Bally's assets for a very low price because it included all those lifetime memberships as part of the deal.

So instead of paying a higher price for all those clubs, LA Fitness got a great price to account for the difference in future premiums until those members eventually die off or can't use the clubs by their own choice. So obviously, LA Fitness is attempting to scam out of the deal by lying to the now former Bally's members and therefore reap both the discounted price for the Bally's assets and gouge out huge profits from getting those lifetime members to pay even more that what they were originally contracted to with the LA Fitness initiation fee and monthly dues that they aren't entitled to.

All Bally's members who are in this situation need to do the following: File call and file on-line complaints with your state's Consumer Protection Agency, your state's Attorney General, Senator's and Congressmen. You may email and phone your local TV news stations investigation department that loves to showcase these kinds of abuse by companies against their viewing public. They just love to get cameras in front of upset consumers and abusive companies to put on the air and LA Fitness definitely won't be happy with such exposure which will alert potential customers from signing up. You may spend 5 to 10 minutes outside of their facilities, before and after you visit LA Fitness, to warn others about what LA Fitness is doing and how they can do the above steps to help put LA Fitness in the cross-hairs of these agencies, etc, to expose LA Fitness for their illegal and unethical actions.

Also, beware, LA Fitness contracts are geared up to close clubs and force you to pay for an upgrade to access another club, even if you have a multi-club membership. You see, they've set up a scheme where they define club types as "signature", "premier", "premier-plus", "single", etc, but don't identify which club locations are which type which means they can just tell you it's one of the types that you didn't sign up for and you can't prove that they're lying to you since they only label the clubs on their website as "Open Clubs", "PreSale Clubs", and "former Bally's Clubs".

Another scheme is where no matter what type of LA Fitness membership you sign up for, any future LA Fitness facility that they build is not part of anybody's membership regardless of what you signed up as. You can surely guess it, they'll charge you an upgrade to be able to access such a club and then, imagine, they do this for every new facility they build that you might want to use.

They also include an automatic autobill feature so that they can charge your credit card for renewal without your wish to do it manually or only for a set time period. They even state in the contract that they can use any means to find out any one of your credit or debit card numbers to update their database and access your financial institution and get their dues from you. They can use any card or account numbers they search the web or other places that you've bought from and that report your information to the credit bureaus so that they can charge you if you fail to update your financial information or even if you cancel the card you had on file with them.

Gasp, surely that's illegal! Well, it probably is, but they state that's what they'll do and it's in those LA Fitness contracts and once they charge you, it's up to you to dispute it and hope your financial institute goes to bat for you. All in all, LA Fitness is owned by three hedge fund type companies whose goal is to eventually go public and pull the same shenanigans that Bally's did in the stock market and run the value up and then drive it down and do that over and over again to extract a huge fortune for themselves. Beware and be smart. File complaints as suggested. Don't call Bally's or LA Fitness except to cancel your LA Fitness contract as described above if you signed a new contract with LA Fitness.

Calling them is a waste of time and they won't tell you the truth or anything you won't learn about this situation from the many thousands of complaints. A class action lawsuit will probably be occurring and you don't have to sign up for such lawsuits since the lawyers will have access to the Bally's membership records as well as LA Fitness and will mail you information about the class action suit so you can opt in or out. Just make sure your post office has your change of address if you've moved from what Bally's had as your address when you were with them.

I am one of the victims of the sale of 171 Bally Fitness facilities to LA Fitness. I have a Premier Plus lifetime membership and I have been told that of all the memberships that were sold along with the clubs, the lifetime memberships were not part of this. So the gyms now belong to LA Fitness, but I have no membership with LA Fitness. And because I live in Chicago, they sold all of the gyms in this Chicago area to LA Fitness. I have already filed a claim with the Illinois Attorney General and am in the process of filing with the Better Business Bureau.

I have an Olympic Charter Membership from 1986, in which, I am entitled to use all clubs anywhere. I have lived in Suffolk County NY for the last 12 years, and have used both clubs available to me in my area. I just learned that Bally closed one of the clubs, and relocated it about one half mile away, and renamed it to Bally Sport, to which I may obtain access if I upgrade, however, the second club was just renamed, and I now have no access to a local club. This is a scam, if this happened to you, please write to the attorney general in your area, and put a stop to this fraud.

I have a premier membership with Ballys total fitness since 2004. This membership provided multi-club access. With the acquisition of Ballys total fitness by LA fitness, I was assigned to a club that I never went to and my membership was changed in their system as a single club access. When I called LA fitness, I was told that there was nothing thy could do and I have to pay $19.00 extra per month to have multi-club access.

The manager at the Ballys even put in a note stating the I had multi-club access. Class actions do not benefit the consumer so I am planning to sue them in small claims court to remedy this. Let me see how many of these claims LA fitness can fight. I talked to other members in the Gym who have been duped into sign new contracts in spite of having life time memberships. They were told that their memberships where not purchased by LA fitness so they have to pay $39.00/ month to keep using the facilities.

I am on a bi-weekly plan. I paid 2 months up in advance. I get an email on November 30 telling me that on December 1, LA Fitness will be taking over. I am thinking no worries. On December 2, they deducted the bi-weekly fee. I was very upset as I already paid up for 2 months. I called the number provided for LA Fitness and they were able to pull up my account but said they do not see the said payments then I called Bally's customer service and they have a record of it so I am thinking it will be easily rectified by bringing in my receipt and bank statement showing payment. My home Gym said they cannot help me because they are now LA Fitness and only Bally's can help. Mind you, Bally's is not on the east coast no more. It's all considered LA Fitness now and Bally's said that they already submitted all the accounts and it's up to LA Fitness to update. They said I have to take it up with them. They did not provide the said services so how can they just keep my money?

This LA Fitness/Bally takeover is a mess. I have been paying a Premier membership for Bally's since 1995, which allowed access to numerous clubs. With the takeover, LA Fitness tells me that I have a single club membership, which is incorrect (haven't worked out at that facility since 1996-1997). I've been getting the run around from Bally's saying they no longer have my information on file. Additionally, LA Fitness advises that Bally's should take care of it and they do not have information on any contract history.

I contacted Bally's and LA Fitness prior to December 1st and neither could give any information on the impact the takeover would have on my membership. Now, I see that I was downgraded to a single club membership after being a loyal Bally's customer for 15 years.

Also, I just renewed my annual membership in September of 2011. LA Fitness advises I can "upgrade" my membership starting this month at $19.99 per month. If not, then I will go back to the "single club" access which as mentioned, I never had. Furthermore, no one can explain why a "new" member of LA Fitness would be offered the same deal if the "old" Bally's member paid his membership in full in September 2011 as opposed to earlier in 2011.

I can't see how this is fair. If there is a class action lawsuit, please let me know as I may be interested. I've already submitted a complaint with the Better Business Bureau as well. Hopefully something materializes here because as of right now, no one at Ballly's or LA Fitness has been able to help with this poorly executed merger/takeover.

I have a Bally Total Fitness premier contract and the letter I received from them states that LA Fitness will "assume your membership agreement". I pay $5 per month for life to be able to go to any clubs nationwide. Now I have been told by LA fitness that I can only go to one of their clubs which is my home club and Bally's will no longer honor my membership at their leftover clubs. This is wrong and how do we get change or compensation?

I have a contract with Bally Fitness for a renewal fee per year of $25. The contract was in place since 1984. The membership is a VIP with multiple locations that I can use. LA Fitness stated that they will not be honoring these lifetime memberships.

I was told that my renewal rate of $51 a year would no longer be honored. I was told by Bally's (LA Fitness) staff that my new renewal rate will be LA Fitness's current rate.

I have a signed contract from Bally that dates back to 1979. At that time, I bought the Premier Membership. My annual renewal fee is $44. This morning, I called Bally only to find out that LA Fitness will not honor my contract. Instead, I will get the lowest membership level and it will cost me $19/mo with a signed contract. I already have a legal contract and that contract says "Premier Membership" for lifetime at a renewal fee of $44/year.

I have been informed that LA Fitness will not be honoring Lifetime memberships. They claimed that they did not purchase these agreements from Bally's. However, when speaking to Bally's officials, they states that LA Fitness did indeed purchase these memberships. Please include me in any class-action lawsuit. I have my original contract from 1991 with Bally's and I have a lifetime membership with dues of $1 per annum. I am currently paid up till March of 2016. Ironically, I also have a membership to LA Fitness which I recently purchased for $857.00 for a three-year period. I feel that I should be entitled to a refund as well. Remember that there is strength in numbers; let's keep up the fight!

I recently contacted Bally's Corporate at 1-888-808-9308 and they informed me that they no longer have any information on file regarding any memberships and they all have been transferred to LA Fitness. How convenient! LA Fitness cannot find my membership in their system and I was asked by a staff member if my membership was a lifetime one which I replied with yes, and he stated that is why it was not in their system. They were not part of the deal.

After a most disappointing and frustrating experience with LA Fitness attendants to accept the Bally Lifetime contract, good news as of to date, the LA Fitness corporate has decisively weighed the advantage and disadvantages of the Bally Lifetime memberships and witnessed the acceptance of the Lifetime IAW your prior contract. Just insist on your LAF attendant to contact the corporate office despite their refusal to acknowledge the change.

I have a lifetime Premier Plus membership with Bally Total Fitness. Bally recently sent me the following email.

When I contacted LA Fitness, they told me that I could come to their facility near the Bally's Fitness center near our home, but only till December 31, 2011. LA Fitness also told me that after December 31, 2011 we would have to upgrade our membership and would have to pay a much higher monthly membership fee.

I feel that Bally Total fitness has done something that is unjust, unethical and unfair to so many members around the country. If there is any class action suit against them, I would like to be a part of it. I unjustly lost an agreement of a lifetime membership with Bally Total Fitness.

Don't sign anything before consulting your attorney. It is my opinion that all parties involved must be sued. If you are denied access to your health club and you or your doctor feel that this has had a negative impact on your health or progression to better health, also causing an unforeseen financial burden resulting in undue stress causing your health to deteriorate due to a severe change in lifestyle, then the class action lawsuit just became increasingly detrimental to the prospective defendants involved.

We need to find an attorney for a class action suit against Bally and LA Fitness! I also purchased a Bally lifetime nationwide premier plus membership at $5 per month. It could never increase. Now I'm no longer able to use any gyms outside of NY but I purchased it while living in Florida and have only used Florida gyms. But I bought it from another member who signed up in NY and since LA Fitness didn't buy NY Bally gyms, then I can only use those gyms and not nationwide. I'm screwed cause I live in Florida.

My Bally Fitness membership was sold to LA Fitness on 12/1/11. I received an email at 2:00 pm EST on 11/30/2011 that, as of 12/1/2011, my membership was being sold. I called Bally on 11/30/2011 and explained the Bally club I joined in 1985 that I have not used since 1990, and was residing in Virginia using a Bally club located in the city I reside. I was told by a Bally rep that they would send my info over to the Bally club I have used for 21 years but that did not happen.

Second, I called LA Fitness to cancel my membership since the closest club they have is over 4 hours from me. They canceled my membership but told me I had to call Bally if I wanted to a refund since my membership was paid in full until Sept 2012. I called Bally and they could not find any record where my membership was transferred to the Bally in my area just that it was sold to LA Fitness on 12/1.

Original membership purchase was monthly payments for 3 years and then annual fees. That is a large financial loss for me plus being a member for 26 years. This whole thing is a major let down and poor business practice.

They did not cancel my membership when they said they would. I did not receive my refund. Now I have received a letter stating they sold my "membership" to LA Fitness. Bally's said they had no information on my account since LA Fitness owns it now. LA Fitness said they cannot issue refunds and they received no money for my membership. Now I have to try and deal with the inept and fraudulent Bally's. It's a waste of my money and waste of my time! I have not been inside a Bally's for over a year, why are they even allowed to sell a membership that obviously is not being used at all? How can Bally's get away with lying to so many consumers?

I have been a member since '94. I signed up in North Hollywood, CA which is one of the gyms sold to LA Fitness. Well, I now reside in Fresno where there is No LA Fitness. I am being told I cannot go to Ballys here in Fresno because my membership was sold to LA Fitness! I specifically purchased the membership that allowed me to go to any Ballys! I called customer service only to be told they don't have an answer and I need to go to LA Fitness. There has to be something we can do. This is wrong in every way!

In 1975, I bought a membership that included a lifetime set annual fee and included the ability to use any facility within the Bally Fitness system. At the time, I was living in the Los Angeles area. In 1992, I moved to Colorado and have been paying my annual dues here for the last 19 years. On Dec. 1,2011, I received a letter from Bally's that they have "sold" my membership to LA Fitness being as my "home club" was in the Los Angeles area. Magically, my husband who had bought a much more expensive membership at a much later (1990) date, also in Los Angeles, was somehow "transferred" to Colorado while my membership was not. Since there are no LA Fitness clubs in Colorado, I can no longer use my membership or the club that I have been going to for 19 years and through whom I renewed my membership in January of this year.

Bally gave its loyal members a great example of corporate greed and LA Fitness is providing the shaft by ending and not honoring Bally's fitness lifetime members contract nor any other. I am in Miami, Florida (attending Bally at Southland Mall) and I was informed by the new LA Fitness staff that Bally's has sold all of its memberships with a final expiration date ending 2012 of a calendar year (corporate greed). In which time, all will be subjected to LA Fitness's new monthly rates (the shaft). A Lifetime Membership at a low rate, which is inheritable and transferable is now worth nothing.

Bally not only sold the health clubs but they also sold the memberships of the clients without any care, concern or disclosure to the clients. I have been a loyal member since 1972 and now am being told that I am no longer a member of Bally's because they sold my membership agreement to LA Fitness. I went to LA Fitness today just to be told that after 12/31/11, I can no longer use their club. Although, I am now one of their members, unless I purchase an upgrade with them. They tried to use a hard sale tactic with me saying that I can only get it at this time or the price will go up later. Am I a member or not?

This club is only down the street from where the Bally club that I went to and is now being closed. The club that they are telling me I can go to is over 20 miles away from where I live. Some agreement, I'm no longer a Bally member and I guess I am a partial member of LA Fitness because I can only go to certain clubs but not the one closest to where I live. If there is going to be a class action filed count me in!

My overall experience with Bally's Fitness has been 5 stars until now. I bought a premier lifetime membership at President's First Lady Houston, TX in 1985. Shortly thereafter Bally's purchased them and honored my contract, which was a multi-location lifetime membership with an annual $50 membership fee (has gone up through the years; I now pay $55 plus change annually). I found out today that LA Fitness did not buy the lifetime memberships "because of too low annual renewal fees", but offered me "a deal".

I am paid through 2013. Since I no longer have a gym membership, I want a refund. I have called two different numbers and I cannot reach a live person, it is all automated.

I am so upset over this. I have had this membership for 26 years, which I paid over $900 originally and another $1400 plus in annual fees to keep it active. I no longer have any kind of membership (much less lifetime) and I am owed two years annual fee (through 2013). Is there any attorneys out there that think a class action suit may be in order. If so, please contact me.

Upset with Ballys? Then, let's group together.

I received an email from Bally on November 30th (dated December 1), that they were closing my base club and that LA fitness would, quote, "assume your membership agreement". My membership agreement with Bally was that, I am a premier club member, which means close to the same monthly rate I paid, 12 years ago (has went a little higher each year, but only a few dollars), and that I have access to any Bally. At first, when I called the LA fitness center that is now the base club Ive been reassigned to, they said the indication from Bally is that, I can only access a single club, so I can now only access one single LA fitness club, but they would be glad to upgrade me for a fee, and higher monthly fee.

I said I don't need an upgrade, just the same terms I signed up with Bally. They said to contact Bally. I called the Bally's number, and got a recording that my membership has been transferred to LA fitness. I called LA fitness again this morning, and they changed their story a bit. They acknowledged that all Bally Premier members who transferred to LA fitness, are now only able to access a singe club, even though, as premier members were able to access multiple clubs at Bally. They said it's because the rates aren't in line, and that we'd have to pay a higher rate, to get access to all LA fitness clubs. So, they really aren't "assuming your membership agreement".

Since LA Fitness is not honoring the same agreement with me as Bally fitness, my wife and I will either have to pay twice as much per month, to have the same multi-access privileges, as we had with Ballys, or we wont be able to use any other LA fitness club than the one we've been assigned to.

I hold a lifetime membership with Bally Total Fitness. Bally recently sold their Florida clubs/memberships to L.A. Fitness. Lifetime memberships were not included as part of this sale. I called the Corporate office,but counsel is not in the office. The head of member services is not picking up his phone. I am left holding a membership, which the value is now worthless to me. I can't use it at L.A. Fitness here, and there are no Bally clubs here.

I had a membership with Bally since 1988. I originally paid cash for my membership, and approximately, once every 2-3 years I would renew. Just recently, when the bill came, I didn't pay because I don't use the facilities. The next month after the due date I was charged the renewal fee. I disputed this charge with my Credit Card company, and I was credited. However, once again I am getting charged this fee. I never signed up for auto renewal, and have always paid cash, or check, or authorized the renewal myself with a CC. I am outraged that they continue to get away with this. It is a real hassle for me, because I have to once again cancel my new card, and I cannot use my CC. Not only that, they have no documentation to support this payment. The contract was set up as paid in full, cash. I am furious!

I cancelled my card, having to call other merchants that are paid monthly by this CC, and change my billing info because my CC is not valid. It is a huge inconvenience around the holidays. There were no written authorization for this payment. Lastly, I will not continue to use this CC after this second dispute is resolved, because I cannot trust this CC company anymore, which is really sad.

My membership was supposed to be $12.99. I was never informed that they will take money from my debt card and so I always paid in person at the location. It was not until they keep telling me that I owed more then my bi-weekly membership that I was told why. They offered me to pay $33.99 a month if I kept coming into the store to pay or have it come from my account at $12.99 every week. I went with the bi-weekly payments. But, they are taking from my account $33.99 every month. They are taking money from my banking account, which makes me fall behind in my bills. They are also not clear with why I am being charged $33.99 a month, and they are not making it easy for me to end and terminate the relationship with them.

In December of 2002, I bought a national lifetime membership to Bally's with a $54 fixed annual renewal through the transfer process of Bally Fitness being sold by a former member. The original home club was in Westbury,NY. I live in Connecticut and have used the Connecticut clubs in Milford (which closed years ago), and for the better part of the last 7 years, in Stratford, CT.

I was informed on Dec.1, 2011 that my membership was sold to LA Fitness. When I contacted LA Fitness, they told me that I could go to all clubs, those acquired from Bally Fitness and LA Fitness through December. On January 1, 2012, I will only be allowed to use those Bally clubs bought by LA Fitness. I am screwed because in Connecticut, where I have gone to Bally clubs for the last 9 years, none of them were sold to LA Fitness.

Even though an LA Fitness club is less than a mile from my house they won't allow me to go there after January 1, 2011. It doesn't seem right when they purchased my National membership. I should be allowed to go to any LA Fitness club, either their own or those acquired from Bally in the sale. Please help!