FREE Guest Pass to Bally Total Fitness & MORE!

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1. 

   Collin (Mrs. Hip) February 10, 2009 at 7:08 am MST

   While I don’t know about this particular deal, I would strongly recommend exercising caution when becoming involved with Bally’s Total Fitness.

   In 2007, I purchased a gym membership at my local Bally’s during a promotion period. To lock in the rock bottom price, I (foolishly) agreed to a 3 year contract.

   13 months later, I relocated to a new city 1,400 miles away. Since I would be living right downtown, I sold my car and did not bring it with me. Everything that I need is within walking distance, including my job, stores, etc. I contacted Bally’s and was told that cancellation due to relocation is only possible if there are no Bally’s within 25 miles from your new home. Low and behold, there is a Bally’s 22 miles from my address.

   I decided to write an appeal to their corporate headquarters. I laboriously wrote a several page response, detailing my cross country move. I provided documentation, including photocopies of the sale of my car, my offer (and acceptance letter) with my new job, and my change of address form with the post office. I researched and compared routes from my downtown apartment to the Bally’s 22 miles away using public transportation, providing written documentation from the city’s Public Transit Authority outlining the number of stops I would need to make, miles I would need to walk from stop to stop, and the total estimated time it would take me to travel to Bally’s. 2.5 hours each way, including changing buses twice, taking the subway once, and walking almost 1 mile total. Before the gym. And then doing that to get home.

   Bally’s response? I was promptly mailed a copy of Bally’s cancellation for relocation policy. Enclosed inside was a certificate, congratulating me, on my move and informing me of my new Bally’s located 22 miles away. They even included a new membership card for this location.

   I called up their member services line immediately, expressed my extreme discontent, and spent over an hour going through my story to 3 different managers. In the end, I still pay for a gym membership that I will not – and cannot – use. My contract is up in the summer of 2010. So, fellow frugals and savers, beware of deals that are just so good, and ESPECIALLY with Bally’s Total Fitness.

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