Bally's accused of ripping off customers

Seven On Your Side's Tappy Phillips is here now with what she uncovered and what you need to do to protect yourself.

[ano]

bally's messed up my credit score and sewed me for money i don't owe them. i have never step my foot on their premises. i dislike them so much i want to curse them. i'm yet to go to court.

[Casanova]

Like every customer on this board and every other board, back in 2000 I signed up & I was given the option to cancel within 4 days. I did so the same very day. Yet it's 2006 and it's on my credit report that I owe them money. I have never been to that stupid gym.

[I know]

ano wrote:

bally's messed up my credit score and sewed me for money i don't owe them. i have never step my foot on their premises. i dislike them so much i want to curse them. i'm yet to go to court.

If you are so stuppid to sign a contract without reading it YOU deserve to get your credit f-uped.
I think people should read or take English 101 instead of complaining. You cant have everything on silver platter. WHEN are you going to relize we live in 20th century and not 1980 where people were honest.

[disgusted in clearwater]

It is a pathetic joke that this company is able to get away with this. And these credit collection services are buying these accounts and sewing innocent people who were TOLD one thing but the damn contract says another. I had 5 people hear the same thing & we didn't want to go to there gym. We followed the instructions this salesman gave & we got screwed. This is NOT FAIR. Great way to make a profit off of hard working people who were misled all you credit collection companies shold be ashamed (ASSET AMERICA) Hopefully more people research this page before they are misled. We owe 6000 dollars on a membership that was not used. Pat yourselves on the back balleys & asset america.

[Emily Rides]

Well,'I Know', I am not stupid, I did read the contract, and judging by your post I have much better command and understanding of the English language than you do. It's not that people are trying to squeeze out of their contracts, it's the fact that Bally's and their subsidary, Crunch are ripping people off. In my case they refuse to let me cancel my membership, even though I am more than willing to pay the outrageous cancellation fee. They REFUSE to let me cancel! Not only is this illegal, it's also unethical. A quick, cursory web search will reveal hundreds, if not thousands of custmers who have been double charged, over charged and scammed by Bally's and Crunch (Bally's is the defacto owner of Crunch). Bally's are criminals. They are stealing from us. They hide behind 'legalease', but they are wrong. Bally's has been caught doing this by the New York Better Business Bureau,and members in San Francisco are filing a class action lawsuit against them. Many, many people,myself included, refuse to take this lying down and are fighting back. My advice is to have NOTHING to do with Bally's, Crunch or any of their subsidaries. They are unethical criminals. What's funny about this, is on every blog and mesage board that this is discusses on, there is always one ignorantmoron, like 'I Know', who's only argument is to insult people, because they have no legal leg to stand on. My favorite was one ape who's whole argument consisted of brilliant statements such as,'Ahh, go pump some iron loozaz!'. Indeed.

[JBP]

Emily Rides wrote:

Well,'I Know', I am not stupid, I did read the contract, and judging by your post I have much better command and understanding of the English language than you do. It's not that people are trying to squeeze out of their contracts, it's the fact that Bally's and their subsidary, Crunch are ripping people off. In my case they refuse to let me cancel my membership, even though I am more than willing to pay the outrageous cancellation fee. They REFUSE to let me cancel! Not only is this illegal, it's also unethical. A quick, cursory web search will reveal hundreds, if not thousands of custmers who have been double charged, over charged and scammed by Bally's and Crunch (Bally's is the defacto owner of Crunch). Bally's are criminals. They are stealing from us. They hide behind 'legalease', but they are wrong. Bally's has been caught doing this by the New York Better Business Bureau,and members in San Francisco are filing a class action lawsuit against them. Many, many people,myself included, refuse to take this lying down and are fighting back. My advice is to have NOTHING to do with Bally's, Crunch or any of their subsidaries. They are unethical criminals. What's funny about this, is on every blog and mesage board that this is discusses on, there is always one ignorantmoron, like 'I Know', who's only argument is to insult people, because they have no legal leg to stand on. My favorite was one ape who's whole argument consisted of brilliant statements such as,'Ahh, go pump some iron loozaz!'. Indeed.

Well said Em -- and I'd love to talk more about what can be done

[Lin]

OMG I just recieved a court order that they are going to garnish my check/.....$150.00/week! I'm a single parent and make $425.00 After rent and bills I am lucky if i have any money left over. This will totally throw off my bills I don't know what to do. I joined in August 2001. A lady from my neighborhood "hooked" me and a friend up. A month later I found out I was pregnant... exactly 4 days later the World Trade Center was attacked. My dad was there and survived, but I lost the baby in October.I told the lasy I needed to cancel my contract and she said she would take care of it. Low and behold they say I owe the over $4,000.00... and I only used thier facilities for less then a month! I am going to get all my medical and psych. records and try to fight this..... If anybody has any ideas or tips please let me know.

[Ivette]

I have been experiencing constant harrasment from BALLYS, they have sent me letters regarding accounts that have already been settled and they are claiming that they never were. I have sent them proof and they continue to harrass me. They are in debt themselves and are trying to rip off innocent people. There has to be something w can do as a group to defend our rights and protect our credit history.

[crunch sucks]

Same problems here. I joined Crunch on a "month-to-month" membership about 4 years ago and when signing I was told I could "cancel at anytime". I admit I was naive for not reading the small print and realizing I could not cancel unless I died or moved to Africa (in which case they would still charge you I'm sure). Therefore, I bucked up and paid every month until my balance was $0. I met the manager the day I made the last payment and said now I'm ready to cancel. He said, "No problem". He said everything was ok, my balance was zero and my account would be "officially cancelled" on 4-2-06. I have this signed cancellation form, signed by some douchebag manager named Jamal Rodgers. Point of the story, on 12-3-06, low and behold I get a random "Crunch Fitness" charge to my credit card. I call them and they claim there was a "glitch in the system" and it was a "mistake" and they would "credit my account". I also call my credit card company and alert them that Crunch is illegally charging my account. This is fraud plain and simple. Crunch has still not credited my account, are you surprised? Plus, on 12-23-06 I got another charge for $140 on the same card. Now they are just charging me at will. Anytime they feel like getting some money they just charge my account for no reason. I love sitting here actually looking at my signed cancellation form and seeing my account still being charged every month by these criminals. I'm actually getting a lawyer this time. I can't take the stress of dealing with these half-wit criminals. It's an unbelievable shame that such a rogue company can continue to operate in the US.

[Jessie James]

Has anyone has this problem yet? I refered a friend to bally's and this friend stop going to this gym and did not cancel his membership and as a results owes about $700 in pass due fees. As a result, Ballys is claiming that I owe them this money and I signed this contract which is false. Now I am trying to prove that I only have signed one contract with them, in which I still currently have and they have confused my contact with this friend I refered. Can someone give me some advise if you have had this problem. They are going to destroy my perfect credit score. Thanks

[Bally Sucks]

Here is my situtation.
I have been part of ballys for 3 years now. My contact will expire soon in March. How do I cancel my contract?

1. Do I call the toll free # at the back of the card and tell them to cancel my contract on the date I originally signed up?

2. Do I send a mail via snail mail to the headquarters.

3. Do I go to the original gym or any gym and tell them to cancel my contract?

[Ballys Basically Lies]

I did not sign a contract but took the monthly route... thank god... which they basically said that you pay each month and if you don't then you end the contract... still Bally's refused to refund me my money when they charged my credit card, I paid them through my bank account previously, and so they had no record of me using this method before, yet they claim I set up an EFT method and since I did not cancel the eft method 30 days prior they have a right to steal my money.

[EOC]

I left America 4 years ago and I still can't believe that Bally's are doing this. Incredible. I had an on-going dispute with Bally's and I finally asked how I could get out of the contract. Basically they said that only on medical grounds. I faked an injury went to a doctor and said that I'd been having back problems for months and would he mind writing a letter saying that I could not do heavy exercise. I paid the cancellation fee and bolted. I understand they are scam artists but hopefully-eventually word will get out to avoid these criminals. The only way is to tell every person you know what we have gone through. Send a chain email (to 10 or your friends) -- you'd be suprised how quickly this can find it's way around the world... good luck to you all

[LALALA]

I have a question....

In order to get a doctor's note to cancel bally's membership, does it have to be an M.D. or can it be a Ph.D.

Thanks a mil

[LALALA]

Bally Sucks wrote:

Here is my situtation.
I have been part of ballys for 3 years now. My contact will expire soon in March. How do I cancel my contract?
1. Do I call the toll free # at the back of the card and tell them to cancel my contract on the date I originally signed up?
2. Do I send a mail via snail mail to the headquarters.
3. Do I go to the original gym or any gym and tell them to cancel my contract?

Bally Sucks: I searched around and here's a couple of things that might help greatly when you close your acct. with Ballys:
They make it very difficult to cancel through them. They will tell you that they will take care of it, but still charge you.
If you pay by credit card, tell your credit card company that you canceled your membership and no payments are authorized for Bally's.
If you pay via your bank (checking account or debit card) do the following:
Via your checking account:
Call your bank
Do a stop payment on the funds transfer
Got this from a yahoo! question forum.
Hope this helps

[Bally Rip off]

Bally unbelievably sucks. They told me I'll only lose $50 after one month if I decided not to continue the contract. I explained that I just wanted to work out there just a couple of times. I was actually going to pay $10 for one day. But they said I can come "MAXIMUM 12 TIMES" a month if I pay $50, then I can cancel the whole thing after one month if I want to quit. Now they're telling me I HAD TO COME TO THE GYM "MINIMUM 12 TIMES". You see how tricky it is? I know I'm stupid enough to sign the contract, but I asked them 10 times at least that I can cancel it with no problem after 1 month. They are evil. I NEVER EVER TRUST them. They should go to hell.

[LALALA]

Bally Rip off wrote:

Bally unbelievably sucks. They told me I'll only lose $50 after one month if I decided not to continue the contract. I explained that I just wanted to work out there just a couple of times. I was actually going to pay $10 for one day. But they said I can come "MAXIMUM 12 TIMES" a month if I pay $50, then I can cancel the whole thing after one month if I want to quit. Now they're telling me I HAD TO COME TO THE GYM "MINIMUM 12 TIMES". You see how tricky it is? I know I'm stupid enough to sign the contract, but I asked them 10 times at least that I can cancel it with no problem after 1 month. They are evil. I NEVER EVER TRUST them. They should go to hell.

They sure do suck that's why I want to cancel them. I'm hearing waaaay too many complaints. It's fraud. I signed the contract at the time I didn't know anything about credit. That's why I am asking if a Ph.D. can give me a medical note instead of an M.D.

Can anyone answer this one please? Can a Ph.D. write a medical note if you can't get a hold of an M.D.?????????

[Michelle]

Wow I just decided to cancel I already knew they were giving me problems but you guys have made me feel that it is all hopeless. Even though I did contact the attorney general of NY, and do plan on taking them to small claims. Will any of this actually do any good?

[Brian]

Check this out:

I got a call from Crunch Fitness's (Formerly Ballys') Billing Department today. They said I owe them $410 for membership fees since they automatically enrolled me in a month-to-month plan after my initial two-year contract expired in April of 2006. I haven't been in any of their facilities since 2005 and I wasn't aware of this automatic rollover clause. They said I can't cancel my membership unless I true up. I'm very reluctant to pay them anything.

It seems others have had the same issues. There are several class-action lawsuits active right now. Here's one:

http://www.classactionconnect.com/...

Good luck to all of you...

[Brian]

~Update~

This morning, I slayed the big bad dragon.

Last night I found the contract I signed with Pinnacle Fitness. I remembered asking a lot of questions before I signed this thing. I also made it a point to make sure that there was a definitive expiration date. I read thru the eight page document and found the following:

Point #1 - In big bold letters is says, "THE LENGTH OF THE TERM OF THIS CONTRACT IS 24 MONTHS". Meaning, I signed in March of 2004...end date March 2006. I did not renew.

Point #2 - No rollover clause. It wasn't anywhere.

Point #3 - My Pinnacle Fitness membership was not valid at Crunch...it said so right there in the contract.

Point #4 (and this is big one)- THEY DIDN'T HAVE A COPY OF MY CONTRACT. They said it could take months to get it from Bally's. So they were guessing about what was in there...and they were so confident about it!!!

After faxing my copy of the contract to them so we could go thru it line by line, they folded. No $$$ due and no active membership. The nightmare is over.

Moral of the story - Don't let the big bad corporate monster scare you. Contest things that don't seem right...especially if you have legally binding documents to back you up.

My wish is that this story brings hope to everyone who has been or is in the middle of getting bullied around by people like this.