Bally Total Fitness/LA Fitness takeover

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Hellbent_Heidi
Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Any Bally's members out there?

I just found out they're being bought out by LA Fitness and they're officially be changed over on December 1st. I can't find a lot of details online, because the sale isn't closing till tomorrow, but with a super-cheap Bally's annual fee, I'm a little concerned about my membership status...

Has anybody heard anything more about the conversion details?
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  • snookumss
    snookumss Posts: 1,451 Member
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    Well you are at least guaranteed for the rest of your current membership terms. Other than that, I don't know anything about how thats going on :)
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I loved Bally's when I was a member. Then I moved. :-(

    I imagine LA Fitness will have to honor contracts with current members.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    I imagine LA Fitness will have to honor contracts with current members.
    That's my hope. My club isn't the fanciest (they're all older and a little run down in the area, but for my rate, I didn't care), so this could be a giant improvement if they honor my current lifetime contract.
  • KarenG1213
    KarenG1213 Posts: 24
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    I would hope they wouldn't want to lose a valuable member!!! Good luck! :smile:
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    double post :grumble:
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    I would hope they wouldn't want to lose a valuable member!!! Good luck! :smile:
    Thanks...not sure my membership will look very valuable to them though...I only pay $50 a year, so that's why I'm worried. A lot of people I work out with have similar old memberships and some pay even less than me, so it will be interesting to see. I'm crossing my fingers, but preparing for the worst. If I lose it, I guess I'll chalk it up to a good run, since I wasn't even the person who paid the huge upfront costs to get it to this point....
  • moylie
    moylie Posts: 195
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    I just joined, too, so I don't have a contract. I'd be quite happy if they re-habbed the club I just joined. Older equipment, and kind of dingy looking. Here is the article that was in the Chicago Tribune:

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-bally-to-sell-171-health-clubs-27-in-illinois-to-la-fitness-20111118,0,5738136.story?track=rss
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    I just joined, too, so I don't have a contract. I'd be quite happy if they re-habbed the club I just joined. Older equipment, and kind of dingy looking. Here is the article that was in the Chicago Tribune:

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-bally-to-sell-171-health-clubs-27-in-illinois-to-la-fitness-20111118,0,5738136.story?track=rss
    Yeah, everything I have seen online so far basically says they've "refused to comment" on what it means to current members or employees...ugh! I guess I'll know soon enough though...my club is closing at 5PM tomorrow "for inventory" and on Thursday morning, it will be LA Fitness, so I'm assuming they'll be contacting members pretty soon.
  • arc918
    arc918 Posts: 2,037 Member
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    I was an LA Fitness member for a number of years. My only comment is that their weekend hours SUCK! They don't even open until 7:30 AM on Sat & Sun.
  • Niveous
    Niveous Posts: 294 Member
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    I just joined, too, so I don't have a contract. I'd be quite happy if they re-habbed the club I just joined. Older equipment, and kind of dingy looking. Here is the article that was in the Chicago Tribune:

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-bally-to-sell-171-health-clubs-27-in-illinois-to-la-fitness-20111118,0,5738136.story?track=rss
    Yeah, everything I have seen online so far basically says they've "refused to comment" on what it means to current members or employees...ugh! I guess I'll know soon enough though...my club is closing at 5PM tomorrow "for inventory" and on Thursday morning, it will be LA Fitness, so I'm assuming they'll be contacting members pretty soon.

    Same here - my club is closing at 5PM tomorrow. I'm wondering what this means for my membership as well, as I'm another long-term member also.
  • protect_your_rights
    protect_your_rights Posts: 17
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    Yeah, same here, I only pay $52 a year which includes tax. The contract that I signed with Bally in 1987 said that after making the regular payments for 2 years, my contract would become a LIFETIME contract at $49 a year plus tax. I am not too thrilled about this LAFitness takeover, but if they try to shaft us, I think we have legal ground to sue and we should all stick togother, even file a class action if they want to screw us. My renewal date is 6/21/2012. I called Ballys and they said that the contract would have to be honered, but I have my doubts that after the current year expires, this LAFitness giant would try to squeeze us for more. Please if anyone has any info on this, post here and I will do the same.
  • JCHarrilal
    JCHarrilal Posts: 4 Member
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    I just got an e-mail from Bally's saying that L.A. Fitness will be honoring our memberships. I think that they are just taking over. Even mentioned that they would be charging me on the same account that Bally's was. Hopefully this goes smoothly, or else Im outta there... there are plenty of other gyms around!

    "December 1, 2011

    Dear Member:

    Bally Total Fitness® has made the decision to focus our portfolio of fitness centers in certain key markets. As a result, we will be transitioning ownership of a number of our clubs, including your home club, to Fitness International, LLC, an affiliate of LA Fitness International, LLC ("LA Fitness").

    LA Fitness will take over the clubs it is acquiring and assume your membership agreement effective December 1, 2011. As a result your payments will be collected by LA Fitness going forward using the same account as did BallySM. You can find more details on our website and at www.lafitness.com.

    It has been our pleasure to serve you, and we thank you for your loyalty to Bally Total Fitness through the years. We wish you continued success in pursuing and achieving your fitness goals.

    Yours in Health,

    Bally Total Fitness"
  • MsQt
    MsQt Posts: 793 Member
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    I just got a free year from getting 5 other people to join so I'm cool till then but the problem is how much will PT contracts be? :huh:
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    I got the same letter, but we were told this morning that our club will close next week. There's a new LA Fitness a mile from it, so all the front desk girl could tell us was that we can use our Bally's cards till the end of the year there and can go in between 9-4 to talk to some guy and they might "work with you"....ugh!

    I'm fairly sure its the end of the road for all the super-cheap annual memberships. I'm willing to bet somewhere in the fine print, there's a stipulation that your 'lifetime contract' is null in the event of a bankruptcy type sale, which I believe this is...
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    I just got a free year from getting 5 other people to join so I'm cool till then but the problem is how much will PT contracts be? :huh:
    The trainers at my club said they'd be receiving less pay per PT session if they go there, so not sure how that translates to customer costs.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    Interestingly enough...I went ahead and logged into my Ballys (now under the LA Fitness website) online account and it shows my billing detail like this:

    Regular Dues: $50.00
    Next Billing Date: 10/15/2012

    Hoping it stays that way....but in the meantime, I guess I'll print that out and have it in hand when I go in!
  • Nelski
    Nelski Posts: 1,607 Member
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    I'm not sure if all areas are the same but I would think this is a good thing. In my area LA Fitness is cheaper and you don't have to pay extra for any classes.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,663 Member
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    A trainer that I know of said on her FB that the takeover is going to affect their income. Didn't mention specifically how, but I'm betting it's a reduction in commissions.
    Glad I don't work for chain clubs.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • protect_your_rights
    protect_your_rights Posts: 17
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    Heidi1558

    Where did you logged in at the Bally Fitness site or the La Fitness site? I tried to log in at LA Fitness site and cannot log in. The Bally Fitness site is still Bally, they did not sell all the clubs just in some areas. So where exactly are you logging in into?
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    Heidi1558

    Where did you logged in at the Bally Fitness site or the La Fitness site? I tried to log in at LA Fitness site and cannot log in. The Bally Fitness site is still Bally, they did not sell all the clubs just in some areas. So where exactly are you logging in into?
    They sold 171 of 271 clubs so depending where you are...there's a good chance yours is one of them (I'm in Michigan and they were all sold out). I went to the LA FItness site, then clicked on the announcement in the middle of the home page and followed the "verify your account" link., but if you go to the Bally's site and click login..it will also direct you to the LA Fitness login, then you have to put in your info (there's no place where you're agreeing to any fees or anything).

    http://www.lafitness.com/Pages/Announcement.aspx

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