Bally Total Fitness/LA Fitness takeover

Oh so they now are selectively saying that they did not buy lifetime memberships and bought only the ones that are convenient to them.. BS...don't take this crap without fighting back, if my contract was in florida and they bought ALL Ballys in florida then they bought mine too...and if not, why do they have all my info including credit card number, security code, expiration date, payment amount...if they didnt buy my membership they have no right to my personal very private information. They should be sued class action if they continue with selective membership BS/

Member since 1988. Yearly lifetime dues $60. Received email from Ballys Wednesday stating my home club has beed sold to LA Fitness. Also stating they will be servicing my membership.. Went to LA FITNESS web site tried to verify account. Wouldn't work, pop up response said I had to go to the club to create account. Went to my home club in lake grove new york. The LA FINESS rep checked by membership and said LA FITNESS didn't take/assume lifetime memberships with fixed yearly dues from Ballys. So, I can't use my home club. Matter of fact, the 1 still owned Ballys Club is 40 minutes away. I truly believe this was totally orchestrated by LA FITNESS and BALLYS to get rid of lifetime members, and shortly down the road, BALLYS will be totally bankrupt and all it's left over clubs will be closed. Intend on filing complaint with the New York Attorney General.

Actually, after this sale, Bally has no debt. So Bally's is in great shape now. But in terms of orchestrating this move to get rid of the lifetime fixed price memberships, yeah, looks like that's what they're trying to do.

However, there seems to be a lot of discrepancy as to how they are really going to handle those memberships. Some people say you can only use the club on the card (bites). Some say they won't honor them anywhere (even moreso). And some say they will be honoring lifetime fixed price memberships, but only at LA Fitness clubs that were formerly Bally's.

Well I agree there are discrepancies and that's because LAThieveness has purposely not made that position clear. They have chosen their words in the emails and postings in your access page to make it ambiguous as to what they are trying to do.

Wow,,,I'm surprised to see some folks saying that they love Bally's?!? i guess I still have sore spot with them after all these years, they ripped me off big time, to the point I had to get an attorney involved. I played a role in it too - the part of being young and dumb. That experience since then, I have been very careful about signing contracts and reading them very carefully. So I wouldn't be surprised if they jack you on your membership when it transfers over to LA fitness. Just sayin' ,,,,,:-)

Thanks. Done. Only 10 signatures so far?? Come on everyone!

Thanks, 15 now...people don't be apathetic thinking that you make no difference...take a look at the results of the Bank of America debit fee petition here,
http://www.change.org/victories

Tell your friends that are bally members, post on facebook, spread the word. Here is the link for the Petition again for easy access.

http://www.change.org/petitions/lafitness-honor-reduced-fee-lifetime-contracts-of-bally-members-after-billing-period

These big companies count on people not challenging them and that is exactly the reason that they behave this way...as somebody just posted at the petition site, either Bally or LAFitness is lying...Bally says they sold, LAFitness says they are only servicing the lifetime contracts...so who is the counterparty to the contracts, who are they servicing for??? One or the other needs to respond, or sued both and let's see who is telling the truth about who the real counterparty in these contracts.

We need a petition to address us "orphaned" members with sold-memberships, but currently not living near a LAFitness!!!

http://www.change.org/petitions/lafitness-allow-memberships-bought-from-Bally-to-revert-back-to-Bally-because-the-member-currently-does-NOT-live-near-a-LAFitness

I live in Rochester, NY. The Bally's I currently use was NOT sold. My Home Bally's WAS sold. There are NO LAFitness near me.

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...

This was not a "bankruptcy type" sale. Here is what my original Jack LaLanne 1988 contract states :
I. UNAVAILABILITY OF FACILITIES, In the event a Spa or its facilities shall be rendered unavailable to the member as a result of damage thereto or alteration thereof, or the sale or other disposition thereof, Jack La Lanne shall be obligated only to make available to member a substantially similar Spa in the same county or to extend the term of this agreement for the full period of any temporary unavailability, either, at the option of Jack La Lanne.

This is the agreement that La Fitness purchased when they bought my membership. Even if they close all La "ballys" they will have to provide a gym for my use at my rate, not for an "upgrade". I pay $5 monthly. I am currently using the Copiague, NY location, with my home gym listed as Levittown, NY. I signed my contact in the Westbury, NY location which closed before this all happened.

Thanks for catching that! Don't know what happened with a simple copy/paste.

I am another Bally lifetime member who has moved. My local clubs are still Bally, but where I purchased membership (Minnesota) have been sold.

Local club management have been trying to be helpful, but still waiting for a definitive word. Paid thousands up front for lifetime ($50/year) membership with national access. I would trade national access for the keeping price and lifetime status at local clubs.

I am yet another Bally's member whose membership was transferred to LA Fitness who won't honor my original membership agreement. I have spoken to someone who may be able to help us keep our original membership benefits. If you're interested please feel free to shoot me an e-mail at johnro85@gmail.com.

I was month-to-month at Bally's (at $12, for what it's worth). My home club is staying open, but the club I've been using for years is not.

I walked into the most convenient L.A. Fitness to me, explained the situation, and asked to have my "home club" transferred. The manager was very nice, had me a sign a new contract, and said everything would be taken care of.

What will actually happen in January, I am not sure. However, as it stands, I have a contract that lists me as having a Premier Membership Type which, according to the contract, indicates that I have access to all non-Signature clubs at all times. It could be that everyone is Premium for December alone (see the above quoted information from the web site), but I'm prepared to whine-and-moan if they say that contract isn't a real contract. In the meantime, I'm prepared to be content with assurances that I can use at least one convenient gym at my existing rate.

RichXX, what is the Membership Type on your contract? What is the location (at the bottom near the signature)?

The contract also notes that it was executed at my old home club, so that is kind of strange.

As for the $1.00, or 10%, annual price increases, that exact clause (possibly minus the CPI) was written into my circa-2000 Bally Fitness contract.

Some people I've spoken to have signed onto $20 a month contracts. Others have said that managers can do a one-time "home club" transfer. What it sounds like is that L.A. Fitness has given a lot of leeway to their managers for adopting contracts.

And a personal comparison of my local clubs: L.A. Fitness is smaller, the equipment is not as nice, they are much more crowded, they have carpeted lockers (gross), and the people there are mostly gym rats (read, very muscular) who spend a significant amount of time simply talking. On the positive side, the L.A. Fitness locations have a sauna and a very nice pool (only one of the remaining Bally's, an old U.S. Swim & Fitness, in the area had these), the lighting is much better, they have mini lockers for keys, and the place feels nicer.

I really only want someplace to run (treadmills are fine), benches, and some free weights, so L.A. Fitness should be fine for me. At the end of the day, I'm simply not going to work out at home and would like a dedicated location for fitness.