Cannot cancel a contract signed by a minor

ComplaintsFitness CentersBally Fitness Center

Complaint

0
Jess Balansky
Country: United States
My 17 year-old daughter and her friends went to Bally Fitness Center. They had trial pass with them, but the employee talked them into signing a contract. When she said that she is only 17 and will be 18 in a few months, the employee changed her date of birth in the contract and said is not a problem.

When I discovered they signed the papers, I contacted the corporate office and requested that her membership with Bally Fitness Center be canceled because it was signed by a minor without parent's approval.

They responded that the contract will be canceled as soon as they have a copy of her birth certificate. I promptly sent the documents via registered mail. At the time we already started getting non-payment notices from Bally Fitness Center.

The calls from collection agency stopped for a few months but resumed again a month ago. We assumed that the contract has been canceled but apparently it was not.

I am not sure what to do as I already contacted our local attorney general, the corporate office, and FTC. They use deceptive practices to get people into signing a contract and I only hope that other people who read this will be aware of the way they conduct business.

Comments

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  • 0
    Edi
    can sumone give me an example of the letter i need to send to cancel? because they told me that i had 2monthsto cancel if i didnt like the contract and io dont like it because it started 38 dol;larsnow its 79dollars...
  • 0
    kmim
    i'm going to use this method but i REALLLY need your help first! i just want to make sure that it works out..
    1) my boyfriend really used my card but he lost it. Should I get a new card?

    2) do i have to call or my boyfriend?

    3) who do i call?

    4) what exactly do i tell them??
    PLEASE HELP!!!!!
  • 0
    RLM
    To Jenna:

    I have a very hard time believing you are what you claim to be.
    No major corporation would allow such a posting without prior executive approval, and they certainly would not allow the majority of information you gave, nor would they condone the language you used.

    While some of you information "may" be alledged verifiable, your posting destroys all hope of even coming close to accepting any of the information you state.

    Basically put, you just supported the claims against Bally Fitness. If this is how an employee of Bally Fitness responds to customer compliants, then by default there must be some validity to these complaints.

    In Short: You screwed up woman.
  • 0
    lauren
    Are you sure this worked?  Have you verified your credit report?  I have heard that Bally will cancel your membership but you're still liable for the 'loan' (aka membership fees) you took from them.
  • 0
    Unethical
    First of all if someone chooses not to go to the gym that is their right and they should have the right the cancel their membership whether they change their mind or just don't want it. Bally's is forcing people to keep and pay for their membership even if they don't want it. And I agree some of your counselors are doing whatever it takes to trick people into signing up. They do say you can cancel at anytime, maybe because they know it's not true and once you sign you're stuck. They also know that most people are going to take their word and not read through all the fine print of the contract. A member should be able to decide hey I don't want your membership anymore without Bally's having deceived them into keeping it with special promotions and other things. If you purchase something at a store and you don't want it you can take it back and get a refund, why should Bally's be any different. Are they that starved for members that counselors have to lie? SO LET THIS BE A LESSON TO FUTURE POTENTIAL PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN A BALLY'S MEMBERSHIP, BEWARE OF SPECIAL PROMOTIONS AND OFFERS AND KNOW THAT ONCE YOU SIGN UP FOR BALLY'S "YOU CANNOT CANCEL UNLESS THERE IS NO CLUB CLOSE TO YOU OR FOR MEDICAL REASONS ONLY AND YOU NEED THE PAPER WORK STATING THAT. OTHERWISE YOU ARE STUCK WITH PAYING THIS BILL FOR HOWEVER MANY YEARS YOU AGREED TO!!!!!" NOW THIS IS WHAT ALL YOUR COUNSELORS NEED TO SAY TO THE CUSTOMER BEFORE ANYONE AGREES TO BUY AND JOIN YOU CLUB! Maybe you won't get as many members, huh?
  • 0
    Helpful
    Here is a number you can call: 866-402-2559, good luck though all of them are working together on the cancellation thing so just keep filing complaints until one day someone files a class action lawsuit against them.
  • 0
    Elizabeth
    I was planning on joining, until I read your long and rude response.  You allowed your EMOTIONS to get the better of you!  If in fact, you are an employee, SHAME on YOU for representing Bally's in such an emotional state.  Perhaps, you may want to work out at Bally's to help reduce your emotional stress.

    A word to the wise, let the PR people ar Bally's handle responses, not a rookie whose income is generated by commission.
  • 0
    This sounds GREAT!
    Wow, Jenna,
    Thanks for the info about Bally's - can you sign me up?!?
  • 0
    jennifer
    I too, was looking to join a gym, but after reading the statement from Jennifer , I certainly will look elsewhere.  Why is it that we are responsible for holding up our end of the contract but when classes are cancelled or trainers fail to show up we are out of luck!  Isn't this reason enough to cancel too?
  • 0
    going on 11
    You may be a counselor, and if so only 1 among hundreds who states things in plain English...but the rest of the commission hungry others pressure you into signing, gives you about 7 seconds to do so(maybe less), and not mention the 3 year contract thing. BUYER ALWAYS BEWARE...TRANSLATION ALWAYS GOOGLE BEFORE YOU BUY. This will save you a lot of headaches and unwanted collection calls from agencies that will call you odd hours and even on Sunday!!!!!  A bad back, neck injuries, Doctor notes and x-rays did not stop Bally's from putting this account on collections. When one agency can't extract the money from you, they just sell it to the next one. When that 7 year thing happens, they just sell it to the next, "next one" and it becomes a whole new account that has to go through another 7 years to become "old", but then the process is just repeated. Not sure exactly who to contact to stop this so I just let "voice mail" answer the phone, since that was what it was invented for in the first place.
  • 0
    pedro
    People, you need to pay attention. That "screw up " lady said , permanent disability".I had a membership many years ago and was able to cancel it, this is how:
    The membership clearly estates that one of the valid reasons to cancel a membership is if you suffer a permanent physical condition that keeps you from EXCERCISING. Few facts: Most people are flat feet; doctors do not understand fully the flat feet condition; some people may have the same level of flatness of their feet, but one may suffer pain while the other does not; just tell yuor doctor that every time you do aerobics or lift weights, your feet and knees hurt too much and you need a note to "whom it may concern". I did it, it works. There is alway a loop hole.
  • 0
    Joe
    I went to ballys just to see how much the membership is and all that... i was given a price of $32 which was shown the lowest with a 3 yr contact and i dint wanted to sign a contract so when i was abt to leave sayin that just 2 dollors more Gold's is willing to go month to month without a contact, so the employee from ballys told me to come inside he shut the door and told me look, if u want i can give u this price, but sign this contract and dont give me ur SSN and just sign it , so in that case if u ever wanna cancel dont worry abt the SSN as u are not using urs.. so me without giving the SSN, i signed the contract , which has Random some SSN  the empolyee input. Now its on my Credit report and i wanna cancel what can i do ? i tried to file dispute on it and it came back sayin its LEGIT from Equifax. pleaaaaaaaase help
  • 0
    unhappy customer
    Bally is sleazy, sleazy, sleazy!!!! We're in the process of getting out of our contract too! I wish a class-action lawsuit was already on the table!!!


    Bally is in it for the money and NOT in it to please consumers...
  • 0
    unhappy customer
    For those of you who were able to successfully cancel your membership for the cancellation reasons stated in the contact, were you still required to pay the remaining amount of your financed amount?!?

    Thanks in advance!
  • 0
    The Boss
    I cannot believe you work in the customer service industry. Why would you make such nasty comments online for millions to read, as a representative of Bally's and use phrases like GET YOUR FAT LAZY AS* UP OFF THE COUCH AND GO DRIVE!

    Ever heard of Karma? Best of luck of to you, you'll need it.
  • 0
    ChaPimp
    I was mislead into signing Ballys 3 year contract which I did not know about until I tried to Cancel.A few months later a collection agency contacted me. I sent them a letter explaining that I was currently filing complaints against Ballys to the better business bureau, office of consumer affairs, and the district attorney's office and that I explicitly forbade them from collecting or withdrawing any money from any of my accounts. The letter has to be sent with a "return receipt" so that there is proof that they received it. I don't know what else to do and hope this works.
  • 0
    michael pickell
    this happened with me also Joe... Ballys is a huge screwup!!! i never gave them the SSN... they pull it out from address and name...
  • 0
    Very Frustated Bally Member
    I called the customer service and they gave me two options to pay 800 dollars to get out of the contract or pay 500 before the end of the month and those are the two options. Suing will cost you just as much. Iam in the same predicament too.
  • 0
    tj
    Amazing how many of your customers want out.  You've got the timeshare hustlers beat.
  • 0
    tj
    Jenna has already shown what contempt they hold for their customers.  I guess all the fat lazy slobs deserved to be taken.  Unless I were an attorney, I'd think twice about dealing with sharks.

    Here is another load of their B.S.:
    https://complaintwire.org/Complaint.aspx/ApnEAJaofwBDlQjKfBRN7Q
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