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
    Max
    I have had a Bally membership for 14 years. I called to cancel and was told to send a letter to a certain PO Box requesting cancellation. Does anyone find this a little weird, it is so easy to join but difficult to cancel. I am going to send a registered letter to Ballt Total Finess requiring a return receipt. If I have any problems, I am going straight yo the BBB.
  • 0
    Raj
    OH MY GOD what a mess i am into. I will have to start processing my cancellation from today. These people sucks and They should rot in hell.
  • 0
    Ryan
    They will sue you in small claims garnish your wages and put a hold on your bank accounts....And this all started in 2001, trust me. I'm going through it now....
  • 0
    CLOS
    What a bunch of [***]. We learned to read for a reason. Read your contract before you sign. Worked at Ballies and I dealt with [***] all day trying to explain to me why they whant to cancel a contract. Its named a contract for a reason. I was definetaly not sympathetic to all the whiny ADULTS. I quit because of all the nonsense and excuse makers making my life hell because they did something stupid. One customer stated wanted to cancel sons membership because he is only a 20 year old kid. Really! [***] all of you because it is your fault and not an employee at the call center.
  • 0
    Angry "Member"
    http://www.change.org/petitions/bally-total-f ... eir-memberships


    sign the petition to help stop this practice
  • 0
    prat
    I have seen so many complaints on cancelling Bally Fitness that now I am actually a bit apprehensive. Their enrollment process is extremely fast and to cancel you need to write a letter to a PO Box in Washington DC. I have sent the the letter today and will now keep my finger crossed.
  • 0
    howe joseph
    Bally, a California based health club pulled a slicker scam than a Nigerian banker when they pulled out of North Texas last year and sent everyone a letter telling them that the could convert their membership to the new health club organization that bought them out. As it turns out a few months after the hustle took over from Bally they closed their doors again with no recourse for refund or other membership benefits that remained. The Hustle at the Oakland club never got the wet area up and running and I think that Bally could not maintain a serviceable wet area in many of their 39 clubs in North Texas so they bailed out by using an under handed deal to absorb their losses, so they could cut and run with out liability. I was a member of Bally for over twenty years, so that's what loyalty is worth when it comes to greedy big business. There wasn't even a courtesy letter or offer for unused member privileges. What a colossal scam. As far as LA Fitness goes, you may have to pay a little more per month but I would not give them a credit card or bank account number without the ability to shut them down when you want to quit. They have to be given written notice 5 days before quitting or they will by contract keep filching your money. Read the fine print because their sales people are experts at glossing over the booby traps in the contract. They are all the same.
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