Underage enrollment, cancellation before 60 day trial & Mistakes on Agreement
Complaint
Rochelle
Country: United States
I have a total of 3, major mistakes from Bally Total Fitness that had been done. First off, I was only 16 when I got enrolled, my cousin and I had even questioned if It was legal to enroll me or not and the guy who was doing all the paperwork said, yeah there is no problem since he was going to put it under my cousins contract since she is 25.
Secondly, we were told that we had a 60 day trial and that we could cancel our membership before the trial was over in order to not get charged for anything. We had both cancelled our memberships within 3 weeks of opening it and the person we talked to said, "yeah no problem there will be no issues and that is cancelled." .. this is all B.S...
I had just recently found out that I had a collections against me, when i had my credit checked when I tried to get a car just last year, when I was 18. When i spoke to people at bally and they said of well its not in their hands and that I had to contact the collectors, they didn't have their number. So, i forgot about for another year. This year I opened up a credit card and then the collectors responded and sent me various letters each week teling me that i can pay my debt with my new credit card. I called them up and tried to clear it up... and what I found out, was that on the fitness agreement the guy who had signed me and my cousin up had changed my birthday making me 18 when i was only 16, and my middle and last name were different, the guy had switched it my last name becoming my middle and my middle name became my last. When I spoke to the collectors about this they didn't believe me, and I even told them that if nothing were to be done I was going to get my lawyer to look at it. So they told me to file an id theft affidavit and send a photo copy of my birth certificate and ID to verifty my age and name...
Bally's is the worst fitness center to apply at, It may be cheap but they are crooks. I have no problems like this with 24 hour fitness.. Bally
s screweed with my credit especially now that I am trying to build it and get an apartment, no apartment will approve me with the collections on Bally on my report.
Secondly, we were told that we had a 60 day trial and that we could cancel our membership before the trial was over in order to not get charged for anything. We had both cancelled our memberships within 3 weeks of opening it and the person we talked to said, "yeah no problem there will be no issues and that is cancelled." .. this is all B.S...
I had just recently found out that I had a collections against me, when i had my credit checked when I tried to get a car just last year, when I was 18. When i spoke to people at bally and they said of well its not in their hands and that I had to contact the collectors, they didn't have their number. So, i forgot about for another year. This year I opened up a credit card and then the collectors responded and sent me various letters each week teling me that i can pay my debt with my new credit card. I called them up and tried to clear it up... and what I found out, was that on the fitness agreement the guy who had signed me and my cousin up had changed my birthday making me 18 when i was only 16, and my middle and last name were different, the guy had switched it my last name becoming my middle and my middle name became my last. When I spoke to the collectors about this they didn't believe me, and I even told them that if nothing were to be done I was going to get my lawyer to look at it. So they told me to file an id theft affidavit and send a photo copy of my birth certificate and ID to verifty my age and name...
Bally's is the worst fitness center to apply at, It may be cheap but they are crooks. I have no problems like this with 24 hour fitness.. Bally
s screweed with my credit especially now that I am trying to build it and get an apartment, no apartment will approve me with the collections on Bally on my report.
Comments
That is how they run this type of scam. They just verbally claim you have cancelled, do not actually cancel anything, wait for the contract to run out, and then sell it off to a related collection agency. They bury in their contract terms requiring particular cancellation in writing, sent to a specific address, and they are also reported to even ignore that if you can't prove you sent it and they got it, such as by mailing certified return receipt requested.
Illegally signing up minors and altering contracts is also one of their common practices.
They have been running this type of scam for decades.
Contact your local District Attorney and state Attorney General. They may have had other complaint of fraud against them. Some states have reached settlements with them.
Contact your District Attorney.
For example, in this N.J. Rule, in the case of a change of residence that might allow cancellation due to no nearby affiliated health club, notice is given to the originating health club, which is also obligated for any refund.
http://www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/adoption/dcaado030209.htm
Other states may have laws regulating health club contracts, due to continued problems with this industry.
BTF in Kent is the worst location, watch for your stuff and never sign up or renew memebership with them again.
BALLY TOTAL CRAP!!
"Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Attorney General Abbott Charges Fitness Center Operator With Unlawfully Deceiving Texas Customers
Bally Total Fitness Corp. mailed fake bills to former members
AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today charged Bally Total Fitness Corp. with unlawfully attempting to mislead its former customers into paying “past due” membership fees they do not owe.
Bally Total Fitness Corp., based in California, operates 24 fitness centers in and around the Dallas, Houston and San Antonio areas. An investigation by the attorney general’s office revealed that between summer 2009 and March 2010, Bally mailed more than 11,000 misleading “past due” notices to former members in an attempt to encourage them to rejoin their former gym. The notices created the false impression that former members had outstanding dues that needed to be paid.
..."