Bally Total Fitness Health Clubs are filthy, unsanitary, unhygienic, a breeding ground for sickness and disease and the corporate offices running the company are unprofessional.
As a lifetime member (with 2 memberships) Bally Total Fitness never responded to my phone calls (telling me to write), nor my written complaints seeking a refund after they shut down two clubs in the Orlando metro area.
My complaint is below which Bally’s to date has not replied to.
The United States Surgeon General should close Bally Total Fitness health clubs because there is nothing healthy about them!
The cardio machines are rusty, creeky, not balanced, falling apart. The gyms are never cleaned adequately. The clubs are a breeding ground for germs, disease and illness.
And corporate only pockets the money of new incoming members without refurbishing equipment or cleaning the gyms. The carpets in the aerobics room are filthy and need to be replaced. Meanwhile Bally’s closes gyms without forewarning, keeps the money and carries on while the consumer suffers and jeopardizes their health.
My wife and I got eye staff infections using Bally’s health club.
The two Orlando managers who used to work for Bally’s have since gone to 24 Hour Fitness and Lifestyle Fitness wisely abandoning this sinking ship.
All wise consumers will stop using Bally’s asap!
Paul F Davis – consumer advocate, former fitness trainer, author and worldwide speaker
November 16, 2009
Bally Total Fitness
PO Box 1080
Norwalk, CA 90651
Dear Bally Total Fitness,
As a lifetime premier plus member of Bally’s (0020110045000 and 0020110045109), my wife and I have been greatly disappointed by your health clubs.
This year you closed without forewarning your health clubs in Altamonte Springs and Casselberry within the Orlando Metro area.
Beyond the closing of these local health clubs, other Bally’s health clubs across the country have also been closed. Obviously the value of a lifetime premier plus membership at Bally’s has greatly and significantly decreased as a result of your clubs being closed.
As a world traveling professional speaker and author, I personally chose Bally’s for myself and my wife because of the numerous locations throughout North America where I could exercise when traveling and away from home.
However your closing many health clubs has substantially reduced the value of my membership. Moreover the local health club on Semoran Blvd in Orlando closest to my home is so filthy that I and my wife (we both work from home) both got staff infections in our eyes and incurred medical bills visiting an optometrist and $150 for the antibiotic / steroid eye drops.
I therefore want a full refund for my and my wife’s Bally memberships immediately or I will file a health complaint with the government (locally and in the State of Florida) for poor sanitation in your health clubs. Your health clubs in my area are rarely cleaned, never require members to use towels when working out and the sauna, pools and bathrooms are worse than many third-world countries I have traveled to.
Above and beyond this, as a consumer advocate and former fitness trainer (24 Hour Fitness – California) I have seen countless pieces of equipment in Bally’s health clubs that are broken and dangerous still on the gym floor, which could cause injuries to health club members.
As a worldwide speaker, consumer advocate and videographer if I am not promptly refunded for my wife and my memberships in full for what we paid upon purchase (along with the annual CPI consumer price index upward adjustments for inflation), I will file complaints with my State senator, congressman, governor, governmental sanitation and the federal surgeon general concerning your health violations endangering the general public.
Most damaging however will be the YouTube videos I shall produce with other disgruntled Bally’s members and post across the internet as I travel throughout N. America and document the sad state of Bally’s Health Clubs and the risk to the consumer using your facilities.
Thankfully after nearly a year you finally repaired some damaged equipment (particularly the lower back extension, which was without a foot pad) at the Semoran Blvd. Health Club the last time I was in there.
If you would like to resolve this matter swiftly and peaceably, then kindly fulfill one of two options:
1. Send me a check for the purchase price of the two memberships I bought with Bally’s (in addition to the upward adjustment of the CPI to ensure the present value of the purchased memberships).
2. An alternative option would be to renew our annual memberships for free this year in lieu of all the health and sanitation violations, poorly maintained equipment and shutting of your gyms last year greatly diminishing the value of our memberships.
I will give you 5 business days to expedite a check to me for the two memberships or renew our annual memberships at no charge to make amends for the sad state of affairs at Bally’s this year.
Paul F Davis
Orlando, FL
info @ PaulFDavis.com
www.PaulFDavis.com
www.YouTube.com/greatawakening
I now will only accept option 1 as Bally Total Fitness is a disgrace and too shameful to use as my health club.
