Well, this is fun.  It seems my wife and I are victims of Bally Total Fitness’ unethical sales practices, which they were supposed to have settled in 2004, after the Attorney General’s office sued them.  I guess nothing has changed.

I don’t remember reading about any of this.  But apparently, the AG got enough complaints back then to reach a settlement with Bally.  You would have thought that they would have stopped their practices, but I guess old habits die hard:

CONSUMER COMPLAINTS LEAD TO HEALTH CLUB SALES REFORMS

Bally Total Fitness Corporation, which operates nearly 40 health clubs throughout the state, settled an investigation by Spitzer’s office after hundreds of consumers complained that deceptive ads and high pressure sales tactics tricked them into signing long-term contracts and misrepresented the total price of the memberships.

In our case, we talked to a sales guy named Steve about getting a membership so I could reduce my ever-expanding waistline.  He told us specifically that the contract was for six months.  After a few months, it was clear Sarah and I were not the gym types, so we waited the six months and then showed up to cancel the account.

The meathead running the front desk took my cancellation form without a word.  He went through the motions and asked why we were canceling, took down all my information, the whole deal.  Then, a few months later, I noticed that I was still being charged.

I went back and saw the same guy.

“Oh,” he said, “after you left, I noticed that the contract you had was a three-year contract, and that you couldn’t cancel.”  He looked genuinely earnest when he said, “I tried to call you, didn’t you get the message?”

“Well,” I said, ” we were told this was a six-month contract, not three years.”

“Who did you work with?” he asked.

“Steve.” I replied.

“Oh. . . .  Well, that doesn’t surprise me.  Steve was fired a little while ago for doing that sort of stuff.”

Well, I talked with this guy for a while, and he assured me that he would speak with his manager and get things straightened out.  Guess what?  I’ve still not gotten rid of this stupid contract yet, and as it turns out, Bally’s is in trouble with the Attorney General of New York State and had class-action lawsuits filed against it by investors who’ve also been screwed by their slimy practices.

I can’t be part of the settlement of the original AG suit because we enrolled much later than the suit.  But I’m sure it would interest the new AG and perhaps Elliot Spitzer to know that the agreement has not been followed.  The agreement required the following:

• Provide new members with at least a seven-day cancellation period, longer than what is required by law;

• Provide new members with a copy of their contract together with a separate handout that describes: key features of the membership purchased; the full cost of the membership; and additional costs for services, such as personal training or exercise classes, not included in the membership;

• Have a senior sales member meet with each new member to ensure that individuals understand that their contract is legally binding, to review the terms of the contract, and to ensure that consumers understand its terms, and their cancellation rights;

Not only did the Steve guy lie to us, but there was never any senior sales rep who met with us and told us the deal.  The paperwork we got never actually included the full cost of membership or the three year contract period, or we like any sane person would never have agreed to such a contract.

So, I’m getting in contact with the AG’s office this morning and will report back here with what happens.  If you know anything about the lawsuit or are victim of this company’s practices, please contact me with any information that might further our cause.

Technorati Tags: Bally Total Fitness, Sleaze, Scam, Attorney General, Class-Action