Bally Sports Clubs

I stopped going here a few years ago but still go on occasion. My mother has been going here for the past 15 years, mainly for convenience and this place has gone down hill. They nickel and dime you and lately there have a lot locker break ins, including my mother’s. I’d stay away from this place. Oh and everytime I come the jacuzzi always happens to be out of order.

TOTAL RIP OFF. DON’T DON’T sign up for this sports club. You’ll never be able to get your money back or cancel your contract. AND THEY AREN’T ASHAMED OF IT…

1. If you give them your number, they will incessantly attempt to contact you.
2. Nothing seems clean, there’s dust and cop webs and a weird smell
3. It’s got a great location, lots of equipment and decent space
I saw someone fully bathing (not showering) in the shower stall. There was a urine smell that hit me when I entered the women’s locker room.
First floor — check in
First basement — weights
Second basement — locker rooms
Third basement — pool, Cardio, bike room
If they just spent a few days, closed down and scrubbed it all, it’d be a better place.

Listen I pay $ 250 for a full year. So I really shouldn’t complain at all.
This is not about BALLY in general. We all know its Hard Knox when you want to get your money back.
Seriously the BALLY’s in Brooklyn are all TOP NOTCH, but too far away from me.
This Bally on 32^nd street however is really something different.
I am there to do my work out. So do not care about the patronage.
What I do care about is the extremely filthy showers.
The scum on the tiles turned brown and is thick. Its like walking in some French highway bathroom, where you cannot touch ANYTHING without disgust.
It needs a serious waterpressured treatment. It needs new showers!
Two times I have complained about someone actually taking a shit in the shower.
No this is not a joke, it really happened.
I asked if they had plans to work on the bathrooms. Answer was: NO.
April my year is done and will see if there are other cheap gyms with better conditions.

Huge, great equipment. But it’s got a bit of a dilapidated, ghetto vibe to it. If you don’t mind the dungeon vibe, not a bad gym.

I have gone to this gym for 3 years and since they sold it the new owners have let this place go to crap, the locker rooms smell like the homeless live in it, the equipment is old and always breaking, they don’t keep anything in stock in their juice bar and last but not least they have mice and rats running around the juice bar area

Unfriendly and unprofessional staff. Very old equipment and everything is very dirty.

The worst gym in the city. They suck out your money for very poor service. They don’t care about the members. I totally don’t recommend this place.

Dont join this gym, its not worth the aggravation and the ultimate frustration from such a negligent and fraudalent staff. The gyms, are only good for working out and leaving and the price on the surface seems a good rate. But BEWARE!!! Not only that, if you do join, dont ever pay with a credit/​debit card. Or you will be sorry.
I’ve been a member for a year and some change. I joined on that 2 months free with zero initiation fees. Mind you I never received that 2 months free. Whenever I asked about it, I was always given the runarounds so I decided to let it go. Then due to personal reasons, I decided to freeze my account, which was a charge of $ 4/​month. However I was charged $ 39.99 in addition to the $ 4. At that point, had to report them to the bank to stop any further charges. To get that refund was a mind-​boggling siege of a b’tch! Oh lets not forget the neverending emails and calls from debt collectors for the amounts I never owed. Id call them, the club managers, and everyone would point fingers at the other; stating that the other was responsible for resolving the mishap. Took about four months in resolving.
I only go to the Bally on 32^nd street, for the pool and whirlpool. I dont like working out in the gym area, cause the equipment is not only outdated but packed. As so is the pool and whirlpool but not as bad at the workout area. Its annoying trying to get in a lapswim, for you are also hobknobbing the pool with twenty other people in a small pool. But I decided to cut my membership there, due to travel. The trains on the weekends are a nightmare, and walking towards the gym, the streets are beyond congested with tourists/​people. Coming out of the gym, going home, the trains are not working and have to find some other alternative going home. Too much of a headache, even if its once a week.
So I go into Ballys at this location to cancel my membership but to keep my membership at 106 and 3^rd avenue location. That I will pay the $ 29.99 annual fee (this charge just popped up in this month’s statement) but I want to cut the membership to this location. I was first told by the staff, that he doesnt handle cancellations but can take care of processing my payment for the $ 29.99. I say negate, stating I would prefer handling everything altogether. He then directs me to Susan. She proceeds, exclaiming like its a greek tragedy if I cancel my membership, I wont have access to the other gyms. When that didnt work with me, she tells me I wont be able to cancel b/​c I wasnt canceling within the ten days. Which I was. But she insisted that I was still going to be charged my regular membership fee cause I cant cancel. I told her Im not going to pay a fee, for services I’m not using. I insisted on her canceling my fees. Susan then tells me, I need to pay the $ 29.99 in order to cancel my membership. When I refused, she refused to cancel my membership.
I have to mentioned, I wasnt feeling well at all. I had such stomach cramps and had heels on. And how convenient, the general manager was no where to be found. Anyway, to not feel well to then take the overcrowded trains crosstown, to east harlem location. Thought I was going to pass out on the train.
When I got to the east harlem location, told front desk receptionist, James I wanted to cut my membership at that location. That it may be temporary but for now, I just wanted to keep my membership at his location. Told him, I wanted the $ 10/​month; like why should I have to pay fourty dollars when in all, what Im going to the gym for is $ 10. Not only, why do I have to pay $ 40/​month when the majority are paying $ 10?! He then slaps me with all these charges if I switch memberhip. If I wanted to switch, its fifty dollars in order to pay $ 10/​month. If I wanted to do $ 20/​month more money. Every and any membership switch, there was a hidden charge. But the way he relayed the info, it was a game tactic to confuse you into thinking, to keep the original membership. Then he suggested to pay for the year, for two hundred dollars. Like everything was a charge, plus hidden fees and more money. It was disgusting how the staff mind trips you and lie, to squeeze more money out of your pockets. Then when they say «I am only here to help you» when their theiving tactics dont fly.
When I told James, to cancel my membership altogether anyway, he says I have to pay $ 29.99. Mind you, this fee is for the upcoming year which is how Ballys charge. They charge beforehand. I refused to pay. I then asked James, how am I being charged, is it overdue or for the future? He kept stalling. When I pulled out my phone to show him the contract stating where that $ 29.99’s coming from, he then states «well for you, I am going to cancel your membership and not charge you the $ 29.99. Really!!! So if I wasnt on point, you guys wouldve stolen that $ 29.99?!
My apologies for the long-​winded comment. Going to report them to Consumer Affairs & Better Business Bureau. For ill practices. Robbing the public blind.

This place is filthy in more ways than one — their business practices are horrendous. They lie about when they will charge your card, and go out of their way to make any cancellation a nightmare. It took me 5 minutes to sign up and 3 weeks to cancel due to being bounced from one department and person to another. They have a «cancellation block which their manager instituted for some reason», where you can only cancel your membership IN PERSON AT THAT LOCATION, and only within a 4-​hour interval which coincidentally happens not to be after 6pm which is when most people finish work. Avoid them like the plague, it’s a vile place with vile administration.

For the price, it’s a four.
Regular for 1+ year here:
It’s great to go somewhere where your teacher loves to help you learn!
Best dance teacher access for cheap! ($ 30/​mo.) Office staff aren’t the most friendly once you’ve joined, but I like several of them. 98% of the trainers are really friendly and talented! Sometimes really important things break down, like heat in NY Feb and air in April:’(
–Try out Liz M or Bam Bam!
–All the Yoga teachers are great!
–Janine makes working hard fun!
–Genevieve will fix your form, lots of teachers I take less (bc I cant take them all) but they are really talented vs other places I’ve been too.

They have a GREAT special running. Gym memberships come with FREE sauna due to broken A/​C which should have been fixed a few weeks ago. *eyeroll*

***********PLEASE STAY AWAY***********
You can thank me later
Since Bally corporate wont give me my refund. Gotta drop by and see if anyone here is able to assist
bunch of crooks

Where do I begin with this place? Let’s start with the positives. If you’re looking for a gym in the city that is well priced with lots equipment then you have found the right place. Location and price can’t be beat. This means you’re here just to lift and leave and you expect nothing more.
Now for the nitty gritty. From 4 — 8pm forget about having an efficient workout because the gym is packed. What normally takes me an hour will take about 2 hours and a half. Can’t really hold this against because I can assume that most gyms around this time frame would probably be the same. Everyday about an hour and a half before their closing time they will make you believe that the gym is closing earlier than it is supposed to get you out of there. The employees lack customer service. Everyday I check in I never am greeted or get a hello. The men’s locker room is filthy. The locker room is not maintained well and there is missing tile in the showers, slime like residue on the tiles, guys who are obviously homeless use the lockers to leave things over night, and theft is something that is common here (I’ve had money stolen from me twice here from my locker). Worst of all there are rumors of a permanent close down of the gym. The employees will say they don’t know anything but classes are being canceled permanently and the other bally locations shut down without informing members.

I was looking for a new gym when my company moved to the penn station area. But this place was not for me. Equipment is jammed into a basement and the lockers are so outdated and dirty. Their $ 39 a month membership seemed attractive but this filthy gym was certainly not. Thumbs down.

I used to be a huge fan of Ballys and was thinking of continuing membership at this location after Worldwide Plaza closed down. I now give Ballys 1 star (should be 0) because of the appalling service my boyfriend and I received in trying to secure a refund.
This summer, my boyfriend was diagnosed with cancer and underwent a bone marrow transplant. He had about 17 – 18 personal trainer sessions remaining, totaling $ 1,062. On Oct 31^st, we mailed a physical letter to Bally with a doctor’s note requesting a refund in hopes that it could go toward his burgeoning medical expenses. The next month, we did not hear a peep via email or phone call with any followup. We called multiple times and were always given the same spiel, «A manager will contact you back in 24 hours,» and to our chagrin we never got a callback.
On 12/​4, I called again and finally got to a manager George. He curtly informs us our refund was rejected by upper management because his personal trainer sessions had to be used by October 27^th, conveniently the exact same date that the doctor’s note was dated! Funny– my boyfriend’s trainer Alex told us numerous times that those same sessions had to be used by February 2015. And why are we finally hearing of this now? After more than a month of silence? When I demanded that George email us the printed contract (which he said, verbatim, I never read and take for granted) to confirm the use-​by date, he refused and escalated my case, and told me… surprise…that his manager will call me back in 24 hours. Are you f*** kidding me?
Ballys– your BS stalling tactics, the total lack of service and empathy in such an extreme and dire case is extremely disappointing. As my friend says, «Bally Total Fitness was supposed to promote health, fitness and wellness. Now they are trying to nickel and dime a person who has recently fallen on incredibly hard times.» SHAME ON YOU!!!
Alex– as his trainer, were we wrong to expect more/​better help from you? Instead, I had to find out how to request a refund, you gave us the wrong information of when the sessions expired, and you haven’t responded to any of my boyfriend’s texts and voicemails! WTF! :(

This place may as we’ll be called Average Joe’s Gym (a la Dodgeball).
There’s always something broken or amiss, but for one of the lowest gym prices in Manhattan — it is worth it for a good free weight or cardio workout.
Some of the trainers don’t really seem to know what they’re doing and solicit services to people working out happily on their own.
The additional use of the pool and always– crowded spinning class is still a great value for this dirty gym locker.

I would rather lose one of my appendages than sign up with Bally’s ever again. First of all, I don’t know if it’s just this location but the staff here are incredibly unprofessional. They are always laughing and hollerin’ with each other, and when they’re not doing that, they’re sizing you up telling you what you’re doing wrong with your workout and how much water you should be drinking blah blah blah (I get that it’s your job, but seriously, I come to the gym to zone out and think, thanks). When they’re not doing that, they’re practically harassing you to join one of their personal trainers for a session. The facilities can only be described as «dingy.»
The most annoying thing about this was that I was repeatedly told that all I had to do to cancel was call a phone number they gave me (I am moving out-​of-​state). When I called a week before my cancellation date to actually cancel, they informed me I would have to write a hand-​written letter to a PO Box in Washington, DC, requesting to cancel… wtf is this? The Stone Age? I had to Fedex it to make sure it got there on time so they wouldn’t charge me for an extra month.
Bottom line: STAY AWAY. UNPROFESSIONAL, UNSCRUPULOUS, BEWARE.

Great place clean pool! Friendly staff
The guy at the juice bar is awesome, funny, and always has great deals! Girl make the best GREEN GIANT SHAKE! Highly recommend it!

Hi guys,
Can you please fix the bikes in the reaction cycling room? I recently had to use one of the bikes in the back (there are 24 bikes I think) and the resistance wasn’t working. And I actually hurt myself using it. The upper body was hurting after :(
Thankfully someone left during the last ½ of the class and I jumped on their bike.
Specifically bike 7 pedal harness is broken. And bike 8 resistance wasn’t working. I think the one to the left of #8 is also bad. I’m not sure. So prob better to take a look at all of them.
Please please fix them so that all 24 can be used?
Thanks!
Ps-​all the instructors ROCK!