Bally Sends Fake Past Due Bills To Ex-Members To Get Them To Rejoin
Reader Jordan writes in to share a past due "bill" that he received from Bally Total Fitness, where he had previously been a member. It turns out that the letter, which specified the amount Jordan owed and threatened to report Jordan to a collection agency if he didn't pay, was actually a sneaky solicitation to get him to renew his contract.
Jordan writes:
Hello,
Writing to let you know about an interesting letter two friends and I received from Bally's. Hope I'm not duplicating something you've seen, although I checked your site and didn't see this.
Put simply: After quitting Bally's and being assured by customer service that we were paid up and no longer obligated, all three of us received "bills" in the mail for $48 about a month later. The bill includes a CURRENT and PAST DUE amount. It includes a PLEASE RESPOND BY date, our Membership Numbers, and a bill voucher on the bottom to mail in.
On the back of the bill, there's a paragraph that reads in part:
Past Due/Adverse Credit Reports: If your account is past due, we have included a message about that on the front of the statement. This is an attempt to collect a debt and any information will be used for that purpose. A negative credit report reflecting on your credit may be submitted to a credit reporting agency if you fail to fulfill the terms of your credit obligations.Here's the rub: we called and found out this was not a bill. Our account had been closed. Needless to say, any phone call to Bally's is a 30 minute search for the truth. What we assumed was a bill was actually a way to reinstate our membership. I'm a careful reader. My job is to read peer-reviewed science journals for a major research university and turn them into press releases that make sense to the lay public. I don't always succeed, but I always read every word and this Bally's letter is, in my opinion, deliberately made to look like a bill that must be paid. I wonder how many folks, in this recession, are freaked out by any overdue bills and would just send in the money?
After contacting customer support, Jordan received this message:
The offer you received is another type of monthly statement for members who do wish to continue their membership. Therefore, the past due mentioned on this, reflects the amount the member must pay to continue their membership. This does not apply to you, as you don't want to continue your membership.
Yeah, this is pretty sneaky. Jordan said he is sending this to his local representatives, and hopefully it will get their attention, but we'd suggest notifying the FTC and your state's attorney general, too. Also, we're not experts in mail fraud, but this seems like a pretty clear willful misrepresentation in an attempt to deceive Jordan and his friends.
Below are scans of the letter Jordan received. We especially like that Bally, after trying to trick ex-members into rejoining, would also sell their names to junk mailers in the process. Well done!
(Photo: os_las)
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Comments:
Bally - "Total Scam"
That is the worst form of entrapment I have seen. The letters from car dealerships that appear to come from a law office can be thrown away once you open them, but this one really is sneaky. The past due amount clearly implies that you have an outstanding debt to them. Wow...hope something is done about this.
Wow. That is some Grade A BS. Definitely warrants a complaint to the FTC. You cannot label a "solicitation" as a past due invoice.
That is truly underhanded. I wonder if there's some way Bally can get in legal trouble for something so grossly misrepresented like that? The article mentions the FTC, but I'm not sure if they'd have any interest in actually pursuing it.
FWIW that copy on the back about credit reporting is federally required. My guess is that they use the same paper stock for the legitimate past-due collections and for the fraudulent scam ones as well.
this has gotta be illegal.. I don't see any mention anywhere of it being an offer/solicitation for membership re-enrollment or renewal.. gym memberships are always so shady. I'm sure they've tricked quite a few people with this "marketing"
I tried to make sense of that explanation from the Bally's rep, but it just made my head asplode.
I'd fill it out and send it back stuff with monopoly money.
Better yet, in 20-30 minutes you could easilysocially engineer the name and address of a Bally Marketing VP then 'sign' them up !
OMG, that is one of the most horrible scams I have ever seen. I thought Fitness First was a bad gym when they tried to add an annual fee to members still under contract, but Bally takes the prize.
@rhys1882: Might also be worth a report to the California Attorney General's office--I'd certainly do that here in Illinois if I got one, as they're pretty active.
Wow, your states Attorney General would love to get their hands on that letter.
@floraposte: Oh, sorry, he's in PA. I'd therefore report it to the PA Attorney General just because, but they're not one of the state AGs reputed to take action, unfortunately.
I joined Bally's right out of college in 1992 and signed up for one of those rip-off 3 year autodebit payment plans. I only went for about 3-4 months but still paid for it all that time. (That's what they count on you doing so they can make all that money off of you.)
Somehow they managed to follow me through several address changes and started sending me renewal notices after the original membership expired. In 2000 I rejoined for one year for a flat rate of about $100 for the year which was a good deal and I started going again regularly but then stopped when I got a better deal at the gym at work. Still, every 3-4 months I get another renewal notice from them. It's gotten to the point where if I see a letter from them, which i can identify by the return address in Norwalk, that it goes right into the shredder.
Wouldn't this be considered mail fraud?
Time to call the postal inspector!
File a complaint.
If that is not a bill, it is the most misleading soliciation I have ever seen.
Maybe A few large fines can finally drive them out of business.
@I_have_something_to_say: Isn't this mail fraud? It says that there is an amount due and that's not actually the case.
This is why you should go to Average Joe's, where you're perfect just the way you are.
I received this letter as well. I have two accounts with them. One was an old account that I was doing a ridiculously expensive month to month plan on that I cancelled. The second is my current year plan that was payed for by my employer. When I forgot my card they looked up my name and I guess admitted me under the wrong account. A few days later I received this exact letter in the mail. Not nearly as alarming as I'm sure this one was since it seemingly came out of nowhere, but a surprise $1,500 bill is never fun.
This happened to me!!!
My contract with them expired in March, and starting in April I'd get these. I was concerned and called, and was assured these were "courtesy renewal" letters and not bills, and so I asked for them to stop. The next month another came, showing not only the "current month dues" but also last month's with a late fee and warning about the credit agency thing.
What stopped it was a neatly typed letter sent to their corporate office with a photocopy of the original contract I signed. I highlighted the parts on the contract that said as soon as the contract was over, I was under no obligation to pay any more. I reminded them of this and demanded to be removed from any and all correspondence with them. I then sent the letter via certified mail with delivery confirmation and haven't heard anything since, and it's been 4 or 5 months.
Sad that we have to do this, because I don't take their word for it that it isn't a real bill as they blatantly lied to me when I signed the original contract, anyway. But by having some proof that I followed the contract to the bill in terms of ending the relationship, I feel like I have some kind of legal defense if something ever happens with my credit.
Wow, how is that even legal? They don't even mention anywhere on the statement that this is for rejoining. Bally's needs to disapear fast.
Bally has long had one of the most unsavory reputations of any gym chain, but this latest fake past-due notice to a former member takes the cake!
Consumerist readers: if you ever hear of a friend or relative looking to join a gym, advise them to run -- not walk -- away from any Bally's.
Here in NYC, I've been more than satisfied with the New York Sports Club, and I assume that their affiliates in other cities work in an above-board fashion as well.
I hate Ballys. I signed up for the 3 year plan in 1998. It was paid off by 2001, and I was charged like $10 a month after that. I then moved to the boondocks which had no Ballys so I went into the "inactive" status. I subsequently moved back to an area with a Bally's, turned it back "active", went to the gym for something like a month, then got a job where I never have time to get to the gym, so I called to cancel. After going through their ridiculous phone system, which never gives you an option of actually speaking to someone, I finally got someone on the phone, told him I wanted to cancel, and he talked me into putting it into "suspended" status for $48 a year. If I ever wanted to activate it again, I would just pay the difference between the $48 and what I should have paid all those months. (I thought I might go back to the gym at some point, so why pay to get a brand new membership?) After a year of that I never felt the need to get to a ballys so I didn't want to waste my $48. I called Ballys and this time could never get through to speak with someone to cancel the account fully. I sent them emails and a letter asking them to cancel my account. I have never received a response acknowledging anything or saying the account has been cancelled. I keep getting these bills saying I need to pay $180+ to make sure my account does not expire. WTF.
@floraposte: My wife canceled her account with Bally's a few months ago. I really hope she didn't fall for this scam and just not tell me (thinking she was just tyeing up lose ends).
I just forwarded the article to her. (crosses fingers)
the first paragraph mentions that in an effort to "go green" they can automatically "update" your membership using your credit card without a written notice. is this a nice way of saying they can raise your dues without having to notify you? while hiding behind the pretense of going green?
This should ABSOLUTELY be illegal. I would definitely contact the FTC about this! They have been cracking down on these sort of scams, and I have a feeling they will be very interested in this case. Whoever came up with this idea at Bally's is a complete moron.
This is unfair and deceptive within the meaning of California's Business & Professions Code section 17200, et seq. Jordan should also notify the CA AG's office... they've been on a lawsuit kick lately.
@floraposte: Might be worth telling California too, as it appears Bally is headquartered there, and the mailing may have originated there.
Come on people, when are you going to realize that the zip+4 is just about as good as giving out your exact address? If you're going to black it out, black it out right.
Hmmm, could this person possibly live on the 200 block of East Mount Pleasant Ave in Philadelphia?
This seems to be an attempt to defraud. I smell a class-action lawsuit.
@Alex Chasick: Agreed. My reporting policy on this would be "the more, the merrier." I would be quite surprised if this passed legal muster.
@floraposte: And what the hell, in case somebody's looking--
The consumer complaint page for the California AG:
The consumer complaint page for the Pennsylvania AG:
I wish being part of the "lay public" were as much fun as it sounds like.
Yeah you lost me at "Bally".
That's all I need to know to want to avoid whatever it is.
@junip: I read the thing a few times over to find the tiny phrase that said it was not a real bill but in fact a re-enrollment offer but I could not find one.
This happened to me too last spring. My wife signed both of us and a friend up on a month to month deal, we eventually stopped going. The bill was the same, two payment cycles occurring after the last time any of us had set foot in the establishment. Not fun, having to waste your time calling customer service and being threatened with collections.
@RoosterCockburn: I guess anything is really available online, but it's kind of a jerk move to go to the trouble of looking it up and then posting it here. They obviously blocked out their information because they didn't want their home address given away. Somehow you still felt the need to post it for them?
You could have just made a comment about how they should have blocked out the zip+4 as well. That would have been just as effective and not nearly as douchey.
@jpdanzig: I love NYSC, I have been a member off and on for almost 10 years. I love the cleanliness, the amount of machines, the large network of gyms (especially the fact that I can workout in Philly, Boston and DC and not pay extra) and the personal tv's at each cardio station. Yeah if you are in NYC you can join Equinox and Crunch but I feel they are too overpriced for what you get. NYSC all the way.
God, I hate Bally's. I actually got out of my 3-year contract with them but it took many phone calls to corporate and a few fillings with the BBB.
This is completely, totally, illegal. They have sent was is definitely a properly formatted bill that is not set up as a solicitation of any kind. It contains some of the required legal language that appears on an attempt to collect a debt. Part of the amount requested is marked "Past Due", and the back of the bill says that Past Due amounts will be reported.
If I was the OP, I would notify the FTC (and they never do anything useful), so also notify the AG of the state the OP resides in. (They are a bit more useful.)
@sirwired: And sue to force Bally's to change it's name to "Ballsy".
I'll get my coat, where's the door?
Yes, that's exactly what mail fraud looks like.
It's known as a solicitation in the guise of an invoice. (This doesn't even seem very guise-y.)
There's a really easy process to submit a claim online at the FTC.gov site:
[www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov]
(I've used it before and it does get results but it helps if more than one person sends in their complaint.)
I see one place that may have an indication that this is for a renewed membership. There is a sentence on the back that states you need to call for a new membership ID. but other than that, there is nothing on it that states you are renewing an old membership to start up fresh. This should go to the post office inspector as well.
That is just so, so wrong. I hope the OP pursues this with the appropriate regulatory agency. Bally should not be able to get away with this.
I got something like this in the mail once, not from Ballys, but it was the same ploy. "Past Due" on it, and whatnot. After reading it, I was like "hmmm that seems kind of illegal. They aren't representing themselves in an accurate light.".
Bally's is always trying to pull crap like this. It's time for them to go out of business.