I'm a member of my gym at the hospital, but after reading so many of these horror stories here, I'm never going to sign up for my own gym membership anywhere else. The frequency that these stories pop up at is unbelievable. It's almost seeming like a home gym may be a better investment at this point.

Traveling five miles to a gym would be the farthest I'd travel, period. But what if someone was already traveling 6-10 miles to get to the one that closed? Now they have to travel over ten miles? They should at the VERY least be basing it on the distance traveled by the member, not just the distance from the original gym.

That being said, if it was in the contract then there's not much anyone can force them to do, but in the interest of playing nice they should at least seriously consider giving their money back.

Unless there was a specific contract provision stating this supposed "ten mile rule" I think these people are entitle to their money back. Ten miles away is not exactly "around the corner" or even close.

This can serve as a good reminder to those signing up for memberships to make sure there's not a 10 mile rule.... My husband jogs to the gym to add to his workout, but he sure wouldn't jog an extra 10 miles (20 roundtrip!).

Any change to the availability of services should be an easy out for the customer. But my guess is that there's a provision in the contract that covers this, to the benefit of the gym.

Sounds like "a materially adverse change in service". Where's the cell phone contracts!

Any gym you have to drive to is too far away.

Pretty well thought out scam. hide somewhere in the fine print the 10 mile (straight line, not driving), get many people on a contract, then close down the place. Since no one lives in the place, the 10 mile rule can easily become 20 miles from the customers home. This keeps them paying but not using the gym, this increases profits because you are now selling 1 item to multiple people, and probably in like a year or 2 time, they will reopen the gym and get more customers and pull the same trick again.

"They [tell us] 'we've upgraded your membership so you can go anywhere in the country"

They got an upgrade, to go to anywhere, it's not like there's only one Ballys.

People just got to learn to read contracts before they sign it.

And what the hell does, "but only as the crow flies" means?

@Colonel Jack O'Neill: If your house is across the river from my house, then the distance between our houses "as the crow flies" (i.e. in a straight line) is significantly shorter than the distance it would take you to drive to my house if the only bridge was 10 miles north of there.

@Colonel Jack O'Neill:

They got an upgrade, to go to anywhere, it's not like there's only one Ballys.

When my brother moved from San Francisco back to Boston, Gold's Gym wanted him to apply a 25-mile rule (rather than a simple 10-mile one!)....he needed a doctor's note to get out of it.

@Colonel Jack O'Neill:
I think they mean straight lines

if your flying why follow the road.

many companies are like this that try to pull this scam.
The government needs to make it illegal for any driving location's distance to be listed in a straight line, they should only be allowed to list driving distance.

I don't get the whole gym membership thing. Prison like contracts, requiring you to automatically give them money. Just doesn't seem like a good decision when it appears you could buy some nice equipment for your house for the amount you give to them.

@Razor512: Only if the cost of opening, closing and relocating a gym is inconsequential... The costs of relocating kill any puported benefit the gym may see out of this.

@badgeman46:

yep After like 2-3 years of membership, you can easily buy like half of the equipment in the gym, or at least the equipment that you will use there.
the gym memberships play of the ignorance that some people have that leads them to do things like rent electronics like tv's and ending up paying more than the item is worth to use it for a short while

it is all based on human stupidity. this is also why you see many infomercials say crap like "this product can be yours for just 16 easy payments of $9.95"

2 smaller numbers is easier for stupid people to take in than 1 large number

@Razor512: Are you kidding? Nice fitness equipment is expensive, but setting aside your cost analysis, many people don't have room in their home for their own personal home gym. Also, many gym members attend classes, or swim, play raquetball etc... not easy to do from home.

@hillsrovey: yep

but there is always doing those sports on the computer. almost as much fun and much less physical work jk :)

but to me gym memberships are far too overpriced for what they offer. I could understand if the equipment only lasted a couple minutes of use before needing replacement parts but that almost never happens, most of the money get pocketed by the owner of the company

If a Vancouverite has to drive to Portland, it means over either the Interstate or Glen Jackson bridges, which are massive choke points on I-5 and I-205.

@Razor512: It's pretty bold of you to assume that everyone who joins a gym:

* lives in a home large enough to store fitness equipment

* isn't taking group classes

* isn't going swimming in the gym's pool

* uses just a couple of pieces of equipment

* doesn't live in a multi-unit building (just try running on a treadmill on the second floor of a condo building, see how fast the neighbors complain)

That's a whole lot of assumptions.

And as for your math, it depends on the gym. My gym charges me $12/month. The treadmills they use cost about $6,000 if I were to buy one for my home. That's 500 months of gym membership for JUST the treadmill, never mind all the other equipment I use. I'll take the membership.

The stupidity only comes when people join gyms then don't use them. Then they're really throwing money away, and it happens all the time. The gyms count on it. Especially places like Bally's, whose memberships are quite expensive and whose contract terms are unforgiving.

Yo dawg, we heard you liked to work out, so we gave you a work out in your work out. ~ Bally

This happened to me. A lawyer advised me it doesn't matter what they say in the contract about a "10 mile" distance for an alternate club. If they have substantially reduced the value of what you have paid for, you may have a case in small claims court.

So we filed, and guess what? They caved in two days before the court date.

Just because it is in the contract, doesn't mean it's law.

Years ago, I moved from Florida to Virginia and the gym I belonged to wouldn't let me cancel my membership because there was another gym 25 miles away in my new state, so I wound up paying for another 18 months before my membership expired. Really nice. This is something I always check for in contracts before joining a gym. They're sneaky like that.

@thepill: Thats why they do it that way, it forces you to go to the gym or your just wasting money.

No... a more appropriate standard would be if your home gym closes, thus the service provided by said gym changes, you have the right to get your money back.

I've had my own problems with Bally's. When I first came to Houston, I didn't have a car. But that was OK, my work was within walking distance and there was a Bally's within walking distance, too. So being the fitness freak that I am, I signed up. No one told me I was signing up for a three year contract. :( Make a long story short, my job moved. It wasn't very far, maybe 15 minutes or so if you have a car, but I didn't. Through the wonders of public transportation I had to take about an hour to go the same distance by bus. Not happening. So as soon as my lease was up, I moved closer to where my new office was. Unfortunately, that meant the Bally's was now only a few miles away by car but about an hour away by bus. Bally's refused to listen to me when I tried to cancel my contract. They even sent debt collectors after me. But I just ignored them and eventually they went away.
Now I look my gym contracts over very closely... :/

@varro: In a big metro like Portland/Vancouver, 10 miles is too far, even if the next one is also on the north side of the Columbia.

@fantomesq: Razor512 didn't say anything about relocating the gym, only the people. It sounds like the idea is: keep everything there, call it closed, make everyone travel, then open the doors again in a year or two. I don't understand taxes but the closed gym is probably a tax write-off anyway. There's no relocation charges and everything is already there when you reopen. However, my guess is that you wouldn't get many people signing up when you reopen.

@dragonfire81:

The reason it's 10 miles is due to state law that probably *requires* this (rather than Bally's just saying "too bad, so sad").

I am still making payments on my original membership, but I'm relocating permanently to an area in which there are no Bally Total Fitness clubs. What should I do?

State laws regarding distance requirements from clubs and cancellation fees vary, so you will need to call, write, or email Member Services for specific information about your membership

Furthermore, the contract itself will state this. If it doesn't, Bally's will be sued. I expect Bally's knows they're in the right (contractually) in this case, because this is likely a common occurrence.

People need to read their damn contracts and understand what they are in for when it's a recurring expense. Personally, I've never entered a contract longer than 30 days on any service--I will either pay it all up front if it's for a year (and enjoy a discount) or I'll work out a month-to-month deal that's the same as their contract offer.

I don't trust any company not to screw me over, and up to now it's worked pretty well.

Anyone who signs a contract is crazy.
I have never signed a contract for a gym. They will always let you pay per month rather then not take your money. You just have to be stuborn and they will give in.

@Tatsuko:
You might want to check your credit report.

If they put some BS on there you need to dispute it with the credit reporting companies and get it removed.

@Mr.DuckSauce: A gym basically gets a 100% profit when you pay them and never show up, if they can find a way to get a ton of upfront fees and contracts for people to agree to and make it so you are less likely to come to the gym, they get the benefit of less wear and tear on the machine, less space being needed because 90%(guessing) may never show up .

they will also save on air conditioning and heating cost as less people are opening and doors constantly and in the warm weather, less people are in there adding body heat to the room.

think of it as renting out a building with 5 apartments, to 500 people, if you can be sure that most will never show up, you can always have open apartment for them to rent.

many gyms may try to scam people out of like $500 in up front fees and long expensive contracts after that, if a few hundred people get sucked into that contract, it can be cost effective to close down 1 of the gyms in hopes that they wont go to the other gym further away, so you are now making like 100% profit from each person on the contract, what ever money they loose in closing the place down and shipping the equipment off to another building to set the equipment up and lour people in and repeat this same trick, they will more than make in the 100% profit there getting from the people they previously screwed.

All in all, gyms profit from people entering contracts and never showing up to use the equipment, it is like renting a car and never driving it

I would not do a gym contract under any circumstances. It's best to do pay as you go. If you do sign a contract, be sure to have them alter the ten mile rule and keep a copy. Tell them you won't join if they don't do it, then watch them get rid of that rule for you :)

@fantomesq: Except it's even easier to put a trailer up like you are going to build one, sell memberships then never build it. Just ask Gold's Gym about that one.

I don't think there should be a ten mile rule or a five mile rule or a two mile rule or a twelve feet rule.

I signed up at my gym because it offered facilities I wanted and a class schedule I could live with in a location I was okay with. I recognize that class schedules are mutable (and indeed, the class schedules at my gym have mutated into something less convenient but still tolerable for me), but the location and facilities are non-negotiable in my mind. If they close that gym, I want my money back. I might choose to move my contract over to another location, and they might choose to conveniently transfer it over there and not charge me new sign-up fees, but it should definitely be my choice.

@rdclark: Exactly. I don't own a car, and if I have to walk or bike to a gym 10 miles away...why exactly would I pay for a gym membership?

No mileage rule is far. If they close the gym people signed up at, they should give everyone a refund unless they are willing to transfer to a new store. 10 miles is a ridiculous amount of travel for a gym. Most people choose a gym based on how close it is to where they live.

Some gyms in my area list 15 miles before they will cancel your membership. It's ridiculous! They should be refunded, is it really worth the bad press!!!

@threadislocked: Any contract? Pretty hard to avoid if you want employment and shelter.

I think the mileage rule is total rubbish. If you signed up for membership at a specific location and that location closes, you should have the option of getting a refund.

As others have pointed out, mileage doesn't factor in convenience. In some big cities, 10 miles could be mean driving in 20 minutes of traffic.

@Parnassus:

In this case Bally's no longer has a lease on the East Vancouver location, so Bally's won't be reopening anything there. The owners say they are trying to reopen the gym under new operators, but so far nothing.

[columbian.com]
[columbian.com]

Really weird to see a Consumerist story about something just minutes from my house.

I have actually not spoken with one person who has not been lied to by Bally's.

@Pandrogas:

I usually hate this meme, but it was clever in this context. Points.

Yeah, the 10 mile rule is B.S. Going by that rule they could have one club in Chicago and that would cover everyone in Chicago.

@DoktorGoku: I haven't heard of any problems with local gyms, just the national chains.

@hillsrovey: Hey, marathon training. :)

@dragonfire81: There usually is some rule like that. At my gym, if you move and you're still bound by the contract, there needs to not be a branch within (I think) 10 miles of your new place. It might be more, I'm not sure. Most places have a provision like that so that people can't just cancel willy-nilly.

@floraposte:

Employment? they are very, very few jobs in the US that feature an employment contract (and no, collective bargaining contracts are not employment contracts in the relevant sense.)

I've heard of that rule in the case that you move. However, if the gym you signed up at closes, the contract should be nullified. After all, they are altering the situation.

TGI Friday's in Ledgewood, NJ has been using these things for close to a year now. In addition to being able to pay on them, they also take food orders on them, which is pretty handy.