Although I agree that it is an expensive membership fee, I have to chime in here.
I have been a Bally Total Fitness
member since 1996, and am
glad I joined:
- there are a lot of clubs around the United States, and it takes no effort to go from one club to another, just show your card.
- many of these (not all) clubs have, in addition to the weight and exercise equipment (with the standard television sets by the exercise bicycles), some great, free perks:
- pools, saunas, hot tubs
- free in-house babysitting (my ex had 3 kids, and it is nice to be able to drop the kids and go soak in the hot tub)
during my many workouts (okay, not as many as I need it to be), I have not had any bad experiences with the staff or management. If you have a horror story, then of course you should report it to the Better Business Bureau, the manager of the local club, and (if you don't get satisfaction), to higher authorities within the Bally company. But there are lots of people who regularly workout at Bally's without any negative incidents.
Of course you should read the contract before signing, and notice the "Truth In Lending" statement that shows you how much money you're going to be paying. I paid $35 per month for 3 years for the lifetime membership and now pay $11 per month in dues.
And of course you should go look around the Bally's close to you before you even consider signing the contract. Not to mention deciding whether or not you can actually motivate yourself to go exercise.