Bally Total Fitness

Unfriendly and unprofessional staff. Very old equipment and everything is very dirty. This is actually a review for the gym on e32nd street. not sure how to move it there.

Came to this gym because it was the cheapest option for me and in between work and home. Small, but never too busy. Weight room had a variety of machines and weight equipment. Cardio equipment felt a bit dated and not well-​maintained. Usually always one treadmill not working properly. Weird thing I found was that a couple of the treadmills were tilted on the floor because of uneven floor boards– definitely not comfortable or safe to have customers running at an angle tilting right! Also, no fans in the cardio room, making it especially stuffy when the room is busy. The classes here are ok, but the classroom has annoying posts right down the middle, making it really hard to see the what the instructors are doing.

This place has a very grimey business model.
They get you in with a cheap membership but then they make it difficult to cancel, effectively stealing money from you while you can’t even get to workout.
I signed up because the membership was ~$ 25/​month through my health insurance and the club was close to my office. A few months later I was offered a better job on Long Island and accepted it. Now I was too far away to make it to the gym on weekdays and they’re closed on Sundays, leaving me only 4 days a month to work out.
I called up to cancel. They said I had to go to the club and cancel in person. I went to the club to cancel in person and wouldn’t you know it, their «system was down.» I left my information for the club manager.
One week later I see I was charged again. I call the club but the manager is out so I called ABC Financial to cancel. They told me I had to send proof that I moved at least 25 miles away to cancel my membership and that I have to pay a $ 50 cancellation fee. What is this bullshit? I sent them an employment offer and my pay stub and crossed my fingers.
Besides all this rigmarole, the club is lacking in basic amenities. There are no towels. Anywhere. There aren’t even shower curtains in the locker room. There is only one bench press. They close at 5 PM on Saturdays and they’re closed on Sundays.
Only reason I didn’t leave one star is because the staff are actually very friendly and try their best to be helpful. I discussed this issue with the club manager and he took care of everything for me.

Worst gym I have ever been to. Its tiny, there is no equipment and it smells. No cell reception so you can’t sream any music during your workout. I was staying at a hotel in nyc and oaid to go here for the day unknowing my hotel gym was better. A ton of freak shows here if you like to people watch tho.

Don’t join them. They are worst. Would overcharge you and would have no explanation for it. Would not respect their own contract.

Hidden fees don’t recommend this gym! Told me there was no cancellation fee when I joined then when I went to cancel they insisted there’s a mandatory charge for all members.

Thieves. I cancelled my membership 2 months ago because of their filthy gym conditions and I’m being billed and threatened by collection agencies. They don’t even have a signed contract with me.

You get what you pay for…
The cardio equipment is a joke at this gym. 50% of the treadmills do not work. They are all antiquated and poorly maintained, if at all. The belts slip, the speed moves up and down by itself… some machines are crooked. The machines are flat out dangerous. The elipticals are old, and the stairmaster may be from the 1990s. I have complained numerous times but nothing is done. It is the cheapest gym in the area, and that is why I am a member, but you truly get what you pay for.

i hate gyms, always so awkward. This is the most cost efficient gym in the area and not swarming with meatheads. I go around 8pm and its not packed at all. Plenty of treadmills, ellipticals. classes are very limited at this location, last one starts at 630. I have yet to check out the machines, but there are several.
Hung signed me up and got me a great deal.
I had my training sesh with MO that gave me a good sweat.
Note: closed on sundays

Do yourself a favor. Bally is a mediocre gym; they close the pool or pull other tricks at random times. But that is not my biggest complaint.
My bigger complaint is that they closed the gym near me and would not give me a refund. Now I have to trek on a subway to get to the next closest one. They surely knew they were moving when they signed me up (only used 4 sessions when they announced the move) but they did not disclose that information
But that is not my biggest compaint. My biggest complaint is that I broke my hand with one month left on my training contract and they refunded me only ¹⁄₃ of the remaining sessions even thought their contract says they refund the full value. They sent me a scam reply email and they ignore the rest.
If you want to sue them, they are in DC, so good luck.
Do yourself a favor. These people are all about the money. Spend a drop more and find a respectable gym, instead of this bunch of hoodlums

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!!!

It has 2 stars based on the fact that it offers more than what some other basic gyms offer; such as free weights, sauna, steam room.
I used to go to the Little Neck, Queens branch for about 6 – 7 years and decided it wasn’t worth the commute back home from the city and drive out to Little Neck. Ain’t nobody got time fo dat.
So I decided to give the city branches a try. Last Monday was my first and last time I’d show up. Reviews here are accurate stating how small the gym is.
The gym’s entrance is very low profile. You walk down the stairs into a basement level, check in at the front desk, men’s locker is immediately to the right, treadmills and studio are the only things on the first floor. Walking through the men’s locker room, it was a small maze at first with it’s small and narrow corridors. You actually have to go down some more stairs in the locker room itself to another area where you can go 3 ways: 1. To the immediate right is a small bathroom, 2. Left and Left which leads to the showers, sauna, steam room, or 3. Left and Right to the actual weight room.
I believe the layout is similar for the ladies. Something extra that caught my attention was that there were no doors to the locker rooms to and from the weight room. A girl could accidentally (or not) walk 3 feet into the doorway of the men’s locker room and have an upfront view of some male genitalia walking between the shower area.
As for lifting, this place sucks. Yes, there’s a 3 benches (flat, incline, decline), no squat rack, no deadlifting space, no cable lat pulldowns, no cables at all actually for double bicep curls, chest flies, proper pull-​up station (I think there’s only an assisted one), seated cable rows, and the list goes on. This is the same kind of lifting experience you’d get from a 2 – 3 star hotel. This branch breeds «average joes» for sure, as one other review stated.
I switched over to the Penta branch as of this morning despite reviews about it being overcrowded, dirty, and dingy. At least it supposedly has 3 or 4 floors, and more equipment. Hopefully won’t be too awful.
To be frank, the only reason I stay at Bally’s is because they are super cheap in comparison to most gyms. To my knowledge, they are the only commercialized gym at this price range that, besides free weights for heavy lifting, include in some branches a sauna, steam room, and pool. If none of that matters to you, go to Planet Fitness or Blink. Those gyms are clean and have new equipment (no free weights), but personally I believe those kind of gyms are for people who just want to be able to say they have a gym membership so they feel good about themselves, and when they do go once every 3 – 6 weeks, you can find these specimens sitting on the cycling machine or walking on the treadmill on speed 1 while reading their tablet e-​books or watching TV.
***To the people with membership and cancellation issues: Although it may too late to avoid the hassle if you already signed up, perhaps this will help in the future. Don’t ever sign up for a membership at a branch. Just call corporate directly. I was paying $ 30/​month, and now I’m paying $ 99/​year after talking to a representative. There is only 1 way I know of to cancel a Bally’s membership. Request from the front desk their printed 1-​page form for cancellations. Write down your name and member ID on the dotted line and mail it in. Yes, it’s a given that they want to make cancellations as stupid and tedious as possible given they are failing miserably.

Bally are LIERS!!!
I wanted to start my workouts with a trainer, so I asked for one. I said that I want it only for a month– the manager said that sure, no problem, you just sign 6 month contract (196 $ month) and cancel it whenever you can. I agreed and canceled it after a month. Then they started to send me letters that I NEED TO PAY FOR OTHER MONTHS THAT I DIDNT USE AND WONT USE WHICH IS 980 $!!! Went to Bally gym and asked for help, cause the guy LIED TO ME. They said that he doesn’t work there anymore and I HAVE TO PAY, they confirmed that I was lied, nobody cares. Tried to send letters, calling, sending emails. NOBODY CARES. Yesterday bailiff called me that I need to pay 980 $$!! No respect.

I was pretty disappointed in how Ballys lets you stop your membership. You have to mail all of these crazy letters and notes to them… I had the manager tell me not to worry about it and that he will take care of it but I was stilll getting billed in July after I had ceased my membership in May. I feel like they charge people without them even noticing… It was very sketchy and disappointed after the great experience I had there for 6 months with the staff and other members.
Bottom line., do not join unless you stay for a long long period of time. The headache of canceling membership is not worth it.

I came in today to activate a seven day guest pass. I spoke to jessica. As she gave me the tour and told me three separate times how this location was the smallest ballys has and told me the three things I really want in a gym 1-​towels 2-​a pull up assist machine 3– a stair mill was not available. Then proceeded to tell me I need to lose 30lbs and should stop eating to afford a personal trainer. I clearly stated I have 10 – 15 half marathons coming up this year and wanted to work on speed and endurance. After this horrible sales pitch she then downgraded my 7day pass to a one day because I was a member of a different location 10 years ago. Clearly you don’t want my membership but sales tactics should be taught to gain others.

My favorite gym! It’s located on 50^th street and surrounded by a lot of nice places to have lunch. I come to the gym around 10am and it’s always deserted I have been here at other times and there are far too many people so it’s best to come on off peak hours so you can really enjoy yourself.
I was a part of NYSC for years and I left! The gym I went to didn’t have half of what Ballys does and it cost double the price monthly! This location has a pool, sauna and the locker room is always sooo clean!

I just renew my bally contracts, I have been to 3 different Gyms, all got beautiful staff, good trainer, very good service

I have been with Bally total Fitness since 1994. I didn’t start utilizing it till 1996 and I have not had a time since then that I have slacked off a few weeks or months. I have seen some progress through out the years but always felt I just wasn’t getting there sometimes. Always thought about a trainer but wasn’t sure until I met Andrzej.
I have been working with him for about 2 months now and have seen some changes in just that time that I am really happy about. He keeps it fun, changes things up every session, very knowledgeable about the body and he pushes me which is just what I need. I am most definitely sticking with him.
As far as the gym goes it is small but does not crowd up like the others do (except probably at a peak time like 5 pm).The equipment is better now then some years ago and the staff at this point is probably the best I’ve seen in a while here.
This September will mark my 20 years with Bally and yeah there has been a few issues here and there but over all I happy with them.

STAY AWAY… they got you into the program and made cancellation impossible!
I had been to this gym working out with a training a while back for years. When I enrolled training program for a month this June, they didn’t make it clear that if I enrolled for the training program for 1 month, I will be charged the trainer fee every month after regardless I used the trainer or not. My back was injured and my doctor told me not to put the training session on hold for a while. After looking carefully into my credit card bill, I just realized that they have been charging 280 dollars a month for the past 2 months that I haven’t been. My trainer knows the whole situation, but he hasn’t mentioned to me about the program, either.
I went to the gym. They told me that they cannot help to resolve this situation or even cancel the program for me. I have to go to the website to submit my cancellation, or call the customer service. I tried to call the customer service; the number simply told me that the phone was too busy, please call back. It’s a helpless and frustrating situation; on the contrary to the day I joined the gym, they made sure that I enrolled and payed before leaving the gym when I stopped by asking for information.
I’m not sure if there is an organization to complain about how difficult they made the policy ambiguous and cancellation almost impossible. Please think twice before you join the gym. It may seem to be a cheap choice, but you may end of paying more and being totally frustrated in the end.

Okay well yeah you know what?
Just because it’s Bally, it’s NOT as bad as people think it is. I almost didn’t want to write this review because I didn’t want people to start crowding up my gym. I started at Penta, the one on 32^nd st which is always jammed with old naked Korean ladies. Here, I get my peace. It’s here that I can go straight to the treadmill and forget the world. Dramatic? A bit. But it’s true though. I got no cell phone service down there. Basement gym. No eye candy either, but I go to the gym for myself.
This is cheapest gym in the city that has all your basic equipment. Locker room is clean (ladies, I can’t speak for the men’s).