Bally Total Fitness-Downey

07/14/09

Don't Waste Your Time and Money Here

by Louey at Citysearch

DO NOT go to this gym! My husband and I thought we would do something good for ourselves after a year long deployment and got a membership along with a 36 session personal training package (the most expensive). It started out great and we worked out with our trainer twice a week every week, then the next month everything changed. Our trainer got an injury (not his fault) and we were left without a trainer for two weeks. Finally management wised up and gave us a substitute trainer while our original trainer was out on medical leave. We liked the workout the new trainer had for us but he could not keep our scheduled time. We have to pay for our baby to be watched by a babysitter and we always schedule the same time and days every week. Finally we got tired of being rescheduled time and again and talked to management and threatened to end our membership and demand a refund of the time we hadn't used. The manager there begged us not to leave and PROMISED this would never happen again and would get us a trainer who could keep our CONSISTENT schedule. Our original trainer had come back from his medical leave and picked up where we left off. Things were good again and then he was promoted (not his fault again) and we were switched to ANOTHER trainer. So we work out with this guy for about 4 sessions and today he doesn't show. Again this is after we schedule a week ahead of time (still same days sames times, how could anyone forget?) and have paid sitters watching our kids for THIS time. We try to talk to the same manager and find out that he has now moved on to a new position and no longer works there. AAAARRRRGGGGHH!!!! So now we talk to a new manager that doesn't know us and doesn't even listen. He says he'll work us out himself for the remaining 3 sessions. 3 SESSIONS!!! More like at least another 6 sessions. He showed us the computer and according to their records we have been consistently training every week since March. Uh what?! We explain to him everything that had been going on switching trainers 3 times and so forth and missing weeks in between. All he can say is he can only go by what the computer says and that if we're scheduled a day they automatically count that day done. What the HELL!?! What a waste of time, money and effort!!! Even after demanding compensation he points out that we paid in full at the beginning and there was nothing pending. What the hell is that supposed to mean?!!

Also this facility is always crowded there is a wait on all equipment especially the cardio machines. The pool is very tiny with little room to move and also always seems to be under repair. They have an area where kids 6 months and up are watched, but the staff are unfriendly and the usual person there is a little scary looking (just ask my 5 and 8 year old). I wouldn't trust my baby with them, hence the paid babysitting outside the facility.

• Pros: NONE
• Cons: EVERYTHING! Read on....