I'm thinking the market is finally rewarding Bally's for their poor customer service and shoddy management (i.e. Aggressive contracts and sales people, filthy facilities, and the list goes on.)

I am a former manager for Bally's. worked for them about 4 years and got out as you would have to be an idiot to not realize the company was going down hill fast. I can say first hand that it is very shady sales tactics and extremely high pressure on the managers. There were daily quotas to hit, and if you don't hit them you don't go home. I'm talking 14-16 hr work days. Trust me, we would do or say ANYTHING to get that contract so we could stop getting pressured from above and get to go home to our families at night. If you've ever wondered why it's a bunch of punk kids working there, it's because nobody with a family can do that job. I found very few satisfied and happy members in my years at Bally's. I'm actually glad to see that their shaddy practices and ignoring their customers unhappiness has finally caught up with them. Gyms are a customer service industry. You can't run a customer service industry like a used car lot. Everybody dreads the car buying experience - and that's exactly the experience you get at Bally's.

Also a former Bally manager/supervisor, I don't disagree with glad2b gone (and I'm also GLAD TO BE GONE). But, it's not just the fault of the front line staff. I worked with many committed, hard-working people at Bally, but the culture from the top was "grab as much as you can, while you can". Paul Toback, the former CEO who ran the company from $9/share to about $.75/share (before he resigned) paid himself literally millions in salary and bonuses while the company fell apart around him. Check out the VP's salaries on their public information - they're all getting rich while the clubs fall apart and the staff works their butts off, subjected to the unbelievable pressure that glad2b gone talks about.

I don't know how these people look themselves in the mirror. It's the same greed and selfishness as Enron, Qwest, etc. The bad thing is it's the front line staff and customers who will end up suffering. Maybe they should put together a class-action against the crooks/idiots - start with Toback.

I have been a BTF member for roughly five years. Customer service has never been a major issue with me at my Greece, NY location. HELLO, ITS A GYM...GO WORKOUT AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH. I realize they're a some that need more dirction than others when it comes to the gym, but those people are called seniors. Now on to the potential bankruptcy and re-structuring of BTF. Their sales tactics are a bit shaddy, but you have to realize the 25 year old salesperson wants that extra 25 bucks in his wallet and the end of the month. You can't negotiate a contract when your totally blind to the situation. Research before you sit down with a salesperson. For example, I had been a member for sometime, and it was time to renew my contract. I had five contracts to renew(family and friends), I used the amount of people on my account to my advantage. Nate at Greece, tried everything to sell me more and more. Hello, how many gyms do I need to go to. Just polietly explain, and say how much you want to spend. Thats it..so whenever I hear about how customers are upset about there contract that was never explained, you gotta laugh, b/c you just gave this guy your hard earned money, and have no clue on what you purchased. I am in cell phone sales where you can try to take advantage of the consumer in countless ways. It is the responsibiltiy of the salesmen to educate you, but lets not be naive...Educate yourself by ASKING QUESTIONS espcially about renewel and variable cost. Its not hard. The only thing you should be worrying about at your gym is when that 70 year is getting off the machine. Okay, good luck.

"HELLO, ITS A GYM...GO WORKOUT AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH"? If there is somthing wrong with your car do you say IT'S A CAR...GO DRIVE IT AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH.? no, and why, because when you work with the public, customer service is how you keep you customers happy. Bally's is really one of the shaddiest buisnesses i have ever been to. I go to 3 in the Baltimore area and the trainers are terrible. They are 18 and pulled right off the street with very very basic knowladge of body. When my best friend went to inquire about a membership, the sales person told him his budget was $35 a month. After some discussion the sales person left the room crying. Who does that? And the last straw is the cross cables was broken on 3/14/07 and was fixed this weekend 4/15/07. over a month!!! When i tried to complain about this the manager wrote me off and i tried to go to his boss but i was never able to get thru. It's about time Bally's takes a dive.