Free 8-Week Membership At Bally’s Gym

January 5, 2007 By Jonathan Ping 13 Comments
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As I sign of my psychic genius, I will predict your New Year’s Resolutions. They are:

1. I will save or earn more money.
2. I will become more healthy.
3. I will be less cluttered and more organized.

Hopefully I can help with the first one (subscribe to updates!). And here’s something for the second – Discovery Health is offering a free 8-week membership at Bally’s for registering for their Body Challenge:

All registered National Body Challenge participants will receive FREE access to our online customized meal plan, a personalized weight tracker, extensive information from doctors and health & fitness experts, a free 8-week membership to Bally Total Fitness?, online recipes, special savings from Discovery Channel Stores and more. The 8-week Bally Total Fitness? pass is only available until January 16, 2007 at 11:59 PM (ET) and is effective from January 13, 2007 through March 10, 2007.

You must register, print out the pass, and bring it to Bally’s starting on the the 13th. I just read somewhere that out of the huge amount of gym sign-ups in January, the majority are canceled by April. This is a great way to try using a gym (if you have a Bally’s nearby) without any commitment.

Oh, you’re on your own for the third one. Getting organizational advice from me is like asking Britney Spears how to be a good mom.

Update: I still think this is potentially a great deal, although you may need to endure a sales pitch. Some Bally’s may use lame sales tactics, but all gyms in a nationwide chain are not created equal. They should give you the passes without requiring your credit card information. If not, fight back!

Filed Under: Deals & Offers
Last updated: February 23, 2012
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Comments

  1. ryuu says
    January 5, 2007 at 4:51 am

    jonathan, u’re psychic!

    Reply
  2. Adrian Barr says
    January 5, 2007 at 6:17 am

    Be cautious with Bally’s. Bally’s reports to CRA (transunion) once you have an account with them. They do not seem to care if they make mistakes regarding the accuracy of the reporting once you are no longer a member.

    My wife has a $36.00 balance that she does not owe on her report. The delinquency is dated 11/05 that they charged off by the time we discovered it in 11/06. It makes zero sense because Bally’s was automatically withdrawing her dues out of her account

    Reply
  3. Martin says
    January 5, 2007 at 6:25 am

    I saw this before, but I do not have a Bally’s near by. My company has a gym that I can use, plus they are having a Biggest Loser contest with some nice prizes.

    Reply
  4. mimi says
    January 5, 2007 at 7:11 am

    Hate to be a downer — but I would totally have to say BUYER BEWARE even on this “free” membership. Bally’s is notorious for hard selling their memberships whenever you’re there on a “free” pass. Once even, I had friend join me on a “free” pass (I was already member back then) and they basically antagonized us for 2 hours and then didn’t even let her work out. They were complete jerks.

    Also, once they get their paws on your credit card number, they will continuously bill you, renewing you automatically and it is the world’s biggest pain in the butt to ever get this straightened out, believe me.

    I actually love their club, but didn’t make as much use of it as I wanted to. I was lucky because I paid them in cash up front before they could turn me into everlasting revolving-credit customer (whew!).

    Reply
  5. Sri says
    January 5, 2007 at 8:54 am

    AWESOME!! Thanks Jonathan. I was ust about shop around for a gym.

    Reply
  6. markh says
    January 5, 2007 at 9:27 am

    National Body Challenge? Catch? Hoops?

    Reply
  7. jLee says
    January 5, 2007 at 11:50 am

    mimi is definitely spot-on with the way they treat you when you use one of these “free” passes. Initially they ask you to fill out some paperwork and take your drivers license or ID. But afterwards they take you to one of their rooms and pressure you into signing a 3-year contract. Be prepared to have a thorough “discussion” with one of their reps if you plan to take advantage of this.

    Reply
  8. Jonathan says
    January 5, 2007 at 1:40 pm

    I don’t see anywhere that you have to give them your credit card number. I’d refuse if asked and speak to a manager if needed. Obviously they would like you to continue on with Bally’s, but don’t roll over!

    I’ve gotten free passes at 24Hour fitness w/o having to give up any such info. Had to sit through a short presentation about the club options, but I was curious anyways.

    Reply
  9. Kim says
    January 5, 2007 at 4:43 pm

    I signed up with this exact same promo last year and I will also have to thoroughly NOT recommend anyone do this. It is totally not worth it! Bally’s is the most annoying club ever. If you want to hear their shpiel EVERYTIME you go to workout for “free” and have them bother you constantly on other days through the phone then go ahead. They are really good at making you sign up with them JUST so they will leave you alone.
    Worst deal ever.

    Reply
  10. Jonathan says
    January 5, 2007 at 5:07 pm

    Tsk Tsk Bally’s… Why make going to the gym feel like dealing with a used car salesman?

    Reply
  11. Mike says
    January 10, 2007 at 6:27 pm

    I live just down the street from a Bally’s. I attempted to join and had the same poor experiences mentioned here.

    They offered me a yearly deal, which wasn’t too bad, but they wouldn’t let me pay cash for it. I even said that I would pay for a year in advance, but they still wouldn’t let me sign-up without a credit card.

    I’ve been that route before with other gyms, so I politely told them “no, thank you” and left. Go figure.

    You can see how this strategy is working out for them by following their stock. It looks to me like a near-term bankruptcy isn’t out of the question.

    Reply
  12. Alex says
    January 20, 2007 at 4:17 pm

    I constantly hear horror stories of Bally’s hidden charges and random fees and how it’s impossible to terminate the membership.

    Reply
  13. Bill says
    May 10, 2010 at 11:24 pm

    Only pay cash at Ballys NEVER give them your credit cd info card numbers bank accounts etxc JUST PAY CASH and they give deals at $100 a year as of 5/2010. Again Never give them ytour credit card debit cd or anything identifyiing your persoanl ID… they will lock you in and do a number on you once they have your information… PAY CASH ONLY >>>

    Reply

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