I joined Bally's Gym in 1998 and signed a 3 yr contract.  After only 1
month I found out it was not for me, and I never went back.  They
since sent my account into collections and expect me to pay the
balance of $1100 for one month at there club.  They recently "tracked
me down".  I don't think it's fair for them to expect me to pay this
since I didn't like their gym and only went for 1 month!  Now my
credit is messed up and they still expect me to pay.  Is there any
legal way I can get this debt cleared?

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Request for Question Clarification by darrel-ga on 28 Oct 2002 16:41 PST

Hello--

Bally's likely gave you a copy of your contract with them. What does
the contract say about your options of ending the agreement?

darrel-ga

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Clarification of Question by dopamine-ga on 30 Oct 2002 16:24 PST

Thanks for all the comments!  Unfortunately, I don't have the
contract.  Another bit of information:  I filed bankruptcy sometime
before joining the gym in 1997.

I'll just leave a comment, because I don't have the complete answer to
your question - just partial advice. Hopefully another researcher will
be able to give you the full answer.

It may be possible to negotiate with the collections people for a
"pennies on the dollar" settlement. If you can reasonably convince
them that you might file for bankruptcy protection or that the cost of
getting you to pay up will exceed what they can ultimately get out of
you, then they might accept this course of action. What a suitable
settlement price is, I'm not sure. One word of caution is to be
careful what you say to them (that could be documented) in case you
dig yourself a hole that would limit your options later on.

Good luck (can't help but think that you'll need to get a lawyer look
over the contract carefully)

calebu2-ga

dopamine,

I regret to tell you that, at this point, there is not much you can do
except perhaps to follow calebu2's excellent advice on calling them,
claiming that you are not able to pay anything near this amount,
hinting that a bankruptcy filing is imminent, and negotiating for a
greatly reduced settlement. If they ask you for any further
information on your current salary, bank accounts, assets, other
debts, or anything else, DO NOT GIVE IT TO THEM. Tell them that you
are already working with someone else regarding potentially filing
bankruptcy. Hopefully, that will scare them into taking a small chunk
of money and running.

In addition, if they call you at work to discuss this debt, most
states require them to cease calling you at work immediately upon your
request. A telephone request is usually good for 30 days; you will
need to send them a request in writing to make it permanent.

The worse news is, that at this point, even if you are able to
negotiate and pay off a settlement, this "default" is now going to
show up on your credit report for the next 7 years. However, I would
definitely try to resolve the situation, because the fact that it did
get paid will look a LOT better on your credit report (and damage your
Credit Score less) than if you just leave the debt out there.

For the purchase of big-ticket items (including memberships), the law
usually provides a 3-day "buyer's regret" backout clause that permits
you to change your mind within 3 days of signing your name. Even after
one month, you might have been able to work something out (i.e., pay
them only half of that one month fee and cancel your contract). As
with most things related to credit and debt, ignoring the situation
until it gets into collections is NOT what you want to do. If
something like this happens to you again, bite the bullet, and tackle
the issue head on (even if it is really unpleasant), until you get a
solution worked out.

I hope you are able to work out a resolution that is not too expensive
to you.

Good luck!

One additional suggestion....get the media involved.  If your local
newspaper or TV news has a consumer affairs reporter, get in touch
with them and tell them your story.  If Bally's gets a call from the
news media on this, I can almost guarantee it will speed up resolution
of your situation.

Good luck.

I agree with the previous comments. First of all you will want to try
to get the collections off your back for as little money as possible.
The debt very likely will not go away entirely unless you do this,
because as you stated, you signed a 3 year contract. Since you have
taken long enough for this to go into collections, your options for
backing out of the contract now (even having not used the gym except
for the first month) are likely slim to none.

The other good piece of advice is to get the public knowledgeable
about your plight. If bally is put into the public spotlight for their
contract terms, they will likely try to help you out of your situation
a lot more than they are currently.

If you had looked through your contract early on, say, right after you
decided you didn't want to go back, you probably could have paid a
small cancellation fee for your contract instead of paying the whole
thing. Now that it is in collections, I assume this debt has been
outstanding for at least a year, and cancellation is probably no
longer an option.

Best of luck.

Generally, a contract is a contract. Especially since you signed the
agreement to pay Bally's 4 years ago for your membership. Remember, a
membership isn't like a physical product, where you can at least say
"look, they still have the product." A membership is a right to use
the facilities during the term of the membership. In their eyes, you
simply chose not to excercise your right to use the facilities. You
still have to pay. They might not even keep track of who uses the gym
and who doesn't beyond making sure they are members.

When it comes to collectors, couple of tips. Don't piss them off. Be
polite and courteous. They're people, doing a job, and if you're surly
and rude, they're that much more likely to decide to escalate the
collection against you. Also, watch what you tell them. If they think
you're lying based on what they've seen on your credit report (ie.
working with another creditor and close to bankruptcy doesn't really
was when they can see that your credit cards all have good standing
and were paid recently. Yes, they can see that. They can see who you
owe money, approximately how much, for how long, and when you've made
payments.) They're well within their rights to ask a judge to allow a
garnish of your wages. In some areas, they may also be able to file
claims or liens against your car, property, assets, etc. It all
depends on how sure they are of collecting.

As much as I hate the media cop-out, it can be very effective.

Overall, if you can afford it, pay it. If need be, make a payment
offer (such as x amount until it's paid, or xx percent of total, in yy
monthly payments.) All they can do is say no.

Talking to Bally's may help, but in most cases, they have either hired
the collections agency, or have sold it to the agency. In either case,
usually all they can do is forward payments to the collections agent,
who then allocates it back to Bally's.

If you do get the collection's agency to agree to payment terms, get
it in writing from them. And adhere to it! If you settle with the
agency, and then renege on it, your credit report could get even
worse.

A few months down the road, use one of the credit report services to
pull a copy of your report, and make sure that any payments/etc. have
been properly noted.

For future reference, remember that a contract is a contract. It's
your word, and it should be worth more then the paper it's written on.
You'll find that keeping your word, and having a reputation for it,
can serve you much better then you gain by not keeping it.

Tell them you are moving to Afghanistan.  There are no Ballys within a
30 mile radius from your address so the contract is null.  It worked
for me!