LA Fitness Takes Over Bally Total Fitness in Lake Grove

Bally's Total Fitness in Lake Grove has undergone a change of management, although the process may have left some customers anxious.

Fitness International, an affiliate of LA Fitness International, purchased 171 former Bally Total Fitness locations in November 2011. reports it wasn't until more recently that LA Fitness guaranteed they would recognize all existing memberships, including customers with lifetime memberships.

The company announced its decision to honor Bally lifetime memberships with a statement on LA Fitness's website.

"LA Fitness has decided to simplify the access rules and give all of the acquired Bally Total Fitness ("BTF") members access to current LA Fitness clubs as described below," reads the statement, which also bullet points the following guidelines:

• BTF "Local" members will have access to LA Fitness Clubs and acquired BTF clubs in the statement enrollment
• BTF "National" members will have access to those clubs in all states; and
• Aquired BTF members who have single club access will continue to have access to that single club (or, if that club has closed, to another BTF or LAF club nearby).

LA Fitness's decision to honor lifetime memberships was only made after customers began complaining, sharing similar stories and organizing on the online forum Ballyssuit.com, according to Norristown Patch.

LA Fitness has indicated plans to keep the Bally Total Fitness in Lake Grove open, operating as one of its own gyms. The chain already has an existing elite gym less than a half-mile away, north on New Moriches.

For some local residents, the take over of LA Fitness was welcome news and possibly a money saver.

"It worked out great for me. I had both a Ballys and an LA Fitness membership. The LA Fitness was $50 a month. The Bally's was $38 a year," said Bob, a Stony Brook resident who declined to give his last name. "They cancelled my LA membership and made my Ballys my new LA one, saving $600 a year."

to read more about LA Fitness's take over of Bally Total Fitness and the threatened class action lawsuit prior to the current membership terms.