This is definitely a corrupt system. Do not join this club. They cut costs wherever they can. If you are already a member, make absolutely sure that they give you a copy of whatever it is they say they are going to do for you in WRITING.
I joined the club knowing that I would be leaving the country for 3 months. The Sales Rep. offered me a special deal- a free freeze (normally it costs $15.00 per month to freeze the account.) He put a special "note" on my account. Which promptly disappeared. That could be an honest mistake/ computer error. However, after clearing this again with more reps, and discovering more disappearing "notes" on my account, I'm not sure if it is just a faulty system. Now I'm back from my trip, facing a huge bill for membership and I haven't even been in the country. Who has time for all of this?
Of course the reps on the phone are completely unhelpful. I definitely don't feel like I've been paying for a luxury service.
Do not sign a contract with this club.

Horrible. I used to work at the NYSC Club in Parsippany/Morris Plains as a trainer. They kept jacking up training fees so high that no one could afford to pay them. (NONE of that extra money went to the trainers, of course)

Eventually we had to start offering a bunch of free lessons just to retain our long-time clients. But it didn't work out. Of course, upper management blamed the trainers for not doing their jobs properly. A few trainers stood up for themselves and complained about the high fees, but the complaints fell on deaf ears. Upper management destroyed that club. You can't charge Manhattan training fees in Parsippany and expect a good result. It's moronic.

Once Planet Fitness opened across the street, the members fled in droves. Now NYSC has shut its doors for good at that location. Can't say I'm upset about it either.

if anybody wants to join me in a lawsuit against new york sports club nysc for overcharges and refusing to refund contact me at forever20062@aol.com. I'm going to contact a lawyer august 1 about a class action suit and I will be needing another plantiff to join me. I belong to a nysc in one of the 5 boroughs but it wont matter which nysc you belong to

This is a fraudulent and predatory business!!! Stay away!!!

Read about it at http://truefaceofnyhrc.wordpress.com/

I have been a member of this gym for three years, 2006-2008. This January, after I lost my job, I had to move out of my apartment and I called the gym to cancel my membership. They told me on the phone that I need to come in person to fill a form. I came to one of the locations and explained what I needed. The person on the front desk looked up my account and told me that my membership is already canceled.

I was billed for that month and after that the number on my credit card that I used changed. I have not heard from anybody until this week. On May 12th, I have received a letter from a collection agency stating that I owe them $520 and threatening to report me to credit bureaus.

This is the treatment I got after being a loyal customer for three years.

The NYSC gym at Bay Ridge 86th street opened a year ago. The place is fairly clean, and I thought very highly of it at first.

My friends and I had made a deal with the manager here, because the price was too high. It was a great deal. I was happy. I was ready to tell my friends all about how great the gym was. With the deal, I bought a try-pack. The trainer was very nice, and has taught me (a first-time gym user) the basics and how to work out efficiently. I was very happy with the cleanliness and the general atmosphere of going to this gym. The deal I had made only sweetened the experience.

However, the deal wasn't to take effect until the 3rd month. At the beginning of the 2nd month, I received a phone call from one the sales associate who filed our contracts with the help of the manager. She said that the manager had been fired and the new management would not recognize this contract and my friends and I should come in to talk to the new manager.

We went there later to hopefully get this fixed. The sales associate who called us was not there. We spoke to a different one. She basically told us how the manager got fired for what he did and how our contracts were not being recognized. We'd have to pay the full $68.99 every month. We told her how this isn't what we signed for, but she said no one cared.

We showed her our contract that had in writing what we were supposed to pay each month. She asked to make copies of it. That's okay right? WRONG. I thought of the worse case scenario, and it happened. But before that, she told us we'd either have to cancel or pay the full price. After I said, I'd consult my parents, she said okay, and ushered new potential customers to the seats.

When we were leaving, my friend reminded me of the contracts. When I asked for them, she couldn't find them. She was too busy to look because she had other people to talk to. We were nice... we waited for her to finish. Afterwards, she told us to leave our names and phone numbers, and they'll try to find it by the next week. It sounded fishy to me. I knew those contracts were in the building at that very moment, and I wasn't about to leave without it. I already did one stupid thing. I wasn't about to do another.

After calling for help, and threatening to call the police, and the sales associate's unprofessional work ethic, I was getting light headed. I was scared. I was shocked. How could a company like NYSC take advantage of young adults? She either knew where they were or was playing it stupid or she was too busy to finish helping us. Both, I think are very wrong on her part.

She made us new contracts from the computer, but we kept telling her that we needed the ones we entrusted her with to make a copy -- the original that had in writing, our deal. She said it didn't matter. If we wanted to cancel our membership, just do it next week.

After being in NYSC for 2 hours, one of the employees behind the desk finds it underneath the table and hands it to us. I don't even know if the contract is worth fighting anymore. This event has scarred me, and I no longer want to have anything to do with NYSC. Even if I was able to fight for my contract, why should I give my hard-earned money (especially in this recession) to these greedy, unprofessional capitalists who take advantage of kindhearted people?

I have been a member off and on for a number of years at several NYSC locations. The last time i joined was a year ago. They charged a friends credit card in errror for a mumber of months. It took three trips to the club to get my card charged. Now for the last six month they have been double billing me for someones membership at the Boston Sports Club. I sopke to two people in the Corporate Office and now the Customer Service Manager and its been two months and still haven't received the money back that they took out on my debit card without my authorization. This is how they treat members. They act like they are doing me a favor to give me my money back.

SOURCE Town Sports International Holdings, Inc.
CONTACT: Investor: Joseph Teklits of Integrated Corporate Relations, Joseph.teklits@icrinc.com, or investor.relations@town-sports.com, for Town Sports International, Inc.; or Town Sports International, Inc., +1-212-246-6700
THEIR CORPORATE OFFICE IS IN NYC 5 PENN PLAZA 4TH FLOOR THEY ALSO HAVE AN OFFICE ON LONG ISLAND 265 E Park Ave, Long Beach, NY 11561-3511, United States (Map)
Phone: (516) 432-5849
Also Does Business As:New York Sports Club
IF YOU WANT TO CANCEL A MEMBERSHIP SEND THE LETTER TO ALL ADRESSES OR LIKE ME GO TO THEM AND HAVE A CHAT.

good facilities - but deceptive practices earns them a 1 star. They keep charging and charging. Cancellation policies are arcane, cumbersome and intentionally obtuse. Caveat emptor!!!

BE CAREFUL!!!!! These people engage in deceptive practices!! They signed me up for a trial and said I could cancel within 30 days by giving them notice in writing. I went to them with a letter - they said it had to be mailed to them and they gave me a mailing address. I mailed the letter to them and it came back as "undeliverable". I went back to them to verify the address - they gave me the same one again. I sent the letter again - again they never accepted it and it came back as undelivered. By then the 30 day period was over and they are now charging me $50 per month. THESE PEOPLE SHOULD BE SUED!!!!

WOW I used to work at the NYSC in Parsippany/Morris Plains as well as the West Caldwell location. It was honestly one of the best jobs I've ever had. The members were great while we did have a select few pain in the asses. The place was always clean and the paperwork was always processed properly and on time. After reading all of these ratings it looks like I got out just in time. But then again a lot of the problems that the clubs have can be blamed on poor management. They don't take the time to properly train management before throwing them into the club. I lucked out by having 3 managers who were amazing and taught me well so that they could promote from within. I finally had to leave when they hired someone who had the credentials but not the people skills it takes to be in the customer service industry. Lets face it...it doesn't matter how book smart you are if have no personality, an attitude and no common sense.

Twice I had sneakers and a backpack stolen from the locker room and they did not care at all about it. The times square gym is one of the most disgusting health clubs I have ever witnessed. I honored my one year contract, which I didn't want to do at all, and then quit. I have been receiving calls every day from them for three months about how my cancellation was not legal or whatever. It is the worst corporation/company I have EVER dealt with in my life. Whoever runs the place should be put in jail for the lack of customer service. I have been with many gyms and NYSC is by far the WORST for your money, the place is a joke. Stay far away.

BUYER BEWARE...RUN FOR YOUR LIFE....NYSC MOTTO: NEW SALES FIRST, MEMBERS LAST. CLUBS RUN BY POORLY TRAINED "CHILDREN". NEWLY PUBLIC COMPANY WHICH MEANS MAXIMUM SALES, MINIMUM EXPENSES. ACCROSS THE BOARD THEY ARE CUTTING CLASSES, REDUCING EXPERIENCED STAFF, INCLUDING HOUSE KEEPING WHICH EQUALS TO FILTHY CLUBS. AND CLUBS THAT DO NOT OPEN ON TIME. THEFT IS RAMPANT. PROCESSING FEE IS A LIE TO RIP OFF PUBLIC. WATCH OUT FOR HIDDEN FEES IN CONTRACT. NEED A REFUND? YOU'D BETTER STAY ON TOP OF MANANAGEMENT EVERY DAY OR IT'S GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR MONEY! BILLING/MEMBER SERVICE DEPARTMENT OVERWELMED WITH MEMBER ISSUES, THE 800 NUMBER ONLY LEADS TO INCREDIBLY LONG WAIT TIMES AND EVENTUALLY YOU'LL HAVE TO LEAVE A MESSAGE (WHICH WILL NOT BE RETURNED)OR YOU WILL HANG UP IN FUSTRATION. POORLY RUN COMPANY, INSENSITIVE MANAGEMENT FROM TOP TO BOTTOM...STOCK HOLDERS FIRST, MEMBERS LAST..PLEASE TAKE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY SOMEWERE ELSE. EVEN THE BIASED CONSUMERS REPORTS MAGAZINE SLAMS NYSC IN AN ARTICLE (02/08) ON HEALTH CLUBS PERFORMANCE. READ IT FOR YOURSELF..THEN RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!

I asked them to put my account on freeze, which meant I'd be charged $15 instead of almost $90. (The ability to freeze the account is a big part of their marketing efforts.) I received a confirmation.

About a month later, I realized that they had charged my account for $90. After a number of days and hours spent on the phone on hold or emailing people, I was told that I'd receive a full refund for the $90. I said I also wanted the $15 refunded because it had been their mistake. They resisted so much and it consumed so much of my time that I said I wanted to cancel.

Finally, it was agreed that I would get the full amount, although they would not refund it immediately (they take your money immediately from your credit card, but refuse to return it for four to six weeks even if the error is theirs.

Almost six weeks later, I received a check, but the $15 was still missing. I made more phone calls and sent more emails, to no avail.

My local club was frequently crowded during peak hours.

I am contacting all relevant consumer protection agencies.

Don't join, If you give them a credit card they will never stop charging it. I live in Illinois but when I had to be in Fort Lee, NJ for two months due to a death in the family, I joined for two months, paid by credit card for the two months and cancelled after the two months. They never stopped charging me. They said they would refund and never did and kept charging. After I got my Visa card to stop accepting their charge, they sent threatening letters. The gym is mediocre and the management is terrible and dishonest. They claim I signed a two year contract when I signed nothing. If you join, cash only and sign nothing.

NYSC has a policy that was exhibited to me in making it difficult to cancel a contract and to stop automatic payments on your credit card. I give them notice in writing of my termination and I confirmed that this was noticed on their computer before the end of my contract year. Nevertheless my credit card was charged for the following month AND when I requested a credit to my credit account, I was told that I would have to wait four weeks to get a refund. This is outrageous and part of a corporate policy. I was a member at the Livingston New Jersey facility.

been a member for 5 years the mangers are real pricks there and theres too many overweight old ladies in tight pants that think there hot

I joined the NYSC in Livingston about two weeks ago. Being an avid swimmer, the primary attraction for me at the NYSC in Livingston is the swimming pool. Naturally, I wanted to get some laps in. Unfortunately, even after two weeks of membership, I have been unable to gain access to the pool. For the first week of my membership the pool had been emptied for cleaning purposes. After this I have attempted to gain access to the pool on at least three occasions. On 9/12, I was told the lifeguard was not available. On 9/14, I was informed that the weather conditions were not amicable for swimming. And today, on 9/18, I was initially told that the pool was open but when I changed up and walked over to the pool, the door was locked shut. Apparently, the lifeguard was not feeling well, so decided to leave. I think it would be rather unlikely that the pool is out of service only when I attempt to access it. On the other hand, a more likely possibility is that it is perennially unavailable. I spoke to the supervisor/manager about this and the best she could say was, "what can I do?" When I asked her if the pool would be available tomorrow, she said she would try to ensure that a lifeguard is present. I can't believe that the much acclaimed NYSC will "try" to get a lifeguard in the pool that I have paid to use. I find this service to be despicable at best. It is hard for me to believe that after taking up a good amount of money for membership, I have to receive such atrocious service.

been a member for 5 years...no crowding, no lines, and staff is always exteremly nice. Only complaint i do have it that they are slow in removing/replacing equipment that doesnt work or is broken. After reading Bally's complaints all over the net, I tend to appreciate NYSC even more. Facilities always clean, no deceptive sales people, and many to choose from...And always plenty of eye candy ;)

The McDonalds of gyms. Over 400 locations with all its affiliates. Boring layouts. Boring classes. Boring gyms. Long waits for equipment, and over crowded. Not worth the money.