Bally Fitness accused of falsely charging former customers

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has accused Bally Total Fitness Corp. with misleading former customers into paying past due membership fees they didn't owe.

According to the Abbott's investigation, between summer 2009 and March 2010, Bally mailed more than 11,000 misleading past due notices to former members, creating a false impression that they owed the fitness center money. The notices were actually an attempt by Bally to encourage the former customers to rejoin the gym.

The investigation found that more than 1,000 Texans made payments to Bally after receiving the past due notices. However, when former members contacted company representatives, they were told that the notices were not part of a collection effort but an attempt to get the members to renew their memberships. In all, about 11,000 people received notices, Abbott spokesman Tom Kelley told Consumer Ally.