Blast Fitness (Work Out World?)

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

Got a mailing from Blast Fitness (dba Work Out World?) listed as being at 1815 Mass Ave. Is anyone here a member and would care to comment on the place? Is it where Bally's is/was?

I'm a member of BSC in Davis but it is getting pricey so am looking around for a cheaper option. Don't care about classes, etc. I just use the cardio machines and the free weights.

Comments

[noire.livejournal.com]

I'm a member there and yeah, it used to be Bally's. It'll do what you want--cardio and weights and be cheap (get the gold for that, platinum includes the pool, which is often closed, and classes.) It's not terribly nice, by which I mean things could be cleaner and sometimes machines don't work. Since it's the basement there's no natural light. But for $11/month, decent hours (again, finally!) and a friendly staff, I'm not complaining.

[missmushkila.livejournal.com]

I don't have any personal experience working out at the gym since it has become Blast/WOW, but my husband worked out there for years, and when we had to cancel (since we were moving overseas) it took months of haranguing before they stopped billing us. The billing kept going even after the personnel assured us everything had been taken care of. To be clear, this was with a plan where he was assured that he could cancel at any time, so it's not like we were trying to get out of a binding contract. (And even then, there is usually a special allowance if you are moving more than XX miles away from a gym of that company.) We eventually got our money back but it was a very shady process all around, between Blast/WOW (which sometimes seem like separate entities and sometimes not?) and their 3rd party billing servicer, ABC Financial.

He also felt like the general quality had declined since it was Bally's -- machines not being fixed, cleaning less often or less thoroughly. I don't think anyone should make decisions based on Yelp reviews, but it might be worth at least taking a look at them in this case.

[aislingk15.livejournal.com]

I can't comment on the location on Mass Ave, but I've been a member at the WOW on Boston Ave. in Medford (near Tufts) for 7 years. There are lots of machines and the place is pretty well maintained - definitely no frills, but it's clean and stuff works and people have always treated me well. (It's also open 24 hours a day, but I'm not someone who needs a gym at 3 AM.) I've never had trouble finding a free treadmill or elliptical - sometimes the recumbent bikes get full, but there's a lot of all the other machines and weights. As someone already mentioned, it's about $10-11 a month for the basic membership, and about $20 for the higher level one which gets you classes. I've got that level because they offer a lot of yoga at the Medford location, and the cost of a whole month's gym membership would barely get me more than one class at a regular yoga studio.

Whenever I read reviews for this location, most of the people who seem angry are ones who had trouble getting out of contracts or had other payment issues when they left. Since I haven't tried to leave, I can't comment on whether this is a universal experience with Blast/WOW, and whether that's a good reason to stay away.