WOW/Blast Fitness closing this Friday -- memberships transferred to Rock'N Fitness

[genevra-mcneil.livejournal.com]

I know this is Porter, not Davis, so i'll understand if it gets moderated out of existence, but I was surprised to find out on Tuesday morning that my gym (Work Out World/Blast Fitness, which was Bally's, I think, under the Porter Sq. Exchange Building) is closing its doors on Friday. All our memberhsip stuff has been transferred to Rock'N, under the new Walgreens.

To be honest, as annoyed as I am by the short notice, I'm not complaining about the switch. I went to Rock'N and it was much much nicer than WOW was. New and clean and all the machines worked. And the transition really was seamless. All I had to do was zap my keychain card and figure out where the lockers were.

Just wanted to let anyone know so you don't show up next week and find the doors locked.

Comments

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Posting about Porter Square is fine -- it's just a few minutes' walk away.

The thing that might make this inappropriate for DSLJ is insufficient complaining about an annoying change. WTH! ;)

[countlibras.livejournal.com]

hmmm, I'll have to check it out. I go to BSC Davis Sq and I'm kind of annoyed at their recent renovation.

[justphoenix.livejournal.com]

Bummer...I was thinking of checking out Blast Fitness when my Rockn' membership ended.

[ron_newman]

Any idea why WOW is closing, or what will happen to that space?

[genevra-mcneil.livejournal.com]

The official word, from the woman who told me they were shutting down, was that Lesley was kicking them out to use the space.

Guessing from overheard staff gossiping, the quality of the space, and a few other things, I think there just wasn't a manager and thus no one to direct basic maintenance. Lots of machines were out of commission for weeks or months at a time, the place was grungy as all get out (there was a wadded up paper towel stuck in the corner for more than a week), it kinda smelled musty, etc. etc. Also, the personal trainer "free introductory session" I had, when I joined, was ... not awesome.

[keithn.livejournal.com]

I have heard nothing but bad things about Rock N Fitness so far. It was a Planet Fitness and the owner changed to Rock N Fitness and transferred memberships with no notice, and now it is nearly impossible for people to cancel their membership. When people complained about the transition in the comments to a Universal Hub article, someone associated with Rock N Fitness showed up to insult the complaining customers.

See: http://davis-square.livejournal.com/3336344.html

Also check out their Yelp reviews: http://www.yelp.com/biz/rock-n-fitness-cambridge

[genevra-mcneil.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I remember that kerfuffle. And thus I was very cranky going into the gym this morning. Maybe that's why I was so pleasantly surprised.

I'm basing my comment on one work out this morning, after a really miserable time at WOW, so it could just be that the difference was startling. Apparently my billing will still be handled by WOW and it's only been a few days so I don't know about the billing aspect.

My membership was totally transferred without my knowledge or consent or anything to Rock'N fitness and I'm not happy about that. There are instructions on how to cancel, but it's still the same price so I'm going to give it a try.

[ron_newman]

Was WOW part of a chain, with privileges to use other gyms? I recall that back then, the Planet Fitness members were upset because they were suddenly transferred from a chain of hundreds of gyms to a chain of two.

[genevra-mcneil.livejournal.com]

I think I'm still technically WOW and therefore still part of the chain and can go elsewhere? I dimly recall reading that on the FAQ sheet they game me. But I'm not 100 percent sure.

[beezy515.livejournal.com]

Yes, the email that I received said that the membership was still good at any WOW or Blast Fitness Center.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

This was the first thing that came to mind for me as well. Also, I think a few other issues came after the links you posted that were hilarious if you were just an observer, but probably really awful for people involved (but I have no interest in digging deeper in the two links so it might all be in there).

I believe anyone who has their membership transferred can immediately cancel it under MA law.

[misterthorn.livejournal.com]

I was a PF customer, saw that online eruption, and stayed away from RockN for a while. Was slightly and pleasantly surprised when I finally went. It's fine. Nothing great, nothing terrible. A lot of the staff is the same, and they are all friendly and professional.

Rock N and WOW use(d) the same billing service, ABC, FWIW.

[interglossa.livejournal.com]

It made me very sad when WOW took over Bally's because they instantly removed a bunch of equipment (presumably to their other locations) and stopped maintaining the pool, which became very hit or miss. There were a bunch of swimmers who were regulars and this was a great deal for us in convenience and price. I have always thought Bally's offered them some type of financial incentive to get out of the platinum type of membership that they sold people. If the rumor is that Leslie needs the space, we won't see another firm come in and fix it up. I hope they don't start pressuring the restaurants on the first floor to move!

Bally's was a great gym for the price. Anyone know any alternatives with a pool?

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