[Sportsandrec] ada and gyms

[Patrick Gormley]

I had an experience a couple of years before the ada was enacted with a
national chain called Balis.  Tina and I signed up for a membership but a
week after that happened, Tina was sick but I chose to workout just to see
what would happen.  To my chagrin, the rep prevented me from working out so
when they insisted I pay them, I told them that I would refuse to pay them
unless they treated me like they treated everybody else.  This wrangling
continued for about a month.  I finally told them they had two choices
either you can either buy back my membership orI would file a discrimination
complaint.  They eventually bought our membership back and about ten years
later one of our chapter members experienced the same thing with the same
balis spa in Prince George's county.  Tina and I helped her get her
membership canceled.  Adfter this experience, I'll probably never get
involved with another gym.  The other problem you have is that now a lot of
equipment requires some sort of visual interaction between the user and the
equipment.  That essentialy renders the equipment unusable for those of us
with no vision.