Planet Fitness review: be careful when quiting this gym! 10

In Tulsa they require payment by bank drafts.

My wife and I went to the Plante Fitness new location in Knightdale NC to sign up for a miebership. Having been a member of World Gym for 15 years this was first thought to be a great site.

I told the gym rep we wanted to sign up for a year and we would be paying in advance. He informed me we could not pay in advance. The only way we could join was to give them access to our checking account.

DO WHAT! I can't pay you in advance for our membership? No he replied it is company policy. Please explain. Again he said it is company policy.

People should never allow anyone access to their checking account through a draft. They can continue to charge your account and some people have had to sue to get it stopped.

We left bewildered.

Gene & Pamela Stuffel

Yes, I'm having a bad experience with them also. I cancelled my membership with a certified letter almost a year ago. During this time I didn't receive any letters or correspondents from planet Fitness. Now a year later I get a letter from a collection agency saying they never received my cancellation. It's unbelievable how they can do this, I wish there was a way to fight back. Any Lawyers want to start a class action suite for unfair business tactics.

Sincerely,

Al Elias

Be Very careful. They will send your account to collections even when you have done everything necessary to cancel the membership.

Over 2 years ago we went into Planet Fitness and explained that we were moving out of South Florida and needed to cancel our membership. We spoke to the General Manager whose name is Jay. Jay Said, “send a letter to ABC Financial, the company that does the auto withdrawal from the account monthly indicating that they should cancel it”. On 3/28/2006 we sent ABC Financial a certified letter indicating that we are canceling the membership the auto withdrawal just as the General Manager Jay had instructed. ABC Financial then terminated the auto withdrawal from my account.

After more than two years after the cancellation, we got a call from a collection agency indicating that we owe over Thousand ($1, 000) for membership fees to Planet Fitness. We never had any payment issues on any bills including Planet Fitness and were quite surprised at the fact that we were getting a collection call

I purchased a black card membership in the Boston area about a year ago and moved to Central Florida. While looking for a place to live I worked out at the Orange City location. At first it seemed pleasant enough, though there is no doubt PF is not made for a person who truly is looking to get into shape as they are missing a number of things found in most well-prepared gyms. No exercise balls (they claim because of lawsuits), no foam rollers, and a real lack of equipment meaning any time you're there at rush hour you are going to wait in line a number of times.
As an ACSM trainer, I give advice to people at no charge. I don't give them cards or advertise any business, just trying to correct any number of mistakes. There is a no-neck psuedo-trainer at Orange City named Rick. This is one of those muscle-heads who will give you a big smile, a handshake, and make sure everyone knows he's supposed to be the alpha dog in the room. In other words, someone looking to impress you.
I was told by a number of clients there Rick was talking about me to others indicating how ticked he was that I was "giving out advice and stealing my customers". No biggie, I thought nothing of it.
PF has this "rule" where they demand you clean off your machines after every use. Cleanliness sure, but half the people don't do it. Also the liquid they use to clean off machines is chemically treated and has an ill effect on some people if breathed in.
I sometimes forget to clean off my machines, I admit. The manager there, Kristine, will smile and be your friend as they all will. Let me point out that unlike places such as Gold's Gym, very few of them have any idea what they're doing. I asked one girl if they had a bosu (very popular in training for even those beginning) and she had no idea what I was talking about.
After hearing about Rick's complaint, I found myself being harrassed on almost a daily basis by the staff about cleaning machines after use. Doing my work in a circuit, it means I go between 3 machines one at a time. Sometimes I forget to wipe the machines.
On August 11 I went there to work out. I used a row machine for 3 sets, and a young man asked if he could work in. I was done, told him yes and let him have the machine.
I was approached by Rick who snapped "what's your card number?" I told him I didn't know it by heart, to which he said "OK, wait here". He went to the front desk. I moved on to another machine.
I was then interrupted right in the middle of a set by Kevin, another psuedo-manager who really has no idea of what goes on in a gym. He then began to chastise me for not cleaning off my equipment.
I won't lie, I was angry. You talk to someone in the middle of a workout and see what happens. I never raised my voice, but used the "F" word a few times about being interrupted, constantly harrassed about this, and being chastised in front of other customers. He walked away.
When I was leaving Kevin said "maybe you shouldn't come here anymore" and threatened me with termination. He also said Rick told him I called Rick an "a--hole" and I shouldn't come there anymore. I wasn't happy. He said "talk to Kristine the next time you're here and work it out". I said OK and left.
AFter that and after 3 tries on the Internet seeking to have my membership transferred to Lake Mary, I started working out at LM. They knew my name as I told them each time in the door, they checked me against their computer and never said a worOn 8/27 I went into Lake Mary, my transfer finally done, gave them my number, to which I was stopped and told I had been terminated. Again, not happy but knew where this came from.
I contacted the PF home office in New Hampshire, and you have to do some digging to get their number. I was given to Bill at [protected] X 106. I told him the tale, he said someone would get back to me from the Orlando office.
I received a call from Joe Landau, who said he was the District Manager. There is NO WAY you will ever get the name of the corporation or their office number because they won't give it out to consumers, which should be a first warning sign. So here you go. The Central Florida Planet Fitness's are owned by Marobe Inc., called a "consultant referral service", and their number is [protected]. Use it.
Joe listened and had already made up his mind. I indicated to him that I have been slandered, and I work in regional and national TV/radio and don't need someone telling lies about me to anyone, period. He didn't care. Said he was backing his people, I swore at his employee, and they were well within their rights to terminate me. In other words, they don't want to hear ANYTHING a consumer says, they can blow you out whenever they want. No warning, nothing.
Rick lied about what was going on, Kevin knew that stopping me in the middle of a workout wouldn't be taken well, and I was harassed over a couple of months by the so-called staff.
Let me now tell you about Lake Mary. I have NEVER worked out in a bigger pigsty. The machines are falling apart, ripped pads, dirty equipment, broken plumbing, you name it. Offensive.
By they way, my termination notice was dated 8/11/08. I worked out at Lake Mary 3 times between then and the date I was told I was terminated. Joe's excuse was a flimsy one at best about "I guess your name didn't make it into the computer". Sorry, won't work. They knew my name every time I walked in the door, and well before my last visit there one of the Lake Mary kids said he had talked to Kristine and received her side of the story. Had I really been terminated on 8/11 they would have known it. Obviously the termination was post-dated to fit their needs. There is no doubt they decided to terminate me after I complained the main office in New Hampshire.
Planet Fitness is a fraud. Their price is low but their equipment is lacking, their employees have almost no knowledge of working out (which is dangerous for the novice working out), and they WILL find a way to terminate you if they want to. You will get NO assistance or consumer assistance from them at all.
I went to Gold's Gym and for $10 more a month got a beautiful place to work out in Altamonte Springs. DO NOT join Planet Fitness. DO NOT be taken in by their "It's all about you" slogan. They are a farm churning out business and will take your money and run.
They are a ripoff. Go to Gold's and get a real gym with people who know what they're doing. You won't be disappointed.

Right you are my friend. I too had a miserable and insulting experience with the Planet Fitness franchise. I've been training for greater than 30 years, and have maintained good physical form. I was harassed by their uneducated and unprofessional staff for wearing a bandanna on my head. They labeled me as a trouble maker and was subsequently contacted at my office sometime soon after by one of the owners of that gym. He was not properly informed by one of his underpaid underachievers who manned the operation that particular day, and discussed my "gym behavior" or at least what was presented to him by this flunkee. Within an instant I knew that I was dealing with a bunch of common idiots with absolutely no social grace or professional business ethic. The operation is less than mediocre, and the managerial staff is pathetic. I dissolved my "black card membership" and wound up at another well equipped gym for a few dollars more and laugh at it now. What we experienced is what this country has morphed into. Poor customer service, rude and untrained people have replaced professional and courteous service. PF is offers much of nothing and it's corporate office answers to no one. It's obvious that PF attracts the consumer that would gladly pay for a cheap service. Consequently, that same consumer seems to place very little focus on value. I suppose that's what makes this country and it's people diverse. This being said, "buyer beware."

I moved as well in May 2008, after having a Planet Fitness membership for a couple years. I tried calling the Planet Fitness where I had worked out, and the guy said I couldn't cancel over the phone (even though I was 500 miles away now) - he gave me another # for some regional office. I called the regional office and no one answered the phone so I left a voice message - I didn't get a response. Then I sent a letter cancelling membership. Then, I get a BILL in the mail (my credit card statement had been charged previous to that). This was the first bill I ever got from them. My credit card didn't get charged that month, so I assumed they had cancelled my membership - WRONG. Now, my credit card is being charged every month. I even tried leaving a raging 2nd voicemail at their regional office to no avail. American Express hasn't completed their "investigation" yet.

I did a search to see if I could close my planet fitness account online to save a trip to the gym. The first 10 responses were about this situation exactly. Poeple still being charged dispite closing their account months or even years ago. And letters needing to be certified in order to even get a glance at from ABC Financial. Since reading all of this, I have prepared myself for any situation which would come my way for cancelling my own account and keeping it that way. Its a pretty easy process if done correctly.

I called my local planet fitness and asked about closing my account. I was told by an in-experienced girl that I can either come in and cancel it, or send a letter to "the main office" saying you wish to close your account. The girl neglected to provide and further information as to where the main office was, so I figure go down and fill the form out.

I was a black card member within the first year of creating my account so I had to pay a buy-out fee of $58 to close my account. Fair enough, I knew that when I signed up that there would be a fee to close the account. I asked for the cancel account form and they handed it to me with the attitude that I am not of any importance anymore. Which was fine, I didnt want to be anything to them anymore.

On the form there is a spot for your account number, address, why your cancelling and a spot for the employee to sign. Since you have to live more than 50 miles away from a planet fitness to be in good standing to close, I wrote I was moving to the other side of the country (Nevada). I didnt provide a new address, Just (Moving to NV). The kid who was on the counter watched my every letter as I wrote my reasoning. He tried to make a comment about how far away it was from my current location. I just said (Yeah) and kept it minimal.

Now heres where you need to be thorough. If I didnt read about the horror stories I would have never done this and just assumed everything would work out fine. I hadned the paperwork to the kid. As soon as I did, he grabbed it and said (ok thanks youre all set.) YOU NEED TO GET A COPY OF THIS FORM! There is a pink copy available for you and you NEED it as a form of proof.

If you had to pay a buy-out fee like myself, request a copy of the receipt for that as well. That will ensure that as soon as the buy-out fee was paid, your account should have been terminated. They will not provide these papers unless you request them.

Now Planet Fitness requires a credit card or bank account on file. If you had a credit card, call or go to the issuing bank and say your account may have been compromised and you would like to lock the card and be issued a new card number. They will never refuse to issue a new card number under that statement. And youre not actually lieing either. You dont want Planet Fitness to keep charging you monthly fees after you closed the account. Make sure your card/account isnt tied into another automatically paid bill or subscription. If it is, update your account information.

The next billing cycle (The 19th of each month for me), call Planet Fitness and ask the status of your account number #####. They will either tell you its closed (Hopefully) or that there is an outstanding balance of $xx.xx. If there is a balance, mention that you have copies of forms dated on _____ that show you closed your account and there should be no balance pending.

File a claim with whoever needs to be notified that there is an error with your account. ABC Financial is Planet Fitnesses Collection company. So Give them a call.

Hopefully this will help someone else be able to successfully close their PF account. What theyre doing is illegal and Im surprised nothing has come of it yet.

Planet fitmess is ###. They will take your money in any means...just dont join otherwise you will be left with paying more than what they will tell you...

I fully agree with all these complaints! I needed to cancel for one year after having brain surgery and hoped to return when able. I filled out the form which was conveniently "lost" twice and had to block them from withdrawing from my account as they would not stop charging me. They have since notified a collection agency for $80.00. I will not only never return there, I have cost them several potential customers from joining