ComplaintsforPlanet Fitness (Headquarters)

• Initial Complaint

  11/02/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have a black card membership I have for a few years I have used 2-3 times max in this time over a few years I tried several times to cancel I get the run around I haven't used service in along time years I'm tired of paying for it and can't afford it please get them to stop robbing me.please

  Business response

  01/12/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 20, 2021/12/14) */ Good Afternoon, We have been trying to get in touch with Ms. **** for the last month regarding her membership. We have been unsuccessful in reaching her. Per the membership agreement there are two ways to cancel either in person or via certified mail. We have been trying to let Ms **** know this but have been unsuccessful in reaching her. As of 12/8/21 we did cancel Ms. Hooks membership as a courtesy so that she will no longer be charged in the future. Thank you Consumer Response /* (2000, 22, 2021/12/15) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) I went in person several times and called several times to cancel.Never got me any where .All I wanted was my act canceled and a refund for 2 months . I only used the gym 2 times in the beginning total 2 hours combined.

• Initial Complaint

  10/28/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  This is a matter concerning Planet Fitness Berlin VT, which is owed and run by: Planet Fitness Corporate ******************************************************** My letter outlining initial issue(s), dated September 13th, 2021, included. For this mailing, I am generically using Chris R.'s name and address on my September 13th, 2021 letter. On the original mailing September 13th, 2021, each letter was individually addressed to the person it was sent to. Refer to: 2021 9 13 Planet Fitness Mailing List. My September 13th, 2021 letter was mailed USPS to Planet Fitness Corporate on September 13th, 2021. Refer to: Planet Fitness USPS Receipt XXXX X XX, total 21. One copy of my September 13th, 2021 letter was hand delivered to Brett, present manager of Planet Fitness Berlin VT, on September 15th, 2021. Planet Fitness Customer Service, ###-###-####, call on Tuesday, September 28th, 2021: I was not trying to call Planet Fitness Customer Service. I called Planet Fitness Corporate telephone number. I was calling Planet Fitness Corporate to check that they had received my September 13th, 2021 mailing. There is also a Regional Manager, Holly, I have been trying to receive a mailing address for to mail a copy of my September 13th, 2021 letter directly to her. ###-###-#### is at the physical location of Planet Fitness Corporate, * ******* ****, West (this information was first given to me by Jeremy, Customer Service, Tuesday, October 5th, 2021), however Planet Fitness Corporate apparently screens their calls through their Planet Fitness Customer Service. I spoke with Alex, Customer Service (9/28/2021). I outlined to Alex the information I outlined above. Alex stated she would check on my letters, and asked me to send Customer Service a copy of my letter to them, which she would email me a mailing address to send it to. I was informed that Holly, Regional Manager, Planet Fitness Berlin VT worked off site, and I am not allowed to have any contact information to mail a copy of my September 13th, 2021 letter directly to her. My September 13th, 2021 mailing to Planet Fitness Corporate included a copy addressed to Holly, Regional Manager. When I had confirmation that Planet Fitness Corporate had received my mailing, I would at that point confirm that Holly had received her copy from Planet Fitness Corporate. Planet Fitness Customer Service, ###-###-####, call on Tuesday, October 5th, 2021: I spoke with Jeremy, Customer Service (10/5/2021). On September 28th, 2021, I received an email from Alex, as she stated she would send me (included). Alex's email had a case # (# XXXXXXXX), however, it had no additional information. Specifically, a mailing address to send a copy of my September 13th, 2021 letter to Customer Service, and to forward a copy (via Customer Service) to Holly, Regional Manager. Because Customer Service (Alex, Jeremy) would not give me any decisive answers, this overall phone call with Jeremy was very cumbersome and trying. I was informed by Jeremy that Holly, Regional Manager, was part of a Senior Management Group, and this Senior Management Group would decide my Planet Fitness Berlin VT membership. However, I was not allowed to know who any of these people were, or allowed to have any contact or information to mail my September 13th, 2021 letter directly to them. A Senior Management Group is going to decide my Planet Fitness Berlin VT membership, but I am not allowed to give them my written response to my Planet Fitness Berlin VT membership termination? That is asinine. I am not even allowed to know how many people this Senior Management Group consisted of Perhaps Holly, Regional Manager, is the only person who consisted of this Senior Management Group? How am I to know? I was only allowed to know that they (whoever they were?) would confer with Brett, present manager of Planet Fitness Berlin VT (who terminated my Planet Fitness Berlin VT membership, hardly an impartial person to confer with), and make a decision about my Planet Fitness Berlin VT membership. As I stated, that is asinine. I was informed by Jeremy that Holly, Regional Manager, along with the rest of this Senior Management Group worked off site. I inferred that to mean that they work from home. I have no idea why that matters at all. Lots of people work from home, myself included, but you still have a business card, and a business mailing address, in most instances, a P.O. Box. I do, my business mailing address is **** *** **** *********** **, XXXXX. See how easy that is. It goes without saying I was not asking for these people physical home address. I was asking for a business mailing address that would be on their business card. These business mailing addresses for these people do exist, everyone has one (it is on their business card). Either Jeremy does not understand this, or he understands this, but he still refused to give me these people's business mailing address (that would be on their business card). I was also informed by Jeremy that Alex had checked on my mailing to Planet Fitness Corporate (total 21), and Planet Fitness Corporate has no record of receiving my mailing. Jeremy referred to the people on my September 13th, 2021 mailing list, minus Holly & Brett, as Planet Fitness Corporate Executive Team. I write a 25 page letter to Planet Fitness Corporate, total 21, and Jeremy tells me there is no records of Planet Fitness Corporate receiving this mailing? My September 13th, 2021 mailing was definitively delivered to: Planet Fitness Corporate * ******* ****, West Hampton, NH XXXXX-XXXX How do I know this. One, I have not received them back. Two, I confirmed with Jeremy multiple times that I had the correct mailing addressed. Three, you can always rely on the USPS to deliver mail to the address they were sent to, because that is what the United States Postal Service does. That is why I use the USPS, instead of another carrier. The USPS is always 100% reliable to deliver mail to the address it was addressed to (and if there is any problem, they will return it to my P.O. Box, which did not occur). The question is not whether Planet Fitness Corporate received my September 13th, 2021 mailing, they did. The question is what did Planet Fitness Corporate do with my September 13th, 2021 mailing after they received it? My September 13th, 2021 letter at that time (October 5th, 2021, while speaking to Jeremy) was not in a PDF email attachable format. I do not use a PDF email attachable format within Advocacy. This is for too many reasons to list. Primarily because it is always best to have a paper documentation of an occurrence, and because of formatting, i.e. page length of a document, and combining several different formats together such as txt, doc, pdf, jpeg, etc. Yes, my Advocacy letters can be combined into one PDF, and sent as an email attachment, but from experience, that is not a good practice to follow within Advocacy. Because Planet Fitness Corporate supposedly does not have any record of my September 13th, 2021 mailing, I tried to brainstorm with Jeremy how to get a copy, USPS, of my September 13th, 2021 letter to Planet Fitness Corporate, and to this Senior Management Group. It is at this point I first learned that Planet Fitness Customer Service is at the physical location of Planet Fitness Corporate, * ******* ****, West (most Customer Services are outsourced to a different physical location from a corporate location). It goes without saying that mailing my September 13th, 2021 letter USPS directly to: Planet Fitness Customer Service, * ******* ****, West, Hampton, NH, is not an option considering I just mailed USPS 21 manila envelopes to that location, and apparently Planet Fitness Corporate has no record of that mailing. Before mailing USPS additional manila envelopes to Planet Fitness Corporate, it would be a good idea to find out what happened to the previous 21 manila envelopes I mailed USPS to Planet Fitness Corporate. Because of virtually nil cooperation from Planet Fitness Corporate, and Planet Fitness Customer Service, I was trying to get everyone to work from the same page concerning my Planet Fitness Berlin VT membership, practically out of thin air. Perhaps Planet Fitness Corporate was doing this on purpose, so perhaps I would just give up? I don't know, I have no idea? Jeremy repeatedly reiterated three main points: One, Planet Fitness Corporate has no record of ever receiving my September 13th, 2021 mailing, total 21. Two, this Senior Management Group works off site, and that I was not allow to have any contact information for them (to send my September 13th, 2021 letter to them USPS). Three, this Senior Management Group would make the final determination concerning my Planet Fitness Berlin VT membership, however, I was not allowed to have any input in their decision. While trying to brainstorm with Jeremy how to get around these insurmountable obstacles put in place by Planet Fitness Corporate, Jeremy eventually hung up on me. A Personal message to Jeremy: I apologize that talking to me on the phone may be a little convoluted. As I stated to you, I am dyslexic, "I am a little dyslexic." Perhaps you could try to see my perspective. I am here to get everyone on the same page, so we can amicably resolve any differences we may have, so that all parties involved can move forward. Jeremy, what are you there for? Whomever this "Senior Management Group," consists of, if they are going to make a decision on my membership to Planet Fitness Berlin VT, they need a copy of my September 13th, 2021 letter. As convoluted it may have been talking to me on the phone, I was trying to resolve that issue. Perhaps Jeremy, as a Customer Service representative for Planet Fitness Corporate, if you were actually trying to help, perhaps talking to me would have been a little less convoluted. Again, I apologize, Jeremy for any convolutedness of our phone call. As an Advocate, you learn that you keep working on an issue until you find a resolution. There is always a resolution to be found, if you are willing to work for it. Jeremy, it is called work. Try it someday. I do not know if hanging up on me is a reflection of you Jeremy, or a reflection of Planet Fitness Corporate. However, next time Jeremy, work a little harder, and find a resolution. Jeremy, do not ever hang up on people, it is rude and impolite. Planet Fitness Customer Service, XXX-XXX-XXXX, call on Tuesday, October 13th, 2021: I waited until October 13th, 2021 to call the Planet Fitness Customer Service line back for two reasons. First, in my September 13th, 2021 letter, I gave a month time frame for a written reply. Second, since sending my September 13th, 2021 letter to this Senior Management Group seems to be such an issue for Planet Fitness Corporate, I reformatted my September 13th, 2021 letter into a PDF, so that it could be sent as an email attachment. I do not normally send correspondences this way. As stated, paper and USPS is definitely the preferred method for Advocacy, and resolving issues for too many reasons to state. Primarily, you have a paper documentation of everything that occurs. Sending a correspondence via USPS has never been an issue before within my Advocacy. Everyone has a P.O. box, that is normal information that would be on a business card. I reformatted my letter to a PDF, so that it could be sent as an email attachment, to resolve issues Planet Fitness Corporate apparently has in directly contacting this Senior Management Group.\ When I called Planet Fitness Customer Service Tuesday, October 13th, 2021, the line was consistently purposely disconnected by Planet Fitness Customer Service. In total, I tried calling between five and ten times. Only one time, Planet Fitness Customer Service (Alex) stayed on the line just long enough to say "This matter is closed, we will no longer be taking your calls," and then immediately hung up on me. I have no idea what that means. Just a sample of questions I have no answer to: * I still have no idea why my Planet Fitness Berlin VT membership was terminated? * I do not know if this decision "that this matter is closed" was made by Planet Fitness Senior Management Group, or maybe by Jeremy. Who knows? * I do not know if this Senior Management Group has actually ever seen and read my September 13th, 2021 letter to Planet Fitness Corporate? * I have not received a written reply from this Senior Management Group of the basis of their decision, or if this Senior Management Group even made a decision at all? * I have not received any response in any mannerism from Planet Fitness Corporate. Summary: Perhaps Planet Fitness Corporate, you will decide to just ignore this letter, and pretend it was never written, and does not exist. Or, Planet Fitness Corporate, you can come to the table, and work towards a resolution. I do this for a living, lets come to the table, and work this out.

  Customer response

  09/06/2022

  Excerpt from letter dated Tuesday, August 30th, 2022:

   

  "My gym membership was eventually reinstated, and Brett is no longer employed with Planet Fitness Berlin VT."

• Initial Complaint

  10/13/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been with Planet Fitness for over 9 years. The first year was month to month, while the following 8 years were on the $99 per year program. In all of those years I was never charged a membership fee. When I had a chance to review the emailed copy of the recent contract at home I became aware for the first time that I was being charged $39 on 1 November, 2021.  This charge was never mentioned while I was repeatedly told to sign "documents" that I could not see or read while signing a small digital screen. This does not seem the correct way to do business.  I'm requesting a refund of the $39 and a change in procedures.

  Business response

  11/04/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 9, 2021/11/01) */ When signing up for a membership in the club, there are rate sheets that detail all prices and draft dates. This information is covered when signing and also provided online at planetfitness.com and through the Planet Fitness Workouts app. Annual fees are not billed during the first month of membership, so if a member cancels in the first month, no annual fees are drafted. Consumer Response /* (3000, 11, 2021/11/02) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) No rate sheets were available. Followed manager's instructions to just sign a small signature screen. No information was provided or offered Business Response /* (4000, 14, 2021/11/03) */ We appreciate the feedback and will share with the team.

• Initial Complaint

  09/29/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On August 23, 2021, I went to Planet Fitness and froze my membership for 6 months due to COVID concerns. I have documentation showing this. However, I was charged $22.99 for the month following the freeze on my account. For the last week, I have called Planet Fitness in Selden every day and each time I am told that the "manager" will call me back when she is in the office. She has not been in the office for a week and the staff has been extremely rude to me. They state that there is no one else I can talk to and that she is the only person who can help me. I will continue to be charged if I don't get this resolved.

  Business response

  09/30/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2021/09/30) */ I spoke with ******* on the phone on 9/30/21. She did freeze her membership as we had paperwork documentation on it. There was an error in our computer system, that still charged her despite the freeze. We issued a refund for the 2 months and she also just wanted her membership canceled, so we canceled it as well. Consumer Response /* (2000, 9, 2021/09/30) */ issue has been resolved. Business Response /* (4000, 19, 2021/11/05) */ I spoke with ******* on October 15th on the phone. It took a little while to post on the account but the full refund was returned to ******* on October 19th for the 2 months equaling $45.98. Consumer Response /* (2000, 21, 2021/11/08) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

• Initial Complaint

  09/27/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I signed up for a membership at the Bayonne, NJ location in July/2019 for $5 per month. The charges would be taken out of my checking account or backup credit card. Recently I had a problem with unauthorized access to my banking account and credit cards,while I was having those issues, Planet Fitness was unable to charge my account for 2-3 months. I logged into my Planet Fitness account to input the new checking account and credit card info on 09/21/2021,but saw that my account said Return For Collections. I had not received any email, phone call, or letters from the gym to inform me that there was anything wrong with my account. I called the gym and spoke to someone on the phone who advised me that I could pay the balance owed on the account, but I would have to sign a new agreement for a higher price, they would not reinstate my account. I explained what happened, and I did not want to close my account, nor start a new one. I want to pay my balance and continue my original agreement

  Business response

  10/26/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/09/27) */ Mr. ****** has been to the Club to discuss this membership agreement. Looking at his account, there have been attempts to contact Mr. ****** via phone, text and email from our billing company. He has paid the majority of his monthly dues via phone payment through said billing company when they have called him letting him know his account was overdue. This is only able to be done is through our billing company. We are unable to make a payment via phone at the Club level. According to his agreement, Mr. ****** has authorized Planet Fitness to use his billing information he provided us when he signed up but said billing information was not a valid form of payment due to it being declined each month. His membership agreement states, "Your Monthly Membership Fee is guaranteed so long as you remain a member in good standing including payment of all monthly dues and your Annual Membership Fee." Mr. ****** has not been in good standing, therefore his membership was put in return for collections. We would like to work with Mr. ****** on obtaining a new membership, but are unable to reinstate a membership that we no longer offer to any members. The membership Mr. ****** had is no longer approved. We offered Mr. ****** 2 months free, no down payment, but he does not want this membership. Unfortunately, the membership Mr. ****** wants is not a membership we are able to offer and/or make exceptions for since it's not in our system any longer. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2021/09/28) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I was never contacted via phone,text,or email to be advised that my membership was going to be returned for collections. When I advised their employee Brandon over the phone about that, he replied that they have over 5000 members and can't contact them to let them know there is a problem with their payment. I have never made a payment over the phone, the payments were taken out via my secondary payment which was my credit card on file. The only way I was able to see,or even knew there was a problem was when I logged into my account online to input the new banking/credit card info. The employ Brandon advised me that the only person that could reinstate my account was the area manager, but he doubted she would do it because she never does it. It would seem it can be done, they just choose not to. The reason the payments stopped being able to be taken out was because of the unauthorized access to my banking and credit card account that was out of my control, which I explained to them. They offered me a new membership at a higher price which would also include an annual fee being charged in November. The balance that I owe includes an annual fee that they charged in September. I also spoke to someone over the phone on the corporate phone number who advised me that the club could reinstate my membership, but it would be up to them. All I want to do is pay my balance, give my new bank/credit card info, and continue my agreement. What the club is offering at this point is to get me off the lower monthly membership fee I was paying, and offer a higher membership fee with another annual fee on top of it. It is not comparable and just more expensive. I would hope the club would be more understanding considering the trouble I've already experienced with the unauthorized use of my accounts and never receiving any notice from their billing company or the club itself that there was a billing problem with my membership. Thank you. Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2021/10/13) */ Mr ****** account has been an issue for months before he went into Return for Collections. I have records he paid his bill via phone through our billing company DataTrak. As I stated before, his agreement states his accounts has to be in good standing and since he never updated his billing through the club level, his account was put into RFC due to non payment. We do not offer the membership he had in the past. We are unable to reactivate his old account once it has been sent to RFC. This is our Planet Fitness policies and are unable to reverse. We have offered Mr ****** other memberships we have at this time, even offered to waive some of his balances, but he wants a membership we longer offer at our facility. Thank you

• Initial Complaint

  08/30/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I cancelled my membership with Planet Fitness in person at the Salem, NH location on August 16, 2021. I was then billed on August 17th, 2021 for the month starting August 17, 2021 to September 16, 2021 for an additional month of membership. I have reached out the location about this issue for a refund and all requests have been ignored. I no longer live in state and have not used the gym since July, 2021. I received a letter stating that they waited until August 17, 2021 to file my cancellation and thus had to charge me for an additional month, despite receiving my cancellation request on August 16, 2021.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩