ComplaintsforPlanet Fitness

• Initial Complaint

  08/14/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In 2020, exact month uncertain, but the beginning of the pandemic, I contacted this business to cancel my membership (which is part of their advertising- cancellation at any time). Since then, I have contacted them a total of 7 times, five times in person, twice over the phone, to try to get my membership cancelled. Each time I was told they had no record of my account being cancelled. Billing of my account continued until I put a stop payment on my account in the beginning of 2022 (at which point my bank informed me this is a common problem with Planet Fitness). Since then, my account has accrued debt and now Planet Fitness is claiming that I cant cancel my account because I owe them money. However, that money would not be owed if they had cancelled my account any of the times I told them to.I have left a ****** review and contacted the district manager but have received no response.If this is not rectified I will be proceeding with legal action.

• Initial Complaint

  08/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I went into my local Planet Fitness a few weeks ago. Ive been having a problem with my foot that requires surgery (which is scheduled) as well as money problems. I asked to put a freeze on my account for about 3-4 months. I asked the staff member if they also freeze the annual fee and he said I wouldnt be billed until my membership was made active again.I checked my bank account today (August 1st) and see that I was billed the $39.00 annual fee despite being told it was frozen. I stopped into my Planet Fitness after work today and asked for a refund. The Assistant Manager said hed have to ask the manager and went into the back room. He came out and said the manager said no. I asked to speak to the manager or someone else in charge but the assistant manager said they werent available, despite having just spoken to them. So basically I came in right away, as soon as I noticed that I was billed only to receive no help. I asked for a corporate or billing number and was told that refunds had to be handled in house. Ok so I literally came into the gym and there was still no one to answer questions or help me, especially since I was told wrong information. I would have just canceled my membership if the staff member told me that the annual fee was still applicable. Poor business management and almost impossible to get customer service! The staff member wouldnt even look me in the eyes and brushed me off. Oh but I can stop in again sometime to speak with the manager! They wouldnt talk to me when I was there so its a waste of my time! I want to be refunded the $39.00!

  

  Business response

  08/04/2022

  I am emailing you in regards to a BBB complaint (ID: *********  made by ****************************** 

  
  

  The member signed a membership agreement on 06/29/2019 that stated " An Annual Membership Fee of $39 dollars will be billed each year of your monthly membership, on or around the 1st beginning on 08/01/2019, to the account on file. The Annual Fee is fully earned when received and is non-refundable. On 7/08/2022, the member signed a Membership Freeze/Unfreeze form stating " I understand that the membership freeze applies only to monthly membership dues and the Annual Fee will be billed as scheduled." 

  
  

  I have attached both forms below. 

  
  

  Her account has since been cancelled. 

  Customer response

  08/04/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  Planet Fitness manages their entire business model by making it near impossible to get in touch with anyone in customer service by relying on fine print contracts. When you take the time to go into the gym (since you can't call anyone regarding your account or take care of these matters online!), staff members should be educated in their companies policies and be able to answer simple questions for customers, since it's so hard to speak to an actual member of management (they have several assistant managers who can't do anything or answer any questions). When I signed to freeze my account, I literally signed a keypad, where you cannot see the contents of said fine print. I asked the staff member, and he said that the freeze would also include the annual membership fee. It's poor business practices like this that leave good paying customers with a sour taste in their mouth. I still want a refund of the $39.00, since I went into the gym to dispute it the same day it was being taken out of my bank account. Do the right thing and stop stealing from people. If this was a case of my not taking the time to stop in and freeze my account weeks earlier, I would be fine with the annual fee, but since I froze my account that should be taken into consideration. Completely unfair. 
  
  Regards,
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  07/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have NEVER been a member of any Planet Fitness. Somehow they were able to get my credit card information and charged my card $23.04 on 6/17/22. When I call the local Planet Fitness on W. College Ave. the manager told me that they (the local gym) were not responsible for financial issues and game me a number to call.***************) That number was of no help because I need either a gym membership or they wanted my credit card #, which I refused to give them. I called to local store back and they are of absolutely no help. I am upset and angry at what has happened.

• Initial Complaint

  06/16/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In the month of September in 2018 I physically went into the Planet Fitness gym and signed a cancellation contract because I was changing state jobs and working/moving 90 miles away. There are no Planet Fitness gyms anywhere near where I moved.Long story shortToday I received an email asking me to update my planet fitness profile so I called them immediately.It was verified that I have still been paying a monthly fee for the last 4 years, and the cancellation paperwork I filled out and submitted there at the gym was not turned in properly by the employee that day.I remember the employees that day seemed very young and uninterested, and there was no managerPlease help me get refunded.I went from Planet Fitness to Anytime Fitness where I live now and have been paying into that gym since I moved 4 years agoThat should be proof.Planet Fitness said there is nothing they can do-I cant possibly believe that.

  

  Business response

  07/15/2022

  BBB COMMENT SKW:

  I will cancel the membership now- I can waive the 20 dollars- it was two years ago It doesn't say we have been pulling money out - it just says return for collections- 

  Customer response

  07/24/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  I canceled my planet fitness gym membership in September ******. That was four years ago, not two. The day I filed this complaint I had spoken with an employee from planet fitness. The employee told me that my membership had never been canceled, and that my payments have been coming out via direct deposit this entire time.
  [Please type your response here.]
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  05/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I reached out to the business multiple times to pause my membership. The first time I reached out was in October and they have continued to **** me. I reached out to the Eau ************************* as well as the main customer service on the webpage. It has been 6 months now and I would like to be reimbursed and cancel my membership. The reimbursement would be around $140.

• Initial Complaint

  05/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I joined Planet Fitness of *********** ** in 2018 or 2019. Some time has passed since which is not the nature of the complaint I have. And exercised there with the girlfriend I had at the time. We had broken up and I had my membership transferred to the pekin location. I worked out with a friend of mine a few times maybe a month or so I believe and then moved to bloomington about a year and 4 months ago. After I had been here a few months I realized I did not want to travel to pekin to exercise, which, they lock you into the town of your subscription. So if you try to work out anywhere else, you have to pay an upgrade fee, which is also not the nature of the complaint. When I went in to cancel my subscription some year ago I would say, around March or April of 2021, I was directed to a computer where I "canceled" my subscription. I thought it was taken care of, and left. Obviously that was not the case and looked at my bank statement being charged that membership fee, and a yearly fee that you pay. I understood it was my responsibility to cancel my subscription, which I did. They pekin location has the last day I signed in onto their computer. Which will be probably about a year ago in where I canceled my subscription. I would like a refund of the around April last year, the yearly fee, and now.I have been paying membership for 4 years and have only used the gym about 12 times. I canceled the subscription a year ago, haven't used the gym since, and still have been paying. I would be beyond happy if I could get those fees back that I wasn't aware I was being charged in the first place. Thank you.

  

  Business response

  01/31/2023

   

  Upon looking into this, we cannot confirm that the membership was canceled during the month of April of 2021. Per the member contract and agreement (Section 8. Dues, Fees, Charges, & Taxes) you must notify Planet Fitness within 60 days of a claimed error on your statement. 

   

  We can submit a refund proposal for the annual fee and the membership fee for April 2022, since we were notified of the error in May 2022. 

   

• Initial Complaint

  03/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In October of last year I went into this location to cancel my membership, they continued to **** my debit card in the following amounts:12/06/2021 - $76.08 02/22/2022. - $23.04 I called on 02/17/2022 and told them the situation, they just said they will request a refund but they dont guarantee it. I never used this membership not even once

• Initial Complaint

  02/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I signed up for planet fitness on February 3rd 2022. On that date I was double charged for $10.58 once at 1:23 am and once at 7:11am. I have contacted the business in several ways asking for a refund of $10.58 for the past 2 weeks. I have messages from Planet Fitness on ******** and ******* stating that I should Have received a refund by now. I still have not received this refund. I have also been told to go to the gym and ask for a refund from the manager. However this manager is never at the gym when I get there and the last time I had to try to talk to him he was extremely rude. I have been to the gym several times since this happened trying to get a refund of $10.58 however this has not happened yet.

• Initial Complaint

  02/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Dane county ** is satirical in its racism. I signed up at one location and they openly attempted to make me uncomfortable. I attempted to switch or get a black card. I went to a different location same area same ownership group. Even worst treatment before and it almost came to a head because the workers would stare me down. I only went 2x. The manager keep trying to make excuses why I couldn't sign in even though it worked both times. Ultimately a very combative argument ensued. I told them I wouldn't be coming back and cancel my membership.I was still getting charged so i called a few times. At this point they were trying to get me to physically go into the place again to cancel my membership again. I explained if I come in there and have to deal with that treatment again whoever was issuing the treatment likely would be in a physical altercation with me. I refused to go back. I kept getting charged. I finally talked to someone from. Their ownership group and he said he wouldn't cancel the membership. About a yr later I signed up online for a PF in a different city. When I got to the gym they said they couldn't complete my membership because I owed money. It was so embarrassing.Then the clerk showed me "notes" about me on my file left by the last PF implying I was aggressive and what not. Basically stereotyping **** contacted the ownership group again and what he said was that he agreed to cancel the membership but not the fees. To try to get money even though it's established I had not set one foot in the gym within that time frame is unethical.But to do all this c*** to persuade me not to use the establishment but then still **** me is disgusting and immoral The racist followers need to remove that balance

• Initial Complaint

  12/27/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In January 2020 was the last time that I had used the gym. I therefore went to local gym to cancel membership, form filled out and signed. Moneys were still taken out of my bank account. I have used the contact us button/email on planet fitness main site, sent numerous emails regarding the cancellation and why money was still being taken out. During the covid-19 pandemic planet fitness still debited funds from my account when it was suppose to be frozen! The manager had stated that corporate emails get sent to whomever but apparently thats a lie! This should not have gone this far, funds should be retuned. I cannot pull emails from a website, as they probably knew that was not possible so thats why they asked for us. The way planet represents themselves with this is horrible. It stated as someone in ************* filed a lawsuit for funds being taken out, and planet fitness states cancelling membership can send certified letter, telephone call due to pandemic. This was march 2020. The emails sent has been since last year! No reply's back until I called the local gym, and its escalated to this. All i want is my money back as I cancelled the proper way, not my fault the employee did it incorrectly. But they shame personal as its their fault, not everyone looks at their bank accounts everyday to see if Planet fitness took out if their account. It only spiked since its a pandemic and I'm still getting charged!

*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. ↩