Planet Fitness-way too hard to cancel a membership

by Anonymous Jan 23, 2011
Review #: 217783

Company	Planet Fitness
Location	Littleton, Colorado
Category	Fitness Centers
Views	7721

Tried to cancel my month-to-month membership today since I have moved and it's no longer convenient to go there.No where on their website does it tell you how to do this.

I called my home club and was told I either had to go there in person(which is 1500 miles away), or I could send a certified letter (and it MUST be certified) stating I wished to cancel, and they would "process my request". Those are the only 2 options. So now I have to go out of my way to go to the post office and PAY to cancel my membership.

Ridiculous.Super easy to join, but they make you jump thru hoops to cancel. 3863fc4

To leave a comment on this complaint, please log in with:

Keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject.
Personal attacks will be deleted.
No Links or Scripts.

Hide comments (98)

Showing 20 of 98 comments

Anonymous
Jun 04 from Versailles, Ohio

I cancelled my membership in person and they still charged me the annual fee! Said that even though I was on a month to month I still had to cancell before a certain date if I didn't want the fee charged. No One and No where does it say this!

Anonymous
Feb 23 from Chicago, Illinois

I cancelled my membership IN PERSON at the gym I held my membership at because I was moving and I just realized months later that they are still charging me. Can someone explain to me how this is even legal? Shouldn't there be a law against businesses and people who say they will cancel your membership, take all the paperwork and afterwards still continue to charge you?

Anonymous
Mar 20

report to BBB

BeckyBa
Jan 06

Seriously? Surely all of you who can't figure out how to cancel your membership kept a copy of the signed contract and can refer to it for directions. If not have you tried to Google "Planet Fitness Cancellation Policy" ... it is the first link listed, or don't you know your way around Google either?

For those of you who are complaining that they have not stopped withdrawing funds from your bank account after you told them to ....have you paid your $58 cancellation fee you agreed to pay when you signed the membership contract? If not, then you haven't cancelled your membership yet. Until you pay the cancellation fee, they are entitled to continue to charge you a monthly fee because you have NOT cancelled your membership, you merely told them of your intention to do so.

Anyhow, I have joined Planet Fitness 3 times and have cancelled each time, paid my $58 fee and have NEVER had a problem or another withdrawal from my account. I cannot believe that people complain about a very simple process, if you follow it appropriately

member
Jan 11 from Charlotte, North Carolina

how do you not pay the 58$ fee for cancelling. I have closed that account that they draw automatic payments out of.

DMacPA
Jan 11 from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Apparently since your post they have taken down the lovely page you're talking about. And a $58 fee once you have fulfilled the time requirement and cancelled is just ridiculous. So easy to sign-up online - completely impossible to get cancellation information the same way!!!!

sky
Jan 03 from Califon, New Jersey

simply change your account number or go to your bank and tell them to stop them from charging u every month they would just block them and ur all set.

Katy
Dec 20, 2012

I had a very bad experience with a gym membership before joining PF. A place that wouldn't cancel, kept charging, and who's staff never had an answer for any billing or cancellation questions. So I completely understand how many reviewers feel when put in that situation. When a PF opened closer to my home I was skeptical, but after looking into it, PF is a really good deal. $10 a month for a membership and most PF location have extended hours during weekdays which was a big selling point for me since this is not a feature you find at most gyms. Eight months into my membership I had to move. There was a new PF in the same city just kinda far away from my new place. I decided it would be better to transfer my membership, even if only used sparringly, than to pay the cancellation fee since I was still within my signed 1 year. PF makes this easy to do online and this is a feature that is not offered by most gyms. Why do I point out these PF perks? It's because they come included in your $10 monthly fee. PF has more features to a standard membership than most gyms and is less than half the usual cost. In many cases you've already saved money just by using PF than another gym, and the cancellation process isn't much different for a more expensive gym except that the cancellation fee is usually larger. Eventually I did cancel my membership since the drive to the new PF was too far and I wasn't using my membership often enough to justify the expense.

So yes it may be... a little harder to cancel, but in most cases the "hoops" they have you jump through are mutually benificial. Most contracts require a signature both to start an agreement and to end one, which is why they require that you do it in person or send a certified letter. Certified letters give both parties proof of cancellation and is a practice used by many companies so that you can now prove your cancellation if they continue to take your money or prove that you no longer have access to their services if you try showing up for a quick workout. This gives you the option of legal action against the company when you are having a financial miscommunication. Otherwise you would just be out of lots of money with no chance of getting any back. The automatic withdraw problems occur because PF uses an outside financial company for all their billing, this helps them keep things simple when dealing with their franchises but sometimes members can fall through the cracks and that is where many people have the biggest problem with being billed after cancellation.
In these cases it is a fight and it can get messy but it is also something that you as a consumer who is going to sign a legal contract should consider before putting down your signature. This really goes for anything you sign, don't sign blindly, if you aren't sure about the legal teminalogy ask an employee, if the employee doesn't have an immediate answer or can't find the information to satisfy you then please do not sign that contract. Certainly never just scroll straight to the bottom and click I agree. What did you just agree to, do you even know?

As for incompetent and/or rude employees, well I don't know about you but I see these everywhere, restaurants, gas stations, department stores, etc. Keep in mind that PF is a franchise company. This means that the person who fronts the money for the location gets to hire whomever they want. So while one location might be clean, fast, and the friendliest gym you've ever been to, another might have lazy inexperinced workers who don't care about their job and are the only ones who filled out applications so the owner(s) had no choice but to take what was available. (At least I like to pretend that's why bad employees get hired).

When dealing with employees remember that most people who assist customers and work the front desk are not autonomous robots, they are people just like you who happen to work at that company. They don't have a stake in the reputation of the company and other than keeping their manager happy have no incentive to be curteous or considerate of customers. Talk to them like they are people and keep calm. They are not the person who keeps billing you and they may have no way of contacting the company that is billing you, but when you are polite and kind to them they tend to do what little they can to help you out and are very understanding. Walking into or calling the business mad, aggitated, upset, frustrated, and argumentative about something "the company" did and taking it out on the employee who had no actual involvement in your dilemma will only make them want to get you to go away as fast as possible whatever it takes, they may even lie to you just to get you out of their hair.

When it comes to tracking down a frequently absent manager, go in to or call the location. Ask clearly to speak to the manager, do not mention that the call is about a cancellation, say that it is regarding an urgent business matter and that you are not free to discuss this information. If the manager is unavailable ask if there is a better time to call back. Act like an educated adult even if you aren't one, and speak clear english like a professional. If I were a manager and had people trying to yell at, argue with, or complain to me about my company and their memberships I might try dodging your calls too, especially if you are using slang terms, sound like you are just upset, have no idea what you are talking about, and/or are refusing to listen to or understand anything that I try to explain to you.

For those few people who aren't just complaining about PF because they are angry or upset about they way the company does business, and have legitimately fallen through the cracks, been mistreated, and abused by this company I am so sorry and I feel for you. At some point it may be in your best interest to speak to an attourney. Please use this experience as a learning tool and be cautious when next signing a legal agreement. I wish you the best.

For the rest of the misspelling, non-contract reading, ranters:
I hope that posting on this website makes you feel better because it sure didn't put a single dollar back in your pocket or do any serious damage to PF's consumer base or their bank account.

Happy Ranting! Show more

Really?
Dec 12, 2012

It's actually quite easy to cancel your membership and states how to do so on your agreement that you sign. Planet Fitness is one of the only gyms where you can go in to cancel and they won't try to pressure you to stay or charge you a couple hundred dollars to cancel. I have signed up and canceled and resigned with them in the past. This was all painless. Pay attention to what you're signing and you will be fine.

ok
Dec 19, 2012 from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

If you read the complaint first she was complaining HOW FAR IT WAS due to her moving!

true that
Dec 11, 2012

yall are realy dumb it clearly states when you sign up that you will be charged 58 dollars to prematurely terminate for any reason after that being said i will pay the 58 i agreed to i just want to know how to do it through the site insight plz... i still love planet fitness

DEE
Apr 10

its only $58 if you cancel within 12 months of signing up.

Trace
Dec 10, 2012 from Liverpool, New York

I tried to pay for my membership with cash up front for a year but was told that was not an option. I had to share my banking information in order to gain membership. I should have known there was a reason for this and now I surely do! They will not allow me to cancell without charging me fees for cancelling. I have moved out of the area and have to drive back to the center to cancel next month (so they say). My mother has been told the same thing and every time she goes they attempt to charge her to cancel, so she is still a member. How is this legal?!

Planet fitness is sucks
Dec 05, 2012

Bad customer service there's a manager name maverick at the north Miami beach is really fresh and rude he's not freaking professional at all they a bunch of liar what they told you before sign the membership is totally different after sign and to cancel they don't want to cancel they have the guts to say they gonna report you the credit bureau They said It's not a contract which is a contract and a trap After I ask them to cancel they said yes and they were still taking money from my account I went to cancel my bank card they called and telling that I owe them after 9 months I cancelled my cards that's sucks I won't refer no one to that gym they are liar the gym is not clean it smells garbage always overflow Bad customer services

Dave
Jan 06 from Omaha, Nebraska

Learn to write a sentence. It sounds more like you are a bad consumer than they are a bad gym.

Monica
Nov 29, 2012

Planet Fitness sucks when trying to cancel on them!! They charged me twice in a month, on the 2nd i got charged $10.83 and then on the 18th they charged $31.39. I then cancelled my debit card and they still managed to keep on taking my money out. They better stop making it harder!!!! :upset

Ca2013los
Apr 21 from Highlands Ranch, Colorado

This just happened to me this month, did they give you a reason why? Nobody knew anything when I called, they also said they did not see any second charge in their system.

mike
Nov 29, 2012

planet fitness sucks!

triza
Nov 12, 2012

WOW - All I did was search on how to cancel my memebership and look what I found. I like most of you could not locate an area on the Planet Fitness Site for an explanation on how to do it. I think it is their way of KEEPING the money coming in. It is so impossible to complete this process without having complications etc. Looks like they are going to get their way. I will just have to keep it going. I do not need late fees, over limit fees, insufficent funds fees on my account and my husband account. Very BAD pratices PLANET FITNESS !

Tammy
Oct 22, 2012

This is for complaint #1 I am sorry about your accident but If you read the agreement before you signed it it clearly states you will be charged $58 if you cancel early. It does not say unless you are in a car accident...or any other reason.

Showing 1-20 of 98 comments

To the Top

18 hours ago

Planet Fitness

Planet Fitness in Springfield, Ma. Is not Consistent about Dress Code

19 hours ago

PF is committing Fraud & Discrimination

planet fitness sucks

1 day ago

RIPPED OFF

Jun 15

30 minute workout-planet fitness

Jun 11

EP Fitness

EP FITNESS UNPROFESSIONAL "TRAINERS"

Apr 05

EP Fitness - Shady Cancellation Process

Jan 28

EP FITNESS

Nov 04, 2012

Body Renew Fitness

Bad Gym!!!

Jun 09, 2012

Aeroflex Fitness

Aeroflex Fitness in Sherwood Park

3 hours ago

AuthorHouse

Authorhouse scam.

4 hours ago

Saladmaster

salad master cookware

Massage Envy

Massage Envy is absolutely the worst

5 hours ago

Rent A Center

THEY WILL PUT OUT A WARRENT ON YOU!!!

Fox News

I love fox news,but I don't watch to see the female crouch

Planet Fitness-way too hard to cancel a membership

Read next Planet Fitness complaint

Select Reason

Thank you!

Thank you!

Login with Pissed Consumer Account

Log In to Pissed Consumer or Sign Up.

Sign up

Read next Planet Fitness complaint

Select Reason

Thank you!

Report a bug

Thank you!