Complaint Review: Planet Fitness

Forward:

   I moved back home to Pueblo, CO the first week of Sept. from Tempe AZ. I had to transfer my account, which was easy to do at the Tempe location. I used the Tempe location gym every so often. I was the primary account holder, but my mother had created the Tempe location membership for me about a year ago because at the time I was transferring banks etc...and it was a gift for me to get back in shape....it just made sense. Once I was back home in Pueblo, not even a week, I realized I would either be moving up to Denver or back to AZ; due to some tough family issues I was going through with...my mother. I made the move on 9-5-16 to move back to AZ. I got back in the groove of hiking and working out, but the Tempe location said there was something very strange going on with my account and that it had been canceled/transferred. To my surprise, I said, "no that is a mistake, I transferred it back to Tempe a week ago". They understood and allowed me to work out several days while they tried to figure out the issue. 

The Issue:

   On 9-7-16 my mother went into the Pueblo Planet Fitness location very irate and demanded the account be canceled. That was completely understandable considering the state my family was in, I even expected it. The store manager told my mother, "we cannot cancel the account unless he comes in person with a photo ID and cancels the membership himself". My mother then told him I had fled the state and was incarcerated, which was a blatant absolute terrible lie. Keep in mind, I was finding this out from the Tempe location manager, and it was incredibly humiliating to be told that in front of people. I told them, "I am not incarcerated I am right here". They were just as shocked as me, and allowed me to work out that day and that I could bring in my own information sometime that week to create my own membership. 

 Frustration: 

   I called the Pueblo location the next day. I spoke with the store manager, who dealt with my mother on 9-7-16. I said, "didn't you ask her for proof of what she was saying", "Why didn't you tell her, "We have store policies we follow ma'am, and he must be here in person in order to cancel"?". The store manager was robotically apologetic and offered the resolution for me to make a transfer with my own account info, even though it was canceled under fraudulent pretenses. I told him, "in order for this to occur and for me to continue membership with any Planet Fitness, I wanted an email stating what was said and transpired on 9-7-16 between him and my mother. He obliged, he said, "No, problem at all, I understand your frustration, and will send you an email as soon as we get off the phone, I am writing it now". Well that was at 12:48pm on 9-27-16. I waited patiently for an email to come throughout the day. Nothing from him! Not even an explanation of why he wasn't going to. This made me a little more perturbed than I had been. I called back at 4:58pm to speak with the store manager again and the store assistant manager told me, "there is a chain of command, and that the store manager would not be sending me an email about anything and that my account was canceled, and I needed to re-sign up somewhere else where I live. I told him, "if I need a subpoena, I would get one". I then demanded to know the owner of Pueblo location Planet Fitness franchise and a good number I could contact her at. All the assistant manager gave me was the Loveland, CO location phone number. 

The Owner: 

   I called the number the assistant manager gave me, which was the number for the Loveland location. The owner, Carla Love, owns two franchises one in Pueblo, and another in Loveland. I spoke with a really nice guy at the Loveland location at 5:15pm who understood my frustration gave me an *exact number to reach her at and also her email address. I called Carla 5:22pm and left her a voicemail explaining my frustration and that I wanted an explanation and a definite call back from her the next day. At 1:02pm I called the Loveland and said, "I want to speak to Carla Love today"! The woman told me "she is in a meeting, and I will relay the urgent message to her". I received a call from Carla Love at 1:35pm. The conversation was 7 minutes long and was recorded. She had absolutely no sympathy for my situation. Three times that woman made it seem as if I was trying reinstate my membership by means of my mothers account info, which was NOT true AT ALL. I told her, "you are trying to get off the phone with me, you are being dismissive, unethical and rude. I told her, "I want an email stating why my account was canceled without my permission. She said the reason my account was canceled was because my mother was so irate, and that the Store Manager feared she would change her bank account information anyways. I said, "you are telling me, that because some crazy lady shows up with fraudulent information you go against your own store policies?" She told me that she and her staff had spent enough time on this.

Matthew, Pueblo CO