Complaint Review: Planet Fitness

I have a very serious complaint about a front desk staff member at your location on 9100 Wadsworth Blvd Westminster CO.  I feel that I have been discriminated against and have certainly been extremely embarrassed on 3 separate occasions, all of which were in front of several members and 2 of the times in front of guests I was trying to get enrolled as a member.  I have been a member of Planet fitness for over a year now and have referred several people as members.  My home club is located on South Wadsworth Blvd in Lakewood CO.  Please also note that I was a manager of the busiest 24 Hour Fitness Club in the entire Midwest Division for 5 years and know how a member is supposed to be treated and have dealt with every situation imaginable in the fitness club setting and I am disgusted by the way I was treated by your employee and was completely embarrassed by her.  Not only was she rude, she was unprofessional, condescending, discourteous, smug, just plain inappropriate and seemed to get some sort of pleasure from treating me poorly, because she had a smile on her face and made smart aleck remarks.  This wasn’t a polite smile by the way, it was a “ha ha I got you condescending smile” .  She made me feel very uncomfortable, unwelcome and very embarrassed amongst other things.

Occasion 1- I had been working out at the Lakewood location for a couple months and my account had not gone through for some reason, which caused me to have a balance.  This was probably a fault of my own, but that’s beside the point.  I checked in to the Westminster location by signing in on the clipboard and proceeded to work out with a guest.  I was on a machine when the only female front desk employee came over and told me I had to leave.  I asked why and she told me in a very loud and condescending voice that I don’t pay my bills and I owe$_____(I forgot the amount, but was somewhere around $60)  I offered to pay the balance and she told me she won’t take my money and said I’m not welcome there and to leave with my guest I was trying to show around so he could enroll.  This guest was also an owner of a very large credit restoration form that I worked out at and was my boss, who then questioned me about why I don’t pay my bills as the employee said.  I then grabbed my belongings and left with my head held low, embarrassed by the numerous other club members that were in the area that the employee made a scene in front of and made me look and feel like a low life.  I called my home club, where I have an all club membership at, paid the full balance, apologized for being past due and fixed my account.  I didn’t want to go back in that day, or for the next week, because I was too embarrassed.

Occasion 2-Several months later after resuming a normal workout regimen again was again approached by the same woman because my account was 1 month behind.  This time it was because the employee at the other club put the wrong credit card number in and was off by a digit, so it declined.  Again, I was in the club with another guest that I was trying to get enrolled after getting the other guest I was embarrassed in front of to join and be my workout partner.   When the woman came over again, she said in a loud voice “you need to leave, you don’t know how to pay your bills”.  I said I’m not sure what happened, I set up everything and there is plenty of money in my account and I’m happy to pay it.  The woman then informed me I wasn’t welcome there and must leave.  I said “that’s no way to treat a member” and the female employee told me “you’re not a member, you don’t know how to pay your membership” and stood there pointing at the door with a smirk on her face.  At that point I didn’t even want to try and discuss the situation with them, I just wanted to get out of the club.  I have never been so embarrassed and felt so unwelcome anywhere.  The guest that I was with will never step foot in a Planet Fitness again because of the way he saw I was treated.  There was several members right there in the cardio area and around me, seeing as how it was prime time and the employee didn’t use any couth at all, she made it more than clear to everyone around me that I was a leach on society and couldn’t pay my bills.  She had a look on her face that seemed like she got some kind of sick enjoyment out of embarrassing me and having control that she seemingly lost at some point in her life.  It was almost like a bully mentality and was very uncalled for.

Occasion 3- After rectifying my account again and discovering it was because the credit card was inputted incorrectly I attempted to work out again and this was the worst of all 3 and the last straw.  I went to sign in, the female employee again rudely asked me what my home club was and I told her.  Then she said “I talked to him and your no longer welcome in the club at all, you need to go” with a big condescending smile on her face as she giggled.  I said excuse me and she said “another employee said you called me a c**t on your way out under your breath”.  She then said “thanks for calling me a c**t” and I said I didn’t but your welcome.  I know what I said was inappropriate, but at this point I was very upset that I was being treated this way.  She then began to laugh at me with the other employee and I heard her call me a loser and then whisper something I didn’t understand.  There were several people at and around the front desk trying to check in, sitting in the massage chairs nearby and sitting at the tables in the front.  She made it more than clear to all that was around that I was no longer welcome in the club and I have to go.  She was extremely rude, condescending and inappropriate, especially to say that I would treat a female in that manner.  I have 2 sisters and my mother that passed away that instilled respect for people, especially women and I wouldn’t treat anyone, especially a woman in that manner, no matter why.  They taught me that that word is uncalled for in any circumstance and I would never use it. 

In addition to that, I was meeting my female 25 year old cousin there and she showed up before me.  She went to sign in as I told her that she needed to do and she would wait for me at the front so we could work out together.  The same female employee told her that she needed to pay her $20 to work out there that day.  My cousin said I was a member and was on my way, she said “I don’t care, I don’t see him” and she could either pay the money or wait for me outside.  She chose the latter and waited for me at Ballys never to return to PF again.