Planet Fitness — Attraction in Chapel Hill

My teenage son goes to this gym not recommend it. After over a year I got a text from my son saying they needed me to come in and sign a parental waiver form I signed when I signed him up. When he called I was told I had never signed the parental waiver. I explained that I had signed it when I came in to sign my son up and my son had been going there for over a year. Staff told me they were under new management and had been enforcing the waiver policy for the past two weeks. I again explained my son went almost daily and I had signed the waiver when I started the membership. Staff began arguing with me, telling me I signed up online and had never signed the waiver because it had to be signed in person, and was ruder than he was initially. I had to ask him at least ten times for his name while he continued to argue with me about something I knew he was wrong about. He finally gave me his first name but refused to give me his last name. I asked to speak to the manager. He said he was the shift lead and there was no manager. I asked for the manager’s name and was the first name Chad. I told Chris I was going to leave my home and my guests and younger child to come down and sign the waiver again nd then speak with the manager and owner and leave a review.

On the way to the gym, I got a phone call saying that they had “done some digging” and when I signed up in person I HAD signed the waiver and that there was no need to come in at 9:00 on a Saturday night after all so my could use the membership.

So the alternative was no one at the establishment had checked to see if a minor had a parental waiver for over a year when that minor is at the gym almost daily.

I won’t cancel my son’s membership because that would just punish him. But once he can drive I will offer a membership at a better gym to replace this one. Since many of his friends attend this gym, he may want to stay there. However, I wouldn’t recommend this gym to anyone. Staff were rude, wrong, and unprofessional. Instead of arguing with me and making rude comments I could hear, he should have believed me when I told him I had signed up in person and signed the waiver at that time and figured it out before I had to threaten to write a review and contact the manager and owner. I understand mistakes are made but customer service must mean nothing at this gym. I did get a hollow apology when I got the call when I was on the way down there. I say hollow because of the tone, attitude, and nasty comments I could hear him making in the background. He couldn’t seem to understand why I was bothered by his behavior. Perhaps whoever (if anyone) at this this business reads these reviews can help him understand:

1. When a customer pays for a service and follows the company’s policies, they expect to be able to use that service. If you block them from using that service when they have done so, they may be upset.

2. When a customer tries to explain to you they have done something - such as signing up in person and signing a waiver at that time - and you tell them that they singed up online and didn’t sign a waiver instead of believing them and working with them to try to figure out why there is suddenly a problem after over a year, they may become upset.

When you argue with a customer about something they know they did and insist they did something different instead of believing them, they may become upset,

When you refuse to give a customer your name and instead talk over them and continue to insist they did something they didn’t and tell them they are wrong instead of working with them, they may become upset.

When it turns out you are wrong and you’ve been rude to a customer, saying you apologize doesn’t really count when they can hear you badmouthing them in the background.

I hope my son will want to go to another one when he can drive. There are many in the area to choose from. Do yourself a favor and pick one. Customer service has never been great but this was completely ...

I've been going to this Planet Fitness (Chapel Hill) for at least a couple of years so I think I'm in a good position to comment on it. As with almost any business there are pros and cons, but I think in this case the pros outweigh the cons. I also would like to add a special note to "the owner" at the end of this review. Overall I've had a good experience at this gym. You have to start with the idea that it's not like a normal gym with free weights and squat racks etc. The closest they come are Smith machines, but given that it's a gym for the masses that is extremely reasonable in terms of cost, I think it works great. Many of the folks here are kids from the local universities and in general they are a great crowd to work out around. I'm definitely not College age but I find talking to them is a lot of fun and many are as curious about me as I am about them. We trade workout tips, mostly they give me theirs. Picture a baboon talking to a mountain lion :) Generally it's a very friendly and respectful atmosphere. Gym replaced a lot of the equipment the year before last and the quality of the equipment is excellent. I'm not sure about the treadmills, I don't use them but they seem fine. It does get very crowded especially evenings during the work week, but if you watch carefully you'll find times that it is not very crowded at all. As far as cons, it is true that the paper towel machines often do run out of paper. Given that the whole point of this is to prevent covid and other viruses from spreading, they could do a better job of keeping up with these. It's a public health issue and as much as I love the College crowd they do turn this place into a germ festival. And it is definitely true that there are some awful front desk people. Especially late at night, they seem to believe that their main job is to eat Doritos and keep up with the feeds on their phones. And take naps, that's critical too. I've had the same experience of being completely ignored as I walked into the gym at night. But this rarely happens any other time of day. For the most part the staff is friendly and helpful. Now as far as Mr or Ms Owner: telling folks who are complaining to contact the general manager with their problems is an insulting and absurd way to deal with your customers. Don't you care enough to get involved? It's such a pathetically hands-off approach and makes you seem as if you don't care at all. What you should be doing is getting the general manager to contact these folks and facilitate resolution. Or even better, *you should facilitate resolution. Provide a phone number or an email or anything. If you care about your customers you need to get more engaged. Or if it's too much for you, get up from your tanning bed and hire a chatbot. They would do a better job and you could add the empathy algorithm for just 10...

ABSURD, UNREASONABLE, EXPLOITATIVE

My son and I were genuinely interested in joining after many years as members of other local gyms. Planet Fitness helped me work past that interest over the course of the five hours I spent trying to get answers from them. The answers I received after hours on the phone (texting and calling) were absurdly unwelcoming.

We simply wanted a tour of the gym and a complimentary workout to assess whether or not the gym was a good fit for us. After four hours of being assured a free day pass was available if only I was sufficiently competent to find the correct drop-down menu (none exists), I was referred to their HQ (you cannot access the local gym directly by telephone).

After a 20 minute delay, Planet Fitness HQ informed me that none of the Planet Fitness branches within 30 minutes of me offered the free one-day passes. Instead, they offered to permit my son and me to pay $40 to take a tour and try the machines. That's more than the cost of any of their monthly plans (twice as much as their "Classic" plan). While I was waiting, I got to listen to a litany of pre-recorded messages addressing the many complaints Planet Fitness receives per month (e.g., billing their annual fee within two months of paying their sign-up fee).

Had we liked the facility, my son and I were both planning to buy the "Black Card" membership at the time of the visit. Now, that visit will never take place and we will be returning to our neighborhood YMCA where prospective members are encouraged to try the facility free for one week.

O2 fitness frequently offers a free month to try their facilities. The Y offers several swimming pools, basketball courts, a track, and racket ball courts in addition to free weights, weight machines, and cardio machines. It also offers a sliding scale for students and others who cannot afford a full price membership. You can reach the local gym facilities to speak with the employees at both O2 and the YMCA.

I'm sorry I wasn't afforded an opportunity to review PF with the benefit of a larger sample size, but the exposure I did have was entirely unsatisfactory. For those who are new to gym memberships, I strongly advise against joining a gym before you know if the facilities are a good fit for your needs. $20 is $20 too much for honoring a business with your interest and should be taken as an indication of a predatory disposition within...