Planet Fitness — Attraction in New York

My review is in reference to the Astoria location on Steinway street. I had left a previous review as past member so when I rejoined post Covid hysteria, I was unable to post a second updated review.

I highly recommend you never use your debit or credit card for billing for any big box franchise gyms. They all utilize the same unscrupulous and underhanded billing methods. This was especially evident during the first wave of lockdowns as gyms continuously billed members when they were forced by the authoritarian state to close. Be smart use virtual banks and prepaid loaded credit cards. You can close them immediately and have a zero balance without penalty.

In any case, my review concerns my recent experience at the Steinway location. I am a NASM-CPT and USA certified boxing coach. Apparently for no reason this location had an issue with my training methods. I was told no outside equipment and no combat related exercise drills. I had done these previously with no issue so it is safe to assume the two lemmings who addressed me made up the policy due to some limp wristed Karen or Ken who complained. Nevertheless, when I inquired that there was no such policy I was aware of when I joined, I was given no proof or further information. Hence, I told the employee you lost a customer. After which me and my training partner left to cancel our memberships. Three in total as he paid for two accounts, one for himself and one for his wife.

I will never do business at these factory gyms. They are corporate profit driven assembly lines where the employees are bottom feeders and the stakeholders represent faceless unaccountable non-entities. Instead of worrying about the training of paid members, these dimwit employees should be more concerned with the theft of the lockers. One happened just days ago this same week where a members locker was broken into and money is stolen. Did the boneheads who work at Steinway do anything. Nope. Hopefully the one positive from this covid pandemic is the second wave lockdown will destroy these corporate gyms globally, especially in the US. Bring back the mom and pop family gyms where customer service and curtesy matter more then the...

I really dislike this place very much. My relationship was membership of this location and I was on her guest pass few times. Some staffs were kind of rude to me little bit and refused to communicate with me through paper and pen due to my deafness. My relationship tried to ask that guy the personal trainer some questions regarding to which muscle groups we should focus on. He just walked away and did nothing. I started realizing that my deaf friends were right about this place being unfriendly and discrimination.

There’s one deaf guy who used to love to work out there for a year and he did mention that both regional manager and the manager did not take discrimination issue seriously and there were no solution or apologize in the order when he made first reports on that guy the personal trainer few times via e-mail last summer 2023. He did right thing to leave Planet Fitness, LIC as ADA advised him to find a new gym. I just learned that ADA has list of several gyms poor reputation history in discrimination. He was not only one who left but there are some other deaf members were unhappy with this place too.

We are glad that we left the place and then we listened to deaf community to ensure that we choose right gym that treat us as the equality and respectful. If you are disabled persons, we would not recommend you to sign up for this Planet Fitness location. We are very happy with Blink Fitness so far. We were feeling very heartfelt and welcome by deaf guys to join Blink Fitness. When we walked into Blink Fitness for first time, staff see me as deaf person, they just went ahead to grab pen and paper to communicate with us right away. It’s nice of them to bring deaf guy to us and helped us out. They showed us that all HDTVs show closed captioning. For even Blink Fitness got plenty of deaf members which is more than Planet Fitness in New York City. Blink...

I’ve been a member of this Planet Fitness location for a while, but unfortunately, my experience has been steadily declining — particularly during peak hours.

The main issue is that many younger members occupy the workout equipment for long periods without actually using it effectively. They sit on machines scrolling through their phones, chatting, and barely engaging in real workouts. When politely asked how many sets they have left, the response is often vague: “a lot” or “I just started,” even though they’ve been sitting there for 10–15 minutes without moving. This makes it incredibly frustrating for others who are there to focus and train efficiently.

There seems to be a lack of gym etiquette and no real enforcement of equipment-sharing rules, especially during busy hours. It’s turning what should be a productive workout environment into a hangout spot.

Suggested Solution: To improve the experience for serious gym-goers, I recommend introducing a tiered membership system based on access time: • Prime Hours Membership ($60/month): Access during peak hours (e.g., 5–9 PM weekdays), with better crowd control and possibly staff monitoring to ensure machines are shared fairly. • Off-Peak Membership ($30–40/month): Access during less crowded times, for those who are more flexible. • Standard Membership ($10–25/month): Limited access and less priority on equipment use.

This would not only reduce overcrowding during peak times but also encourage members to use the gym more responsibly, especially if they are paying for prioritized access.

Planet Fitness is known for being welcoming to all, but that principle should also include respecting each other’s time and goals. A little structure could go a long way in restoring balance and improving the experience...