Planet Fitness — Attraction in Philadelphia

I'll preface my review with that I frequent both Fox Street and South Philly PF locations. I have a few major gripes with this location:

The equipment needs to be maintained better. The one assisted/dip pull-up machine on the right feels way off, and has been like that for a few months. It likely needs a full tear-down and re-greasing. One each of both the leg extension machines and the hip abductor machines are also pretty bad.

The plated weights are disintegrating. The rubber is well beyond its useful lifespan. Some of the plates even have the metal underneath exposed. The rubber leaves your hands completely black when you handle them.

The dumbbell weight rack is always out of sorts. The staff is super aggressive about telling you to put the weights back where they belong, but none of the weights are ever in their proper place. I even had an incident with an "off-duty" employee harassing me and my friend for not putting the "weights back where they belong". I'm not an employee of Planet Fitness so I'm not going to spend 10 minutes re-racking dumbbells in their proper places just so I can put a set of weights "back where they belong". I'll put them back provided there's a proper place to put them back in.

The cleanliness is something to be desired. There are always empty drink containers scattered throughout the gym. The Purell dispensers have caked on dirt, and the urinals in the Men's bathroom look like they haven't been properly cleaned in at least a few days.

Signage is falling down, and the floors look like they're getting ready to come up in places. The front lighted sign nearest the desk looks like a high school student's project in wood shop. Other signs have been missing pieces or just hung poorly.

Really what it boils down to is resources and maintenance. I see at least two to three people behind the counter when I walk in. I think the employees should have a constant rotation every hour or so, going around the gym. Dispose of the empty abandoned drink containers, wipe down some of the most glaring spots, clean the bathrooms, and keep the dumbbell weight rack in order.

The gym needs some major maintenance. The signage needs to be fixed, the floors need to be addressed (nearest the cable machines), and the plates needs to be replaced.

The gym is probably one of the busiest PFs in the Philadelphia area, and it needs way more attention than...

[New Review: 22 APR 2025] It's disappointing to see how poorly this location is managed, which became even clearer after reading the dismissive response to my initial review.

This is not only a poorly run Planet Fitness but one of the worst businesses I've encountered. Allow me to elaborate on some of the ongoing issues:

The temperature inside the club remains stifling, and the overcrowding due to oversold memberships exacerbates the situation. This is made worse by the fact that no fewer than six machines are consistently out of order.

Many of the sanitizing solution nozzles are broken, making it difficult to clean equipment properly.

On two out of the four occasions I attempted to use the tanning beds, they didn’t work. When I informed the staff, their indifference was disheartening. For instance, one staff member simply took the door number hanger from me and said nothing. This is a significant inconvenience, especially for customers visiting on their lunch break.

The majority of the staff appear disengaged and uninterested in customer satisfaction. Apart from one notable employee, the team generally seems indifferent unless you're a young, attractive female—which I did witness one staff member actively engaging with.

It's truly unfortunate that this is the closest Planet Fitness location to my workplace because it has consistently proven to be a waste of time. The lack of care and poor management are unacceptable for a business that relies on customer loyalty.

[Original review below]

The past 15 years along my extensive travels, I've been to no less than 75 different planet fitness locations. This one is about par for the course. Nice parking lot fairly well maintained equipment however.. several times I visited the air has been absolutely stifling. Not a big deal if your staff or simply not training hard enough but considering the grinders ...Might want to look into the number of air changes per minute, reducing the humidity in the air and perhaps lowering the temperature. It is a...

Clean, Great amenities (Massage Chairs, Red Light therapy, locker rooms/showers) Friendly staffs. Great rates, I joined the Black Card one for $ 20 a month with $ 40 rate guarantee fee billed every June of the year which will be billed next year (2014) in my case. No joining fee. I can bring 1 friend to join me to work out for unlimited time at any PF locations. I can go to other PF locations nationwide as additional benefits with PF Black Card.

I have seen so many ignorant negative reviews mostly with the cancellation policy and the no grunt no lunk rules. Everyone can work out without trying to show off or intimidate others. The cancellation and billing rules are very clear without any hidden fees. Cancellation must be done in person or certified mail and billing will be withdrawn from checking account no credit card or cash accepted. Anyone who disagree with this policies should never sign up. Period. It's unfair and ignorant to scream and give bad reviews on ones' own ignorance on these policies.

There is no excuse for ones who know in advance they will move or be away for a while to cancel their membership according to the rules. If anyone can't do it in person, they can do it by certified mail, why? Because only certified mail can be used to prove that ones actually have sent the mail and the request and PF can never dispute that they pretend they never received the mails. Period.

The busiest time usually between 5-8 pm. But even at the peak busiest time, there are plenty of equipment available for use. If others are using some then find other available equipment to work out with and wait when it's available and open up. No big deal.

So enjoy and have a...