Planet Fitness — Local services in Austin

Management here is an absolute joke. The gym equipment is poorly maintained, the water fountains are always extremely hot, and there is constantly homeless people in the bathroom because the front desk pays zero attention.

In addition to running the gym poorly, they are also unwilling to help you if you find yourself in a situation, like this ongoing one with me:

TL;DR: I was threatened to be killed over having my locker next to a roided out old man. I reported the situation with video footage, and they did absolutely nothing. They are uncaring when it comes to member safety, and will do absolutely nothing to help you if a situation arises, so be careful.

There is a really creepy man here who hangs out at the gym for hours every single day, and if you are new around the gym he makes a point to try and make you very aware that this is his space and he has been coming here for a very long time. Every single time he is at the gym the same time as me he stares at me the entire time, scoffs at me, does strange things like stand close to me and look at me and just say absolutely nothing even if I acknowledge him and say hello or something. I have ignored it until last week when he blew up on me hardcore in the locker room for having a locker next to his, and threatened to “knock my head in” if I don’t get my things and get out.

I was able to capture a little bit of video and immediately took it to the front desk to report him. He followed me out and also went to the front desk. He yelled at the front desk person, denied nothing, said he has been coming here for 15 years and needs to he shown respect by newer people. The front desk person told him he needed to get out, and he responded by saying nobody is going to be able to do anything to him because he knows the owner, which has held to be true honestly.

They told me they would ban his membership, but he is still there, doing the same things to me. I called their corporate office, and all they did was send me back to the manager at this gym who can’t be bothered to answer the phone or call me back after calling the number they told me to.

I am positive nothing is going to happen, so attached to this review is a picture of the man so you can be aware, because he will most definitely be there at some point when you are.

This seems to be a pretty consistent thing with Planet Fitnesses across the country, I suggest taking the time to read some reviews. I will be cancelling my membership and spending the extra $10 it takes to go somewhere else. I would suggest you do the same if you value your safety at the gym, and working...

I unexpectedly went out of town and called this, my home location, to upgrade my membership to the "black card" from my prepaid account. I was denied, even though I was to be out of town for over a month. James, the manager, explained that he could not change simply change my membership. I replied that I have my checking information and everything he needed in front of me. He stated that I have to be their in person. I stated that I was more than willing to do this via mail and use a Notary at a bank or location of his choice (even another franchise) to witness that I am in fact who I say I am. He then stated that the whole application needs to be filled out. I again explained that I could also do that in front of a notary or at another club location. He stated that he could not do that. I explained that you can literally purchase a house via mail using a notary. He replied "yea but that's a house." o_0 I explained that one is a half a million dollars, the other is under 500, clearly there is less legal stipulation on the gym membership. He stated that its policy. I asked why the need managers if they aren't allowed to determine policy or make exceptions... or use common sense. He said that's way above his level (he is the GM). Interesting.

I then explained that I realized what little impact bad reviews on Google etc may have on his bottom line, but that I'd also dispute the prepaid charge and that even though I might not win, that I would at least cost him some time and effort that he could just avoid. He replied (politely I have to admit) "sir that is ok, you do what you have to do, but I deal with credit card disputes every day."

**Can we all just think about that last line for a min? He deals with credit card -disputes- daily?...

The franchise owner - Adrian Marin - is beyond unprofessional. I (not planet fitness who owes me the refund) have been following up since 2022-11-24 when the double charge took place. I spoke with Adrian on the phone 2022-12-01 and he stated the refund had been processed on his side. I FOLLOWED UP AGAIN 2022-12-15 with Adrian since the 7-10 business days were up and no refund had been received. He spoke with PF Fin. Svcs., & let me know there were issues with my bank blocking the card. I sorted it immediately with my bank, and emailed a follow up with Adrian asking if I could work with him or Fin. Svcs. directly to update my info. He took the time to respond to my email to let me know he was unable to help that day, as he was just on his merry way out of the office early. He instructed me to call the facility 2022-12-16 between his visiting hours of 9am - 2pm. I called after 9am, and waited on the phone for 30 minutes without speaking to a single person and emailing Adrian twice within the 30 minutes. No response. Asked for a call back and PF member services reached out to me and has worked with me to review all the information and sort the issue. Please save yourself the absolute migraine. This facility has also apparently been closed for a few days due to fire safety issues so if you feel like working out in a place that is not up to code, is dingy and dirty, and has management/franchise ownership that is more committed to leaving early for the day than simply getting on the phone and accepting a new card number for a customer who has simply been trying to get a refund for a double charge - by all means knock...