Planet Fitness — Local services in Boston

I’ve had a very disappointing experience at Planet Fitness on Newbury Street and feel obligated to share my recent encounter with their management. When I signed up, I provided two payment methods—my debit card for the standard $10 monthly fee and my credit card for the startup charge. To my surprise, I discovered that for the past three months I’d been billed $30 each month, an unexpected $20 more than agreed upon.

When I contacted the club, they claimed there was an issue with my bank account and that they had the right to charge my credit card and apply late fees without my explicit consent or even a courtesy notification. Despite my attempts to understand and resolve the matter, the club’s response was largely to push the responsibility back onto me. I ended up with $60 in extra fees before I even knew what was happening.

Initially, the staff agreed to a $40 refund, which felt like a step in the right direction. However, upon following up, the promised refund seemed to evaporate, and suddenly I was told I’d only receive $20 back. I requested an escalation process to address this, but was informed there’s no further avenue since it’s a franchise location. The lack of transparency and accountability was extremely frustrating.

What bothers me most isn’t just the money—it’s the dismissive attitude, the shifting promises, and the sense that resolving a simple billing matter was simply not a priority. In a neighborhood as well-regarded as Newbury Street, it’s disheartening to encounter such poor customer support and confusing billing practices. I truly hope this location takes steps to improve its communication, consistency, and overall respect for its customers. Until then, I would strongly recommend looking elsewhere for your...

Update 7/8/2024 This morning is the second morning that the gym is not open when it is supposed to. Sunday they should open at 7 AM, me and a bunch of other members waited for 1 hour, they never opened.

This morning I showed up at 5AM and waited until 6 AM, the door was closed. If you're an early morning person, this Gym will not match well with your morning workout routine. I am seriously considering canceling my membership now.

Other thing I noticed is that now equipment stay broken longer, 1 shower is broken too. Even the refrigerator didn't have water for a few days and hand sanitizers devices against the wall are empty. I guess this is what you get when you do not pay people a livable wage.

First Review: That location is accessible and the staff is nice. What I don't like. It gets extremely busy with college students. They take forever to fix equipment that breakdown a lot. In women's locker room people are using the few bigger lockers as rentals. They have locks on them (lockers #59, 45, 24, 10 have been occupied for months), other members cannot use them anymore which is inconvenient when it is super busy or if you have a lot of stuff you occupy 2 small lockers. I am chocked the staff doesn't notice that to remove those locks or remind members they can't do that. Parking between 8 AM and 8PM costs almost $9 for 2 hours and the meter maids are vicious ($40 ticket). It is in a commercial area so walking might be best. A bathroom and a smith machine broke down over 5 months now, still not fixed. Place is dusty if you pay attention, they need to do a better...

If you go at 5am, you might be able to get on the free weight equipment you want. Otherwise, be prepared for a wait, and the younger college crowd is oblivious to anyone else around and are not into sharing equipment. I've had people just balk at me for asking to share and sit on equipment scrolling on the phone in between their sets rather than rotate with me. They hoard it at their bench, won't share in between sets while scrolling on their phones, rather than share when I've asked. Management can't parent their clients into behaving better, unfortunately.

The lockers and bathrooms are always clean, there is at least that.

There is one thing that is on management, though. If you need to pause your membership or speak to a manager, not happening. I've been waiting 3 weeks for someone to get back to me. People keep telling me they'll pass the message along, but no call. They happily deduct the fees from my bank account, though. I'm at the point where canceling is my only option. At least there will be one less person waiting for free weights.

Update Jan 2024: The national office replied to this review, but my local gym didn't. I called a few more times and went in person twice, and still couldn't get a manager to talk to me. I was told each time they were processing the refund, but the money never appeared. They said it would take 2 weeks. Two months later, I contacted the BBB. After they reached out to management, twice, I finally got my fees back. It should not be this hard to get a refund. I am no...