Platinum Fitness — Local services in Tucson

Edited 10/28/24 to show signup and cancellation proceedings. My apartment installed a "gym" (An elliptical, treadmill, single cable machine and medicine ball. Not a real gym.) and canceled the membership with platinum fitness. Therefore I started my own private membership. The process was so deceptive and dishonest I've decided to share it here before you make the choice to sign up yourself. Here's the process: They show you advertisement of these "great low prices" based on the tier of plan you want. I believe the price was around 35, 40 dollars. Seems like a great deal. They then mention that they offer two types of payment plans: 1 year contract and month-to-month. That's when you find out the price they show is the contract price, the monthly price is about 5$ more. If it all sounds good to you, they ask you for your personal information, some of which I believe is unnecessary. Why a gym membership is required (and not optional) to have my physical address and birthday and other info is beyond me. If you still continue the process and sign up the account, they require you to sign some paperwork. Of the agreements, 2 of them are stating that a) you agree to pay the monthly fees and agree to the cancellation policy (so they can send your bill to collections), and b) you agree to the $50 "convince fee" that will appear at any time during your membership with them, and is charged yearly. Oh, did you miss that in the small text in the ad you were shown? Yeah, they didn't mention it to me either. Months into the membership, I had a job change and moved out of state. I went in the app to cancel my membership only to find that of course, you can't do that from the app. You need to email or call their support team to handle such a complex request. Then you will find out that you need to send another email to another address that will serve as your official notice of cancellation. When support gets back to you in a couple of days, the day they get back to you starts your 30 day "cancel period", meaning they will still charge you another month whether you want to or not. They also want a reason why you need to cancel. In my case I was out of state and could not use the gym anymore, and despite telling them this, "you agreed to the policy", and are therefore required to waste your money for an extra month. If you do sign up for their service, and I strongly recommend you don't, I highly recommend you use a virtual card like I did that you can turn off at any time, or getting a new card afterwards or setting up a block on them. Also be ready to take them to small claims court because I have a sneaking suspicion that my account like yours will find a way to not get canceled.

Edited 11/26/23 to reflect recent changes. It's your average cheap gym, nothing great. Equipment is only replaced when it's 100% unusable, be ready for torn pads on the older stuff. Sanitizer & towels are empty enough of the time to bother you (1/10 chance). Bathroom is worse (4/10 chance). Under new management they changed the weekend hours (again!) that effected my schedule. Now I have to re-work my Sunday schedule (again) around my gym, which seems silly given I paid for what they originally offered, including the hours.

They did recently get more squat racks because those are always in use, so that was cool.

I only go here because my apartment complex has passes to the place. Otherwise I'd go...

I've been lifting for about 16 years and I've been a member at a lot of different gyms of various sizes and styles over that time (serveral here in Tucson), so I have a pretty solid basis of experience to rate a gym, at least according to my needs.

Platinum Fitness is overall pretty good. The facility is large but not packed full of equipment so you never feel like you're tripping over things. There's a nice mixture of traditional barbell equipment, Olympic equipment, selectorized machines, CrossFit-style equipment and cardio options. It's never too busy, even during the after-work hours. The staff members are friendly and seem to be quite knowledgeable. It's pretty clean but definitely a bit gritty (which is fine with me, it's a gym not a doctor's office).

My only big complaint is one that several other people have mentioned: Some of the equipment is in desperate need of maintenance. Everything works, nothing is straight up broken but lots of it needs new grips or pads, lubrication, adjustments, etc. Basically, someone who understands how to use hand tools needs to spend a couple days going through every piece of equipment thoroughly and bringing everything back to 100%. And guys, electrical tape has no place on a piece of commercial grade gym equipment. Do things the right way or pay someone who knows how to. Don't rig things. It just makes you look like a bunch of amateurs that aren't serious about running a real gym.

The only other substantive shortcoming is that there is a shortage of 45lb plates in the main lifting area. I shouldn't have to scavenge plates from across the gym to get enough weight for the leg press. I'm just not that strong. A couple dozen more would be fantastic.

Aside from those two issues, I really like Platinum overall and I'm very comfortable here. For my needs, it's a good fit and definitely the best option anywhere on the east...

I was a member of Gold's gym from 12/2007 until they became Platinum Fitness in mid 2012 at which time I had to sign a new agreement, which was NOT a contract, cancelable at any time. I canceled a person who was an add-on to my membership in September 2012 and was told my credit card would not be charged for her again. However, I have been charged every month since then. I was told in February 2013 that I would have to sign a form to cancel her from my membership, which I did. I have been charged again, in march 2013, for this person who has been inactive for 6 months. Called credit card charging agent, talking to a "Margaret", who told me that they would continue to charge my card every month, even without my authorization. Federal Law calls that Racketeering and is prohibited under the famous "RICO" laws. Then she hung up on me. Called my club and the girl at the desk said my record's noted showed the person to be inactive but could provide no other information.

This club is filthy. Last year, the men's suana was closed without explanation for 7 months before it was put back in service. The bathing suit spinner in the men's locker room has been broken for 4 years, despite many complaints from myself and other members, it has not been fixed and we have been told that since a "member broke it", It will not be fixed. The pool's temp is erratic, usually too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer, even though it is indoors in the basement.

With 5 other less expensive clubs in the area, I stay at this club ONLY for the wet steam due to an injury to my back. Unless you need wet stem, I recommend you do NOT join this...