Planet Fitness Billing

[baumgartbaum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Previously

• Joined/Signed Contract 5/7/09. I wanted to pay for the entire year upfront. Wouldn’t let me. Had to give them credit card info.
• After about 6 months, I started asking when my membership ended.
• Asked a few times because I could never remember.
• Several different employees always told me it ended in May

5/6/2010

1. Got bill in mail. $29.99.
2. Called Planet Fitness. Spoke to Ashley.
3. She told me the bill was probably because my card was canceled, changed banks, etc etc.
4. I explained to her my bank changed from Washington Mutual to Chase and as a result, my debit card changed. I didn’t realize my automatic payments weren’t transferred.
5. She told me she can waive the bank fee and it will just be $20.00. I just had to go in and pay.
6. I went in and Ashley happened to be working. She didn’t remember me so I explained to her my situation again. She charged my new card $20. Signed some form. (Proof it was her I spoke to)
7. I asked her when my membership ended. She looked it up and told me it already did.
8. I asked if I had anymore bills to pay and anything else to do and she said no and that was it.

6/12/2010

1. Got another bill in the mail for $70.99
2. I called Planet Fitness right away. Didn’t get the name of the guy I spoke to. Was extremely rude. He told me my “commitment” ended and not my “membership.” Told me it was not their fault I didn’t read my contract.
3. I told him I spoke to Ashley and she told me my “membership” ended.
4. He told me she was on her lunch break and that she would call me back.
5. I literally waited for four hours for her to return my call because I didn’t want to miss it.
6. After four hours, I called Planet Fitness back and spoke to a guy named John. I do not know if it was the same guy I spoke to earlier or not. He told me Ashley said she didn’t remember speaking to me.
7. I asked to speak to Ashley and he told me she left work early.
8. Ashley knew she had to call me and didn’t and then she left work early. Extremely unprofessional. She is in the customer service business.
9. John told me I could come in and speak to Stephanie, the manager. She works M-F 12-5
10. I also asked what the bill was even for because my bill is usually $20 a month. He had no explanation for me.

6/15/2010

1. Called Stephanie for meeting. She said okay. Then went silent. Asked her what time would be best for her and she said 3.
2. I came in at 3. Stephanie was busy. I had to wait for her. Again, unprofessional. She knew she had a meeting with me and was busy doing something else.
3. Asked to speak in her office as to not make a scene. She didn’t have an office so we had to speak right at the front desk.
4. Had to cause a scene. She was not giving me any answers.
5. Finally won. She gave me a form to fill out and sign to cancel my membership. She also waived all fees.
6. I asked if I will be receiving any more bills and she said no.

Argument:

1. You can’t cancel your membership over the phone. You have to pay your balance and do it in person. I paid my balance and was there in person when I was speaking to Ashley. She told me my membership was canceled. Why would I ever think there had to be an entire form filled and signed? It is her job to bring it up. It is not my fault she didn’t.
2. I explained to Ashley twice about how my bank changed from Washington Mutual to Chase. If they were going to continue billing me, why would she not gather my new credit card information? Why would they continue billing a card they knew was canceled? Obviously all they want is money. Luckily enough for me I did not have to deal with over draft fees. Stephanie had no answer whatsoever to this point.
3. I hadn’t gone to the gym and I am moving out of state where there are no gym locations near me. Obviously I had no intention of keeping my membership going.
4. They have an F on the Better Business Bureaus site. I also printed out many examples of similar experiences from customers on the CompliantsBoard. Proves it isn’t just a mistake, its a strategy.
5. I never heard the word “commitment” until after I got my $70 bill. I have always used the word “membership” since thats what it was to me, a “gym membership”. I have never asked when my “commitment” ended. Why would her employees tell me that my “membership” ended in May when it was really my commitment? Their fault again unless they were purposely doing so to mislead me.
6. ABC Financial Services backs Planet Fitness as their collection agency. Tons of complaints about scams and similar experiences to mine on the ComplaintsBoards. (Found out ABC Financial Services doesn’t collect for my location but complaints are relevant none the less. Proves Planet Fitness in general is a shady company.

6/29/2010

1. Called ABC Financial. Spoke to Jonathan. Spoke as if he had just woken up. Told me I needed my club number because he couldn’t find my account. Told me they are the billing company for Planet Fitness. I gave him my account number and my membership number but he still said he couldn’t find my account.
2. Called Planet Fitness. Spoke to James. Told me everyones club number was the same. 1579.
3. Called ABC Financial again. Phone died.
4. Called back. Put on hold.
5. Spoke to Brittany. Couldn’t find it also. She was extremely nice.
6. Called Planet Fitness. Spoke to James. Put on hold for the manager, Stephanie. Told me billing company was Twin Oaks.
7. Called Twin Oaks. Told me they don’t do their collections anymore.
8. Called back Planet Fitness. Told them Twin Oaks doesn’t do their collections anymore. Put on hold. She told me Twin Oaks does their billing and not their collections and she was not aware of it. Told me she will call to find out. I told her I will call her back in 10 minutes. (1:56 pm)
9. (2:04) Called back thinking it was 10 minutes already but it was only 8 minutes. She was in the bathroom doing a walk around.
10. Called back 5 minutes later. Stephanie was no longer there. Spoke to James again. He told me the bill I received is just showing my balance and that I have not been charged. Obviously I haven't been charged because they don't know my new credit card information. He told me its just a balance and that I couldn't be a member anymore. I asked him if I had to pay the balance and he said no and then I again asked if I would be getting any more bills from them and he said no. He said they just made a typo on their database.

Membership Information:
Member Number: 45796
Club Number: 1579
Account Number: 5287 5028 0772 8017
Joined 5/7/09
Canceled 6/15/10 (All previous fees waived)

I happen to be moving out of state and I am scared they will continue billing me even though they have told me many times they won't. I told them I was moving and they never asked for my new address so will it be my fault if I receive bills every month from them to my old address? I have read several similar instances where people find out year later they have thousands of dollars on their Planet Fitness balance and have debt collectors calling them nonstop.

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CaliforniaWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[Antigone*]

You want help, cut this down to 5 sentences or less

 

[Zigner]

Read your contract for all details of what you need to do to cancel.

 

[baumgartbaum]

Cancellation

Well my point was to make sure I had all the details out.

The contract says I need to either mail a certified letter (this is apparently the worst way to do it because it takes 30 days for your membership to cancel and they will tell you they never received your letter). The only other way to do it is to go their in person and to fill out a cancelation form which I did. It has been signed by both the manager and me.

The only thing I am worried about is that on the complaintsboard, there are dozens of people saying how they canceled their membership but are still being billed. Planet Fitness has already told me a few times that I will not be getting anymore bills and next thing I know, I get a bill.

 

[Antigone*]

Well my point was to make sure I had all the details out.

The contract says I need to either mail a certified letter (this is apparently the worst way to do it because it takes 30 days for your membership to cancel and they will tell you they never received your letter). The only other way to do it is to go their in person and to fill out a cancelation form which I did. It has been signed by both the manager and me.

The only thing I am worried about is that on the complaintsboard, there are dozens of people saying how they canceled their membership but are still being billed. Planet Fitness has already told me a few times that I will not be getting anymore bills and next thing I know, I get a bill.

If you are paying by debit/credit card you can put a stop on the recurring item. If you paid by electronic debit to your checking account through you can call your bank and place a revoke authorization.

 

[baumgartbaum]

I was paying by debit card until my bank changed from Washington Mutual to Chase.

I explained to them several times that they have been continuously charging a card that is no longer active. If they were going to continue billing me, wouldn't they ask for my new credit card information?

Right now they are still charging my old debit card and it isn't going through, which is why they are sending me bills. I am just wondering what will happen if a year later, my balance is $1000.

My membership has been canceled, my debit card has been canceled, and I am moving. How will their nonstop billing affect me in the future?

 

[Antigone*]

I was paying by debit card until my bank changed from Washington Mutual to Chase.

I explained to them several times that they have been continuously charging a card that is no longer active. If they were going to continue billing me, wouldn't they ask for my new credit card information?

Right now they are still charging my old debit card and it isn't going through, which is why they are sending me bills. I am just wondering what will happen if a year later, my balance is $1000.

My membership has been canceled, my debit card has been canceled, and I am moving. How will their nonstop billing affect me in the future?

Well, dude, you need to pay what you owe on your contract. If I remember correctly, the merger and systems changes for WAMU/Chase happened in November. It was your duty to inform them of your new debit card when the change happened.

 

[baumgartbaum]

They shouldn't be billing me at all anymore but apparently it is a common practice for them to do so.

I tried to go straight to the collection agencies but each one told me they do not represent Planet Fitness anymore and I can't get the manager to tell me which one does.

I want to get this all sorted out before I move because it will be much harder for me otherwise, especially if Planet Fitness demands that I go there in person again.

 

[baumgartbaum]

I did pay what was left on my contract. I paid the first bill of $29.99 to one of the employees. She then told me my membership had ended already and I would not have anymore bills to pay.

If you read my original post, they did not process my cancelation and continued to charge me past my contract. The manager finally waived all the extra bills, told me no more bills will be issued, and I am still getting bills.

I do not owe them anymore money yet I am still getting billed.

 

[baumgartbaum]

The reason why my original post was so long was so that I wouldn't have to deal with these redundant responses but I guess it was too long for people to read through.

My contract has been canceled. I have the cancellation form signed by the manager. I do not owe them anymore money. Both the manager and her employees have told me I will not be getting any more bills. I am still getting them.

I tried to go straight to the collection agencies but I can't find the one who is currently collecting for Planet Fitness and the manager is useless and has decided not to tell me even though she said she'd find out for me.

The original $70 bill has been waived. Now I got another bill for an additional $30 to the original $70. I called them back and they told me I didn't have to pay the bill.

I am just wondering how this billing might affect my credit in the future and what I can do about this situation to get them to stop.

 

[davew128]

Well, dude, you need to pay what you owe on your contract. If I remember correctly, the merger and systems changes for WAMU/Chase happened in November. It was your duty to inform them of your new debit card when the change happened.

Shouldn't have been an issue. It wasn't until a couple months ago that I was forced to start using a Chase card instead of the old WAMU card and certainly my routing and account numbers for themselves have not changed.

 

[Antigone*]

Shouldn't have been an issue. It wasn't until a couple months ago that I was forced to start using a Chase card instead of the old WAMU card and certainly my routing and account numbers for themselves have not changed.

Dave, much of that would depend on who you banked with and when your accounts were opened in relation to the merger. This certainly could have been an issue if the OPs old card stopped working when he was issued a new card.

 

[Zigner]

@TaoShat - this thread is over 10 years old. Please don't post to long-dead threads. I've also reported your post due to the link that was disguised as a customer service email.