What We Learned Trying to Cancel a Planet Fitness Membership

Cancelling a Planet Fitness gym membership requires jumping through so many hoops, it’s like a workout in itself. But not for long. Under FTC Chair Lina Khan, the FTC is cracking down on companies that use deceptive tactics to lock customers into subscriptions. Businesses must provide consumers a way to cancel that is "just as easy" as it was for them to subscribe, or face severe financial penalties.
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[@J.a.v.i]

Agreed... the cancel button should be next to the join button. If I joined from my phone, I should be able to cancel from my phone. I hope this becomes common place going forward.

[@johntorres779]

Facts I wanted the $10 member ship and they charged $49 for an annual fee like tf

[@davidl5119]

I love Lina khan. One of the few actually fighting these a-holes screwing everyone over.

[@godeater9044]

I changed my card and my local planet fitness was no longer able to charge it. They said my monthly fees would keep racking up and I couldn't come into the gym, even though they were still "charging" me. But they would be happy to "settle" for a smaller amount of the bill... for services I was not allowed to receive. They can get bent.

[@Madronaxyz]

Talk to your State attorney general's office.

[@Novur]

I kept my gym membership with Anytime Fitness for the last two years, just because (due to Covid) I couldn't get to the club I signed up with to cancel in person. I paid over $1,400 for a service I never used, and it wasn't until I could visit in person that I was able to cancel, as I was never informed (in spite of calling and asking multiple times) that there was any other way to do it

[@dave23024]

Yeah, I found out they're owned by the same corporation who operates Around The Clock (ATC) Fitness. I had a membership at both gyms and thought one was destroying my credit score when it was actually the other one!

[@JasonReagan84]

I was excited until they said "civil fines of thousands". Ugh. These companies will gladly pay (or avoid) tiny little fines to keep doing business as usual. Penalties need to be brutally harsh to be effective.

[@coleeisenbrand2083]

Just looking at an ad for Planet Fitness, now at the end of the ad, it’s saying, “No commitment. Cancel Anytime.”

[@everythingisfine9988]

Register a fraudulent charge with your credit card company or have a separate bank account (that you can cancel) just for the service. Even threatening them that you'll do that, guarantees results 💪

[@bmos02]

but also report them to the ftc

[@GenerationX1984]

I avoid this problem by not subscribing to anything that costs money to begin with.

[@richardarriaga6271]

How are you online? Only phone data plans are prepaid. Home internet isn't and requires a subscription. Water and power are subscription services.

[@GenerationX1984]

@@richardarriaga6271 Public library and mooching off the next door neighbors. Don't tell. 😆

[@Momofukudoodoowindu]

What I've done in order to combat these moments is request a new card, and that forces the company to call over the bounced old card and I am able to cancel in that moment.

[@Spencer-wc6ew]

This doesn't always work. I've reported my card lost/stolen to get a new number before. And some companies are able to charge that old number, and my bank will put that charge on my new credit card.

[@ramondostallings5485]

I thoroughly enjoyed this presentation and I say thank you!

[@labdjcxn3xy]

Her face at the end was hilarious😂

[@GoldPhish300]

When sending the letter. I would do a Signature Confirmation, give them no wiggle room.

[@LizNeptune]

How are they still getting away this? The FTC isn't doing anything about it cause they're still doing it. This video was made 1+ year ago and I am still having hell trying to cancel.

[@therealpaulallen]

Activity for the algorithm.

[@WDC_OSA]

Same here, partner.

[@07Flash11MRC]

Ditto

[@wyvern723]

Thousands of dollars in penalties means nothing to companies that rake in billions.

[@citadel9611]

I'm currently having this problem with Planet Fitness.

[@sonic8005]

I was curious as to why my parents were so reluctant to cancel a paid subscription to the point of aggravation. This gives some insight to that

[@katiedid1851]

Good to know. Being careful with contracts.

[@neshawalters7186]

Everytime I went in to cancel the manager was not available and Noone else could take the form

[@vivekp4854]

In India you simply stop going to gym to cancel. Rules regarding auto debit for subscription are very strict and its very difficult to setup overall.

[@herbsandflowers8152]

Surfshark cancellation was also very annoying. I understand why every second KZbinr gets sponsored by some VPN company. I also noticed that many bigger companies like Amazon tell you "You will use all perks if you cancel" but phrased in a way to make it seem you will IMMEDIATELY lose them even if your free trial still (and even after cancellation) will continue until.

[@mattp4079]

PF franchisees net is $400,000/yr. They could care less about a civil fine from the FTC.

[@uriahhammock3731]

Useful

[@Zachalackalackalack]

Well , this video is from two years ago and I can tell you that it is much much much easier to sign up for planet fitness in decatur , illinois than it is to cancel

[@Xenon-4300]

That's you, Bloomberg news.

[@NHSSHINOBI]

I use a card that I load money onto every month. I used this just in case, I would just stop putting money on the card. I didn't end up having to do that as I simply walk into my local plant fitness and canceled my membership.

[@VomitPalace]

My all of the elderly find this video and not get scammed

[@jimtom4849]

Imagine some dude in jail and keep charging

[@mothnflame1221]

"Liable for thousands of dollars". They don't care

[@OscarGonzalez-ix7dj]

planet fitness crazy they tellin me i need 2 give them my bank routing number or they gone cance my membership thats fine with me ill go somewhere else digg

[@ts9971]

I cancelled my subscription today 😅

[@crime_wavcorp]

i ordered contact lenses through hubble and went through this. i got a 20% off deal if i subscribed but when i went to cancel, there was ZERO info on how to do it and they would not reply back. finally through burning them on facebook, i got someone to respond.

[@steveweast475]

I HECKING love capitalism

[@TKR-ox9ff]

You can't be stuck in a subscription if you nevered signed up in the first place.

[@chrisneira4306]

Wonderful moving picture

[@erinbyrnes5921]

Wow

[@americannightmare21]

Bradley martyn membership make this scamming practices, there is no any information for cancel and the support team doesn't answer neither

[@dragoonzen]

Is Timeshare the same thing? Timeshare is sooooo disgusting! 😢

[@Tenshiarashi]

Finally, we can deal with Amazon more

[@SooperTrooper100]

Add Legal Shield to the list! What a scam.

[@mranderson4739]

👍

[@Nick-uk8fl]

people still go to planet fitness?

[@timothysatyr6674]

Thats how inshape robbed me of alot of money by not allowing me to cancel during the pandemic while they were closed. They still charged me while they were closed and they wouldn't let me cancel. My bank wasn't much help at that time either

[@meloneymoore8856]

Thank you sooo much for pointing this out. ❤❤❤-Xclusyph Icon

[@par3me]

Never use your account number. Dispute with credit card. Fixed in under 5 minutes. On a side note. Is there any reasons why consumer can’t have some accountability?

[@par3me]

@@james_chatman Then don’t sign the contract. Why remove accountability?

[@par3me]

@@deckert7 Completely agree. However, in life you learn more and benefit more from taking accountability. Even if fault lies elsewhere.

[@PeterLarsonPJL]

A consumer is someone actually using the product.

[@par3me]

@@PeterLarsonPJL How often do you file insurance claims? You bought it and failed to use it. That’s on you. Time shares, subscriptions, gym membership. Why is it so hard for an adult to take responsibility for their actions? I wonder if theirs a correlation between accountability and the behaviors of our youth?

[@par3me]

@@deckert7 We always have options. If we all stopped signing them they’d change tomorrow. They’re clearly not a concern to most people. Why allow a few to dictate for the majority? Why no personal responsibility? What do you learn from holding yourself accountable versus not?

[@Wilhuf1]

Lunk alert.

[@maxxhammer664]

Can they be sued

[@DeathsquadDemongods]

well, it's been 2 years and 6 months since this vid, and Planet Fitness still has the same cancellation terms on their website. Lina Khan, yer doin' a heckuva job. /s