Friday, May 16, 2008

Planet Fitness High Pressure Sale pitch

In May 2007, G went to Planet Fitness to enquire about a gym contract. He was shown around the gym & then taken to the over eager, predatoryPlanet Fitness sales consultant's cubicle. He was shown the Premium Contract FIRST & SOLD all the BENEFITS of such a contract & advised that there were specials running at the time! No other contact types were ever mentioned & as a 23 yr old impressionable Young Man, he signed up! The fine print ( terms & conditions)was not mentioned or discussed & off he went. The following week , after consideration of his current situation, he came to the conclusion that this was not for him and that he would not be able to afford the payments. He went back to the gym to discuss this with them & cancel the contract. He met with the Asst Manager who told him that the cooling period was 7 days - he had missed it by 3 days! - & that THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULD DO ABOUT IT NOW! The "BEST" he could do was to suspend the payments for 3 months. G explained that after the 3 months he would not be able to meet the payments required & wished to find a way to resolve this so that his credit record remained in tact. He knew the value of a good credit record. Boy Oh Boy! once they have your signature on that piece of paper, it is like a noose around your neck! No amount of explaining or discussion could sway this inflexible, uncompromising attitude - in fact he was downright RUDE! How easy it is to hide behind "you should have read the fine print"! If their intentions were honourable & transparent, surely they would have taken the time to explain ALL the options/contracts available & the cooling off period. But NO! they would rather spend the time selling the most expensive contract to an unsuspecting, trusting young person - they saw him coming!!!!!

The contract was suspended for 3 months as promised, during which time G continued trying to get the contract cancelled. After 7-8 phone calls and 4-5 emails, with little to no response, he contacted me ( Mom) for advice. My motto, "THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY".

I still believe in the decency & understanding in business - explain the situation & find a win win solution. WELL, THAT BELIEF WAS EXPLODED WITH PLANET FITNESS .

Where is the business sense in going after a young 23yr old, who has no assets, other accumulated debt & not permanently employed. All that would be gained is that they would destroy a young person's reputation & record, after all, you can't get blood from a stone! However, these unfeeling, uncompromising, inflexible predators at PLanet Fitness stood their ground & wouldn't budge an inch. After all - "You should have read the contract". How cowardly can you get! G is currently unemployed, has closed his bank accounts and the debit orders are bouncing one month after the next.

This is his story - check out the next post for Mom's experience with the Planet Fitness machine.

Please feel free to add to this blog or email me if you have had a bad experience with Planet Fitness. I still believe "there is always a way"

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