I joined this Planet Fitness franchise location in Albuquerque, New Mexico a few months ago. It seemed to be a nice location, nice equipment and nice people for a reasonable price. But that great feeling changed after an encounter with the franchise owner who owns all Planet Fitness franchises within the Albuquerque area.
I'm a ""Black Tie"" member and my husband attends as a guest. Guests are required to sign in. Sounds simple but in this case when the information wasn't placed in the correct box the owner suddenly appeared and threatened to throw my husband out stating, ""Fill it out or leave my gym."" The owner never identified himself nor explained the necessity for having the information in the a specific box. It was clear from his demeanor that he lacks the properly leadership skill or capability to provide excellent customer service beyond yelling at people including his employees which we also witnessed.
Fortunately the employees at the location do have some customer service skills. After discussing the issue of abysmal service by the owner with a person at the front desk were we able to coherently find out what and why the careful sign-in is required. Only through discussion with the another employee were we able to find out the owner's name and his position with the franchise.
There is also formal complaint resolution system within the Planet Fitness organization. None is provided on-line or by phone. It is obvious that the owner knows there would no redress to a grievance or customer complaint so he acted accordingly. Buyer beware!
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