A Planet Fitness charge on a bank statement is almost always one of three things: the recurring monthly membership due, the $49 annual maintenance fee, or a $58 buyout fee for canceling before a minimum term ends.1NerdWallet. Planet Fitness Membership Cost All three run on automatic billing tied to the checking account or card you gave at sign-up, which is why they can appear on dates you weren’t tracking and keep appearing after you believed the membership was closed.
Which Charge Are You Looking At
Monthly dues depend on your tier. The Classic membership starts at $15 a month, and the PF Black Card starts at $24.99 a month, with the Black Card scheduled to rise to $29.99 after the 2026 peak join season.1NerdWallet. Planet Fitness Membership Cost2Athletech News. Planet Fitness Black Card Price Hike Premium Wellness Amenities The Classic tier was $10 a month before a 2024 price increase, so an older membership that recently jumped is likely reflecting that change.
The annual fee is where most surprise charges come from. Every member pays a $49 maintenance fee once a year. At some locations it is billed on or shortly after July 1 and pulled automatically from the account on file.3Planet Fitness. Member Services Rates The exact timing varies by location and by when you enrolled, so this charge can hit months after you joined on a date nobody flagged for you. Planet Fitness describes it as helping “keep your account up to date and running smoothly.”
A $58 charge, especially one that follows a cancellation attempt, is likely the buyout fee that applies when a member leaves before completing a minimum contract term.1NerdWallet. Planet Fitness Membership Cost
Why Charges Keep Hitting After You Canceled
The most common complaint about Planet Fitness billing is that charges continue after a member thought the account was closed. The reason is usually one of three things: the cancellation didn’t use an accepted method, it missed a cutoff date, or the club never actually processed it.
Historically, Planet Fitness required cancellation either in person at your “home club” — the specific location where you signed up — or by a written letter sent via certified mail. Phone calls, emails, and messages through the Planet Fitness app were generally not accepted.4The North Jersey Record. How to Cancel a Planet Fitness Membership A cancellation submitted any other way left the membership active, and billing kept running.
Timing matters just as much as the method. To stop a monthly cycle that bills on the 17th, the club must receive written notice no later than the 10th of that month. To avoid the annual fee, cancellation has to be completed by the 25th of the month before the fee date.4The North Jersey Record. How to Cancel a Planet Fitness Membership Missing either deadline by a day lets one more charge go through.
Even members who followed the correct procedure have reported that their cancellations were never processed. Better Business Bureau complaints describe people being told in person that their membership was closed, only to see charges continue, with no cancellation receipt to prove the request was ever made.5Better Business Bureau. Planet Fitness Headquarters Complaints If you cancel in person, ask for written confirmation before you leave. If you cancel by mail, use certified mail and keep the return receipt.
Why the Billing Company Can’t Help You
Planet Fitness doesn’t process its own payments. Charges run through a third-party billing partner called ABC Fitness Solutions, which also handles billing for other gym chains including Crunch and EOS Fitness.6Better Business Bureau. ABC Fitness Solutions Complaints ABC says it acts “strictly” as a billing service and is not authorized to process cancellations, directing members back to the gym. Local clubs sometimes redirect members to corporate or to ABC. The practical effect is a loop, and BBB complaints describe members cycling through all three without a resolution.
One complaint also alleged that ABC used a credit card network’s automatic billing updater feature to retrieve a new card number and keep processing charges after the member’s bank had issued a stop-payment order.5Better Business Bureau. Planet Fitness Headquarters Complaints A stop-payment at the bank is not always enough on its own; you generally need the membership itself closed.
How to Dispute the Charge
Start with the home club. Contact the specific location where you signed up and ask for written confirmation of your current membership status. If the account should be closed, ask them to show you when and how the cancellation was recorded. If the charge is the annual fee and you weren’t expecting it, ask for the fee date on file and the cancellation deadline that applies to your account.
If the club can’t resolve it, or if you have documentation that you already canceled, dispute the charge with your card issuer under the Fair Credit Billing Act. Write to the issuer at the address designated for billing inquiries. Include your name, account number, and a description of the error. The letter must reach the issuer within 60 days of the statement that showed the disputed charge, and sending it by certified mail creates a record of delivery. The issuer must acknowledge the dispute within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days.7Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
While the investigation runs, you can withhold payment on the disputed amount, and the issuer can’t report you as delinquent on it or send it to collections. Federal law caps liability for unauthorized charges at $50.7Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges One boundary to keep in mind: if the complaint is about service quality rather than an outright unauthorized charge — for instance, being billed while the gym was closed — you generally have to try to resolve it with Planet Fitness first before the card issuer will act on it.
If the issuer’s investigation doesn’t resolve things in your favor, you can escalate by filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
What’s Changing With Cancellation Rules
The cancellation rules that produced many of these charges are being rewritten. In October 2024, the FTC finalized its “click-to-cancel” rule, which requires businesses offering recurring memberships to make cancellation as simple as sign-up.8Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Click-to-Cancel Rule For memberships signed up for online, cancellation must be available online. For memberships signed up for in person, cancellation must be available online or by phone. The FTC delayed enforcement by 60 days, setting July 14, 2025, as the earliest enforcement date.9Athletech News. FTC Delays Click-to-Cancel Rule Enforcement
Planet Fitness has begun rolling out online cancellation. As of early 2025, more than 35 percent of its locations, including all corporate-owned clubs, had implemented the online option, with system-wide rollout underway.10Athletech News. Planet Fitness Adds Nearly a Million Members in Q1 Whether online cancellation is live at your club depends on the location, so if the app or website doesn’t offer it, the certified-letter route still works and still creates a paper trail.
Some states already go further. New York’s Health Club Services Act requires clubs to accept cancellations through multiple channels, including website, email, telephone, mail, or in person, and gives consumers three days to cancel after signing, 15 days before an annual renewal, and the first three days of a monthly renewal.11New York Attorney General. Health Clubs and Gyms A contract that doesn’t comply with the Act is void, and a successful lawsuit can recover up to three times actual damages. If you live in a state with a health club law, check what channels and windows it requires before accepting a club’s “home club only” response.
Earlier legal pressure helped force some of these changes. During the pandemic, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich publicly criticized Planet Fitness for requiring in-person cancellation while gyms were legally closed, noting the policy could violate the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act; the company then began accepting cancellations by certified letter and telephone.12New Hampshire Public Radio. Planet Fitness Sued Over Billing Practices During Pandemic If your charge dates from a period when the gym was closed or inaccessible, that history is worth citing in a dispute letter.