How to cancel a Planet Fitness membership: we called two clubs (recordings)
Two San Francisco clubs, the same evening, two different sets of rules. Here's what each one told us, the phone menu to reach a person, and both recordings.
Nick Khami · · 7 min read
The short answer: you can cancel a Planet Fitness membership online at planetfitness.com or in person at your home club. The clubs we called did not offer cancelling over the phone. But the terms depend on the club, because each club is a franchise: on the same evening, one San Francisco club told us Classic has a 12 month commitment and a $58 fee to leave early, while the other described no commitment at all. Before you cancel, find out which one your club is.
We called both clubs on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, around 4 to 4:30 pm Pacific, with call4me asking the questions. Here's what they said.
What two clubs told us #
| Lakeshore, 1533 Sloat Blvd | Kearny St, 141 Kearny St | |
|---|---|---|
| Ways to cancel | online at planetfitness.com, or in person ("we do need a signature") | we didn't get this far, see below |
| Same for every membership? | "Correct" | no: Classic and Black Card differ |
| Commitment | none mentioned; the club's page says "This offer has no commitment" | Classic: "a 12 month commitment fee" |
| Early cancel fee | none mentioned | Classic: $58 if you cancel before 12 months. Black Card: "cancel it anytime" |
| Annual fee | no way to avoid it once its date passes; the club's page says it's billed on or shortly after November 1 | not asked |
| After you cancel | you keep access until the end of the billing period you already paid for | not asked |
| Joined at another club | "we are under different franchises, we're not connected at all": cancel on the website or call your home club | not asked |
| Retention offer | "There is no cheaper option"; promotions "at random times" | none heard |
Both clubs' pages on planetfitness.com say "Cancel Online, Anytime!"
Listen: Lakeshore (4 minutes 20 seconds) #
The full call, including the phone menu, with one short silence over my last name.
- 0:00 "Thank you for calling Planet Fitness Lakeshore." Press 1 if you're a member.
- 0:22 Member menu: "If you are calling to update your billing, transferring, or canceling your membership, you can do so at planetfitness.com." Then options 1 to 5.
- 0:45 "For any other inquiries, please press 5." That reached a person in about 6 seconds.
- 1:19 How to cancel: online or in person, because they need a signature
- 1:48 What you need: nothing special. The app, your phone number or your key tag
- 2:11 When your access ends, and the annual fee
- 3:07 If you joined at a different club
- 4:00 Freeze or cheaper plan: "There is no cheaper option"
Listen: Kearny St (1 minute 3 seconds) #
This call dropped partway through because of a bug on our side (fixed the same evening). What we got is the commitment and the fee. The greeting, which included the staff member's name, and my name are silenced, and the recording ends where the call dropped.
- 0:23 "With our classic membership, we have a 12 month commitment fee"
- 0:34 "If not, there will be a $58 fee when you cancel"
- 0:38 "For our Black Card membership, you can cancel at any time"
The phone tree at Lakeshore, step by step #
- Call the club (Lakeshore: 628-303-3332, from its page on planetfitness.com).
- "If you are currently a member, press 1." Para español, 8. To learn about Planet Fitness, 2.
- The member menu starts by telling you to cancel at planetfitness.com. Then: 1 for help signing in, 2 for billing questions, 3 for hours and closures, 4 for corporate memberships, 5 for any other inquiries, 8 to repeat.
- Press 5. A staff member at the club picked up about 6 seconds later.
How to cancel, step by step #
- Find your home club. It's the club where you signed up, and it's the one that holds your membership. Another club can't see it: "we don't have access to their membership."
- Cancel online at planetfitness.com, signed in to your account. Or go to your home club in person and sign. Both clubs' pages say "Cancel Online, Anytime!"
- Check your commitment first, if you're on Classic. At the Kearny St club, leaving before 12 months costs $58. Black Card there has no commitment.
- Watch the annual fee date. At Lakeshore it's billed "on or shortly after November 1st", and the staff member said there's no way to avoid it once that date passes. If you're going to cancel anyway, do it before then.
- Keep using the gym until the end of the billing period you've already paid for.
Have your agent make this call #
If you use call4me, paste this into your agent:
Call my Planet Fitness home club ([club name and phone number from planetfitness.com]) and ask how to cancel my membership. Find out: whether my plan has a commitment or early cancel fee, when the annual fee is billed, whether I can cancel online or have to come in and sign, and when my access ends. Don't cancel anything or accept any offers; just report back.
Read the Lakeshore transcript
The transcript follows the edited recording. "Caller" is the call4me agent. Staff names are not published.
0:00 Phone menu: Thank you for calling Planet Fitness Lakeshore, home of the Judgment Free Zone. Para español presione 8. If you are currently a member, press 1. If you are interested in learning more about Planet Fitness, press 2.
0:22 Phone menu: If you are calling to update your billing, transferring, or canceling your membership, you can do so at planetfitness.com. If you need help signing into your account, press 1. If you are calling with a question about billing, press 2. To check our hours of operation, holiday hours, and other emergency closures, please press 3. If you are interested in a corporate membership, please press 4. For any other inquiries, please press 5. To repeat this information, press 8.
0:59 Staff: Lakeshore, Planet Fitness.
1:02 Caller: Hi, this is Sarah, Nick [last name removed]'s assistant. I'm just trying to understand the cancellation process at this location. What are the actual ways a member can cancel? Like, is it online, by phone, in person, by letter?
1:19 Staff: To cancel, you can either cancel through the website, PlanetFitness.com, or come in person, just because we do need a signature.
1:30 Caller: Oh, okay. And is that true for all membership types? Classic, Black Card, or whatever else?
1:37 Staff: Correct.
1:39 Caller: Okay, nice. And what do they need to have? Member number, ID, key tag, anything like that?
1:48 Staff: No, if they have the app, they can just check in. If not, they could use their phone number. If they still have the key card, the key tag, then they can check in that way as well.
2:00 Caller: Perfect. And are there any commitment periods, early cancellation fees, or does the $49 annual fee still hit after someone cancels?
2:11 Staff: Yeah, so, for example, if someone canceled today, their last bill date was September 17th, and they will still have until October 16th to still use the gym. If they were to cancel or freeze, I believe there isn't no way to avoid the annual fee if they were to go through that date of when the annual fee is due.
2:46 Caller: Right, right, gotcha. And what if the membership was started at another club?
2:56 Staff: If someone signed up at a different location?
3:00 Caller: Yeah, like if they joined somewhere else and now want to cancel here. Is that any different?
3:07 Staff: Yes, the thing is, we are under different franchises. We're not connected at all. So, if someone from, let's say, Texas comes to our location and wants to cancel, unfortunately, we don't have access to their membership. So, we will just tell them, either you can cancel through the website, or you'll have to give your Planet Fitness a call. Because I understand that it will be impossible for them to go down to Texas to cancel. So, the best bet is just to do it through the website. It's really hard though, but yeah.
3:51 Caller: Okay, that makes sense. And do you offer a membership freeze or maybe a cheaper plan as an option instead?
4:00 Staff: There is no cheaper option when it comes to the membership. Sometimes there are promotions that do happen at random times.
4:12 Caller: Okay, that's really helpful. Thanks so much.
4:16 Staff: No worries.
Read the Kearny St transcript
0:00 Staff: [greeting with the staff member's name removed]
0:02 Caller: Hi, this is Sarah, [name removed]'s assistant.
0:06 Caller: I'm calling because Nick is wondering how membership cancellation works at your location. Could you tell me what the cancellation policies are?
0:16 Staff: Um, yeah, so, hold on one second.
0:23 Staff: Yeah, so with our classic membership, we have a 12 month commitment fee. So for that, you will need to do all the 12 months. If not, there will be a $58 fee when you cancel. But for our Black Card membership, you can cancel at any time.
0:43 Caller: Oh, okay, so Black Card can cancel anytime, and the classic has that earlier termination fee?
0:50 Staff: Mm-hmm.
0:51 Caller: Okay, great. Do they have to come in person to cancel, or is online or over the phone okay?
1:00 Staff: Hold on one second, I'm sorry.
