Planet Fitness and its LaGrange, NY franchise in particular are perfect examples of a company whose…read moremission statements pay lip service to ideas like diversity, equity and inclusion, but in truth doesn't care at all about these things. Approximately 15 to 30 percent of the US population (52 to 103 million people) suffers from high sensitivity to stimuli like noise, light, and emotions, yet every Planet Fitness I've gone into (especially the LaGrange, NY franchise) has dozens of TVs playing a cacophony of news and other stations, and the music is SO LOUD that you, the gym member, can't even block it out with expensive noise-cancelling headphones.
I joined Planet Fitness the first time in the summer of 2024 and endured the excessive stimuli for a year. During this period, I repeatedly requested the music be turned down (especially at 4-5 a.m.; seriously!?), and sometimes the desk person accomodated me, sometimes he didn't. A week ago, I joined again, thinking (stupid me) that they might have listened to my and other members' complaints about the excessive stimuli and made some changes. They hadn't. In fact, they are now playing the music SO LOUD that I can't even block it out with $400 headphones.
People like me want to work out to REDUCE stress, but this isn't possible when LOUD, obnoxious, cacophonous music is playing, and dozens of TVs are showing nothing but bad news.
For a long time, I wondered, "If someone asks them to turn down the music, why don't they just turn it down? Why don't they accomodate people with special needs like HSPs (Highly Sensitive People)?" Well, today I realized why they don't do it:
1. Because they know that 15-30 percent of their members are HSPs, and if they can DRIVE THEM AWAY, they'll be able to pocket their monthly membership fees without those members putting wear and tear on their equipment.
AND
2. Because they WANT their clientele stressed, on edge and pumped full of cortisol so they won't lose weight or get healthy, and thus keep paying their membership fees. They want to get people ADDICTED to the gym. (Here's an interesting tidbit: the LaGrange, NY franchise keeps a BUCKET of Tootsie Rolls right at the entrance. Why is this? Could this be another insidious manipulative technique to keep people addicted to the facility?)
Over the year that I was a member, I complained to the manager about the excessive noise half a dozen times, suggesting they offer low-stimulus hours, but my requests and suggestions were ignored. The bottom line is, all the manager and staff of the LaGrange facility needed to do to keep my business was turn down the damn music when I asked them to. They refused, so I wrote this review instead. Not smart, guys.
And to any LaGrange, NY managers or corporate executives who are thinking of replying to this review: Don't bother. I don't want to hear your disingenuous "we care," "we're all about inclusivity" blather. The fact is, everyone knows what you're doing is diversity washing: trying to make it look like you care and you're doing something about the problem when we all know you're not. Just shut up. Shut up, shut off your TVs, and turn the damn music down.
Tomorrow, for the second (and last) time, I'm cancelling my Planet Fitness membership forever. To quote another member, Tina P., from her Yelp review: "F-ck this place."