Never join Planet Fitness unless you want to pay excessive fees to get out of the contract

I have been trying to cancel my contract for the past year but decided to wait so that I do not have to pay the ridiculous cancellation fees. I called in April 2020 to cancel my membership but was informed my cancellation fee was R509. I was then informed by a consultant that if I submit the cancellation in May 2020 I will not have any cancellation fees so I waited and then submitted the cancellation but due to the pandemic they could not cancel my membership. I spoke to a manager to ensure I will be helped accordingly when everything is back up and running to make sure I am not disadvantaged because they could not assist me and he assured me I will be helped accordingly.

This was not true. I called them today to find out about my cancellation and now my cancellation fee is R1698.00 because my contract was extended due to the pandemic. I was not informed of this there was no clear indication on what this means for me and I felt that no one was trying to assist me since I tried cancelling my membership early this year. I was then informed that the cancellation fee is higher because business rules have changed, again I was not informed of this no warning given so they just do whatever they want with no consideration of their clients. And then to top everything off the last consultant told me that the initial cancellation fee of R509 was incorrect and I should have submitted the cancellation in June and not May. SO basically the consultants at Planet Fitness have no idea what they are doing because rules are constantly changing to benefit the business and not the client. This is **************** and I would not recommend anyone join this gym because they will keep you trapped in the contract.