A North Carolina woman says she had a terrifying experience when she was in an extremely vulnerable situation: fully nude in the tanning bed at a Planet Fitness. When she got out of the tanning bed, she says the door was wide open.
Bethany Bloomer (@bethanymbloom) shared the unsettling experience on TikTok earlier this week. She had just left a Planet Fitness in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, she says. Bloomer is still clearly rattled from the experience.
She says she’d asked for 12 minutes in the tanning bed. But after 10, she started to feel like her skin was burning, so she ended the session early.
“The door to the room was wide open,” she says.
Although she was naked, Bloomer jumped into action. “I was in shock and my immediate reaction was to get up and close the door quickly.”
Bloomer describes being relieved that there was no one outside the door who could see her hastily close the door.
After dressing, she informed the staff.
She was informed that staff doesn’t have keys to the tanning rooms, which are in the black card area for people who pay for an upgraded membership. Bloomer wasn’t buying it.
“What if there was a medical emergency? What if someone was stuck in there?” she says in the TikTok. “There’s someone in that building who has keys to those doors.”
That’s when things went from unsettling to frustrating.
Police get involved
Bloomer was still upset when she left the gym. She felt violated and embarrassed, she says.
She called her mom for advice from the parking lot. Bloomer considered calling Planet Fitness’ corporate office, but opted to call the non-emergency police line instead.
The officer she spoke to, per Bloomer, was less than helpful.
“An officer called me back and basically told me there’s no indication of a crime committed,” she says.
She also alleges that the officer told her there were no cameras in the black card area at that location, which she found suspicious.
“It makes me think that this isn’t the first time that’s happened at that location,” she says.
At this point, Bloomer was convinced that someone had been in the room while she was tanning. She just didn’t know who.
“I just wanted to let people know, especially in the Winston-Salem area, that this happened to me because I feel so unsafe, I feel so violated,” she says in the first of several posts about the incident. “And I will never be going back there again.”
Emotion overcomes her near the end of the post. Fighting back tears, she says, “The scariest thing is I don’t know what they did. I don’t know if someone was in there with a camera. And the fear too is what they could have done.”
A one-time occurrence or a trend?
Bloom’s post inspired dozens of people to share purported experiences that ranged from the same to far worse. Peeping Toms, hidden cameras, theft, and other potentially criminal acts are alleged in the comments.
These allegedly occurred at both the Planet Fitness Bloomer frequents and other locations. This isn’t even the first time someone has gone viral for the same incident. The Mary Sue previously covered a woman’s experience at Planet Fitness.
Bloomer’s post has been viewed 692,000 times as of this writing.
Eventually, her story caught the attention of Planet Fitness. The company commented from its verified TikTok, “We want to look into this. Please DM us.” Bloomer responded that she had sent them a message.
In a subsequent post, she describes its response as lackluster.
“After all this, I haven’t heard anything from Planet Fitness about changing anything, fixing anything, or an apology other than I’m sorry for your frustration. I know this must be frustrating,” she claims.
Planet Fitness did not respond to an email sent Wednesday morning.
Police take over
As the post gained traction, she says she was contacted by a detective who was far more helpful than the first officer she spoke to. With some real police work, the detective was able to access surveillance video from a camera in the black card area.
Much to her relief, it turns out that the door didn’t fully latch when she closed it. Bloomer says that the detective told her that the footage showed it slowly opening while she was inside. No one can be seen going in or looking in the room.
In a comment on one of her posts, Bloomer describes the outcome as “THE BEST CASE SCENARIO!”
“I was not harmed, not seen and no crime committed!” she says.
Local news reports that following an investigation, officers found no crime had been committed.
The saga concludes
In one of several follow-ups, Bloomer says she’s now convinced that the door is to blame. And she thinks it’s been that way for years.
Bloomer says this is unacceptable and Planet Fitness shouldn’t have “faulty doors or doors that take an extra slam.”
A member of staff at the location, speaking on condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak on the record, told the Mary Sue over the phone that there is nothing wrong with the door.
Bloomer no longer holds any animosity towards staff or management at her location. In a TikTok, she apologized for ever suggesting any of them were to blame.
“My issue is with things not being corrected and how Planet Fitness handled this as a whole,” she says.
She’s also pleased with how police ultimately handled the incident.
“They have taken care of me. They are continuing to take care of me,” Bloomer says. “I don’t want you guys to hate on them because even though the first officer I talked to dismissed me, they have made up for it in more ways than one.”
@bethanymbloom @Planet Fitness ♬ original sound – Bethany
Bloomer didn’t immediately respond to a direct message sent via TikTok.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
