Close Up Foundation Reviews (%countItem)
Close Up Foundation Rating
Address: 1330 Braddock Place, Suite 400, Alexandria, Virginia, United States, 22314
Phone: |
Show more...
|
Web: |
|
E-mails: |
Sign in to see
|
Add contact information for Close Up Foundation
Add new contacts
Our school district contracted with UpClose to make all arraignments for 8th graders from multiple middle schools to come and tour DC during their spring break. The families paid UpClose almost $2000 per child for the 5 day trip. Approximately $500,000 for the district Prior to the trip, our School District Superintendent cancelled all student and staff travel because of the Corona virus and the federal declaration of a health emergency. UpClose refuses to refund any money because we were past their cancelation date, and they claim to have spent all monies. Every hotel, tour operator and airline in the US is making refunds due to the epidemic, and CloseUp would be able to recoup most of the funds from the vendors, but CloseUp is unwilling to make refunds. Someone has pocketed the $ from hundreds of families for no services rendered.
April 29, 2020
We are in receipt of the submission from early March to the Revdex.com (Revdex.com) regarding a scheduled trip with Close Up Foundation. The statement claims that on March 6, 2020, Close Up refused to refund his monies for a Close Up program trip that was cancelled by his school district's Superintendent due to the response to Covid-19. The child's trip was originally scheduled to take place March 15, through March 19, 2020.
IN RESPONSE Close Up Foundation partners with hundreds of schools each year to welcome tens of thousands of students and teachers to Washington, DC, on a variety of civic education programs. This particular group confirmed 106 students and 10 adults to participate in a Close Up Middle School Program in March 2020. The total amount collected for this group was significantly less than what was quoted in the complaint (roughly $200,000, instead of $500,000).
Close Up has staff dedicated to working with a number of vendors months in advance to provide a safe, educational experience in Washington, DC. Those vendors include hotels, airlines, bus companies, restaurants, national parks, and a number of other service providers. As such, we have set cancellation and refund guidelines to ensure that we meet our financial obligations in the case of cancellation. When this group cancelled with just one week until their scheduled trip, we were well within our 100% cancellation fee window. It is for this reason that we offer each parent the opportunity, and in fact recommend, that they purchase travel insurance to protect their child's trip.
We intently monitored developments in the response to Covid-19 in early March, and as the situation unfolded, the guidance evolved with it. After closely following recommendations provided by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control, Close Up announced on March 12, 2020, that it was suspending program operations through at least April 3, 2020. We communicated with our vendors and partners accordingly, as they began to update their own policies with regards to rescheduling and refunds. This process, especially with the airlines, took some time, and on April 6, 2020, Close Up provided our contact at this district with the following flexible and generous options for all individuals scheduled to participate on
Close Up's program March 15, through March 19, 2020:
Rebook and transfer 100% of your Close Up program payment to a rescheduled program anytime in calendar year 2020; or Accept a refund option that equates to roughly 71% of the total program price.
These options provided schedule flexibility, waived all rebooking fees, and (in the case of a refund) waived a large portion of the non-refundable and non-transferable payments made.
On April 6, 2020, this individual opted for the refund option, and on April 9, the refunded was submitted via his original payment method. We feel we made a good faith effort to maximize rescheduling and refund options to this group and the hundreds of others impacted by the pandemic.
We are happy to answer any additional questions the Revdex.com might still have after reviewing our response.
Best regards,
Stephanie S.
Chief Financial Officer
[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
It was nice of Close Up to respond to my complaint, though the details of their account are far from accurate.
1. The company was dealing with multiple middle schools in our school district. Thou they claim the number is lower than I stated, they are splitting the students into multiple groups based on package and point of contact. 2. When the district first contacted Close Up to explain we had to cancel due to the Pandemic, we were told to individually call their office, because they had already taken all the money from the school district. When multiple parents called their representative, we were informed their would be no refunds because the airlines and hotels would give them nothing back. Since many of us travel extensively for work and every airline and hotel was giving refunds due to COVID, this was a lie. When we pushed them on these issues, the response from their agent was that they were a non profit with friends on the hill, and they could do what they wanted with our money. 3. After multiple parents contacted the Revdex.com, AG and our representatives in DC; Close Up felt the pressure and gave us the choice of switching to one of two weeks in June, after graduation, not the “anytime choice” they refer to. They also told us we could select a less than 50% refund if rescheduling didn’t work for us. The higher refund only came after they actually admitted that *** had refunded all of our money for the flights, and they included that in the refund we ultimately received. 4. So ultimately they charged us about $500 per child for a trip that was cancelled by government order, where every vendor has been directed by the government to cease operations and refund all money’s for services not rendered. 5. Close Up is still being investigated by the Colorado AG and school district for their failure to refund moneys they never spent.
Regards