Hello, The student who complained about spacing in our yoga room first emailed me on 2/11/17 with her complaint. I responded to her email on 2/13/17 thanking her for her feedback and offering her an explanation of circumstances as to why the classes are so full. On March 6th, I received a call from...
one of my yoga teachers that the student was again complaining about me not responding to her original complaint. I immediately called the student back and had what I thought was a thoughtful and respectful conversation about her experience, our policies, and common yoga class environments that I have been a teacher and student in for over 14 years. I gave the student a resolution that would allow her to come into the room and be provided all the space she needs going forward. I offered that in the past we would honor the needs of a student as best we can and I compared her discomfort to a student that might come in with an allergy to incense and with such a case we would put the incense out. I said we had a space in the room that would put her next to a wall "which she insisted on" and near a pole in the room that would keep anybody from being next to her. In the end the student refused any solution outside of setting new policies about attendance limits to her liking. I said that wasn't likely and she asked for a refund and I mentioned to the student that I did not feel it was the right thing to do to give her her money back because of her discomfort with a crowded room. I also asked why she attended so many classes of 30+ students in the past with one of our most popular teachers whose classes are almost always crowded before complaining in this manner. This student has attended 57 classes at our studio. She first purchased a Groupon of 10 classes for I believe $25 and then took advantage of our 1st package purchased special of 50% off the Year unlimited which is normally $1000 of which she paid $500. Also, she mentioned that she purchased gifts for others that she also wanted refunds for but did not mention specifically what they were. This student also mentioned that she was totally embarrassed about leaving the last she attended the way that she did, even to the point of returning to apologize. I feel this student is more upset that I refused to limit class size to her liking asking for her money back is a way to 'win' this argument. I offered that any sacrifice a student makes of their own space to allow another to step onto their mat is a generous act of kindness and I was proud of the way the community has handled the limited space at times. Blessings.
Hello, The student who complained about spacing in our yoga room first emailed me on 2/11/17 with her complaint. I responded to her email on 2/13/17 thanking her for her feedback and offering her an explanation of circumstances as to why the classes are so full. On March 6th, I received a call from...
one of my yoga teachers that the student was again complaining about me not responding to her original complaint. I immediately called the student back and had what I thought was a thoughtful and respectful conversation about her experience, our policies, and common yoga class environments that I have been a teacher and student in for over 14 years. I gave the student a resolution that would allow her to come into the room and be provided all the space she needs going forward. I offered that in the past we would honor the needs of a student as best we can and I compared her discomfort to a student that might come in with an allergy to incense and with such a case we would put the incense out. I said we had a space in the room that would put her next to a wall "which she insisted on" and near a pole in the room that would keep anybody from being next to her. In the end the student refused any solution outside of setting new policies about attendance limits to her liking. I said that wasn't likely and she asked for a refund and I mentioned to the student that I did not feel it was the right thing to do to give her her money back because of her discomfort with a crowded room. I also asked why she attended so many classes of 30+ students in the past with one of our most popular teachers whose classes are almost always crowded before complaining in this manner. This student has attended 57 classes at our studio. She first purchased a Groupon of 10 classes for I believe $25 and then took advantage of our 1st package purchased special of 50% off the Year unlimited which is normally $1000 of which she paid $500. Also, she mentioned that she purchased gifts for others that she also wanted refunds for but did not mention specifically what they were. This student also mentioned that she was totally embarrassed about leaving the last she attended the way that she did, even to the point of returning to apologize. I feel this student is more upset that I refused to limit class size to her liking asking for her money back is a way to 'win' this argument. I offered that any sacrifice a student makes of their own space to allow another to step onto their mat is a generous act of kindness and I was proud of the way the community has handled the limited space at times. Blessings.