Hawaii Chinese Immersion School

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:It is clear from her response that she cannot actually refute the many incidents that occurred during our brief time with HCIS I'm attaching the series of emails between myself and HCIS/Lily O** I have removed the names and actual email addresses, but the content is unedited I have added comments which are italicized/bold and in brackets I would like for these emails to be published in their entirety for consumers to make their own conclusions about what transpired.After reading her response, we were astounded at the blatant lies and spinning of the facts She speaks sweetly in emails and in the response, but her words are hollowWe do not believe that she is ever sorry Every point is rationalized or has an excuse.We reject her response and now ask for a FULL refund of the tuition We are also asking for a contact list of my daughter's fellow students, so that we inform them of the actions we have taken It is our sincere belief that other students have similar complaints, but do not know that there are options available for restitutionAn email has already been sent to her with our revised requestI will now quickly address her points:1) Her website www.hawaiichineseschool.org states "quarterly tuition to be paid in full days before each session."2) Look at the emails by the dates She almost never gave advance notice of schedule changes.3) She promised "seven days a week instruction." (see emails) We never had a seven day week, she took it away unannounced.4) See email dated 7/from herShe made her decision BEFORE consulting with us and other families She might have talked to at least one before making the decison, but she already made her plan BEFORE informing us It was final.5) She didn't pay her [redacted] bill Why make excuses?! She made families believe it was an area power outage!6) She offered my daughter ONE makeup She should stop lying about multiple opportunities Plus she made no attempt at an apology for the Longs incident that effectively eliminated the makeup class.7) Kids sat on one fold out table during the initial classes Heavily unfurnished.8) She kicked us out after the first class Telling us we weren't allowed to stay and watch.9) Even though she knew how unhappy we were and that we wanted refund, she persisted in her meaningless extra class offers Based on her past record, why would we ever agree?Please share the emails in their entirety I can provide additional material upon request Sincerely, [redacted] ***

Complaint: ***
On behalf of my family, I am rejecting this response because:As stated in our last response, we found HCIS' response to inappropriateIt was not an apologyWe found it to be condescending, filled with lies, absurd rationalizations, and completely devoid of sincerityIt was our hope that LO would finally concede that she made significant mistakes that had enormous impact on the class and students It is clear to us that she has absolutely no remorse We remain concerned that other parents are stuck in a similar situation to ours.For these reasons, we no longer feel the 50% refund is a just and fair resolutionAs stated in our previous response, we are asking for a full refund totaling $2, We will credit the checks already made towards the restitution balance The balance now stands at $1,130.89We renew our request for contact information on the other students.
Sincerely,
*** ***

Dear Revdex.com,   Thank you so much for informing me of the complaint submitted by PM (initials used so as to not to identify him personally) and I thank him as well for his complaint; I really do appreciate him taking the time to write to you to let me know how he feels about certain things.  ...

Every concern that PM has raised to you means something to him; so even though I may not perceive everything the same way that he did, I understand that these issues are real to him and I empathize with him greatly for how he might feel about them. I would also like to tender my apology in advance for the less-than-pleasant experience he has encountered at HCIS.   Please allow me to address each issue here clearly (in the order he raised them) because I believe they are all important to him.   1. "Tuition must be paid in full by the start of the session" This is not necessarily true. From time to time, HCIS encounters families with financial challenges and we make exceptional payment plans for them, either in the form of installments or subsidies.    2. "Belatedly she announced that she would be going various business trips" At my very first meeting with PM (and all new parents), I always make sure that my travel needs are communicated. As I am well aware that my travel needs are sporadic and sometimes happen within very short notice, our Terms and Conditions explicitly states that "HCIS reserves the right to arrange for make-up classes in the event of teacher's travels."   I didn't enroll PM's daughter on the spot because I want all new families to take time to visit our website and familiarize themselves with my style and method of teaching, as well as our Terms and Conditions, before deciding on enrollment. PM was asked to revisit the Terms and Conditions on the very same site that he had discovered us. Nonetheless, I do acknowledge that this has indeed been a session that has seen more planned and unanticipated travels than previous sessions, so would like to tender my sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused him and his family. I understand how difficult it must have been for his daughter to have to balance so many commitments and deal with my schedule updates both at the same time.   3. "I forgot I'm teaching at my daughter's preschool today" Classes are held officially from Tue to Sun; however, I offered (after PM's enrollment)  to throw in Mondays as a free bonus since it's summer. Coincidentally, I had already committed to volunteering at my daughter's school on Mondays as a reciprocal act for service towards her wonderful preschool, so I ended up not being able to offer the free Mondays to the families at HCIS. However, this free day that fell through was not one that they were charged for - it was meant as a free gift. And one that I regretfully couldn't fulfill as I was also tendering a complimentary act of service on this day to my daughter's preschool.   4. "I decide to stay longer on the mainland so I won't be back tomorrow as planned" and ""I'm cancelling this class because it's too expensive for me to fly back plus I'm tired". These two statements are misquoted and taken out of context. My actual words were "Dear Families, I have completed my DC meetings; initially I was planning on going straight back to Hawaii for a week of classes, but given that half our students are away on travel, and the fact that I have to be back on the east coast in 10 days till mid Aug, I thought it might be easier to just stay out here for the week and return after all my business on the east coast is taken care of. I also have to take my daughter and mom along with me - so the long distance, fatigue, costs, and the ability to serve only half the students didn't justify the return for few days of lessons. Better that we simply extend the session in Sep, so that more students could attend and benefit from the lessons. Thank you for your understanding and pls feel free to let me know your thoughts." While I didn't hear from PM, several families wrote me and shared along the lines of "That makes perfect sense, please enjoy time with your family", "That is fine with us" and "Thank you, we will be traveling to Japan too". It was a decision made from the input of the families, and not one on my own,   5. "One day she had to move the class to her house because [redacted] had cut off power to the class". I would like to apologize for the disruption in service. When we took over the lease, the electricity was not in our name; in the process of transferring it to our name, there was a disruption in service. This was neither [redacted]'s nor the landlord's fault, it was my fault for not staying on top of the switch. Fortunately on this day, another parent came forward and assisted me with transporting the children to my home so that we could continue our lesson there. PM's daughter, like the rest of my students, did not panic, and conducted the transfer smoothly like a seasoned fire drill.   6. "She promises to provide extra class time to make up for the lapses" On several occasions, I voiced to PM's daughter that (for her kind help with the shelves) I would be more than happy to meet with her privately either 30 min prior or 30 min after class to work with her one-on-one. All the students in the class would testify to this. She took me up on the offer only once; unfortunately on that day, I was stuck in an unexpectedly long line at Longs while picking up needed items for the class. I apologize for being late that day - there is no excuse. As a side note, HCIS children (and parents) are often involved in helping out in the classroom because it infuses in them a sense of ownership. The classroom is not mine - it is OURS. It is hardly uncommon to see our children sweeping floors, wiping tables and boards, arranging pillows, making flashcards, etc. It is more than Mandarin that is being taught - communal spirit is constantly and lovingly brewed within our schoolroom.   7. "Hardly any furniture" Our classroom does have a minimalist layout because I am such and subscribe faithfully to "less is more"; I am also organized perhaps to a fault. However,  we have all that we need for an environment conducive to the children's learning. We have a huge white board, a large screen TV, 4 long tables, 8 long benches, a bamboo mat, 6 colorful pillows, a freezer/fridge unit, a microwave, and 3 cabinets that hold everything from flash cards to books to DVDs. In time to come, I might put up mirrors so that we could incorporate dance and movement into our curriculum; however, PM is right, there is hardly any furniture because I prefer a large floor space for floor activities such as games like Chinese Checkers, Chinese Animal Chess, Board Games (with a Chinese twist), etc. I believe that children learn best through play - that is simply in their nature.   8. "She won't allow parents to watch a class" I did welcome PM and his wife to enter and watch the class on the very first day for about 15 minutes (even though they came unannounced). The children present that day will all testify to their audience as well.    One unique thing that HCIS does is we hold Open House at the end of the every session so that parents could not only come and watch a real class in session, but witness the progression of their children's Mandarin in person. On top of that, we conduct overseas learning trips to China where our children are not only required to use their Mandarin on the streets to bargain for every purchase that they or their parents make, they are also required to sit in classes with the Chinese children in both city and village schools in China so that they could maximize the use of their language skills in real life whilst appreciating the similarities and differences of the American and Chinese classrooms.    9. "She initially refused this proposal" I am sorry that PM took my counter-proposal  of giving his daughter private lessons as a rejection of his initial proposal. I had simply hope to finish the goal that his daughter had set out to accomplish - to review her old text and preview her new one. By the time of his complaint, we had already finished with reviewing her old text and I was hoping to continue to assist her with previewing her new text. PM does not think that there would be sufficient time to do this, however, I was confident that I could do that with his daughter because she is very bright and is a quick learner. I am also particularly strong in teaching concepts and delivering them effectively. Once a student can grasp a concept, be it a grammatical structure or vocabulary usage, he/she would be able to expand on what they know. Nonetheless, PM turned down my proposal and said he would file a complaint that day with Revdex.com, DCCA and Small Claims Court unless I make the 50% refund. Seeng that a refund was what he preferred as a solution, I acceded without further resistance. While I wished he would reconsider before approaching the authorities (because I didn't think it was something we couldn't resolve between us), his mention of filing formal complaints was not the reason I refunded him.   My focus, has, and will always be, on the children's learning. I'm known for not being pleasing to the fee-paying parents. However, I'm known for effective delivery of my teachings to the children. Circuitously, their parents come to be pleased that way. If I couldn't assist PM's daughter with her goal, I figured the refund would get her a new teacher who could assist her with accomplishing her goal. So either way was fine by me, but I did not want to dismiss the family so quickly as the PM's daughter was truly a delight to work with and one I would now miss.   Thank you again, Revdex.com, for giving me this opportunity to voice my perspectives and I hope they were at least of use in letting PM know that his opinions are of value and importance to me, I would like to, once again, tender my sincere apologies to PM and his family that for things not turning out so well this time. My warm wishes to them,   (If Revdex.com needs proven exchanges of what was actually being said between HCIS and PM, we stand ready to provide such. Additionally, families whom HCIS has served over the years stand ready to provide letters of support attesting to our commitment and high standards).

Refund was mailed off on Jul 21, 2016.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:It is clear from her response that she cannot actually refute the many incidents that occurred during our brief time with HCIS.  I'm attaching the series of emails between myself and HCIS/Lily O**.  I have removed the names and actual email addresses, but the content is unedited.  I have added comments which are italicized/bold and in brackets.  I would like for these emails to be published in their entirety for consumers to make their own conclusions about what transpired.After reading her response, we were astounded at the blatant lies and spinning of the facts.  She speaks sweetly in emails and in the response, but her words are hollow. We do not believe that she is ever sorry.  Every point is rationalized or has an excuse.We reject her response and now ask for a FULL refund of the tuition.  We are also asking for a contact list of my daughter's fellow students, so that we inform them of the actions we have taken.  It is our sincere belief that other students have similar complaints, but do not know that there are options available for restitution. An email has already been sent to her with our revised request. I will now quickly address her points:1) Her website www.hawaiichineseschool.org states "quarterly tuition to be paid in full 30 days before each session."2) Look at the emails by the dates.  She almost never gave advance notice of schedule changes.3) She promised "seven days a week instruction." (see emails)  We never had a seven day week, she took it away unannounced.4) See email dated 7/18 from her. She made her decision BEFORE consulting with us and other families.  She might have talked to at least one before making the decison, but she already made her plan BEFORE informing us.  It was final.5) She didn't pay her [redacted] bill.  Why make excuses?! She made families believe it was an area power outage!6) She offered my daughter ONE makeup.  She should stop lying about multiple opportunities.  Plus she made no attempt at an apology for the Longs incident that effectively eliminated the makeup class.7) Kids sat on one fold out table during the initial classes.  Heavily unfurnished.8) She kicked us out after the first class.  Telling us we weren't allowed to stay and watch.9) Even though she knew how unhappy we were and that we wanted refund, she persisted in her meaningless extra class offers.  Based on her past record, why would we ever agree?Please share the emails in their entirety.  I can provide additional material upon request.
Sincerely,
[redacted]