Let's Dance Rochester Inc.

Thank you for arranging to have the remainder of
the complaint submitted for our review.
We appreciate your help with coordinating this process.We must start by saying that we are quite
surprised to be receiving this complaint through the Revdex.com,
but we appreciate the
opportunity to respond and to participate in the
process. We take our place in the
community very seriously, and we take all allegations of unethical and/or
illegal behavior to heart. This is more
than just our business, this is our life.We believe that the complaint does not present a
clear picture of the facts, nor does it accurately reflect the timeline of
events or the conversations between the parties. Let me start by saying that our records, kept
by teachers Marina *** and Alexandra ***, indicate that all ten lessons that
are in question were taken by the Complaining Party. In addition to providing the dates and times of
these lessons, we would also like to fill in some additional facts for your review. Additionally, the teachers have done their
best to retain all text message communications and paper records regarding the
Complaining Party, and we would be happy to supply these messages and documents
for your review upon request.The Complaining Party started taking lessons in
preparation for their daughter’s wedding.
Not only did Mrand MrsComplaining Party start taking lessons, but
their daughter and soon-son-in-law (Bride and Groom) also started taking
lessons in preparation for their big day.
Mrand MrsComplaining Party purchased two separate packages of
lessons each. Bride and Groom purchased
lessons. A review of our records shows
that the Complaining Party, together with Bride and Groom, took a total of lessons
and paid for lessons. One of our
teachers, Alexandra ***, is currently pregnant. During two lessons with Bride and Groom,
Alexandra became unexpectedly sick and had to cancel mid-session. Because this was not the fault of Bride or
Groom, we did not charge for these lessons, and we scheduled two ma
lessons. Alexandra did not become sick
during a lesson that was counted towards the lessons purchased by the
Complaining Party Mrand MrsComplaining Party quickly became
favorite students of Marina *** due to their attention to detail,
willingness to work hard, and natural abilities. Marina was so excited about them as a dancing
couple that she spoke with them about continuing to dance after the wedding,
and they even decided to prepare to compete against other couples. The Complaining Party were initially
receptive to the idea: so much so that they arranged to purchase a 50-lesson
package on June 1, 2017.On May 31, 2017, the Complaining Party contacted Marina *** through
text message and informed Marina that they would not be taking lessons anymore
and that they would not be purchasing another package.[1] The Complaining Party also asked for a refund
of their remaining lessons, indicating that they did not know how many they had
left and they did not know how many their daughter had used from the
Complaining Party’s package. Marina
responded that they took six lessons with Marina, and she would verify with
Alexandra whether or lessons were taken with AlexandraPlease see the
chart and explanation below for more information about this. We have preserved these text messages,
including date and time stampsOur records indicate that the second package of
lessons was purchased on May 1, 2017.
The dates and times that the disputed lessons were taken, including the
teachers who taught the lessons, are as follows: (See Table)The single asterisk in the chart above signifies
that MrsComplaining Party may not have been present at each of these
lessons. MrComplaining Party, however,
was present at each of these lessons, he participated in the lessons, and he
personally authorized Alexandra *** to “charge” these lessons against his “program.”[1] The Complaining Party also videotaped these
lessons for their later review. The
double asterisk signifies that only Groom (the Complaining Party’s son-in-law)
and his mother were present at this lesson.
Alexandra *** received authorization from MrComplaining Party to
“charge” this lesson against the Complaining Party’s “program” prior to
teaching the lesson. However, in the
interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that the Complaining Party was
not present at this lesson. In the spirit of cooperation and fairness, we
would like to ask MrComplaining Party whether he recalls authorizing
Alexandra to count a lesson taken by the Groom and the Groom’s mother against the
Complaining Party’s program. If Mr
Complaining Party does not recall doing this, then we are willing to offer a
refund in the amount of $for this lesson.
We would request, however, in the spirit of fairness, that Groom make
payment for the “unauthorized” lesson at the same time that we process a refund
to the Complaining PartyThe Complaining Party raises a point in their
complaint that is worth addressing. The Complaining
Party claims that the lessons are charged at $75/minutes, or at $70/
minutes if a package of lessons is purchased. This is half correct, but it omits the
important information. Individual
lessons at the studio are charged at a rate of $110/lesson.[2] If a student purchases a package of lessons,
then the lessons are charged at $75/lesson.
If a student purchases a package of lessons, then the lessons are
charged at $70/lesson. This is a wedding
package discount that is offered to all wedding students. Occasionally, if a student purchases
lessons, and ends up needing one or two more, we will charge at the bulk rate
of $for each individual lesson over 5, but this is done at the discretion of
the teacherOtherwise, the script used by Marina and Alexandra to sell lessons
does not change student-to-student. Even though our practice would be to charge Groom $for the
“unauthorized” lesson, should MrComplaining Party not recall authorizing the
use of the lesson, we will commit to alleviating any bad taste that the Complaining
Party may have about their experience with our studio. We would like to offer to exercise our
discretion to charge Groom at the rate of $75/lesson for this one lesson. However, it must be noted that this is purely
discretionary, and our rates would apply to any other purchases,
referrals, or unaffiliated transactions at the studio.It should also be noted that the Complaining
Party’s lessons were not typical.
Usually, our lessons for wedding dances focus on one couple per
lesson. With the Complaining Party,
however, it was not uncommon for three or four people to arrive for each
lesson, and for multiple dances to be worked on during each lesson. We do not say this to imply that there was
anything wrong with this approach: we agreed to render the services, and we
thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of “switching gears” frequently during the
lessons and working with multiple couples.
That being said, we would like to respectfully suggest that because not
each member of the Complaining Party was present at each lesson, a breakdown in
communication between the Complaining Party may be at the root of this
issue. Alexandra and Marina were the
constant in this situation; they were at the studio at the appointed hour,
prepared for each lesson, accommodating to requests to record the lessons, and
also responsible for recording the dates and times that lessons occurred. We know, from personal and from professional
experience, that planning a wedding is a very stressful time, and that it is
next to impossible to remember to communicate every detail of every
conversation with every party. We choose
to believe that a simple and understandable breakdown in communication between
the Complaining Parties is at the root of this problem, because otherwise it
would be heartbreaking to receive this complaint given our experience and the
joy we had teaching this family.As previously mentioned, we are quite surprised to
be receiving this complaint, and we are also quite saddened to lose such
talented students who we genuinely liked both personally and
professionally. We are often told that
wedding dance lessons are the most enjoyable part of preparing for a wedding,
because it is a team/physical activity that encourages the couple to spend time
connecting and working together. We also
know that weddings are highly stressful (from a planning perspective) and
weddings can also be extremely expensive.
We wish the Complaining Party all the best, and we wish Bride and Groom
a long and happy life together. However,
from a business standpoint, we cannot offer refunds for services that were
rendered in a professional and timely manner; we hope that the Complaining
Party, who are business owners themselves, can understand this position.Thank you for allowing us to participate in this
process. Please do not hesitate to
contact us should you have any follquestions. As mentioned, text message records are
available upon request to substantiate our position, but they have not been
provided in an attempt to keep this proceeding amicable, and also to respect
the directive against releasing identifiable information about the complainant. Very
truly yours, Let’s
Dance Rochester