Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2017/08/22) */
*** attended a Level Aerial Hoop class taught by our instructor ***, on Tuesday, August 1stAccording to the accounts of other students who were present and *** herself, *** received a great deal of individualized attention
throughout the class as certain fundamental skills were not yet at the level of the other students in classStudents claimed they encouraged her throughout that it will get easier and to continue practicing, and that they celebrated her successes***, at the end of class, took *** aside and told her it was her choice whether or not she would like to continue with Level for her remaining weeks, but would recommend trying our Intro class to work more on her fundamental skills*** then gave *** directions as to the best way home as she was new to the area and offered to escort her by car to lead her in the right directionOne week later, on Tuesday, August 8th, *** arrived minutes late for the Aerial Hoop Level classAs our website and e-mails state, our policies do not allow clients to enter class lateThis is for the safety and protection of students and instructorMissing 1/of the wacan greatly influence the likelihood of injury during classScreenshots of our late arrival/late cancellation and refund policies on our website can be found in the supporting document e-mail (as well as visiting ***), as well as one of the six e-mails *** would have received that also contained these policies*** received an automatic e-mail for registering as a new client, for purchasing her 5-Class Package, for registering for all of her classes (for which she remains registered - screenshots can be found in the supporting document e-mail), and for reminders of her registrationsWe have provided a photo of one of these e-mail examples in the supporting document e-mail*** arrived late and claimed to our front desk staff that it was because she had been tied up at workOn *** (name: ***) she writes that it was because she was lost in *** (screenshot can be found in the supporting document e-mail)Our front desk staff, abiding by our policies, reiterated the policies that are outlined multiple times throughout our website (screenshots can be found in the supporting document e-mail), but suggested that *** contact us - the owners - directly to see if something could be doneAt this point, neither owner was aware of any situation as we had not met *** in person nor were contacted by her about her "negative experience" from the previous week or about seeing whether or not anything could be done about the class credit she was losing for showing up late*** turned to social media where, in addition to spreading information, had friends from her hometown rate our studio with 1-star reviews in an attempt to slander our name publicly and prevent future business*** writes in her own post "and I paid classes in advance, non refundable, so I have to go more" - the day after her first class on August 1st and days before her next visit on August 8th where she was late for class and unable to attend, thereby articulating that she had read and was made aware of our refund policyDespite the accusations and words used against our business (screenshots can be found in the supporting document e-mail), I decided to contact *** directly to ask if she would like to meet in person or talk on the phone in order to help clear up the situation and for me to be able to hear her take on the "negative experience" of classAdditionally, I let her know that had she contacted us directly, instead of turning to social media, we would have issued a refund for the class credit that she lost due to being late on August 8th - and, as a courtesy, offered it to her just the sameWe understand that work emergencies happen, or that it is easy to get lost in a new city - it is unclear as to which was the case with *** - and would therefor be happy to issue this class back to her as a newer clientI described a few other classes on our schedule that might interest her if she was not keen on returning to ***'s class - although, after her first "negative experience" she signed up for the next weeks with *** in this same class and has been a "no-show" since August 8th (screenshots can be found in the supporting document e-mail)
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2017/08/23) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I returned for a second class to give it another chance and it was still below satisfactoryYes I was late, both because I was late leaving work (over an hour away) and because I got mixed up once in townHowever that does not negate the point that I made it clear that I purchased tuesday classes and after those experiences for valid reasons did not want to continueThey did offer me alternative classes, but I am only here on contract for x amount of time and purchased Tuesdays because that was the day I was free to make the hour drive for the classTherefor this no longer worked for me and I requested a refundI have not shown up for the remainder of the classes for obvious reasons
I did not ask my friends to poorly rate this studio, this was done at their own accord because the owner chose to openly pick fights with them over *** on a continuous basisI shared my own honest opinion, and even gave the owners a chance to change my opinion but instead they wasted time
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2017/08/29) */
"I returned for a second class to give it another chance and it was still below satisfactory."
** returned for a second class but arrived ten minutes lateAs our previous response articulates and demonstrates with screenshots of our website and client e-mails, our policies, for obvious reasons, do not permit latecomers**, aware of our policies, made the decision to use the remaining classes on her package by remaining registered for classes, taking up a spot from other potential paying clients, and thereby forfeiting these class creditsOur offer included giving the class credit back to ** for which she lost due to arrival ten minutes past the start of class time
"I purchased Tuesday classes""purchased Tuesdays because that was the day I was free"
Our classes are not sold by specific days of the week, but after contacting ** to give descriptions of other classes that might be of interest, she explained that Tuesdays were her only available eveningsWe then detailed the other three classes that are offered on Tuesday evenings, none of which are instructed by **However, if a negative class experience is defined by one-on-one attention and spotting, and full class encouragement, it is our belief that ** would likely surmise most of our instructors to be "***" and "***" (please see supporting document e-mail from August 22nd)
"Therefor this no longer worked for me and I requested a refund."
As our previous response and supporting documents (from August 22nd) outline, ** herself stated our policies on social media saying "and I paid classes in advance, non refundable", before sharing with and rallying a community of *** acquaintances that our no-refund policy was not written anywhereAs our previous response and supporting document e-mail demonstrate, our no-refund policy is written no less than three times on our website, and in all six automatic e-mail communications that *** receivedDespite spreading accusations on ***, one of the owners responded to **'s post with the intention to clarify the situation (please see supporting document e-mail from August 22nd), and to offer ** the class credit back that had been lost from her late arrival
"The owner chose to openly pick fights with them friends over ***."
One of our owners clarified the no refund policy under a post from ** that stated this policy did not exist (days after her comment on a previous post that classes were non-refundable - found in the supporting document e-mail from August 22nd)This owner then proceeded to respond to a single acquaintance of ** who had asked what other option she (***) had other than turning to social media to attempt to slander our nameThis owner responded by explaining once again that ** could have contacted the owners directly to make them aware of the situation, to explain the negative class experience (for which we have still not been made privy to), but that they understand that she believed this was the only/best option to express her angerThis owner did not respond to any other *** friends, including any of those who chose to take action in giving 1-star reviews
"I shared my own honest opinion, and even gave the owners a chance to change my opinion."
** stated mistruths in her post that our no refund policy was not written anywhere for her to have been made aware ofAs the supporting document e-mail shows, ** mentioned that her classes were non-refundable six days prior to this post, thereby acknowledging that she was aware of our policiesHad ** given the owners the "chance to change her opinion", she would have contacted them directly to make them aware of the situationOnce again, it was only through 1-star reviews on *** that we, the owners, had been made aware of any situation and "negative class experience" from the previous weekThis does not demonstrate that we were given the opportunity to work out a solution, acknowledge her take on the attended class, or given a "chance to change her opinion"Despite this, and despite discovering **'s response to be "ideally" to a friend asking "do I have to drive all the way down there to smack a ***?" (see supporting document e-mail from August 22nd) from the day after the class she attended with **, we continued to offer her the following week's class credit back to her account as we can both empathize with running late and having unexpected work/driving situations ariseWe had also offered a number of times to meet, read, or speak with her directly to hear her take on the Aerial Hoop Level class that she took in an effort to better understand the negative experience of itWe do not want instructors teaching and representing our establishment who are providing such drastically negative experiences that would lead to situations like this oneHowever, all we have are the account of two other students who remarked that ** had spent the majority of class working with and spotting ** through the class lesson plan
It is truly unfortunate that this situation has progressed to what it isWe, the business owners, put specific policies in place to protect our clients, and also to protect ourselves against those who wish to do harm to small business ownersAs all of our supporting documents show, ** attended one class, was a late arrival for a second class, and a no-show for the remaining threeShe openly acknowledged our policies despite sharing accusationsIt would appear that we have come to an impasse, as ** has been clear that she has no interest in discussing her experience within the class she attended or of accepting the credit refund for the class that she was late for - two solutions we had previously offered
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2017/08/22) */
*** attended a Level Aerial Hoop class taught by our instructor ***, on Tuesday, August 1stAccording to the accounts of other students who were present and *** herself, *** received a great deal of individualized attention
throughout the class as certain fundamental skills were not yet at the level of the other students in classStudents claimed they encouraged her throughout that it will get easier and to continue practicing, and that they celebrated her successes***, at the end of class, took *** aside and told her it was her choice whether or not she would like to continue with Level for her remaining weeks, but would recommend trying our Intro class to work more on her fundamental skills*** then gave *** directions as to the best way home as she was new to the area and offered to escort her by car to lead her in the right directionOne week later, on Tuesday, August 8th, *** arrived minutes late for the Aerial Hoop Level classAs our website and e-mails state, our policies do not allow clients to enter class lateThis is for the safety and protection of students and instructorMissing 1/of the wacan greatly influence the likelihood of injury during classScreenshots of our late arrival/late cancellation and refund policies on our website can be found in the supporting document e-mail (as well as visiting ***), as well as one of the six e-mails *** would have received that also contained these policies*** received an automatic e-mail for registering as a new client, for purchasing her 5-Class Package, for registering for all of her classes (for which she remains registered - screenshots can be found in the supporting document e-mail), and for reminders of her registrationsWe have provided a photo of one of these e-mail examples in the supporting document e-mail*** arrived late and claimed to our front desk staff that it was because she had been tied up at workOn *** (name: ***) she writes that it was because she was lost in *** (screenshot can be found in the supporting document e-mail)Our front desk staff, abiding by our policies, reiterated the policies that are outlined multiple times throughout our website (screenshots can be found in the supporting document e-mail), but suggested that *** contact us - the owners - directly to see if something could be doneAt this point, neither owner was aware of any situation as we had not met *** in person nor were contacted by her about her "negative experience" from the previous week or about seeing whether or not anything could be done about the class credit she was losing for showing up late*** turned to social media where, in addition to spreading information, had friends from her hometown rate our studio with 1-star reviews in an attempt to slander our name publicly and prevent future business*** writes in her own post "and I paid classes in advance, non refundable, so I have to go more" - the day after her first class on August 1st and days before her next visit on August 8th where she was late for class and unable to attend, thereby articulating that she had read and was made aware of our refund policyDespite the accusations and words used against our business (screenshots can be found in the supporting document e-mail), I decided to contact *** directly to ask if she would like to meet in person or talk on the phone in order to help clear up the situation and for me to be able to hear her take on the "negative experience" of classAdditionally, I let her know that had she contacted us directly, instead of turning to social media, we would have issued a refund for the class credit that she lost due to being late on August 8th - and, as a courtesy, offered it to her just the sameWe understand that work emergencies happen, or that it is easy to get lost in a new city - it is unclear as to which was the case with *** - and would therefor be happy to issue this class back to her as a newer clientI described a few other classes on our schedule that might interest her if she was not keen on returning to ***'s class - although, after her first "negative experience" she signed up for the next weeks with *** in this same class and has been a "no-show" since August 8th (screenshots can be found in the supporting document e-mail)
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2017/08/23) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I returned for a second class to give it another chance and it was still below satisfactoryYes I was late, both because I was late leaving work (over an hour away) and because I got mixed up once in townHowever that does not negate the point that I made it clear that I purchased tuesday classes and after those experiences for valid reasons did not want to continueThey did offer me alternative classes, but I am only here on contract for x amount of time and purchased Tuesdays because that was the day I was free to make the hour drive for the classTherefor this no longer worked for me and I requested a refundI have not shown up for the remainder of the classes for obvious reasons
I did not ask my friends to poorly rate this studio, this was done at their own accord because the owner chose to openly pick fights with them over *** on a continuous basisI shared my own honest opinion, and even gave the owners a chance to change my opinion but instead they wasted time
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2017/08/29) */
"I returned for a second class to give it another chance and it was still below satisfactory."
** returned for a second class but arrived ten minutes lateAs our previous response articulates and demonstrates with screenshots of our website and client e-mails, our policies, for obvious reasons, do not permit latecomers**, aware of our policies, made the decision to use the remaining classes on her package by remaining registered for classes, taking up a spot from other potential paying clients, and thereby forfeiting these class creditsOur offer included giving the class credit back to ** for which she lost due to arrival ten minutes past the start of class time
"I purchased Tuesday classes""purchased Tuesdays because that was the day I was free"
Our classes are not sold by specific days of the week, but after contacting ** to give descriptions of other classes that might be of interest, she explained that Tuesdays were her only available eveningsWe then detailed the other three classes that are offered on Tuesday evenings, none of which are instructed by **However, if a negative class experience is defined by one-on-one attention and spotting, and full class encouragement, it is our belief that ** would likely surmise most of our instructors to be "***" and "***" (please see supporting document e-mail from August 22nd)
"Therefor this no longer worked for me and I requested a refund."
As our previous response and supporting documents (from August 22nd) outline, ** herself stated our policies on social media saying "and I paid classes in advance, non refundable", before sharing with and rallying a community of *** acquaintances that our no-refund policy was not written anywhereAs our previous response and supporting document e-mail demonstrate, our no-refund policy is written no less than three times on our website, and in all six automatic e-mail communications that *** receivedDespite spreading accusations on ***, one of the owners responded to **'s post with the intention to clarify the situation (please see supporting document e-mail from August 22nd), and to offer ** the class credit back that had been lost from her late arrival
"The owner chose to openly pick fights with them friends over ***."
One of our owners clarified the no refund policy under a post from ** that stated this policy did not exist (days after her comment on a previous post that classes were non-refundable - found in the supporting document e-mail from August 22nd)This owner then proceeded to respond to a single acquaintance of ** who had asked what other option she (***) had other than turning to social media to attempt to slander our nameThis owner responded by explaining once again that ** could have contacted the owners directly to make them aware of the situation, to explain the negative class experience (for which we have still not been made privy to), but that they understand that she believed this was the only/best option to express her angerThis owner did not respond to any other *** friends, including any of those who chose to take action in giving 1-star reviews
"I shared my own honest opinion, and even gave the owners a chance to change my opinion."
** stated mistruths in her post that our no refund policy was not written anywhere for her to have been made aware ofAs the supporting document e-mail shows, ** mentioned that her classes were non-refundable six days prior to this post, thereby acknowledging that she was aware of our policiesHad ** given the owners the "chance to change her opinion", she would have contacted them directly to make them aware of the situationOnce again, it was only through 1-star reviews on *** that we, the owners, had been made aware of any situation and "negative class experience" from the previous weekThis does not demonstrate that we were given the opportunity to work out a solution, acknowledge her take on the attended class, or given a "chance to change her opinion"Despite this, and despite discovering **'s response to be "ideally" to a friend asking "do I have to drive all the way down there to smack a ***?" (see supporting document e-mail from August 22nd) from the day after the class she attended with **, we continued to offer her the following week's class credit back to her account as we can both empathize with running late and having unexpected work/driving situations ariseWe had also offered a number of times to meet, read, or speak with her directly to hear her take on the Aerial Hoop Level class that she took in an effort to better understand the negative experience of itWe do not want instructors teaching and representing our establishment who are providing such drastically negative experiences that would lead to situations like this oneHowever, all we have are the account of two other students who remarked that ** had spent the majority of class working with and spotting ** through the class lesson plan
It is truly unfortunate that this situation has progressed to what it isWe, the business owners, put specific policies in place to protect our clients, and also to protect ourselves against those who wish to do harm to small business ownersAs all of our supporting documents show, ** attended one class, was a late arrival for a second class, and a no-show for the remaining threeShe openly acknowledged our policies despite sharing accusationsIt would appear that we have come to an impasse, as ** has been clear that she has no interest in discussing her experience within the class she attended or of accepting the credit refund for the class that she was late for - two solutions we had previously offered