ComplaintsforThe Little Gym

• Initial Complaint

  02/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The Little Gym of************* overcharged my Credit card account for my daughter's gymnastic class. The cost of the class for the ages 3-6 is $16.61 per class which is clearly stated on their website underneath the class description. That comes out to about $66 per month. Also this was a time during a promotion in the month of January where classes are even less for the first few months. However I was charged the day I signed her up a random $5.54 and on top of that I was charged $72.00. That same day I recieved a phone call from the owner/manager herself saying that she doesnt know why the system overcharged me, and thought it was a joke, but said nothing about my refund. She didnt give me a choice and told me she would discount next month's service, and I was not happy with that, because I didnt know if my daughter would want to do the class next month. So she kept my extra money instead. Now My daughter has went to one month of classes and I did not like that the teachers do not teach any gymnastics but simply talk to one another while in the gym with the kids and The parents watch from outside, so really its a waste of money. Besides that though, I just wanted to cancel and get the refund from the overdraft, simply enough right? The owner was literally laughing when i asked for my refund on the phone, and refused to give me it, in top of that she said I am going to be charged for entire next month even if my daughter isnt going anymore, because I didnt give an email 2 week notice. So now, they stole about a 100$ from me and my daughter didnt learn anything and the owner thinks its a joke to steal money from people. If I wasnt happy with a service why is she going to keep charging me when we are no longer going and on top of that, she owes us money, and she knows that, but is refusing to return it. I have attached a photo of my bank statement showing the amount of money that was transacted. The money was taken out Jan. 31st, but posted to my bank acc. Feb 2.

  Business response

  03/15/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/03/06) */ The Little Gym (TLG) of ************ is an individually owned franchise of The Little Gym Incorporated. The Little Gym was purchased by Fox Family LLC in September 2020. All records from TLG ************ were transferred to the new owners upon switching ownership. Mrs. ******** first inquired about classes at TLG ************ in March of 2020 under the previous owners. Her inquiry occurred before the gym had to close its doors due to Covid-19. TLG reopened its doors (under new ownership) in January 2021. Mrs. ********'s daughter has been participating in drop-in events at TLG ************ since October 2021. Her daughter has participated in 3 drop-in events, one of which took place after Mrs. ******** enrolled her daughter in classes. At the first drop-in event Mrs. ********'s daughter attended in 2021, Mrs. ******** asked a few questions about our classes and prices. All information was provided at this time. As Mrs. ******** stated, our website does show a per-class price (this feature is controlled by corporate, TLG ************ does not control the display of the per-class price). However, this is not how our gym operates. TLG runs on monthly tuition of $72.00 per month that is auto withdrawn on the 1st of each month. This practice was discussed with Mrs. ******** when she dropped her daughter off at the drop-in event in 2021. All prices have remained the same; there was no increase in price in the new year. However, the gym has implemented a sign-up discount each month of the new year mentioned on the home page of our website. Our January promotion was if you enrolled during January, you would lock in the price of $60.00 per month for February, March, & April. Mrs. ******** enrolled her daughter in classes on January 31, 2022, using our online system. The Little Gym of ************ does admit that upon looking at our online receipts, we noticed our system charged an unusual amount of $5.54 on January 31, 2022. Upon enrolling, Mrs. ******** saved her card information online in our system (this is an optional step to have the information saved). Since our monthly payments come out on the 1st of each month, her card was then charged on February 1, 2022, for $72.00. When I noticed the amount Mrs. ******** was charged through our online system, I immediately reached out to her. I reached Mrs. ******** via phone call on February 1, 2022, and apologized for the inconvenience. I explained that I was not sure how the online system calculated the first amount ($5.54) as it was not something I had seen before. I also mentioned that the second amount ($72.00) is our standard tuition; it seems our system must have glitched, and the discount was not applied. I said to Mrs. ******** that between the two days, she was charged a total of $77.54. Since she did enroll in January, her monthly tuition for February would only be $60.00. I explained that there was a $17.54 difference. I offered to apply this to the next month's tuition (March), making the amount she would owe in March only $42.46. Mrs. ******** did ask me to go over again the breakdown of the amounts charged and what she would owe. I was happy to oblige. After clarification, she agreed that this would be okay. Mrs. ******** did not ask for a refund during this phone call, nor did I offer it because she agreed that the amount could be applied to March's tuition. Mrs. ******** and her daughter attended their first class on February 3, 2022. Upon arriving to class, it is our policy a parent must fill out a waiver and a credit card authorization form. Mrs. ******** had previously filled out a waiver in October 2021 when her daughter attended her first drop-in event at the gym. Mrs. ******** did fill out another waiver upon attending her first class. Mrs. ******** also signed our credit card authorization form on the same day (February 3). This form states our policies and procedures. It also says that base monthly tuition is $72.00 and will be charged from their card each month until they choose to cancel. This form does clearly state our cancellation policy as well. TLG of ************'s cancellation policy as per the form: "Cancellation: We understand that things come up and life happens! We are here to make enrolling with us as easy as possible. If you can't stay, we require an advance notification of two weeks before next auto payment by email or by submitting a Cancellation Request Form (please see a team member for the form) or sending an email to ********************************** with reason for cancellation. There is no cancellation fee. Less than two weeks' notice for cancellation will result in auto withdrawal for the next month." We also state our policy on refunds: "Refunds: Refunds are not issued if there is failure to let TLG ************ know of cancellation in the proper amount of time." Mrs. ******** called TLG ************ on February 26, 2022, stating she would like to cancel her tuition for March and wanted a refund for the mischarged amount. I am the one who spoke with Mrs. ******** on the phone. I reminded her of our policies, which she agreed to; we require a two-week notice to process cancellation for the next month. I informed Mrs. ******** that $17.54 was already removed from the tuition due on March 1, and she would only be charged $42.46. Mrs. ******** was unhappy and stated she would be leaving a review and reaching out to her bank to stop the charge. Mrs. ******** did leave a review on Google. I also have a personal policy I like to implement as a business owner; for anyone who leaves a review (no matter what kind of review or how many stars), I provide their account with a $5.00 credit. That credit goes toward their monthly tuition as a way of saying thank you for helping my business. All reviews, no matter good or bad, help me and my team learn and grow. And as a person who stands by their word, I applied a $5.00 credit to Mrs. ********'s account and used it for March's tuition. Mrs. ******** was then only charged $37.46 for March. As discussed on the phone call that transpired on February 26, 2022, Mrs. ********'s daughter would be allowed to attend classes throughout March as this month will be paid for in full. We offer a makeup policy at our gym, which Mrs. ******** is aware of because she had already utilized this policy during February; this policy is also mentioned on our credit card authorization form. This policy was restated to Mrs. ******** during the phone call addressing that if there were any classes they would not be attending in March they could receive a makeup to be used on a different day. Mrs. ******** did provide us with a cancellation email after hanging up with me on February 26th. Her cancellation for April has been completely submitted at this time, and she will not be charged for any further months for classes. I believe it is also worth stating that our gym does offer introductory classes, which Mrs. ******** is aware of due to the conversation about our classes back in October of 2021. An introductory visit is a first-class that is given at a discounted rate ($15.00), so a child may try out the gym before committing. These visits are easily purchasable through our website or by texting/calling our gym and speaking with an employee. If Mrs. ******** was not ready to fully enroll her daughter and only wished to see if her daughter would be interested in the classes in addition to attending the drop-in events, an introductory visit could have been purchased before enrolling. The Little Gym of ************ has followed all policies and procedures that were agreed to and discussed. **documents have been provided showing what Mrs. ******** was charged, along with the credit card authorization form that Mrs. ******** signed (all sensitive information has been blacked out)

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