Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:30/05/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I've been overcharged with MDS since 2020 regarding “in-class acting classes”. Please see Sept 27, 2020 email attached. I chose the 6 month package= $1,080. I started paying right away with $101.50 deposit. Oct 8, 2020 I paid $467.00. On Dec 3, 2020 , I paid $568.50 to pay off rest of 6 mth program. I was overcharged b/c I paid $101.5 + $467 + $568.5= $1,137, not the $1,080 that was mentioned in the Program Pkg on Sept 27, 2020 (this was all with cash). In Aug 2021 MDS Acting decided it wanted to start billing by credit card because they had financial issues with customers/students in the past. On Aug 24, 2021 I received an email from MDS stating the prices for acting class pkgs in a PDF, 1mth=$300/mth, 3mths=$275/mth, 6 mths= $250/mth (see attached). There was no info on gst nor processing fees for credit cards. On Aug 31, 2021, I received an email from MDS stating all prices for credit cards that included 5% GST (no mention of additional fees). 1 mth= $315/mth, 3 mths= $288.75/mth, 6 mths= 262.50/mth (see attached). I chose 6-mth pkg. It specifically stated " $262.50 (which includes 5% gst) " in email. It never mentioned processing fees, nor additional fees. I was overcharged for 6 months that I was with the program. I was charged $290.25 in Sept (101.50 cash, and 188.75 on credit card), $288.75 in Oct, $288.75 in Nov, $288.75, in Dec $173.25 (he divided 5 classes with $288.75 and multiplied by 3, b/c we only had 3 classes in Dec $173.25), in Jan $288.75 and $288.75 in Feb. I was overcharged $148.50 for those 6 months (Sept overcharged $26.25, Oct overcharged $26.25, Nov $26.25, Dec overcharged $15.75, Jan overcharged $26.25, Feb overcharged $26.25). On Mon May 16 I paid $251.5 for 1 mth with MDS, not understanding cheap price? I looked at all previous charges. On Wed, May 19, 2022 I sent email stating I was overcharged previous times. I was told I would only get $83.36 back minus $3 processing fees= $80.36. I was given $80.36 no explanation, just $274.85/mth?

  Customer Answer

  Date: 30/05/2022

  I notified MDS of the overcharges from Sept 2021 to Feb 2022. I did not notify them of the overcharging that occurred in 2020 because I just noticed it yesterday. 

  Business Response

  Date: 22/07/2022

  From: MDS Actors' Studio/MDS Productions Inc.
  Gentlepersons;

  
  Wow. This has hit from out of nowhere. Let me see if I can create some order in my thoughts.
  Firstly, for whatever reason, this is the first knowledge of the complaint filed with BBB that I've had. I
  do appreciate the opportunity to respond and would like to state that we would have done so
  immediately had I known. Don't know what happened, but am happy that we were finally made aware
  of the issue.

  Second, I'm kinda' stunned and not a little upset that ******* would do this without talking further with
  us and especially to me directly. She has been a valued student with our program and I think she would
  even admit that she has grown quite a bit as an actor in her time with us.

  As to the immediate issue, it evolved when she wanted to return to class and we allowed her to pay the
  6 month monthly fee (the least expensive payment program) and she paid the course fee but not the
  GST. We asked her to correct it and that's when the trouble began. She also told us that she only
  wanted to sign up for 1 month and we informed her that we can't allow that. The program is taught
  with actors working together and if she was only going to be there a short period like a month, she
  wouldn't be able to get the full value working alone, and if other actors did work with her, they'd be
  kinda' just getting started on a piece and then she'd be gone. Not fair to either party. I suggested that
  she re-enroll when she could commit. Our program is very different that way. Students work on good
  material over time. We of course refunded her payment immediately.

  When she then brought up the issue of being overcharged, I asked my class administrator to ask her
  how much she thought she was owed, and it was reported to me that it was $80.36, which I
  immediately refunded to her. This complaint is the first knowledge I've had that her feeling was that
  she was owed more. In reading the complaint, she determined that she was overcharged $26.25 for 5
  months and another month for $15.75. In reality, my understanding is that she was actually on the 3
  month program and we had also never charged her for the ****** payment fee of $9.97 every month
  so, in my understanding, we were charging her correctly. I'm more than willing to give her the benefit
  of the doubt.

  Just for your own perspective, we charge much less than other comparative programs in this market.
  Our monthly cost for classes is $315.00 and we offer discounts to those committed students who put in
  the time and effort to consistently improve. ******* wasn't charged for any fees prior to us
  implementing the pass through fee costs to every student and she benefited from the lowest pricing
  discounts we offered. We immediately refunded her money when we found she couldn't commit for
  more than a month and refunded what we felt we owed her when she brought the issue to us. I was
  frankly a bit surprised when I found out how rude she was to my class administrator as all she was
  trying to do was her job. She was actually trying to do ******* a favor by charging her the 6 month
  price for the one month until I told her that I wouldn't allow ******* to join for only a month. Not her
  fault. Sometimes I do believe no good deed will go unpunished. I refunded the amount that was
  ascertained to be owed and thought that was the end of it. Certainly I received no complaint or
  objection or even a discussion from ******* that that amount was unacceptable. She took the money
  and then evidently complained to you.
  
  In conclusion, all she had to do was ask. My math says that the amount she believes we owe her is
  $147.00, of which we've already paid $80.36. I'm Interacting $66.64 to her today and hoping that this
  will close the issue.

  Once again, thank you for bringing this to our attention.

  Sincerely,

  Michael D. S****, CEO MDS Productions Inc., MDSActors' Studio