Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/11/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  Date of transaction: 1/6/2024 The money paid the business: $106.99 (including $1.99 credit card processing fee)I paid this amount of money for an after-class program, but the business told us later my son is not eligible for this program and promised to issue a refund on 1/12 over the phone. I followed up many times with emails and phone calls, and the business emailed me on 2/2 and said the refund had been processed. However, until today (3/5), I still havent received the refund. The business ignores my emails and phone calls.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/22/2024

  Hello,
  This letter is in response to claim #********.
  On January 6th we received an enrollment for an after-school program at a private school named ***************************** in ***********,** via our website.
  Our website clearly states under the Enrollment terms that you need to be enrolled at the private school to be able to attend their after-school program. I checked with the program director at *****************************,and they told me that her son did not attend their school so he was not allowed to come to the after-school program.  I informed his mother of this and also mentioned to her that she should have read the Enrollment terms so that that she  would have known he needed to be enrolled in the school to be able to attend the after-school program.  
  She said if she can have a credit or a refund I said, let me know which one you would like. She spoke to me on the 12th of January and said that she would like a refund. Our office processed her request for a refund for the class she enrolled her son in, not including the $1.99 charged by ******** (kids activity website) and not charged by the Kitchen Classroom, could not be refunded because it's not something that we charge.  The $105.00 for the class was refunded to her and we feel that this was a sufficient resolution to this issue, which is what she wanted. I feel that she should have read all of the information first before enrolling in an after-school program at a school her son does not attend.
  The reason for the refund taking longer than she wanted or expected was due to our reaching out to ******** to see if the $1.99 service fee would be refunded.  They said no, it is a non-refundable service fee.  This is stated on HiSawyers website. Again, this is published and apparently not read.
  We have been honest and respectful to her and to her son throughout this process and did our best to resolve this respectfully and quickly as possible.  During this process we reached out to her several times and almost all attempts were not responded to.
  Her son had attended our Holiday Camp at the Kitchen Classroom,at our physical facility and program, without any issues.

  Best regards,

  ***************************** office Manager (The Kitchen Classroom)
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/27/2024

   
  Complaint: 21389794

  
  Dear Sir or Madam,

  Thank you very much for helping handle my complaint.

  I finally got a refund of $105 on 3/10/2024. However, I would like to clarify a few things.

  First of all, the Kitchen Classroom website did not clearly indicate the after-school program is only limited to certain students when I enrolled my son. More importantly, I spoke to a female kitchen classroom staff over the phone on 1/5/2024 to learn details about this after-school program and she said I could enroll my son for this program without mentioning anything about the eligibility. Then I enrolled my son after that call.

  On 1/12/2024 I received an email from this female staff stating that my son was not eligible for the program because my son was not attending a specific school and she said shes sorry because she thought my son was attending that specific school without asking me. I clearly said to her I wanted a refund to my credit card that day and she agreed to do so.

  I sent emails to the Kitchen Classroom on 1/25 and 1/31 inquiring about the refund and I didnt receive any reply. I called and left a voice message to the Kitchen Classroom on 2/2 to follow up on the refund again since I still hadnt received it. Then I got an email reply on 2/2, the Kitchen Classroom staff replied to me: your refund has been processed. You should receive it in the next few days. 

  However, very unfortunately, I emailed the Kitchen Classroom inquiring about the refund on 2/15 again, since I still hadnt received my refund, and again I didnt receive any reply to this email. Then on 2/20, I called the Kitchen Classroom again to leave a voice message inquiring about my refund status, and once again, I didnt receive any response from the Kitchen Classroom.

  The following statements from the Kitchen Classroom are not true:

  1. I informed his mother of this and also mentioned to her that she should have read the Enrollment terms so that that she would have known he needed to be enrolled in the school to be able to attend the after-school program.
  
  My clarification: She never informed me about this, this is a fabricated statement. Instead, on 1/12/2024, she said shes sorry to me over the phone because she thought my son was attending that specific school without asking me.
  
  2. "The reason for the refund taking longer than she wanted or expected was due to our reaching out to ******** to see if the $1.99 service fee would be refunded.  They said no, it is a non-refundable service fee.  This is stated on HiSawyers website. Again, this is published and apparently not read."
  
  My clarification: I never mentioned to the Kitchen Classroom I wanted the $1.99 service fee back and the Kitchen Classroom never explained to me why the refund process took so long was because of this.
  
  3. "We have been honest and respectful to her and to her son throughout this process and did our best to resolve this respectfully and quickly as possible. During this process we reached out to her several times and almost all attempts were not responded to."
  
  My clarification: This is not the truth. Between 1/13/2024 and 3/5/2024, I emailed the Kitchen Classrooms 3 times (1/25,1/31 & 2/15) and called to leave voice messages twice (2/2 and 2/20) to follow up on my refund status, the only response I received was their email on 2/2 stating your refund has been processed. You should receive it in the next few days, which obviously was not true and did not happen. Other than the email from the Kitchen Classroom on 2/2, I never receive any phone call from their number ************.

  Finally, I decided to file a complaint with the BBB, and I received my refund miraculously on 3/10.

  Although I finally got my refund after almost two monthsefforts, I have experienced so much frustration, and I dont understand why the Kitchen Classroom handles this matter in such an unprofessional, untimely, and dishonest way.

  Thank you very much for your time for reading my clarification.

  
  Best regards,
  ***********