Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/16/2024

  Type:Product 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.

  In December 2023, I requested a meeting with Ms. ******** ********, the owner. My son **** was in kindergarten and struggling with reading; he tested at the pre-k level at the Kumon assessment. Ms. ******** told me two things that strongly influenced my decision to enroll **** in the reading program: 1. she would have him reading at grade level in four months and 2. her center has students consistently reading three months ahead of their class in school. On 12/19/23, I enrolled **** in the Kumon reading program and paid in full through December 24. In late-August 2024, I emailed Ms. ******** to ask what grade level my son was, now that he had just begun first grade. She stated, "**** is almost to kindergarten level." My immediate response was "But he's in first grade!" The look on Ms. ********** face told me she knew she made a mistake.I requested a call with Ms. ********* during this 8/29/24 phone call, Ms. ******** offered to terminate the contract and stated that normally she requires 30 days' notice, but she would waive it in this instance. She stated that her accountant, Mr. **** ******, would follow-up with me about my refund. Mr. ****** contacted me offering a refund of $360 (that I could pick-up in cash at the center, no less) when I am owed a refund of $620. I have attached my invoice that I paid in full through December 2024, and I'm also attaching the invoice with the incorrect math Mr. ****** is using to calculate my refund. Since Ms. ******** offered to terminate my son on August 29, 2024, and since I am paid in full through December 2024, that is $180 per month for four months (September, October, November, and December 2024), minus the registration/materials fee of $100. I am shocked that Ms. ******** never once mentioned that **** was not making any progress. I feel as though they were happy to take my money to run a tutoring mill.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/26/2024

  Amanada contacted Kumon to schedule a parent orientation for her son in December of 2023. She expressed that her son was in kindergarten (about halfway through his kindergarten year at this point), and that prior to beginning kindergarten she had paid for a very expensive VPK program so that he would be ready for kindergarten. She explained further that her son could not even identify all 26 letters of the alphabet, let alone the sounds of the letters. I explained that Kumon is a mastery program where her student would start at his last level of mastery, and we work at his own pace and abilities. I vividly expressed that Kumon is NOT a tutoring program but a mastery program and we cannot and will not move a student if they have not mastered the concepts in the level as that would lead to continued gaps in their learning and understanding because reading builds on itself (i.e. you must know the name of the letter to identify the correct sound of a letter, you must know single letter sounds before you can master consonant blends of two letters etc).  Amanada enrolled her son in December of 2023 and stated that she would like to pay in full for a year so that she could receive a 10% discount that we offer when a family pays in advance for a year. Amanada did not make a payment until February 23, 2024. She received reminder emails and invoices and stated that she was waiting to receive a check so that she could pay her son's tuition who had already been enrolled, attending class sessions and receiving the packet-based work that we provide our students.  We worked with Amanda's son for two months without any payment. When Amanda was able to pay her son's tuition, we still allowed her to get a 10% discount but only on 10 months as she did not pay for the full year in advance. She received a discount of $180 off her total which is also the equivalent of one month's tuition. 

  Her son while in Kumon did make progress and his scores on his achievement tests increased each time he took a test. He did require repetition due to having difficulty retaining information and applying to each test, however each time he took a test he improved his score. Initially, when he started, she wanted to know how long it would take to get her son to grade level. I explained that each student learns differently and has abilities but that on average and where her son was starting, we "believed" he could be working grade level in four months. We never make any guarantees, which is why I said I believed her son could be working grade level in four months.  Kumon is an enrichment program and that is why the student only come to the center 2 days a week. We provide the students with worksheet packets that they work on at home with their parent's depending on which level they are on. Amanda's son is working on a level that would require assistance at home with his mother. She saw daily what level and what kind of work he was doing every day; I was shocked when she was surprised what level and what kind of work her son was doing.  

  Amanda requested a call on August 29, 2024, where I went through each achievement test that her son completed and what progress he made with each test. She expressed understanding and even shared that she sees the same lack of ability to retain information when he reads with her at home. Amanada explained that her son was reading a book to her that had the word "not" on almost every page and that he had to sound out that word every time he saw it, agreeing with me that he does not retain as efficiently as he should. Because I understand that every program does not work for every child I did offer for Amanda to stop Kumon so that she could try some other alternatives that may work better for her son. Amanada was appreciative and thanked me for our candid conversation/discussion. There was no problem until Amanda was unhappy with the refund amount. She threatened to report me to the better business bureau, contact Kumon headquarters and widely spread on her socials/leaving bad reviews if I did not give her $620 in refund.  

  Amanda enrolled her son in December 2023 and paid for a year, so that would take her until the end of November 2024 because there is only one December per calendar year. She received a discount of $180 off her total as well. I explained that I cannot pay her for money that was taken off (the discount of $180 off).  Amanda paid $2080 when she finally paid her son's tuition balance. December to August is 9 months. I decided to prorate her December 2023 month and then January to August is 8 months. The total amount for the services she received is $1585 (tuition for 8 months $1440, December 2023 tuition $45, startup fee which is registration and materials $100) subtracted from what she paid $2080 leaves her with a refund amount of $495. 

  On September 23, 2024, Amanda agreed to the amount of $495 for the refund. This was the final amount with a prorated December 2023 tuition. 

   

  Tuition                       8x $180 =$1440
  Dec 2023 tuition       1x $45   =$45
  Startup fee                             =$100
  
  Totaling $1585 due Kumon
  Total Paid by you for 12-month tuition = $2080
  Refundable amount = 2080-1585 = $495

   

  Thank you