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:08/21/2024

  Type:Service or Repair 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.

  At the beginning of June I purchased a summer pass from this business while training under one of the owners who is a Cirque trained coach and the only person in the studio qualified to formulate a curriculum. In the middle of June, they mentioned theyd be closed for one week in July for a summer vacation they were taking. At the end of that week, they extended the closure for another week and then two until finally mentioning theyd be closed til mid August. Upon reopening the head coach was no longer working there nor was there a new head coach hired. Several classes were cut out, limiting my abilities to attend classes. I was able to take anywhere between 8-10 classes a week for my age and skill level and now I am only able to take 3 at most. There is still no head coach or coach formulated curriculum for us to follow, nor am I able to take the classes I would have taken with my summer pass, since it is no longer summer. The existing owner (who has no aerial training) has offered to refund me $80 for the time they were closed and push my summer pass to the end of September. This does not compensate for the lack of classes I am now able to attend, the fact that September is not summer, I wouldnt have purchased the pass had it not been for the availability I had during the original summer months and the lack of trained professionals at the studio to help me in my aerial learning. I spent $256 including tax on my summer pass and $80 is hardly even a third of it. I would like at least 2/3 of a refund considering there is still no head coach to teach the intermediate classes I would be in and the fact that summer came and went and I was unable to go for the entire month of July into mid August and still am unable to attend the original classes promised under the summer pass.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/23/2024

  Thank you for sharing your concerns. I apologize for any inconvenience youve experienced, and I want to address the points youve raised.
  
  Scheduled Closures: Initially, we had a planned closure of 2 weeks in July, which unfortunately extended by an additional 2 weeks due to unforeseen staffing changes. We communicated these changes as promptly as possible, and I understand the frustration this may have caused.
  
  Coaching Staff: While it is true that one of our coaches moved on, we have five other highly qualified instructors, all of whom have years of experience and are fully capable of teaching aerial arts. They have been working diligently to ensure that the quality of instruction remains high, even with the staffing changes.
  
  Curriculum and Class Availability: Although we did have to adjust our schedule and reduce the number of classes offered initially, our instructors continue to provide structured and effective training. Our schedule is now back up to more classes than we had previously. I understand that the changes may not align perfectly with your original expectations, but we have worked hard to maintain a robust class schedule that meets a variety of skill levels.
  
  Summer Pass and Refund: The summer pass was purchased at a cost of $240 (+ taxes and fees) and we acknowledge that the extended closure affected your ability to attend classes during that time. However, we refunded $80 for the 2 weeks we were unexpectedly closed and extended the passs expiration date by 6 weeks, allowing for 8 additional weeks of classes once we reopened. While its understandable that this may not fully compensate for your experience, it was intended to provide you with an opportunity to take the classes you missed.
  
  We value your commitment to your training and want to ensure you have a positive experience with us. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/07/2024

  Type:Service or Repair 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 had been training in aerial arts for 3 months at this studio under the guidance of the head coach and co-owner, *****, who was a **************** trained and certified coach. I bought a summer pass for $240 on 6/16. The total transaction on my credit card was $264.63. This was 2 weeks before the studio closed for a planned 2 week break 7/1-7/14, giving me a total of 6 weeks to utilize the pass. This pass was available earlier, for a total of 3 months of classes. I purchased it late thinking it was still a good deal. This pass entitled me to unlimited aerial classes for the summer schedule, which included 8 aerial classes/week available for my age/skill group, through 8/14 as clearly stated on their website at the time of purchase. ***** taught a majority of these classes. Towards the end of their break, it was announced that *****, was leaving the studio due to irreconcilable differences with the co-owner and the studio would be closed for another week, which then got extended again. After being closed for over a month, they just reopened this week with an extremely limited schedule, offering an extension of the summer pass for one more month. However, their schedule now only offers one aerial class for my age/skill level and an open gym. There is absolutely no information about if or when a full schedule will be available again because she is still searching for new coaches. She will go 10+ days without responding to my emails asking for information about getting a full refund. She promised a refund of $80 on June 27th (for being closed 1/3 of the months the pass was available), which I have still not received, nor do I think is enough compensation. At the end of the day, I purchased unlimited classes for the summer schedule expecting to be with a **************** trained and certified coach. These services were not provided. The actions of the owner go against the community guidelines of the business that were originally told to us and stated on their website.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/09/2024

  Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and frustration youve encountered. I understand how much you value your training and the importance of receiving the services as expected. I acknowledge that the situation with our schedule changes and staff transitions has been difficult, and I deeply regret any disruption this has caused to your training plans.

  The circumstances of the studio were unexpected. I was out of town when it happened and was trying to navigate the situation remotely to the best of my ability at the time. We are a very small, locally owned business and do not have the administrative staff that larger companies do.We recognize the response time was not at the level I strive to offer our students. However given the situation, I was doing the best I could.

  When I communicated to you on July 27th about the $80 refund and went in the payment system to process your refund, you had already filed a dispute with your credit card company and that immediately locks down the transaction within the system. I received an email from my merchant about the dispute on the next business day of Monday July 29. I cannot refund a transaction that is in dispute. When a dispute occurs, my merchant locks the transaction which prohibits me from being able to issue any refund to a credit card. I have communicated this several times to you on several platforms. Even with you purchasing the pass one month into the promotion, you utilized it for 10 classes before the break, which is the equivalent of $288 worth of services ($28 per drop-in class) before the closure. Had you been able to wait before disputing the charge, I would have also processed the $80 refund.

  Given the unexpected situation, we are honoring Summer passes until Sept 30. We are also in the process of filling our schedule with additional classes and instructors and updated the schedule on our website as that information becomes available. I hope you are able to take advantage of some of the classes that are back on the schedule.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/11/2024

   
  Complaint: 22101544
  
  I am rejecting this response due to the following:

  I only reached out regarding a refund again after I received notice from my bank that the dispute was closed in the merchant's favor because there was not enough documentation for them to do otherwise. I understand now that the transaction is still locked in the dispute, despite what my bank notified me, so I understand that you cannot take action right now. However, you did not communicate this to me "multiple times on multiple platforms," rather once via email after my bank had told me otherwise. I am requesting that once the bank officially closes the dispute and releases the funds, you will refund 2/3 of my original purchase, rather than the $80 that was originally offered by you. I only got 2 weeks of use out of the original 6 weeks that I expected when I purchased it. I believe that is the only fair solution here.
  
  In response to your claim that "Even with you purchasing the pass one month into the promotion, you utilized it for 10 classes before the break, which is the equivalent of $288 worth of services ($28 per drop-in class) before the closure," I say that the whole point of the summer pass was that it was UNLIMITED CLASSES for a certain time period. It was a special deal you were running, and not the same as the value of regular drop-in classes. That was the whole point of the promotion. Otherwise, I would have just purchased drop-in classes.
  
  Finally, in response to your statement: "Given the unexpected situation, we are honoring Summer passes until Sept 30. We are also in the process of filling our schedule with additional classes and instructors and updated the schedule on our website as that information becomes available. I hope you are able to take advantage of some of the classes that are back on the schedule," I say once more that I purchased this summer pass for the SUMMER when I had availability to attend UNLIMITED classes on the SUMMER schedule through August 14th as was advertised. You are no longer running the summer schedule, rather a skeleton of it. Regardless, starting Tuesday I do not have the availability to use this extension now even if I wanted to due to my upcoming school and travel schedule. 

  I hope that you can see reason and rectify this situation, so that we can stop going back and forth. If you can promise me a 2/3 refund, I will contact my bank regarding the dispute and ensure they release the hold so you can fulfill that refund. Thank you.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************

  Business Response

  Date: 08/15/2024

  Hello *****,

  I understand that this situation has been frustrating for you, and I appreciate your patience as we work through it together.
  To clarify, our system shows that the transaction is still locked, which is why the $80 refund has not yet been processed. Had the funds been available, I would have promptly issued the refund as we discussed in July.

  Weve done our best to accommodate the disruption by offering a refund for the two-week closure. In addition, we extended the pass to allow you longer access to classes. While I understand that you intended to use this pass primarily during the summer, I want to note that our classes have been available since reopening, but it appears you have not yet taken advantage of the extended access.

  I want to ensure that we find a resolution that works for both parties. If the dispute with your bank is resolved, we will be happy to issue the $80 refund amount.

  Best Wishes
  ******

  Customer Answer

  Date: 08/19/2024

   
  Complaint: 22101544
  
  Lets try to compromise here. As *** explained before, the extension is useless to me because of the current clinical rotation Im doing, in addition to a lot of traveling Im doing over these weeks. So what if we did this? When my credit card closes the dispute, you can refund the $80. Then, since I have not been able to use the pass extension and wont be able to before its over, you can apply that extension to my account when Im back from my travel and on a less time intensive rotation in October/November instead. Let me know if this works for you. 
  
  *********************************