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:08/13/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore 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.

  RISPA is for profit organization. They made raffle fee to be a part of school tuition and also they make students and parents sell raffle tickets during school events. For profit organizations are not allowed to operate a raffle in the ****************. They made my daughter sell raffle tickets earlier this year. When I questioned the raffle, the owners stopped answering my phone calls and emails. They also never returned my personal property (photograph of my child). I reached out to them on many occasions but no response from the owners. I am requesting a FULL refund of tuition for 2022-2023 year, plus Broadway competition fees and the return of my childs portrait.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/12/2023

  ATTN: Better Business Bureau Customer Relations
  RE: Complaint ID ********
  
  I apologize for the delay in responding as we were on vacation during the time this complaint was submitted and unfortunately, my staff mistook your mailed letter for junk mail.  Considering that we have the utmost respect for the Better Business Bureau, we certainly would have responded immediately had we known the contents of the mailed communication. I also shared this with your BBB **************** Representative when we recently spoke on the phone.
  
  That said, regarding the complaint issued against our studio, please see the series of documented events from our perspective as we have outlined below.
  
  RISPA is a performing arts school that has been in business for 19 years in the ******/********** area. We have watched out students grow up through their pre-school to high school years. We have helped many of these students also get into collegiate theatre/dance programs across the country and are lucky enough to have upwards of 6 former students currently on Broadway, not to mention many more who have graced the stages of Broadway over the years.  Even if our students do not follow the theatre/dance path as adults, they have grown up to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, parents, and business associates in our community utilizing the life lessons learned here at RISPA through performing.
  
  The family in question was a part of RISPA for three years, starting in 2020. Until the incident in question on 2/14/2023, we had never had any issues with the family.
  
  On 1/31/23:  We received an email from the family in question stating that their daughter would be missing a class due to a track event. This then turned into missing three more classes over the weeks to come. Looking back now on all the incidents that happened following this email, I believe this was the true reason this family wanted to leave our studio seeing that their daughter now had a new activity she preferred and they had to find a way to justify a refund.
  On 2/14/2023:  Our RISPA teacher advised us that the ******************* Member in question had missed 3 weeks of classes and that she was concerned.
  On 2/15/2023: I, Mr. ****** the Studio Owner, called the parent to see what was wrong and left a message. The parent of said Company Member emailed us back that day saying she had received both of our voicemails and asked when we could speak.  I responded via email telling her to contact me at her earliest convenience and provided my personal cell phone number.
  On 2/17/2023: We received an email from the parent saying she would like a tuition refund for February through May and a refund of her Access Broadway competition entry fees.
  On 2/20/2023: I attempted to call the parent back for a second time. On this same evening around 7:00pm, we received a call from the parent at which time I spoke to her on speaker phone and voiced my concerns about the absences.  ****** said that her daughter did not want to return to RISPA, but she did not know why.  I asked her to let us know why if she found out anything from the daughter.
  On 2/21/2023: My staff responded to her email saying that her request had been elevated to the studio owner since an exception would have to be made for a refund since our Company Information Packet clearly states that no refunds would be granted after October 1st. This non-refundable policy is not only listed in the Company Information Packet, but also on the Enrollment Form and Company Agreement both of which they agreed to and signed.  (See attached documents)
  Days later: We spoke again, and the Parent said that a teacher was yelling at students. Of course, I apologized for this as we do not condone that type of behavior from our teachers and asked who the teacher was. Parent wasnt sure and then added that her daughter loved her teacher. I assured her we would get to the bottom of the situation. 
  For several days: I asked the students teacher and peers questions to uncover any issues. The ******************* Member in question only came to RISPA once a week for two classes and had an hour break in between those classes. I even asked the teachers who would have been at the studio during her break if they knew of any issues or yelling incidents.  No one knew or heard of any issues. As mentioned earlier, during this time we uncovered that her daughter was competing on the track team (which of course is fine to do simultaneously), but made us wonder if this was why she really wanted to withdraw.
  On 2/28/2023: Parent emailed again asking for refund and this time also asking for her daughters headshot photo.
  In mid-March:  I called the Parent to update her on my findings and advise her as to whom I spoke. She took this conversation personally and accused me of calling her daughter a liar (which was not the case at all) because I asked her to question her daughter further as to what was wrong. During this conversation, she also accused me of embarrassing her daughter in front of her peers when she was working front of house to promote the raffle during one of our shows. When I asked the other student working with her during that show, the Company Member said the student in question was laughing and not fazed by my reprimands to do the work correctly. The student never voiced her discomfort with promoting the raffle.  If she had I would not have asked her to work.
  On 3/7/2023 & 3/10/2023: Parent followed up again via emails on the refund.
  
  When families sign their children up for RISPA Company, they sign several documents.  In these documents, it clearly states our refund policy.  Parents sign in multiple places agreeing to our non-refundable stipulations on tuition, and Access Broadway competition fees. We also require a 30-day notice of the withdrawal and the 10th months tuition is always non-refundable. Our Access Broadway entry fees are non-refundable as well since they are forwarded to a third party upon receipt. Without notice, the student did not show up for this competition even though she was scheduled to perform and her name was in the program to be there.
  
  That being said, we do handle refunds on a case-by-case basis in the event that a family is moving or has other life changing events that prevents them from continuing.  The family in question had paid for the year in full and received a 15% discount.  When a family chooses to quit during the season, that discount is taken away and we calculate their tuition on a monthly basis for the months they attended. In this scenario the family would have actually owed RISPA money, but we did not even go down this road with the family.  They also sign that they acknowledge that the headshot displayed on the Company Wall is the property of RISPA and its up to our discretion as to when we release these to families.
  
  On 3/13/2023: We sent an email to the Parent outlining the information that we discussed on the phone and the findings from my informal investigations into both matters that she raised.  We also stipulated our refund practices as mentioned above and told her the only refund we would have considered would have been for ****** Immediately, after receiving our email, she emailed us back twice that night and changed her tune from an incident of a yelling teacher to the issue with selling raffle tickets. She accused us once again of blaming her daughter for everything when we were just trying to get to the bottom of what happened when stories were not adding up. She asked to meet with staff which I told her would be pointless since she already stated that her daughter loved her teacher and no other staff was involved.
  On 3/15/2023: We responded to her email and assured her that we were not trying to cast blame but doing my due diligence to get information as she would do the same as the school administrator that she is. We once again offered to make the exception and refund her April tuition.
  On 3/19/2023, 3/29/2023, 4/18/2023 & 5/9/2023: Parent declined our offer to refund the April tuition.  Parent emailed multiple times demanding the full refund and making threats concerning the raffle. She even stopped by the studio and harassed our staff with her complaints.  At this point I was advised by legal counsel to stop communicating with the family.
  
  For multiple years, we have done one raffle a year during our winter season of shows which families enjoy and which this family has participated to help raise money for costumes or other items such as a defibrillator.  We were not aware of the fact that we had to secure a license to do so.  When she raised this concern, I immediately reported us to the ***************** asked for advice and offered to pay any fines for this oversight. The **************** said not to worry about this and to not conduct any raffles in the future until a license can be obtained which is where it stands now.
  
  In conclusion, we want to thank the Better Business Bureau for giving us a platform through which to post our side of the story. We are saddened that all of this had to transpire with one of our RISPA families.  In the end, we believe that this whole situation boiled down to a student wanting to do another activity even though they had committed to RISPA for the season and her family looking for a way out of that commitment and desiring a refund.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/19/2023

  Dear BBB team member,

  There is an active investigation of the raffle incident as of now. I was advised by investigation officers not to respond to this business and its owners anymore. I am following their directives.

  As I stated earlier, Rispa is for profit organization and it is against the law for them to conduct raffle tickets sales (Georgia Law 16-12.221). They made my daughter, who is a minor, sell raffles during a show. The owner got angry at her because she was not selling enough in his opinion. When I questioned this whole raffle business, the owner stopped responding to me and as you read, he has his own narrative.

  My daughter did not feel safe and/or comfortable to return to Rispa after what happened. Rispa owners did not even try to meet with us to work it out. I asked to meet in person and they denied me this opportunity.

  The owners still did not return my daughter's portrait as I requested. It is our personal property and I paid $100 for this portrait. 

  Thank you so much for listening!