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:07/01/2024

  Type:Service or Repair 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.

  I had enrolled my son in the baseball academy, but due to scheduling conflicts he was going to be unable to attend. I emailed them to cancel his enrollment and receive a refund. I was told they are not able to refund my $295. They could only give me a voucher. They, also, stated that if they do not have a camp in our area for the winter session that I can use the "voucher" for the next summer. Also, with no guarantee that they would have one on our area. I have tried to work with them, and have searched their website for their refund/ cancelation policy and I cannot find it. I am waiting on a response as to where I can find this information. They have a waiting list for each of the camps they offer in our area, and the registration deadline was still open as of the day I attempted to cancel.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/01/2024

  We have reached out to the customer and refunded them in full. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/08/2024

  
  
  

  I am writing this email in regards to complaint ID ********* I was a little too hasty in filing this complaint. The company was  willing to refund the money after talking with the director. I do not wish to pursue this any further, and apologize for the inconvenience.

  
  

  Thank you for your time,

  ******* *****

   

  
  

  ***If you are interested in supporting the BBB's free services, please consider giving to BBB's Consumer Education Fund, which provides other services to the community, like Charity Review, Identity Theft Seminars, Free Shred/Recycle Events, Senior Citizen programs, High School and College Programs, and providing information at local community events. Donations can be sent via Venmo to @bbbcefky or mail your donation to BBB Consumer Education Fund, 13104 Eastpoint Park Blvd., Louisville, KY 40223. For more information on these programs, call 800-388-2222. Thank you for your consideration. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/09/2024

  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.

  I paid $320 for my son to attend baseball camp in Arcata, Ca last summer but he became very ill and required going to the ER prior to the camp and was unable to attend. I let them know and was able to get a credit for him to attend camp this summer. The camp has been canceled this summer due to not enough kids signing up (out of my control) but they refuse to refund my money. They claim my credit has no monetary value. At this point the camp isn’t happening at all and I need my money back. I can’t afford $320 to just go down the drain on a camp that may never happen again or for my son to decide he doesn’t want to play baseball anymore before we can use the credit. The camp should refund my money since it’s on them that the camp isn’t happening this year.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/14/2024

  Our policy requires that cancelations are made 24 hours
  in advance of the camp beginning to receive a credit voucher for camp. The
  policy is posted on our website and is agreed to prior to registration by every
  customer. We made an exception to our policy because the customer's player had
  extenuating circumstances, and provided a full credit voucher in the summer of
  2023 when they cancelled the day the camp began. 
  
  The customer was advised that the voucher could be used
  for any future U.S. Baseball Academy camp, including the camp at Arcata HS that
  was held this past winter. The summer camp was cancelled due to the site
  director not being able to host this summer, not due to a lack of
  registrations. The voucher states that it has no cash value. If a customer does
  not have opportunity to use their credit, we do make exceptions, but camp was
  just held in Arcata in January, and is typically held every January, but as not
  every summer. We were extending the expiration date of the voucher so the customer could use it at any other camp, and we have
  hundreds across the country. We would be happy to discuss options further with
  the customer. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/17/2024

   
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 

  
  I have made many attempts to contact you this company regarding a refund for the summer camp. They have not returned or answered my phone calls and the only response I have received by email is the same as they have responded here at BBB. That my voucher has no monetary value and that winter camp is available. I was grateful that they were able to give me a voucher last year when my son was very ill and could not attend camp. My father gifted the camp to my son and paid $345 for the camp. I received a voucher for $325. Unfortunately winter camp has not worked for our schedule and so in the year I had my voucher I did not sign my son up, I had no reason to believe summer camp wasn’t going to happen. When registration opened for summer camp I followed through contacting them to use the voucher for the summer camp. When I accepted the voucher they did not say it had no monetary value and it doesn’t state that they are a non-refundable camp on their website. My understanding of the voucher was that it would hold the money I spent, the $345 so that we could apply it to another camp. I followed through on my end of using the voucher to sign up for a camp that now cost $320. The camp was cancelled for what appears to be multiple reasons this year that have nothing to do with my son’s ability to attend the camp, a full refund for what I originally paid should be given ($345) since the camp is cancelled by them and I have already waited a year to use my voucher.  This is a significant amount of money for a 4 day camp and for them to not refund it when the camp is canceled and we have waited a year to use it isn’t right.

   Sincerely,
  ********** ********* *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/16/2024

  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.

  Service provided that demonstrated misrepresentation and false advertising by the U.S. Baseball Academy and the U.S. Softball Academy: January 14, 2023. Business agreed to refund my payment in hopes that I do not continue to speak about their false advertising.
  "At U.S. Softball Academy Spring Training, players learn from some of the area’s top high school and college coaches. With a low player-coach ratio, each player gets individual attention in a small-group. An average session includes about 30 players with six or seven experienced and professionally trained coaches." When parents choose to pay for this camp, they should receive the services advertised. Instead, the services received could be described as "Players will work with the Pitt-Greensburg baseball and softball team athletes, who are well versed in playing the game but have little to no coaching experience. Players will be given the opportunity to practice already gained skills. Players will practice in a large group setting with 5-6 college athletes leading each group of players. The college head coach will supervise and oversee the camp stations. Players will not receive verbal feedback when a skill is performed incorrectly but rather the skill will be demonstrated by the college athletes." No evidence of coaching experience demonstrated by the college athletes running the camp, nor any report of the college athletes responsible for players safety/instruction as having submitted clearances.
  
  False advertising is an actionable civil claim under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act. Information presented on the about section of the US Baseball and Softball Academy.
  
  There are over 250 players registered for this particular camp that is being wildly misrepresented.
  
  And in hindsight, after reading reviews from other states, this company has been reported for these reasons and worse. So disappointed that this company is allowed to continue stealing in the name of youth sports.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/02/2024

  Within minutes of the customer’s complaint, we responded, stating we stand behind our product, and a refund was offered and provided because the program her son attended was in violation of our contract with the host, and thus a refund was warranted. 

  It’s a contractual obligation in every Site Director agreement that all coaches he or she hires have HS, College, or requisite coaching experience. At every site there are coaches and player assistants. What the customer saw was a director using only player assistants as “coaches.” 
  
  It’s the contractual obligation of every director to implement our program in accordance with the standards of USBSA. What is written on our website is what we expect from anyone who signs our contract.
  
  We have hosted thousands of camps for more than 300,000 players. There is a reason there are only a few complaints and not 2,000. Every review is at a location we no longer host. To make our website clearer, we will add clarifying language about player assistants, and the situation at the school in question will be fixed, or we will add, to their specific registration page, an addendum that includes a message that coaching will include training by college players.
  
  To further clarify the complaint, there are two separate camps in question the customer attended, one baseball, one softball. Neither had 250 players. There were 70 campers for baseball and 81 for softball.
  
  We host hundreds of camps annually for tens of thousands of players and have for two decades. We’re sorry for the customer’s experience but we will continue to further youth sports in the communities we serve and when mistakes are made, we will do our best to fix the situations.  These situations are isolated, not a systematic flaw across our entire brand.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/27/2023

  Type:Service or Repair 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.

  It is advisable to avoid dealing with these individuals as we had a similar negative experience like many others who have left reviews on various platforms such as Google and Yelp. The coaching was subpar, false promises were made regarding inclusions, high school students were used as coaches, and our attempts to address the issues were ignored. Even the coach who hosted the event was frustrated and advised the parents to seek refunds from the company. However, the company was more concerned with profit than resolving the issue.
  
  Specifically, we want to highlight the unprofessional conduct of **** ****** and **** ***, who were not only dismissive of our concerns but also exhibited rude and disrespectful behavior. We plan to escalate this matter to various authorities, such as the Attorney General's Office, the Secretary of State, the Better Business Bureau, and Trust Pilot, to ensure that others do not fall victim to their unethical practices.