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:09/15/2024

  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.

  On May 4, 2024, we paid the pre-paid tuition for the Fall semester at Bright Pearl Dance Academy, expecting our daughter to continue her dance lessons with Ms. ****** her teacher since enrollment. However, Ms. ***** left the studio in June. Aside from the studio owner, ******* Ms. ***** was the only dance instructor.Over the summer, we learned that all of the students from our daughters class had left Bright Pearl, with two promoted to a higher-level class. As a result, ****** canceled the class we originally signed up for and decided to place our daughter in the higher-level class, which we believe is not appropriate for her skill level. While ****** later mentioned hiring a new teacher to replace Ms. ****** we have no information about the qualifications or suitability of this new teacher.We believe we are entitled to a refund of the tuition paid in May, allowing us to re-evaluate whether we wish to continue with the new instructor. However, ****** has refused our refund request, claiming the tuition is non-refundable, though we were never informed of any such policy.We feel this situation has been handled unfairly and are seeking a resolution that respects our rights as paying customers.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/23/2024

  The non-refundable tuition policy has always been clearly listed on the front page of the website. Tuition was paid for classes at Bright Pearl, not for a specific teacher. The claim that all other students from the student’s class have left Bright Pearl is completely false and suggests the customer is using inaccurate information to support her case. In fact, multiple students from the class have continued with Bright Pearl and are progressing at the same level, with me directly teaching them.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/23/2024

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # 22289300. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  The owner's claim that the non-refundable tuition policy has always been on the website is completely false, and other parents can attest to this. Over the past three years, we were never informed of such a policy. All payment requests from Bright Pearl were communicated through WeChat, not the website. Any mention of prepayment was only related to promotional offers, with no reference to non-refundable terms prior to June 2024. Had we been aware of this policy, we would never have prepaid tuition four months in advance.

  Furthermore, my daughter was exclusively taught by the same teacher during her entire time at Bright Pearl. After the owner fired this teacher in June, she disbanded my daughter’s group and suggested moving her to a more advanced class, which is clearly inappropriate for her skill level. Given these circumstances, we are demanding a refund so that we can properly assess whether to continue with Bright Pearl. We have been treated unfairly, and this matter must be resolved immediately.
  

  I am also referencing a similar complaint from another parent: Complaint ID 22269018.
  
  Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
  
  FAQ
  
  Regards,

  Shibin

   

   

  Business Response

  Date: 10/09/2024

  Shibin claims ignorance to the website yet class schedules, terms, etc. are always published on the website. It is not possible Shibin did not visit the website where the terms are clearly published on the main page.
  
  Shibin is clearly distorting information and making false claims in order to extort money from Bright Pearl. For example, Shibin's claim that her daughter was forced to a more advanced level is false. As I stated previously, her daughter was given the opportunity to be taught at and dance at the same level. 
  
  Despite Shibin's attempt to misrepresent information and make false accusations, I have maintained my offer for a credit for Shibin to apply to future classes for his daughter. I believe this is a more than fair resolution.
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/11/2024

  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.

  My daughter (14 years old) was taking dancing ******s in Bright Pearl Academy for couple of years. In 2024 sprint, we signed up for my daughter a solo dance ****** and 2024 Fall dance ******. In June, the founder (Ms. ****** ***) of the Bright Pearl Academy fired the sole dance teacher in the academy. Since my daughter has taken ******s from the same dance teacher for long time, she does not want to continue taking ******s from the Bright Pearl Academy despite that Ms. ****** *** promised that she would arrange a new teacher. Thus, we requested a refund in JUNE for the remaining solo ******s as well as the pre-scheduled 2024 fall ******s. However, Ms. ****** *** kept finding excuses and refused to issue a refund. Instead, she insisted keeping our payment as a deposit for future ******s despite that we explicitly explained that our daughter does not want to take ******s any more since the change of the dance teacher. We now would like to pursuing any options available to request a refund. We have enclosed a PDF copy of the email communications between us and the founder of the Bright Pearl Academy.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/23/2024

  The non-refundable tuition policy has always been clearly listed on the front page of the website. Tuition was paid for classes at Bright Pearl, not for a specific teacher. As a gesture of goodwill, the customer was offered a credit that can be applied to future classes with no expiration. The customer, who claimed to be an attorney, initially cited a law that does not apply to this situation. Additionally, the customer trespassed onto private property and recorded conversations involving me without my consent, seemingly in an attempt to intimidate and extort the school. I believe these actions may constitute criminal offenses.
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/26/2024

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  The business owner Ms ****** *** has lied on the non-refundable policy for class registration. In the past several years, the way all students or their parents registered for a class in Bright Pearl Dance Academy was via the WeChat where Ms. *** posted a notice for registration with the high-level information on the classes including the duration and tuition for the classes. Meantime, there was a ****** form link attached for registration. Some parents/students filled the ****** form while others never did. As long as the money in full amount was transferred or paid to Ms. **** account, the registration was done and accepted. There was no contract document to sign and the non-refundable tuition policy was not stated in ****** notice or ****** registration forms. There was no instruction or requirement to read whatsoever website or other references for registration. The registration for fall 2024 and payment was done in May 2024, ~5 months ahead of the Fall class start so by Massachusetts law we cited and shared with her later and normal practice, we are entitled to get the money back if any unexpected change occurs and student has to drop the registration later. This was a common understanding for the parents when they decided to withdraw kids from the Bright Peal in June 2024 after the major change with teachers in Bright Pearl announced (the only teacher that had been teaching the group classes and solos for my daughter and her classmates in the last several years, left Bright Pearl).However, Ms. *** simply verbalized a non-refundable policy as an excuse so she could trap the students who had paid the tuition to stay with her disregard what the students wanted to do. In August, when we (parents for two students) met her in person, Mr. *** admitted the fact that some kids were determined to leave Bright Pearl as they felt very uncomfortable to change to other teachers who they didnt know or didnt like at all. Ms. *** made promise that she would give us a fully satisfying answer for the tuition refund in September but after her classes started to avoid influence on the remaining students that she didnt want to see. Unfortunately, Ms. *** lied again. In September, after we tried to reach out to her for follow-up several times, she sent an email telling us she couldnt refund us and this time with other excuses (i.e. tuition we paid have been spent ahead of time on hiring teachers and reserving studio etc so no money is available to be returned even we are not taking a single class). I shared the voice record on my phone of our conversation with her in August as evidence of what she had promised us and of course, she was mad with this.

  Mr *** has fabricated business rules and used them to manipulate students and their parents against their own *****.Her dishonesty and misconduct in running business infuriated many students and their parents so we are obligated to disclose the truth and fight for our own civil right. There are other similar complaints on Ms. *** in BBB recently (e.g. complaint IDs ********, ********* and I believe there will be more coming. 
  
  Regards,

  Wei

   

   

  Business Response

  Date: 10/09/2024

  ***'s claims ignorance to the website yet class schedules, terms, etc. are always published on the website. It is not possible *** did not visit the website where the terms are clearly published on the main page.
  
  *** is clearly distorting information and making false claims in order to extort money from Bright Pearl. He attempted to claim applicability of a Massachusetts law because he is a lawyer despite the law not being applicable. His claim of meeting me in August was in fact not a meeting, but an uninvited intrusion to my place of work. He and three other parents trespassed on private property without invitation, and proceeded to surround me in a very threatening manner. In addition, as evidenced in his response, he recorded the conversation without consent, which is illegal. ***'s pattern of behavior, including distorting the truth, making threats, and performing illegal activity, is a reflection of his dishonest character. Yet, despite his unfortunate behavior, I extended and maintained my offer for a credit for *** to apply to future classes for his daught, which I believe is a fair resolution.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/15/2024

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  It seems useless to argue back and forth who told the truth and who lied. Why did we want to read the website as everything about the classes including class registration was communicated via Wechat? Ms *** never requested nor required students or parents to read Bright Pearl website and I am sure that a majority of other parents if not all have done the same as me. More importantly, regardless what is presented on the website currently, the content could be easily and intentionally made up any time by the business owner and indeed she has done it more than once with either website or ****** form. Fortunately, it didnt have any legal binding on anyone. In this claim with BBB, we are disclosing her misconduct on business and urging her to return back the money she owed to the parents who paid it so many months ahead of classes but had to drop the classes for the significant and unexpected change within Bright Pearl. Unfortunately similarly to what she has done previously in the conversation with parents, she derailed the topic by threatening either the teacher who left Bright Pearl or parents with totally untruthful accusation.  I am so tired to communicate with her as it is just useless and hopeless to talk to a business owner who doesnt have any dignity line and doesnt care about her reputation at all.  We (some parents of former students of Bright Pearl) have filed small claims court and are going through legal process in the following months. We will come back and share the verdict on social media as appropriate. We strongly feel that we are obligated to let others know the truth and never become next victims.
  
  Regards,

  Wei