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:07/09/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore 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.

  We enrolled our daughter at Ivybrook Academy without a formal tour as we were out of the country at the time the school opened. *********, the school was set to open for the 2023 academic year, but owing to construction delays it did not open until February of 2024. We had multiple visits scheduled and rescheduled up until February, after which we had to leave for a planned trip. Owing to the same, we had enrolled our daughter for the 2024 academic year in February once the school and formally opened.During this same time, we were advised by the principal to enroll our daughter for the following academic year as the spots were filling up quickly. During this conversation she verbally committed to a full refund of the fees payed towards holding her spot for the 2025 academic year, if we ended up deciding against continuing with Ivybrook. However I was told we had to make the decision by ****.Owing to unexpected family circumstances we had to disenroll our daughter from Ivybrook in ***** of 2024. Although ***** is well ahead of June, the management choose to go back on their word.The verbal commitment of refunding 2025s fees to hold her spot was not kept to. We would've never enrolled our child into a school we hadn't even toured, had this promise not been made. Now conveniently the management choose to point to their current refund policy, which was never even in place during the conversation which took place in Feb of 2024. Our case was escalated to their 'home office' who in turn permitted the management to refund per whatever was agreed upon, and still the management choose to keep the money and forgo their word.The total refund due would be $730! The deposit made towards this academic year and the summer camp are not part of the refund due as no such commitment was ever given. Hence understandably, we have let that go. But the fees towards the next year which was promised to be refunded should we not continue, needs to rightfully be refunded.

   

  References of 2025 are incorrect, customer advises they should be 2024.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/16/2024

  I assure you we are disheartened by the complaint lodged against Ivybrook Academy as it is our goal to provide exceptional service to all of our families daily.
  
  Yes, the complainant is correct, due to the construction challenges, our company offered a 100% refund to all families who enrolled with us prior to opening our school. An email along with a letter was submitted on August 4, 2023 to the families who enrolled before February 19, 2024 stating this refund. The intention was to provide families assurance to families that their tuition payment would not be at risk if they decided to disenroll before opening. 
  

  We honored that promise to all enrolled families who were slated to begin school in February 2024 who decided to disenroll before opening day.
  
  The complainant enrolled for the 2024-25 school year after our February 21st  2024 opening. Additionally, they signed the agreement to follow tuition policies. After visiting the school in March 2024, the complainant decided to enrolled for the current school year and began school in April 2024.They again signed and submitted an agreement to follow the published tuition policies at that time. Through multiple telephonic and email communications the complainant inquired about our schools refund policies; it was communicated that our school will follow the current published tuition policy.
  Again, the purpose of the 100% refund guarantee was to alleviate concerns of families who waited patiently for the opening of our school should they decided to disenroll prior to the opening of the school. The complainant was not eligible for a full refund as they did not enroll before opening day.

  A refund check was issued and cashed by the complainant per the signed and agreed upon tuition policy.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/17/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  On the 27th of February, when we moved forward with enrolling our daughter for the 2024-2025 academic year, no such policy was made aware of. The only statement based on which we decided to move forward with the application fee + one months tuition to hold her spot were 

  - seats were filling up fast and the management believed it would be in our best interest to secure a spot for our daughter.

  - in the event the school isn't a good fit for our family, we could inform the management ahead of June of 2024 and we would be refunded the deposit made towards securing our spot.

  The steps to enrolling our daughter were 

  - creating an account with **********************-

  submit a request for the interested year, class, and number of days 

  - once request was approved from back end, we had to pay the application fee and deposit.

  Typically, from last experience, this is the step where school policies, handbooks, tuition agreements, etc would be part of the mix to read, review and sign, but at the time of application in February no such step was in place.

  In fact, I believe we have not even formally completed our application for I was told an immunization record, birth certificate etc would need to be provided to formally "complete" the application and be accepted into the academy. We merely paid a 'deposit' or so we thought, towards securing her spot, under the notion that the commitment given by word of mouth would be honored. To add, for a better understanding of timeline, I have been in communications with the schools management since October of 2023. More formal email communications were in place since November of 2023. I would check in nearly every week to understand progress and timeline for we were thoroughly excited for our daughter to experience this school.

  After we formally toured the school in March, we decided to enroll our daughter for the month of ***. And within a few short days of school, we had to make the unfortunate decision to withdraw from the school over an unforseen change on our personal front.

  The only communication I received via email from the institution are receipts confirming our various payments to the school. We have not received any formal handbook, or tuition policy, or notice of terms and conditions of any sort to even read, let alone sign on. 

  The tuition amount payed in February, is as seen on the image attached below - $579.80 + $150 which was the enrollment fee.

  The second image shows the receipt confirming payment towards classes for *** of 2024. 

  The cheque that we encashed amounted to $289, not $729.80

  The other images include a conversation showing timeline of communication dating back to November of 2023. The last image is of the parent portal, no place to find the policies and agreements being made mention of.