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:05/05/2023

  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 hired Mathnasium to help my two children with their math struggles starting back on June 24th 2022. As of today I've paid them $4,243 to tutor my kids to pass in math in their 5th and 7th grade math. When we started last June it looked promising, I was told to be effective to bring my kids twice a week for an hour each time. I brought my kids on this recommended schedule only to find my kids still continuing to fall behind in math. I brought this to the attention of the owner Richard and he advised to link up with the kids school teachers (which would have been helpful on the front end) only for this to continue to hold my kids back. The math the kids were working on was from too far back in time and not the current issues they were having in school to pass. I would bring them every Tuesday and Thursday night from 4-5PM or from 5-6PM and they were still falling behind. Spending $529/month for two kids to fall behind in school for 7 months I had to halt services because I can't afford to send money after bad money that isn't helping my children succeed in school. Richard has now not only charged me for another month and wont give a full refund for this month since we will no longer be using Mathnasium but has also blamed me for my kids not succeeding more in math by not bringing the kids to Mathnasium more times a week. The kids also have other subjects in school so all of our time can not be fully consumed by Mathnasium. Seven months of two times a week for an hour each session of regular attendance should yield results. I'm not only dissatisfied by this company, but devastated to have invested so much money and time into something that didn't work. I feel lied to and taken advantage of and insulted by the owner. The ultimate horrible reality is that my kids suffered the most as a result of this scam company. I want my last month fully refunded or else my next stop will be the NH Attorney General.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/14/2023

  ***** initially enrolled her two children in our 2022 summer program on June 23, 2022. Her chosen summer enrollment plan allowed each child 15 sessions to be used before August 31, 2022. Both students completed the summer enrollment and ***** then enrolled them in our year-round program on a 12-month contract beginning September 1, 2022 (contract attached). Our regular enrollment expects that students will attend at least two sessions per week up to a maximum of 12 sessions per month.
  
  The Mathnasium program works by assessing students at the start of their enrollment and meeting them where they are in their mathematical ability. Math builds on earlier topics and understanding of more complex topics depends on mastering earlier, foundational skills. Both children demonstrated on their inital assessments that they were 3 to 4 grade levels behind in their foundational math skills. I discussed these assessment results with ***** at the time of registration and also made her aware that we would need to start working on materials well below grade level to begin to bring her kids' foundational skills up to the level needed for them to successfully attempt grade level work. I also made sure that ***** was aware that students were expected to attend sessions at least twice per week in order to derive maximum benefit from the program. *****'s children did not do that. Her recollection of their attendance, as stated in the complaint, is simply incorrect.  Based on detailed attendance records, in the 5 months from September 2022 to January 2023, *****'s children attended a total of only 17 sessions, as opposed to the 40+ sessions recommended by the program and the maximum of 60 sessions allowed under the enrollment agreement. While it is regrettable that they continue to struggle with math in school, it is not the fault of the program if participants fail to attend sessions.
  
  With respect to the billing, the 12-month enrollment contract which ***** signed provides for:
  -  a monthly discount of $50/month (per child) in return for a 12-month commitment
  - cancellation of the automatic billing authorization "by sending a written request to our center email address at least three (3) days before a scheduled payment". (all quotes from the enrollment agreement)
  - the option to cancel "membership at any time with no additional charge on any date following [the] original enrollment end date" while requiring "All cancellation requests must be sent to our center email address." The original enrollment end date for her enrollment agreement is August 31, 2023.
  - an early termination fee as follows: "If you cancel your recurring payment authorization or membership before then, we will treat your membership as a short term enrollment, and you agree to pay us a termination fee for each month the student was enrolled, irrespective of the number of sessions your child attended for the month. This fee is based on the difference between your original membership rate and the month-to-month rate".
  - the option to place the enrollment on hold for one to three months provided the hold is requested "in writing to the center email address at least one week prior to the 1st day of the month of the hold".
  
  ***** texted the center on January 29, 2023 at 11:50am to request a hold for the month of February. Although this request did not comply with the terms of the enrollment agreement (request was neither emailed nor received one week before the scheduled payment), I placed the enrollments on hold in the interest of good customer service. On February 20, 2023 at 7:42am, ***** texted again to ask that the hold be extended to cover March. Again, in the interest of customer service, I extended the hold. Finally, on March 16, 2023 at 9:29am, she texted again to request that I extend the hold through April and I did so again.  At this point, ***** had maxed out the 1–3 month hold provided for in the contract and her membership was placed on active status for May and the monthly charges were billed on May 1.
  
  ***** texted the center on May 4, 2023 at 6:52am requesting that we terminate her enrollment. Under the terms of the contract, she is responsible for payment of both the $529 in May tuition (cancellation not received by April 27th) and an early termination fee of $600 ($50/month per child for each of the 6 months of actual enrollment of her children — September, October, November, December, January and May).  Again in the interest of customer service, I offered to refund the May tuition and charge the termination fee only against the 5 months of actual attendance (total fee of $500). I thus initiated a refund of $29 from her May tuition payment.  This accommodation is well beyond any contractual obligation on my part.  While I understand that ***** is disappointed with the progress that her children have made, their failure to attend the sessions and do the work in no way eliminates her contractual obligation to pay for the services that were made available to her children under the terms of the contract that she signed.