Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/03/2022

  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 have attended Mengs Martial Arts Inc. in Huber Heights, Ohio for over 7.5 years. I have tried on countless dates since October 2021 to register for my black belt promotional testing. I have been met with opposition from the grandmaster ***** **** at every corner when I try to register for testing. I am also a competitive fighter on their fight team where we travel the world to different countries and cities and fight for Team USA for titles. This is completely voluntary and we are completely self funded.
  I have completed over 2,000 hours of training and over 100 hours of assisting the instructors in class. On June 13, 2022 I completed payment of $445 for the registration fee for testing and scheduled testing for July 1, 2022 with the program director in the office. Six days later ***** **** then came and told me he was pushing my test date to around August 2022 because he would not have time because of our international travel.
  The head instructor of the institution, ******* ****, told a black 15 year old student that his well maintained "dreadlocks are unprofessional" and that it is his "job as his coach to humble him." This was a very racist, unprofessional, and inappropriate statement to make to a child. I told him in a private message what I thought about what he said. After that private exchange I have been blocked by ***** **** and taken out of all communication for the institution by ******* **** and I have been told I am no longer a student at this institution per social media.
  This claim is an attempt for them to schedule my testing date for August or September of 2022 with a two week notice. I have completely followed every code of conduct and do not deserve this treatment. Honor what you preach.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/08/2022

  This letter is in response to **** *. **********’s complaint. 

  **** ********** (aka ********* **********) will be referred to as ** ********** and Meng’s Martial arts will be referred to as Meng’s in this letter. 

  ** ********** was enrolled at Meng’s Martial Arts by her father, ******* **********, in May, 2015. ** ********** may have first enrolled a little over 7 years ago, but she was not an active member for all 7 years. Training hours are not the same as qualifying class attendance hours. According to Meng’s records and knowledge ** ********** does not have 2000 hours of qualifying class hours. Matter of fact, ** ********** had been tardy to about half of the attended classes. Regardless, how long she has been a member at Meng’s or how many hours she has trained is irrelevant to qualifying to test for black belt. Of course a student must meet the minimum attendance, training hours and leadership hours, but these alone do not earn students a black belt. We take great pride in the known fact that with Meng’s program, a member will not be awarded with a rank, simply because a member has met the minimum class attendance requirement. In addition to class attendance, knowing the material/curriculum well, understanding the life skills, demonstrating leadership skills, and being in good character and financial standing, to mention a few, are all aspects that are taken into consideration to be eligible and be recommended to test, especially true for a black belt test. Once the student’s black belt test eligibility review is completed and if it is determined that the student is not eligible to test, any prepaid test fee will be refunded. 

  As ** ********** has mentioned, she has been competing (volunteer activity). Therefore, her focus has been on competition classes rather than the qualifying curriculum classes towards her rank. Naturally, this affected her eligibility to test for her next rank. Rescheduling test dates were always discussed with ** ********** prior to being rescheduled. She agreed to the reasons that caused rescheduling necessary. No complaints regarding this matter were made by ** ********** until she was issued with probation. The probation was issued due to ** ********** breaking many rules and violating the signed athlete code of conduct during the 2022 Pan Am Championship. The Pan Am Championship took place in Brasilia, Brazil, 21-25 July, 2022. The rules and code of conduct that ** ********** violated are listed below.

  -Violations: 

  •Attending only 1 of 6 mandatory team training without prior discussion or permission (also tardy to one that she attended) 

  •Attending mandatory team meetings late or not attending at all 

  •Arriving to match prep room without proper gear (also tardy) 

  •Not showing up for athlete prep without prior discussion nor informing the coaching staff •Defaulted an exhibition match that she agreed to without prior discussion nor informing the coaching staff 

  •Not attending award ceremony without prior discussion or permission 

  *Please note, ********** did NOT make the required weight for her weight class, which caused her disqualification for the official weight class title matches. Not making the weight did not release her from team athlete responsibilities. 

  ***********’s priority was on traveling/sightseeing and titles/medals/fame, during competition travels rather than preparing for her matches, being a team player, or in participation. Although she had failed to meet all the requirements and/or unwritten expectations as a Team member, she managed to show up for the team photo session on time. Reminder, ********** is habitually tardy to classes, training sessions, meetings, and matches, but she managed to show up for team pictures on time. 

  As Meng’s had more championship travels with other athletes immediately following the Pan Am championship, and preparing to host a national event in August, ** ********** was demanding immediate response to her questions in regards to her attempt in getting a confirmation for black belt test date which was under a review (please note that her demand was made while she was under probation). She had been notified that her eligibility to test was under a review and that Meng’s would follow up with her once the review was completed. 

  Interestingly, ** ********** decided, soon after she was issued with probation and was made aware that she may not be testing for her black belt on the date that she anticipated, to make an accusation that ******* **** is a racist. **********’s statement is a false accusation. What she is claiming is simply not true. 

  As mentioned earlier, the championships are voluntary activity and therefore, they are self funded activities. When we learned that the participation and travel cost to Pan Am Championship was roughly around $3000/person, we had discussions on organizing fundraisers. Immediately ** ********** created a Gofundme account requesting $9,000 (3x’s the estimated expense amount) for herself. Meng’s had to address ********** advising her to adjust the requested fund amount to a maximum of $3,000. ** ********** did adjust the amount, but with an attitude and disrespect to Grand Master **** in a group message setting. 

  ** ********** dishonored herself, her home teammates, her coaches, her school, the Team USA (her home country), and this sport.

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/22/2022

  ********* **** ********** This letter is in response to Meng's Martial Arts Inc Final Draft to Better Business Bureau (BBB) Originally filing this complaint, we were in hopes this institution would do what was right and we could leave the horrendous discrimination out of it and complete this contract amicablly. After reading Meng's final draft statement, we must allow the community to understand what has been happening for the last 35 years to countless students that have paid their dues, completed all requirements and worked hard to obtain focus, discipline and control within their lives. To have it all stripped away by an institution that does not value them because of prejudice has torn individuals down for years. It is important for people to understand what is happening. Having a black belt in a martial arts career is like having a high school diploma and to have to go somewhere else after 7.5 years of dedication is a crime to the community of Dayton. ********* has over 2,000 training and class attendance hours at Meng's Martial Arts. Requirements for black belt testing is less than 150 hours. All the other men, that Mengs have allowed to test ahead of ********* but started classes years after *********, only had around 150 training hours. ********* is only looking to test for her black belt which has been paid for and prerequisites have been completed months ago. ********* filed this complaint for black belt testing. She will not accept a refund because ********* has completed all the prerequisites and has demonstrated tremendous leadership on their fight team for 5 years. If she does not receive her black belt, it would be as if she has completed hundreds of free labor hours for this institution. Mengs requires students to complete hundreds of free labor hours by assisting their classes because they do not hire enough faculty. Then when it is time for women and blacks to obtain their black belts they reschedule, make up subjective reasons and inevitably do not allow students to test without lawful reason. Meng’s not having knowledge of *********’s correct amount of class attendance hours or training speaks to the the discrimination she has faced at this institution and falsification of documents. ********* has been an active student 6.2 of the 7.5 years. ********* has been an active student without break since Nov. 2017. Let’s also note that Grandmaster ***** **** has allowed other students to test for their black belt with less demonstration of understanding, less training and class time under his supervision. ********* will respond to everything Meng mentioned in this statement for understanding for the community. We must acknowledge that the black belt membership and fight team memberships are two separate memberships as Mengs has stated as well. One has nothing to do with the other until they want to discriminate against you. At that time, they somehow conjoin but any other time they will let you know one membership has nothing to do with the other. The fight team is completely voluntary as they stated in their draft. Competing on the fight team is a separate fee and invite only membership. Mengs only invites athletes to the fight team if they “knowing the material/curriculum well, understanding the life skills, demonstrating leadership skills, and being in good character and financial standing, to mention a few, are all aspects that are taken into consideration to be eligible and be recommended'' as they stated in their final draft statement. ********* has been invited each year since 2017. Now that she has noted the discrimination from the head instructor to the owners and did not win a medal at the Brazil tournament, they are illegally putting her under review and not allowing her to lawfully test. ********* mentioned the discrimination, unprofessionalism and racist comments to owners for the first time in April 2022. Not only post July tournament. ********* did win her exhibition fight in Brazil, which Meng neglected to mention in their statement. She did not receive a medal so now they will not allow her to test and are saying ********* is under review is what we gather from the language from the final draft statement from Meng’s. Even if the violations Meng mentioned were true, those violations do not invalidate the 7.5 years of leadership, service and completed prerequisites ********* has completed. We will also mention that because this is voluntary, no athlete has to compete after not making weight because you will not earn a title or medal. Most athletes will not want to put their body at risk of injury without a title or medal. Those are the rules. It is normal for any athlete to not make weight at least once in the duration of their career. Most athletes go home or just enjoy the event/vacation if they do not make weight. ********* voluntarily completed one exhibition match in Brazil, which she did not have to, and won. We are not clear, other than discrimination, why Meng’s put “*Willoughby’s priority was on traveling/sightseeing and titles/medals/fame, during competition travels rather than preparing for her matches, being a team player, or in participation. Although she had failed to meet all the requirements and/or unwritten expectations as a Team member, she managed to show up for the team photo session on time.” This is a diversion and distraction from black belt testing. ********* fought and won because she was prepared and completed all requirements necessary. She would not have been allowed to go to the tournament if she had not. We will attach the link to this fight to this email for validity. This statement from Meng’s speaks to the discrimination, negativty, and microagressions of this institution to women and brown people who have confidence in theirself and their abilities. Every athlete who competed in Brazil came to win “medals/titles/fame”. These tournaments help to build athletes' portfolios for their careers as professionals. Sightseeing during travel makes for great interview conversation when an athlete returns to the United States and is a perk of the experience. All Mengs athletes did this and have done this on previous international travels for years. Why Meng’s has an issue with ********* doing it, we are not sure other than prejudice. This does not give a reason for review of black belt testing or black belt membership contract. Meng’s has brought so much of their discrimination to the light in their BBB resonse so we will elaborate. There was a white woman (can give name if necessary) that earned a spot on the US Team at Nationals. She was the only other adult woman that made the US Team to go to Brazil. Once you win at nationals you earn a spot to go to Brazil whether you compete or not, you are invited to come and enjoy the experience. The white woman came to Brazil, did not fight, did not weigh in and enjoyed her vacation as a US Team member. No one said to her “** ********** dishonored herself, her home teammates, her coaches, her school, the Team USA (her home country), and this sport.” Again, this language Mengs uses in their final draft speaks to the negativity and the discrimination ********* has faced at this place. She has trained with Meng’s for months preparing for Brazil, paid her dues, met all requirements, did not make weight but still voluntarily fought and won her exhibition match. As a natural born American she can say she made the United States country very proud which is why Dayton Daily News, Dayton News Weekly, the University of Dayton (her alumni) and countless other institutions have celebrated ********* and thanked her for her efforts and leadership in the community. The only people that have tried to “humble” ********* and been negative during these experiences is Meng’s Martial Arts Inc through not allowing her to test to continue on her journey of success. We will also note, in previous years, their son Vincent did not make weight at a tournament in Asia. He also did not fight an exhibition match or win a match. He was not put on probation by Mengs, never was under review or told he dishonored his country, etc. If Meng’s did not like her behavior at the tournament in Brazil, Meng’s has every right not to invite ********* back to the fight team next year (2023). She would have found a new team that could appreciate her efforts. Again, the fight team has absolutely nothing to do with *********’s testing for her black belt. In their final draft Meng’s failed to mention why ********* cannot test for her black belt or why she is under review for her black belt. All they mention is this trip to Brazil. We will also note that ********* requested to test in March, April, May and June. If they would have allowed her to test, she would have already had her black belt before this competition. They are using this tournament as a ruse for their discrimination As of today, ********* still an active member. She is paid through November 2022. Meng’s have removed access from ********* to online scheduling and emailing list for the first time since 2015 so she cannot see the testing schedule or events happening. They have told her she cannot take classes without giving a legal reason why. They say she is under review but again, they have not mentioned anything that would call for a review of the black belt test under her black belt contract that is completely separate from her fight team training and competitions. She has been an honest and loyal student at Meng’s for 7.5 years and they have not given anything written stating she is on probation or what that looks like. ***** **** and ********* discussed in Brazil that they would schedule a meeting to see if there was another membership better for ********* other than the fight team because he was not happy about ********* not making weight at this one tournament. ********* made weight for ? competitions this year and has won 6/7 fights. Mengs neglected to mention that in their final draft statement. During this discussion Benny made ********* aware that we would discuss probation once we scheduled a meeting. He never mentioned ********* was on probation. To this day, ********* has not been given anything written about probation and no meeting has been scheduled. ***** Meng, program director/co-owner of Mengs, made ********* aware on August 28th, 2022 that she was on probation, could not attend class nor was she welcomed back to the school until after they completed their review. Again, never mentioning why she is under review. ***** also stated that same day that because ********* told Meng’s owners of head instructors racist and unprofessional comments that she would be refunded and not given a date to test and asked ********* “why would she want to test under a racist?” - ***** Meng. Retaliation of discrimination is what was noted on this day and what is happening. We will attach the video and audio documentation of this conversation to this email. None of this was mentioned in the final draft statement from Mengs. Their statement was submitted after these occurrences. Mengs also stated in the final draft statement that “her focus has been on competition classes rather than the qualifying curriculum classes towards her rank. Naturally, this affected her eligibility to test for her next rank.” which is completely false and not natural. Mengs is completely giving false information. ********* attended 6:15-7:15pm class Tuesdays and Thursdays which is specifically for black belt/wing chun training. After that class she then proceeded to take the fight team sparring class from 7:15-8:30/9pm Tuesdays and Thursdays. She also attended monthly Black Belt classes on Wednesdays which is only for black belt training and other specific wing chun/black belt classes other days of the week. She also attended optional morning training with Meng’s team at Centerville High School to better prepare herself and get more training hours for the fight team. We will attach a class schedule to this email. ********* is capable of training for the fight team while also completing requirements for her black belt. It is not a difficult class as she is consistent. This is what is natural for *********. Mengs specifically has different/separate class times for black belt class, youth, fight team, etc. ********* has attended and maintained this schedule all year preparing for her black belt and to compete for many tournaments until now because ***** told her she cannot come to class because she is now under review without lawful reason. Another false statement from Meng’s is “ Rescheduling test dates were always discussed with ** ********** prior to being rescheduled. She agreed to the reasons that caused rescheduling necessary. No complaints regarding this matter were made by ** ********** until she was issued with probation.” This is completely false. ********* had 3 meetings this year with Mengs owners and head instructor prior to Brazil. She let them know that she was very unhappy with the test being pushed back, requesting a reason why, and continued to come to testing dates 6 times since October 2021 to prove she was ready for the test. ********* attended so many test dates for practice that ***** **** then told her she could not come anymore because she was ready, which is why she registered for June testing, completed registration and completed payment. She also shared during these meetings that she had no problem maintaining black belt training and fight team training during these meetings. She has had meetings with Mengs since March 2022 expressing that she wishes to test and is ready. Mengs would not let her because of discrimination. They would say she could not maintain the fight team and black belt training even though they could see her consistency. The third meeting was in June where ********* brought a witness to the meeting because of how much Mengs spreads false information and she wanted a witness to the discrimination. All the meetings took place before the July event. Now all of a sudden ********* is under review and again cannot test again. We will finish this response with every single one of these violations that are completely false and made up violations. No team member was given anything stating any of those violations were mandatory for the Brazil tournament or any other tournament ********* has completed for the last 4 years. A completely false statement Mengs continues to submit. They made up these violations after the event to again push my black belt testing date with subjective reasoning. We have never heard of these violations until we read them on their draft. This is completely unlawful. ********* attended all the requirements for Brazil without violations. Again, the Brazil tournament has nothing to do with *********s black belt membership or requirements for black belt testing. We are completely self funded amateur athletes. We cover every cost for travel, lodging, food, registration and any other expense on these trips. ********* was met with opposition again as she created a GoFundMe to support her endeavors. The amount ********* requested for sponsorship was well within her legal right to ask for. She did not and has never ask Mengs for any financial help. How she raised money to fund herself is no one else’s business as long as it’s legal. She spoke with a legal consultant to get an understanding of what amount she should ask for based on her income and training schedule then posted that amount. After Meng’s seen *********’s GoFundMe link, ***** **** proceeded to call ********* out in group chat. He made false accusations about her training and said she didn’t deserve to receive what she was asking for and to do what he says and change the amount. As ********* always does to eliminate problems, she changed it. Mengs could have directly spoken with her but they wanted to try to embarrass her and make an example of her where she defended herself. She was never disrespectful to anyone. Mengs owners both stated that athletes were not allowed to ask for more than $3,000. They never gave a lawful reason why. They made up a number and we as self funded athletes are expected to just listen as if we are children without bills and responsibilities. Again Meng’s stating $3,000 as cost of expense is something that is completely false. ********* spent over $5,300 on the tournament expenses for herself after flights were canceled, delayed and other travel and tournament expenses occurred. We were only given 7 weeks notice for this tournament. We volunteer, as they mentioned in their draft, to have this experience at our own expense and will. Meng’s has made up requirements and violations at their will. Mengs has given every other student donations towards their expenses but ********* because of their discrimination against her. She is the only black woman on the team. She did not receive a donation from the school like all the other students on the team from Mengs received to go to Brazil. This speaks to the discrimination happening prior to this event. ********* is also the only student whose accomplishments have been left off Meng’s website. Last year ********* mentioned to Meng’s that her accomplishments were left off, giving them time to correct the mistake and they never did. Again, she is the only student’s accomplishments left off the website. All of these things just speak to the discrimination. The complaint has not been resolved. We originally filed this complaint to get resolve to know when ********* can test for her black belt and if she cannot, what legal reason is within her black belt membership contract that is holding up the process. Mengs never answered this in their statement to BBB. No violation they mentioned would negate the 7.5 years of service, leadership and prerequisites she has completed