Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Tender Care Learning Centers's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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Tender Care Learning Centers has 19 locations, listed below.

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  Tender Care Learning Centers

  1370 Washington Pike Ste 100 Bridgeville, PA 15017-2887

  
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  Tender Care Learning Centers

  10 N Meadows Dr Wexford, PA 15090-8367

  
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  Tender Care Learning Centers

  102 Teddy Bear Ln Mars, PA 16046-4402

  
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  Tender Care Learning Centers

  1475 N Hermitage Rd Hermitage, PA 16148-3106

  
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  Tender Care Learning Centers

  2220 Swallow Hill Rd Pittsburgh, PA 15220-1630

  

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:09/24/2024

  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.

  *********************. ****. On 9/23/2024 I pulled my children out & I filed a police report and a complaint with ***. I reported neglect, verbal & emotional abuse (suspect physical abuse), racial and disability discrimination. From 8/8/2024 to 9/19/2024 my family was discriminated against by a PreK teacher ****** Z. The teacher refused communicating with our family at drop off & pick up times, refused to communicate about my child who is disabled and has an IEP. Would not greet, respond to greetings, completely ignored my attempts to communicate with myself while cheerfully greeting & chatting with other families. I overheard her two times as I was walking away say " I said I don't want (my child's name) in my classroom" & "this is America" referring to our ethnicity. This went on even after I spoke to the director asking to make the teacher stop discriminating against my family (spoke to Ms. **** Aug. 18th, Aug 17th. Sept. 18th, Sept. 23rd). My child's therapists reported the teacher's refusal to work with my child's disability to Ms. **** as well. My child once told me, " Ms. ****** said I am not smart enough and that is why I need a therapist". I also overheard staff talking about this teacher & how "she had a bad experience with an autistic child in her classroom before and she doesn't like autistic kids" (all staff know). I saw her many times leave the children unattended in the classroom while she was chatting with staff in a different room. I also saw her grab a toy violently out of a child's hand and say, " I said shut up and give it to me". She does not follow the curriculum or do Storytime etc. (all staff know) & because her classroom is closed off, she does not want any other adults in there so she could have her way with the kids (hence her behavior because my child has therapists). I strongly suspect there is physical abuse taking place there as well. I hope **** does the right thing and terminates this individual & advocates for everyone involved.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/09/2024

  Tender Care Learning Centers has closely reviewed the complaint in this matter and has conducted a thorough investigation with its outside legal counsel concerning all of the allegations made.  We have determined that the allegations in the complaint are inaccurate.  This conclusion was reached after interviews with all employees involved or having an opportunity to observe activities and behaviors during the relevant time period.  The teacher referenced in the complaint is an experienced, exemplary teacher that has not been the subject of any similar complaints.  To the contrary,she has an excellent reputation as a loving and caring teacher for all of her students and their families, including students with special needs and/or support personnel.  The allegations concerning suspicion of physical abuse are reckless and false. 
  
  Tender Care and the Complainant had multiple discussions and emails in order to set up a mutually agreeable time for a meeting to discuss and attempt to resolve all of these matters. Shortly before the scheduled time for that meeting, the parent came to the school with her daughters, removed their personal property, and indicated that she refused to attend the previously agreed meeting.  She has not returned since.  In addition to our own investigation, an investigator from the ******************************** Services came to the school as a result of the complaint filed with ****  The investigator interviewed all people involved, discussed all of the background concerning the situation, and has verbally advised Tender Care that their final determination on this matter is that the complaint is not verified. Written confirmation will be provided by *** in the future. 
  
  The safety and welfare of our students, their families, and our staff are and always have been the number one priority of Tender Care Learning Centers.  We take this complaint very seriously and have determined that none of these incidents occurred.  ***, the state agency responsible for investigating complaints relating to child care centers,conducted their own investigation and reached the same conclusion

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/26/2023

  Type:Product 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.

  Our daycare was moving to a new building. We were notified on March 17th that the daycare would be closing March 31st and that the new building would not be ready until May 1st. We were told we would be charged $50/week until the new building opened and that the money would be credited towards future tuition.
  On April 18th we received an update that the new building would not be ready on May 1st due to an issue getting a permit from the city. We did not receive any further updates.
  I emailed the daycare on May 28th requesting an update. The director said they were still waiting for a permit from the city and they did not know when they would open.
  I emailed the city controller’s office to ask if they could expedite the permit. They replied that they were waiting for contractors to request inspections.
  I emailed the daycare with that information and they said “we know”. They refuse to offer any updates or a tentative opening date. This has caused an extreme amount of stress on our working family (we had 2 kids enrolled full time at their facility and had to hire a private nanny during this time). I emailed the regional director Dan on June 12th requesting an update. We were once again told it was a permit issue. I told them that I wasn’t comfortable paying the $50/week with no information from them. They charged me the $50 that same day. I decided to withdraw my kids on June 14th. I paid them $550 between April 5-June 12th and they are refusing to refund any of my money.
  I believe that they knew they wouldn’t open on May 1st from the very beginning, they just didn’t want families to find other childcare arrangements during this time. They have refused to provide any updates about construction barriers or when they anticipate the building will open.
  Today is June 26th, they still do not have an opening date and they have stopped responding to my emails. I have sent 3 kids there over the past 5 years and I am so frustrated. I want my money refunded.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/14/2023

  Tender Care Learning Centers has been operating 18 schools
  in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas for the past 40 years.  Our Shadyside school opened in 1989 and has
  served the families in that community, in the same location, for almost 37
  years. 
  Over a year ago, we were presented with an opportunity to
  relocate the school.  Last June we signed
  a lease for the new location. We knew that the
  investment in remodeling would be significant, but we proceeded because we knew
  it offered a better environment for our children, parents, and teachers.
  In order to try to minimize any disruption to our families, last
  summer we obtained a six-month extension
  of our lease at the prior location, to January 31, 2023, which would have been
  more than enough time to complete the school according to the ninety-day time
  frame given to us initially. We began the process of renovating the building,
  and in doing so, we encountered unforeseen setbacks with building permits that
  delayed the construction.  It ultimately
  took over 7 months to receive our building permit.  When it became clear that the permit issues
  would delay completion even longer, we negotiated an additional two-month
  extension on the old lease. When we knew that an additional extension was
  needed, we again approached our former landlord. But, despite our best efforts,
  the landlord would not agree to any further extensions because their new tenant
  had to move in.  We learned of that
  decision in March of this year, and promptly sent a letter to all parents
  advising them that the school would have to close until construction was
  completed. A copy of that letter is attached. 
  The letter did not state that the building would be done by May 1.  While we hoped it would only be a month, that
  was never certain.  
  To continue to provide childcare services to our enrolled
  families, we gave them the opportunity to enroll their children at one of our
  other 17 locations and receive a 50% discount on their tuition every week until
  the new building is complete. Roughly 80% of our families elected this option.
  We redeployed our Shadyside staff to those locations and offered mileage
  reimbursement or Uber credit to them to compensate for the extra driving
  distances.  If a parent decided that they
  did not want to relocate to one of our other schools, they had the option of paying
  the vacation fee of $50 per week to guarantee their space in the new building.  Families paying the vacation fee would
  receive all of this money back in tuition credits upon return to the program at
  our new Shadyside location.  At the time
  that we provided these options, we still hoped that it would only be several
  weeks.
  Because of the ongoing delays, we recently advised our
  families who did not elect to relocate that they will no longer have to pay the
  vacation fee. And all those parents, including the parents who filed this
  complaint, have been told that they will receive a full refund in the near
  future of the amounts that they have paid since the old school closed.
  The most recent delay in construction, which prevents us
  from moving into the new building, involves the acquisition of multi-faceted
  permits for the sprinkler system. Despite these delays, our management and
  teachers have fully furnished the new classrooms and they are ready for
  children to spend their day learning while they play.  We continue to work as diligently and quickly
  as we possibly can to get our new school open. Based on the delays to date and
  remaining requirements, we cannot predict when all permits and licensing will
  be completed. 
  We would like to reply to some of the allegations in the
  complaint.  Again, May 1 was never a
  promised date.  There were periods where no
  updates were provided, but that was because we had no new information to
  report.  The $50 charge referred to was
  charged on our system before we received the email withdrawing their children,
  and that amount was refunded on July 3. 
  We have been updating parents every few days since late June.  The claim that we knew the school would be so
  delayed is simply untrue.  We based our
  planning on a reasonable timeline. When we obtained our first extension to January
  31, 2023, it appeared that would be more
  than enough time.  We have a great deal
  of experience in building and renovating childcare centers and have never
  experienced these types of delays.  The
  June 26 email referred to was followed up by a phone call.
  We are very disappointed that this process has taken so long,
  however we look forward to what this new school will offer the children,
  parents, and teachers.  We have attached
  a link to a video that was recently sent to Shadyside parents to update them on
  the status of the work, and to give them a look at the interior of their new
  school.

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

   

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/25/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. They are still being dishonest in their response, particularly when they said that they never said May 1st. However, I am glad to see that they have refunded all of the parents in the same position as us. I am also happy to see that they have drastically improved their communication.  

  
  
  Regards,
  
  
  
  ****** ***********