Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/06/2023

  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.

  The Pocono YMCA camp was supposed to be dedicated to creating a wonderful experience for kids. Instead they provided an environment that allowed my son to get bullied, while having two counselors that gave no guidance and allowed the bullying. My payment also was supposed to include lunch, and gave parents QR codes to check campers in and out. Lunch was never provided and they never used any type of security or QR codes for check in or check out. The flyers clearly advertised in ink that the camp is $70.00. However when you get there, you are charged an unadvertised extra fee of $5.00 for a total of $75.00 a week instead of the advertised $70.00. After the bullying incident, I was literally told that my son was bullied with the bully not receiving any type of reprimand. I immediately withdrew my son and Pocono YMCA agreed to refund all of my monies back. I received $25.00 back to my debit card. However the $25.00 I paid in cash, I was emailed that they would send a check to me for the $50.00 asap. It has been two weeks, I have not yet received the check. This is a very careless, unprofessional environment for kids. Many parents in the parking lot and front desk can be seen complaining about this camp as they try to talk parents down.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/18/2023

  We are saddened to hear that ****************** son did not enjoy his time in our program. Our main goal is to provide a safe environment where children can have fun, make new friends and reunite with old ones. 

  Bullying is not tolerated at the YMCA. The staff did not observe any bullying, nor was it reported to the staff by the child. Our staff is trained to see, hear, direct and assess the interactions of the children throughout the day. The parent reported the incident which was observed by staff. Staff reported that the child was in another child's space and the other child did say in a louder voice than necessary, "to give him his space." The child, who was considered the bully, was not picking on the child, he was setting boundaries.  When working with older children, staff address situations more privately. Discussions with children, and their outcomes are not shared with parents or any other children, other than the parent of the child who was addressed. 

  Payments: All of our flyers promote the full five-day rate. Our registration packets contain the pricing information for the 3- and 2-day rates. The 2023 camp rate for 2 days was established prior to opening registration at $75 per week. The registration packet that ************** completed was the 2023 Camp Registration Packet with the $75 per week rate. In addition, on the Childcare Agreement, ************** wrote in the fee amount as $75.

  We are very fortunate to partner with the East Stroudsburg Area school District. The have been providing breakfast and lunch for our campers since 2020. Every Summer, the district staff is required to do training and therefore, we have a few days that breakfast and lunch are not provided. This year it was 2 days and it was communicated with parents. Please see attached.

  QR codes: We did send every parent a QR code for their child. This is used for attendance and billing purposes. It is also a newer procedure. New scanners were purchased for summer camp and unfortunately, they did not work on Monday. They were reordered on Monday afternoon and came in Tuesday evening. The scanners were used as of Wednesday. Unfortunately, we cannot predict technical difficulties. 

  When submitting for a refund, it is a process. Childcare directors submit the refund and it needs to be approved by the finance director. Once approved, the refund will go to the credit card and a check will be issued. Our policy states that it can take up to 7-10 business days depending on the credit card processing companies.  ************** was refunded in full. 

  As for **.****** comments about helping bullies and thugs; We are a diverse camp and accept children of all races and financial backgrounds. We have children from poverty and children from very affluent homes. One of our goals is to promote inclusivity and understanding of all backgrounds. In doing so, we do not stereotype our children as thugs. Our children have been through a variety of experiences and our staff build relationships with them in order to promote and foster social and emotional life skills. This is a continuous process and we do not expect to have a 100% success rate on the second day of camp. We have future leaders in our camp.