Beware. Read the contract before signing -- it's ridiculous. This company took advantage of someone in my family who can't speak english very well.
They took a months payment 1 week prior to her first lesson and told her to sign their agreement despite her asking to take it home and read it. They told her she would need to pay the initial fee, sign to secure promo pricing, and that she could cancel any time to get her money back.
After her first lesson she told the front desk that the lessons weren't for her and they sent her home telling her she would see a partial refund. When she didn't see the refund, she called and was told she would get a call back from management. When no one called, she went in and spoke to the manager who told her to fill out a withdrawl/cancellation form. Days later another partial months payment was taken via credit card. When questioned about it, the manager cited "policy" and hung up the phone.
When I called to try to help, I started by asking for a copy of the agreement which they initially refused, saying they didn't have a scanner or photocopier. It was only when I asked to speak with the owner that the manager sent it to me. Unfortunately, their contract requires payment up front for one payment period (4 weeks), with a 3-day cancellation window to get money back. Why would they encourage signing the agreement knowing the first lesson wouldn't be until a week later? And why not provide a copy of the agreement when asked for it the day of signing? And why wait almost two weeks to provide the withdrawl form even though the request was made in person immediately after lesson #1? Turns out they require 30 days notice for cancellations and feel it was ethical to withdraw money for another payment period anyway. The two payments were taken less than 30 days apart too.
When we explained everything we were wanting only the second payment to be refunded because it took two weeks to provide a withdrawl form and after only 1 lesson.
It's unfortunate that the contract wasn't looked over before signing but others should be warned about dealing with these people. When I called again, I spoke to 3 different people who had me on speaker, one of them making a quip about how it wasn't their fault if someone can't speak english and couldn't understand how to read a contract.
If you're going to sign up for lessons, request a copy of what you're about to sign because they don't give it to you unless you ask. And when you ask to speak with the owner of the business, you either get hung up on or told they're not available.
**Edit Re response from owner: if you truly felt bad and understood exactly what happened, you would do what is right and issue the partial refund. Sorry but your "apology" sounds rehearsed and not sincere. Im sure your instructors are great but your reception and management need some serious customer service training. The insults were directed at the customer-- not the other way around. I guess some business owners don't appreciate that working with your customer will go a lot further than doing whatever it takes to keep $145.**