A-Sharp Guitar Instruction

Review: I started taking guitar lessons from this company on 3/10/2013. As part of the agreement, I was required to sign a contract and pay up front for a month of lessons. We agreed to a regular weekly lesson schedule on Thursday afternoons. After only two lessons the company unexpectedly closed their office for a week (for spring break) and told me they wouldn't be able to give me that week's guitar lesson. I asked for a discount and they refused. When I told them I would take my business elsewhere they said OK but that they would charge me $100 for another month because did not give two weeks notice to withdraw. As you will see in the agreement there is nothing written about scheduled breaks. When I told the owner he violated the contract by scheduling a week off and not giving a discount, he told me their instructors have the right to cancel a class at any time, for any reason, and that the student would still have to pay for the lesson. In place of an in-person lesson they would provide the student an online video or paper lesson. He said they will be sending me to collections for $100.Desired Settlement: I would like A Sharp Guitar to clear any balance they believe I owe them. I believe A-Sharp Guitar violated our agreement by closing during spring break, and not providing a discount to the customer for the lesson they would not be giving. As you will see, the agreement I've attached says nothing about scheduled breaks. It does talk about holidays. Obviously spring break is not a holiday.

Business

Response:

Case ID # 9501521

Resolution Moderator:

Mr. [redacted] began our guitar

program on 3/10/2013. I received an

email from him asking me to adjust his April invoice to a reduced amount to

reflect a school holiday week (April 1-April 7) that we were closed for. I replied informing him that the full amount

for April is accurate along with a reference to the Lesson Agreement that Mr.

[redacted] authorized and dated on 3/10/2013. Which states in our Lesson Times and

Scheduling Section 3.d. “Lessons will be provided as a

correspondent lesson during school holidays.

Continuity of lessons will play a major part in the progress and results

student will get on the guitar.” I

also assured him that the correspondent lesson will be emailed to him during

that week. He replied stating he was not

going to pay for a lesson that he wasn’t getting. Which I assured him again he would be getting

the correspondent lesson for that week.

He then requested to withdraw from his guitar program. I said that would be no problem and gave him

these instructions from the Lesson Agreement he authorized which states in our

Missed Lessons and Cancellations Section 2.b. “If the student wishes to cancel lessons at any point, then the student

must provide us notice by requesting and then signing a withdrawal form on or

before the 15th day of the preceding month you wish to discontinue

lessons for (any withdrawal requests made after the 15th day of the

preceding month will still be charged for the entire next month). If

the student does not wish to attend during this time, the student is still

required to pay for these lessons.” Since

he made the request 3/29/2013 that would make him still required to pay the April

invoice and would still be able to receive his 1 correspondent lesson and

attend the remainder of his scheduled lessons for the month of April. He has stated numerous times that he has

enjoyed lessons with us, but will not pay his balance due. While I understand how he feels, we have our

Lesson Agreement intact for several reasons and one of them is to attract

students that are committed to our program and trust us as the instructors to

do what will be beneficial to them and their progress. Our goal has been to have a common solution

for all our students who decide to authorize the Lesson Agreement with us. A rare correspondent lesson and a common

courtesy of a withdrawal notice to our instructors, we feel, is not too much to

ask and if it was then they would have not agreed with our program at the time

of enrollment.

We feel strongly that Mr. [redacted]

[redacted] needs to pay his balance in full and his time slot through April is

being held open for him, if he decides to participate.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9501521, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Response:

The business is correct

that I did ask for a discount for the lesson they would not be providing per

our agreement. They refused to offer a discount in any way and told me

they would just send me an email lesson. When I said I was not happy with

this the manager at this business started to belittle me and sent me a nasty

email saying:

“To me, it seems that you just didn't want guitar lessons in

the first place, which is why you're trying to be so argumentative”.

He also emailed me this:

“Also a teacher not making it (to a lesson) doesn't have

to be justified. It can be for any reason”.

And he sent this as

well:

“What I find strange is that out of over 100

students, you're the only person who made any issue at all.

Especially when it states it in the contract. Maybe it's

because you are so new to our program. Maybe it's because you dont

want lessons..or maybe it's because you would just like to find

something to argue about. Who knows”

It is clear to me this

company wishes to bully people into submission through insults. On top of this they also threatened to send

me to a collection agency.

The lesson agreement /

contract, section 3D does not indicate they would be closed for school breaks (such

as spring break). It says (and I read it as) school holidays. Per

the Richland School District website, spring break is not a holiday, it is a scheduled

break (as is winter break). Reference

link to Richland School District calendar:

Let me know if you have

any further questions or need any additional information.

I started taking guitar lessons from this company on 3/10/2013. As part of the agreement, I was required to sign a contract and pay up front for a month of lessons. We agreed to a regular weekly lesson schedule on Thursday afternoons. After only two lessons the company unexpectedly closed their office for a week (for spring break) and told me they wouldn't be able to give me that week's guitar lesson. I asked for a discount and they refused. When I told them I would take my business elsewhere they said OK but that they would charge me $100 for another month because did not give two weeks notice to withdraw. As you will see in the agreement there is nothing written about scheduled breaks. When I told the owner he violated the contract by scheduling a week off and not giving a discount, he told me their instructors have the right to cancel a class at any time, for any reason, and that the student would still have to pay for the lesson. In place of an in-person lesson they would provide the student an online video or paper lesson. He said they will be sending me to collections for $100.