Complaint against Dance with Me! Ballroom Dance Studio

On Wednesday, August 29, 2007, I called Dance with Me! Ballroom Dance Studio (�Dance with Me,� �the studio�) in Herndon, Virginia to inform my instructor that my husband and I would not be able to attend our group lesson (the last in an 8-week series running from July through August) that night and possibly the next night due to the birth of our nephew. We were registered and fully paid for two concurrent 8-week dance series with one set of lessons in Waltz/Foxtrot and the other in Salsa. I spoke with Tina Carlo, who I understand is the owner of Dance with Me. I asked her how and when we would be able to make up the missed lesson(s). She said that the studio�s policy allows make-up lessons for only three reasons: business, travel, and illness. The birth of my family member did not fall into one of those categories and she would not make an exception for it. When I initially registered for the lessons, I asked about the make-up policy and was told that up to two lessons could be made up per dance class taken (in our case, a total of four) and that these make-up classes would be held in the week between sessions. I cannot find the studio�s policies listed on its website and therefore believe that Tina tailor�s the policies to suit her own interests.

Although she did not acquiesce, she did say that we could have the make-up lesson(s) if we were to purchase lessons in the next 8-week session running from September through October, which sounded more like a sales tactic to keep our business than an attempt to give us the lessons we originally paid for. The actual dance steps we would miss that night and the next would not be made up, which I understood to mean that although we were paying to learn the Waltz/Foxtrot and Salsa, the �make-up� lesson(s) could be in any other dance (i.e., Cha Cha, Tango, etc.). I believe that the policy is unfair and that we are losing money by not getting the lessons for which we paid. It seems unfair as well that we would have to invest in future lessons just to get a semblance of what we wanted in the originally purchased lessons. I paid $499 for two 8-week sessions concurrently running from July through August.

In addition to the complaint above, I would also like the following to be included �for information only� regarding Dance with Me and to record another example of how I have been treated by Tina Carlo. I had had a conversation with Tina mid-August regarding the next 8-week session that runs from September through October in anticipation of continuing dance lessons. The studio�s policy is that one group class is regular price and a second group class is half-price. According to the studio�s website, all classes were subject to an annual price increase. There were three classes that my husband and I were very interested in taking and I requested that Tina discount the third as a one-time exception to the policy, so that we could afford to take all three during the same session. I wrote Tina an e-mail on Monday, August 20, 2007 to make the request and she followed up with a telephone call the next day. She said that she would not honor a discount on the third class for any reason that I mentioned may be valid (i.e., great customer service, customer retention, customer referral, etc.). In the long run, she said, �We have to pay the bills.� From my perspective, so do my husband and I, and taking dance lessons is a luxury. Her attitude, in my understanding of business, is the equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot. It is as if she would rather have no business at all than to compromise in order to retain not just enthusiastic students, but customers who are willing to return again and again and again.

Tina Carlo then called me on Thursday, September 6, 2007 to ask me if my husband and I would be registering for lessons in the September/October session starting next week. I told her that we were unhappy with the customer service at Dance with Me and I began to explain the example above in which she herself could not compromise. On this call, she seemed interested at first to listen to the issues I had with the studio, but when I insisted that I was too unhappy with the service there to continue lessons, she became defensive and argumentative. Tina�s tone with me wasn�t professional and made me feel uncomfortable; she challenged everything I had to say. She said that my husband and I should decide on two of the three dance classes we wanted to take. I got the impression that she was �banking� on us taking at least two classes even if we could not afford the third class at regular price. I don�t think she figured that we would decide to take no classes at all. With the cost set aside, however, the fact is that of the three classes we desired, two of the dances are only taught once a year, so if we couldn�t take them now we�d have to wait a full year. And, if classes at Dance with Me don�t meet a minimum number of couples, that class is canceled altogether.

It goes without saying that it�s my choice to spend my money at Dance with Me or not, and I won�t be bullied into taking lessons there. Tina Carlo may have been acting out her disappointment for losing my business altogether or maybe she�ll be forced to cancel classes now due to under-enrollment, I can�t really say, but I intend to inform other interested and potential students of dance not to go to Dance with Me. I�m sure many people would agree that customers deserve respect, and that our time and money should also be respected. No one should have to have to deal with Tina�s bad attitude, especially in a learning environment, which should be happy, fun, and safe. On another note, Tina has a few great and patient instructors, one of which left at the end of the July/August session because he was not treated fairly by Tina. If only one of the instructors there could also run the business�

In an ideal world, Tina would have shown a little flexibility with her policies to keep us (customers!) happy. She would offer hassle-free make-up lessons or refunds. She would have granted the discount on the third class and my husband and I would have been delighted and satisfied customers for the indefinite future, spending our hard-earned money on lessons in her studio over any other, and I would have continued to encourage my family, friends, and colleagues to take lessons at Dance with Me. Tina said to me on the phone that I�m asking for too much, but it�s her business to lose. Anyone can figure based on the price above that we were willing to spend thousands of dollars a year and invest our free time in ballroom dancing at Dance with Me, but luckily there are many other dance studios that will welcome our business and excitement to learn.

Again, it�s Tina�s business to lose.