Saturday, August 12, 2006

A wallet blow

Should a martial arts teacher be paid for his work? In my opinion: If he or she wants to, then of course. After all many have used anything from 5 to 40 years to learn their craft. Why should they not be paid?

Also, I don't have a problem at all with a school or a school owner running martial arts for business - possibly doing a healthy amount of money. As long as the quality of teachings, the school itself and the programs that are offered are of good standards.

What is expensive? I'm not one to tell, and I suppose it depends on a lot of variables - some which are very hard to measure. What I can tell you though, is that I find this pricing (US $160 a month) a 'wee' bit on the heavy side...

And what I will do is to show this example to anyone who says that it's expensive to train at our place!

Story:
Back in December, my 5-year-old daughter attended a free martial arts class. She loved it! I loved watching her! I signed a ridiculously long contract -- three years at $160 a month.

I don't know what I was thinking. My daughter no longer "loves" tae kwon do. She "loves" horseback riding. Next year, I'm sure she'll "love" another activity.

I wrote to the school and asked him to please cancel the contract. I received a rather curt letter from a customer-service manager saying I should have canceled within three days of signing.

My daughter has no interest in going back, and I have little hope of getting a refund for two years and four months of classes she will never attend -- $4,480, which I paid in advance on a credit card. That's a high price to pay for a 5-year-old changing her mind.

Source

No comments: