Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  10/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We were sold on a product starting in November 2017 for Adrianna ****** and then we were sold again July 2018 for Braden ******, services stating that they would be in accelerated Black Belt Champion classes, neither of my children accelerated through said program. They had to complete 400 classes and both children did just that. In my son's case over 500 classes. They are refusing a black belt for my son and also refusing a sit down meeting to discuss. So, I was forced to look for other schools so he could complete his training. Only to find out this school is not certified under Tang Soo Do. I f he starts at another shcool under the training Tang Soo Do he would have to start all over. Now that I know, this means my daughter's black belt is NOT certified. The black belts are certified under Albert ********** ** and Albert ********** ** LLC, Martial Art of Karate Inc. At this point after so much time and effort they are refusing to do anything. We paid for a service and its false advertising. We were misinformed and paid a lot of money. Now in order for my children to receive certified black belts we would have to enroll in a different school and pay all over again.

  Business response

  12/26/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 9, 2022/10/26) */ ***Document Attached*** See attached response to complaint # XXXXXXXX Consumer Response /* (3000, 11, 2022/10/31) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Attached you will find the invitation to the Black Belt Champion program. As you can see in the file are the bullets in which it explains what you will receive. The first one states, Accelerated approval for Black Belt. Absolutely NOWHERE does it state that a Black Belt is not guaranteed. You will also see in another attachment our contract, where it does NOT state there is no guarantee of receiving a Black Belt. There has never been any communication that a Black Belt is NOT guaranteed. I've also attached postcards from instructors stating how well he is doing. These do have our address so I would appreciate them not being posted publicly. Braden has NEVER said he does not want to be there. In fact, he has said multiple times he wants his Black Belt. We asked for the private lessons. He did not ever receive preferential treatment outside of those private lessons. I have attended almost every class and he has never gotten more individualized attention over other students in the class, he actually received less attention due to their annoyance with the situation. Most of the time I had to reach out to the school to find out where we were with promotion. I also never denied their last recommendation which is to take 2 months off and come back with a video. I never responded to their last email because we felt that we were not getting anywhere. I was so furious that we have spent all of this time, over 5 1/2 years and over $20,000 and neither of my children accelerated through this program. In fact, they outright refused a sit-down meeting with us to discuss the multiple issues we had with their establishment. We have given the school multiple opportunities to right this wrong and they fail to take any responsibility. It is not my daughter's responsibility or ours to teach him at home what we paid the karate school to teach. If they don't feel he is ready, then that is a failure on AJ Bartlinski's Karate Supercenter. We have witnessed several students with far less than 400 classes receive their black belt & our son has over 500 & still has not received his. Why is this? We have also witnessed others receiving their black belts not achieving any of the fitness part of their final phase test. Ex some of them did not complete their run in the required time. After being there so long, you start to see these things. We have eyewitness accounts from multiple former employees stating that the chief instructor has openly said that certain students will not be receiving their black belts because she dislikes that students' parents. Also, you will find attached his final phase test which was in August 2021. After that there were NO other evaluations. Every 3 months is flat out not true! He has not been evaluated since then. Lastly, we know they are frustrated with us because when anything was unfair, we called them out and the chief instructor refuses to hold herself accountable for personal feelings getting in the way of their decision-making process. Braden did everything they required and more, more than ANY OTHER person there that has received their Black Belt. It is completely unfair that they expect us to jump through all these hoops to give my son what he worked for. Now they have ruined the entire experience for us. All the time, 3-5 times a week we were there for classes. All the extra practicing at home for Braden to show them he can do this. They never had any intention of promoting him. They strung us along while we were paying for services they were supposed to be giving. They are wrong, they know they are wrong and yet they have no documentation to back their claims. Everything they do is subjective and based on how they feel about the student and/or family. You will find my proof in my attachments. The rest is obviously my word against theirs. I do also have a letter from someone who used to work there. I will send at a later time if warranted. I think the most disappointing part of all of this, is we used to love this school. This was our second home for 5 1/2 years. We did parades and constantly told people about how great it was. Since January of this year, 2021 there are only 3 adult instructors, the rest are children. Some aren't even Black Belts themselves. The fact is they do not have experienced instruction. I have Google searched Tang Soo Do and again, we would have to start over at White Belt and pay for it. Which means we have invested in this curriculum for no reason. I'm now horrified at how they are behaving, and to my dismay, I was warned by many other parents this could happen, but I chose to turn the other cheek and for that I am sorry. Since we came back from Covid, the karate school is less than a positive environment. Only if you are well liked by the chief instructor, will you get what you paid for. My desire is for them to right this wrong and for them to NEVER be able to do this to another family. EVER! Business Response /* (4000, 14, 2022/11/09) */ ** See attached ** Consumer Response /* (4200, 16, 2022/11/25) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Fact: as I added in previous documentation, the Black Belt Champions program is advertised as an accelerated approval for Black Belt. We are the victims of false advertising and bias against Braden on behalf of AJ ************* Karate Supercenter. In signing up for Black Belt Champions and paying extra for said program, Braden completed well over 500 classes 400 is the required minimum, Braden still was not awarded his Black Belt. We have witnessed ourselves, for instance, many did not complete their less than one mile run in the required time and were still passed. Why would the tasks you claim Braden couldn't complete weighted differently? It's a completely subjective evaluation process and therefor open to bias. We did not reject any offers; in fact, you rejected our offer to sit down and discuss this.

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