ComplaintsforThe Powerhouse - Martial Arts & Fitness

• Initial Complaint

  17/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  It has been many years since we attended Powerhouse Martial Arts (I no longer live in Vancouver). Apparently they kept our financial information on their system. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I believe back in May they started using a company/companies to keep track of finances/payments and this some how resulted in my bank account being charged multiple times for payments. Luckily I realised it after the first withdrawal and put a block on future withdrawals from their company, so only the first one went through. Initially them and the company working for them were responding to emails as they figured things out, but Powerhouse is no longer replying to my emails. I just want back the $156.45 that they have stolen from my bank account. I suspect I am not the only person that this has happened to, so I want this to be documented so people can be aware.

  Business response

  29/11/2022

  This member was not charged by us. We explained by email a few times. The charge Mrs. ***** is referring to was made by Perfectmid (billing agency) without our knowledge - possibly because of issue with their software that is full of bugs.  After the first few emails, and Perfectmind taking responsibility and promise to follow up (written by them to Mrs.*****) we left the ammetr with Perfectmind to follow up. 
  To this day we are pursuing Perfectmind, which apparently has changed their business name to Eplaore Creation, and no longer seem to be interested to respond. Again, we never insitiated the charge that is referred to, and found no evidence of funds being received by us. If we did we would not hesitate to issue a refund. We have never had such a thing happening in our hands, in 30 years of operation, as our records with BBB shows.  We still are pursuing Perfectmind to get to the bottom of what happened. Three other accounts have been affected, for which we are intend to pursue the matter through legal means if necessary. We have apologized to Mrs ***** on our own behalf, and on behalf of Perfect mind (which should be the company that offers a sincere apology) and if at some point we find that the funds were received by us will not hesitate to issue a refund

  Customer response

  30/11/2022

  
  Complaint: 18413818
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I sent this complaint to the BBB before I finally received an email response from Powerhouse. I did send a follow-up email to the BBB letting them know that I did hear from them, but received no response.

  While I am sympathetic to what Powerhouse is going through, it doesn't change the fact that:

  - they should not have still had my financial information on their records after I hadn't been with their business for well over 7 years.

  - this company that Powerhouse hired has nothing to do with me. It is unfortunate that you hired a company that appears to have shady business practices, but that does not mean that you can hold me and the other people affected liable to cover these costs. I am luckily diligent about checking my bank account and caught the first charge shortly after it was withdrawn from my account and then put a block on my bank account. This company attempted six different withdrawals which would have totalled over $700. Thankfully I am only out $156.45 at this point, but I really should not be out any money.

  I am sympathetic to what Powerhouse is going through, and I know that you did not do this intentionally. However, you are the ones that hired this company. You can't just say that you did not receive the funds and that is that. It has now been 6 months and we are long overdue for receiving our money back. You hired the company and the honorable thing to do would be to reimburse those of us that have absolutely nothing to do with this situation. It was an unfortunate choice of company for you to choose, but again, YOU need to make this right. You can't just wash your hands of the situation.
  
  Sincerely,

  
  ******** *****

  Business response

  30/11/2022

  Mrs. ***** is right.
  
  It was us who hired Perfectmind so, it only makes sense if we are held responsible as she has no idea who Perfectmind is. And we never said we are not. Only we were hoping that issuing a refund Perfectmind would be off the hook completely - hence the hesitation, not that we are worried about the refund so much.
  
  So, issuing a refund is not a problem.  We've never had any issue with our members in 30 years, with respect to money or refunds
  
  Only something we are wondering about something (looking at the bank statement attached) it seems that the money taken out was deposited back into the account on the same day showing "correction"?  We appreciate it if Mrs. ***** could double check and let us know here, or by email ****************************
  
  P.S. when we responded to her last message we were not aware of anything to do with BBB. It was not bbb complaint that triggered the message from us. Again, we had left Perfectmind to deal with this inquiry as they had acknowledged the problem is on their end and they are looking into it
  
  
   
  Tell us why here...

  Customer response

  01/12/2022

  
  Complaint: 18413818
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I didn't want to have to show my entire banking history, but so we have perfect clarity on this issue I have attached photos showing my statements from May to July (I can't add August as it's only letting me attach 4 photos to this response). All of the charges from Powerhouse, after the first one in May, show "correction" as that is how the bank displays it when there is a block on a particular business/charge. So you can see that all of the charges in June and July were corrected right back, while the first one in May is not. I can add August in a separate message if needed.

  It sounds like you are waiting for Perfectmind to correct their mistakes, but you also mention that the company has now changed their name. What is your plan going forward? How long do you expect us customers to wait to get our money back? Six months seems like an awfully long time for me to wait on getting money back from a business that I haven't been a part of for many, many years. So, I would like a time line. How long do I have to wait? Are you going to start legal proceedings against Perfectmind at some point? Please let me know, because I just want my money back so I can put this issue aside.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******** *****

  Business response

  19/12/2022

  Since the last communication (which is the one above I believe) we have followed up, have taken responsibility for Perfectmind and have issued a refund. 
  As mentioned before, we were asked to give Perfectmind (billing agency) to complete their investigation. But then, after some time passed, we learned that they have changed their business name to to Explore Recreation, so we went ahead and issued a refund to Ms. *****.    Since the refund was issued we have not heard from Ms. *****, so we believe that as far as she is concerned the matter has been resolved.  If not, please let us know.   Thank you

  Customer response

  20/12/2022

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 18413818, and I have also been in email communication with Powerhouse. The issue has been resolved. Thank-you. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******** *****

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩