ComplaintsforMissoula Irish Dancers LLC

• Initial Complaint

  01/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  There were financial practices that are led by a person who may not know how to do business billing and accounting, as a large group of parents were charged twice when we first started class, and some were not charged. I was also charged a late fee, when my payments came out on time with autopay. She said their autopay was messed up that time, but did not remove the late fee. Statements did not reflect actual charges/payments/credits; once my payment was applied to an incorrect invoice, and partial payment made to a special class I never registered for because they forgot to send that email, and then they charged me again for a payment that had already been made. I quit in November 2023 due to the mess they were making , and am still being charged, as I know only because I receive an email each month with a new tuition charge and increased 'past due' balance. After I unenrolled my daughter, they blocked my email, so I can no longer reply to these invoice emails, and locked me out of the parent portal. So I am also still being charged but unable to see the statement. They have no phone number for contact either.

  Business response

  02/06/2024

  We apologize for making you unhappy.  We're a very small business and therefore sometimes make mistakes as we can't afford to hire extra employees to help our business run smoothly when it comes to collecting tuition.  This is the first time in the history of the MID that we've ever received a formal complaint.  If you communicate with us we're happy to resolve the issue so that we can continue to work together. 

  Also, if parents decide that their child should leave the program without informing us that they are leaving, we are not going to know if we should stop posting tuition to their account.  Maybe their child has been sick, maybe they were on vacation, etc.  Parents also have the option to remove their children from our program via the *** software that we use for registration and tuition billing.  

  Long story short, if we don't have any communication about something that a parent/student is upset about, we're going to struggle with knowing what they need or want from us.  

  We apologize for the inconvenience and are hoping that we can sort this out with you promptly so that we can all be happy.  

  Thank you, 

  MID

  Business response

  02/06/2024

  We do not teach Irish dance so that we can be wealthy.  That is not how our business works.  We teach Irish dance because we feel that Missoula needs a solid Irish dance school.  Irish dance was a big part of the teachers' lives when growing up.  It helped us build muscles, become more athletic and gain long-term friendships.  We LOVED it!  

  This dance company breaks even when it comes to money.  Trying to snag an extra $80 from a few families isn't going to make a difference for us financially and like I said, we don't do this for the money.  We do this to spread our love for Irish dance to the kids.  

  I apologize for not seeing your email that you submitted about your daughter wanting to leave the program in November.  That was a rather busy month for us with an upcoming workshop and prepping for the Christmas recital.  If I am supposed to un-enroll a student from her class (parents can do this easily with the software) so that her tuition will no longer be posted, I would appreciate an email that isn't in a chain email about a workshop (I am human and therefore I sometimes make mistakes).  All I can say is that I can assure you that we weren't trying to take advantage of you by snagging an extra $80 for our company.

  I can also assure you that if anybody reached out to me with complaints about October/November tuition it was sorted as we didn't lose any other students because of tuition conflicts. 

  More than anything, I'm pretty much volunteering my time with this school while working as an instructor and trying to keep everything organized.  I work as an arborist during the day and am away from kids and my husband when teaching dance.  

  I sincerely apologize for not noticing your email in November, but I do wish that you would've given me a chance (sent me a separate email/not in a chain) or reached out to one of your daughter's official teachers before filing an official complaint.

  Business response

  02/06/2024

  I forgot to mention in my last two messages that I never blocked you from our email.  I removed you from the Arrow Mountain parent contacts list and the main MID list so that you wouldn't have to receive our weekly emails. 

   

  Customer response

  02/13/2024

   
  Complaint: 21128087
  
  I am rejecting this response because: explaining how noble you are in your volunteer position, and your other career positions does not address the issues that were originally stated.
  One of the issues being that as recently as January I got a new additional monthly charge for tuition. Its not just $80 we are talking about here. Its financial and administrative mismanagement, its me taking my time (I actually have a job and a family too) to STILL be dealing with this, and still be accruing new charges 3 months later. The resolution I am seeking here is

  1. Stop charging me on the account statement

  2.Subtract the balance your statement says is owed, to zero, and email me a copy of that

  3.Stop emailing and texting about new charges.

  This is a reasonable request for a person who cancelled service in November. 
  Believe it or not this isnt about you personally. Just stop charging me. Thank you!!

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

  Business response

  02/21/2024

  1.  You and your child have been marked as "Inactive" since early January.  Please forward me any emails that you have been receiving from DSP regarding charges to your account. 

  2. You have an extra $80 sitting in your account. This most likely means that you paid an extra $80 which would have automatically been put towards your November tuition.  Due to the fact that your child hasn't attended classes since November, the $80 has been sitting in your account.  It's not possible for me to send you an account statement of $0 at this time because of the extra money that you have in your account.  

  I do not know how to refund you that extra $80 via the software but I might have time to get in touch with the company tomorrow and have them help me out.  

  -- If you have a Venmo account I will be happy to send you $80 from the our business Venmo account ASAP. 

  -- I could also mail you a check.  

  -- I can also try to get in touch with the software company tomorrow but I do not know as to when you'll refund get that refund if that's what you  decide to do.  

  3. You and your child have been marked as "Inactive" since early January.  Please forward me any recent emails that you have been receiving from DSP regarding charges to your account. 

  4. I don't know why you were double charged for the workshop in October.  The extra $30 has been refunded to you.  As you did not unenroll your child from Arrow Mountain via the software before November, you have $80 sitting in your Inactive account.  

   

  Customer response

  02/21/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that the proposed resolution is satisfactory to me. I have included my Venmo account info where the dance company can refund my credit balance of $80. I cannot forward her the emails with billing statements that I was sent because right after I cancelled their service in November they blocked my email.

  My Venmo user is: @*****************************-1
  If I dont receive a refund there within a week Ill reopen a case. Thank you.
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  02/21/2024

  Your $80 has been sent to you via Venmo. 

  I would appreciate it if you would stop saying that we blocked your email as that NEVER happened.  As you know, I received an email from you on January 10th. 

  Thank you

*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. ↩