ComplaintsforCross Road Kindergarten of Dover NH Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  04/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This business terminated my son's care on March 27, 2024. We were given verbal reasons but they refused to put anything specific in writing. When I asked to speak with the ***** of ********* and/or Owner on March 28 and 29, my request was ignored.The business has gone on to hide my negative ****** reviews but still will not address me directly despite saying they value open communication. I paid them $325 for tuition the week in question, and $6,825 total for tuition throughout our time there. I want to report to the owner and ***** of ********* about how their Director treats paying parents and typical infants.

  Business response

  04/13/2024

  
  Thank you for reaching out with your concerns. We appreciate your feedback and take it very seriously as it helps us to continually improve our services and communications.
  
  We understand the termination of services, has been distressing for you. I would like to clarify that it is our practice to discuss such matters verbally to provide immediate, personalized communication. We do not provide written notices of termination in order to maintain a direct and sensitive approach to such discussions. We apologize if this was not clearly communicated to you at the time, and we are looking into how we can better convey our policies in the future.
  
  Regarding your requests to speak with our ***** of ********* or the owner, we regret any impression of neglect. It is never our intention to ignore such requests, and you may always contact ownership via email at *************************************
  
  We also understand there has been confusion regarding the tuition fees and the removal of your ****** reviews. Please be assured that the tuition fees cover the cost of the care provided by our dedicated staff. As the services were rendered as agreed, we are unable to offer a refund for these charges. Regarding the ****** reviews, we want to clarify that we do not have the ability to remove reviews. ****** independently removes reviews that do not comply with their policies.  We can also assure you that the New ******************** of ****** & ***** Services received your report and conducted a site visit on April 2, 2024. We appreciate the opportunity to work with NH DHHS toward continued compliance in all areas. DHHS found our program to be in compliance.
  
  Thank you for bringing these matters to our attention.  It is our understanding that you do not wish to appeal seperation from care at this time.  If that is not the case, you are welcome to contact me via email.
  

  Business response

  04/13/2024

  This is another in a series of coordinated attacks from a client we asked to leave care.  There is an established pattern of harassment and we reserve the right to refuse care to anyone at any time.  ****** has coordinated a series of ****** review and other platforms (Yelp, care.com etc) attacks from people who are not our clients.  She has reported our ****** business listing and had it temporarily removed claiming that our business was intentionally decieving others.  This claim is false.  We do not decieve anyone.  We are licensed by the State of NH DHHS and in good standing.  I have attached a copy of the site visit results from this matter.  The claims were determined to be unfounded.  It is our hope that we can peacefully part ways with no further harassment.

  Customer response

  04/19/2024

   
  Complaint: 21523405
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because:

  I have reviewed the handbook given to me extensively and can find nothing about a policy regarding refusing to write down a reason for terminating care. The verbal communication given to me was scattered, contradictory, and insensitive, so if this is a policy, it is an ineffective one. Not only was the policy not communicated clearly to me, but nothing else was either. 

  In written form, we were told only that we were getting two weeks' notice of termination because Cross Road couldn't provide adequate care for my son. While I'm sure this is true, the specifics of the situation have yet to be clearly communicated. 

  I was told verbally that: my son was crying inconsolably every day (and yet nothing beyond occasional typical fussiness had been communicated to me prior to termination), that he didn't nap well, then that the napping wasn't the problem, but wanting too much attention from teachers was, that staff had left the daycare because of my son, and that it was "abnormal" and "excessive" for him to need medication twice during a nine-hour day for teething. Which, if any, of these were the reason my son's care was terminated? 

  If your policy is that communication to the ***** of ********* or owner should just be sent to the same email used for all other daycare communication, why does the Parent Handbook state that if the Director can't resolve a complaint, the parent should ask the Director for contact information? I will attach a screenshot of this for you to reference. 

  In regards to the tuition fees, I would like to apologize here actually, I may have misunderstood that part of the BBB form. I was asked how much money in total I had spent at your business, and I gave that amount. (Actually, I was short by $130, but close enough.) I was using this amount as a reference point of how much money I spent at your center, to ultimately have my child's care terminated with no clear reason given. That is clearly inappropriate and unprofessional. I am by no means asking for the total amount back, although I do think revisiting the week during which his care was unprofessionally terminated may be warranted if no one is able to provide me a reason in writing why this happened. you state that "services were rendered as agreed," however, depending on why his care was terminated, I don't feel certain that is the case. 

  I am so glad you have been found to be in compliance with DHHS at this time. 

  I look forward to a written reason I can reference in regards to why my son's care was terminated. I also feel an apology to my son for the gross mishandling of the situation is warranted at this point. 

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

  Business response

  04/30/2024

  I believe that this is a misunderstanding on the part of the consumer.  We have tried very hard to communicate clearly, but she remains upset.  The reason that we terminated care was because she communicated in this manner.  We have many children and families to care for and are unable to prioritize the overwhelming demands of one parent over those of the other children, families and staff.  We did have multiple staff resign because of the way ****** conducted communication. It was very stressful for them.  We believe everyone should feel safe and happy at work.  We strive to provide the best program that we can for our families.  We are licensed with the state of NH DHHS and remain in good standing.  We will review our policies with Brigids input and also consult an attorney to verify that they are fair to all of our clients.  We will not, however, continue to subject ourselves to this harassing behavior from ****** directly.  I will be consulting an attorney for further steps regarding a cease and desist for the continued social media harassment as well as libel.

  
  

  Customer response

  05/16/2024

  Hello,

  I would like to apologize to the BBB and **** for my delay in sending this message. I thought I had ten BUSINESS days to reply (which would be today), not ten CALENDAR days. I am so sorry for this misunderstanding. If I am unable to continue communication with the business because of my error, I understand. After the business threatened me with legal action in their prior email, I took time to look into my rights with a lawyer before I felt safe responding. 

  Originally, I planned to reject their response. My reasoning is outlined below. 

  This is yet another new reason being given for my son's termination of care. All along, all I have asked for from **** is the respect and accountability to tell me the truth, in writing, about why my son's care was terminated. It took over a month for them to answer that request directly, and now that they finally have, it doesn't match anything I was told in my prior verbal or written communications with them. It is manipulative to claim that I am "misunderstanding" their attempts at "clear communication" when I have had to go through the BBB to even get a reply to an email, and the replies I am finally receiving don't reflect the realities of what occurred.
   It is difficult for me to believe my communication with staff was the problem when **** responded to my husband's original ****** review on April 2nd, 2024 and claimed that we had never previously made them aware of any concerns, "despite (their) efforts to maintain open lines of communication with all families." I will attach two screenshots of this response.
  The same day, the **** responded to my separate ****** review claiming they "had not received any negative feedback" from us. In that same response, they went on to say that they were "committed to resolving any concerns directly." I will attach a third screenshot of this response. Despite that claim, they never responded to my emails sent on March 28th and 29th, 2024. (Screenshots of those emails can be found in my prior BBB communications.)
  For what it's worth, the truth about my communication with **** when I was a parent paying for childcare with them lies somewhere in the middle of the two separate false claims they made, both in the ****** review responses and in their most recent BBB reply. I had been in contact about some of my concerns, although certainly not in a way that was overwhelming. There were other concerns, primarily with the director, that I did not mention, because I also value childcare and didn't want to take up time that could be spent attending to children with grievances that seemed bearable on my part. 
  I am saddened to hear that this allegedly led to staff leaving...however, I was previously told my son's apparent "inconsolable crying" was the reason staff had left, so who knows what the truth really is. I was never told that either my communication or his crying was putting us in jeopardy of being removed from care, prior to our two-week termination notice given on March 27th, 2024. 
  I find it disheartening that **** would call my attempts at communication via the BBB and my honest public reviews of my experience with them "harassment," particularly after their refusal to communicate with me in writing in an honest and forthright manner. There is no campaign at play here - only a mother trying to advocate for her son who was wronged. I am also disappointed that despite clear directions in communication from the BBB, they have opted to repeatedly include my name in their message. 
  In the interest in putting this hellish experience behind us, I stand by my last reply to the business. My requests - which they didn't acknowledge in their reply - remain the same. If they wish to blame my "communication" for this wildly unprofessional termination and handling of the situation, so be it. If that is the case, all I ask for is a message containing their admittance that they were dishonest at the time our termination notice was given, that clearly states they blamed my nine-month-old son for a problem that was (apparently) actually with me. I also request an apology for this dishonesty and lack of professionalism. 
  After I receive those, I will gladly accept their BBB reply, and would even happily update my public reviews and single social media post. 
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  05/30/2024

  There is no need for ****** to amend her social media posts or reviews.  As it stands, we consider this matter to be resolved.  Thank you for your time and consideration.

*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. ↩