ComplaintsforARCC Programs

• Initial Complaint

  09/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We booked our 16 year old son on the ******* and ******** Project Clean Water 6/28-7/25/2022. There isn't enough space on this form to fully convey the frightening and disappointing experience we had with this organization, beginning from the confusion at the meeting place at ***. What you may understand as our family's experience was actually felt, almost exactly by not one, but 4 other families on this same trip. We each had similar interactions with the owner and our children came home and reported similar feelings and reports of the incidents that occurred during the time they were away. I urge you to read through the entire scenario to understand the confusion, the lack of judgment and safety on behalf of the **** leadership. Please see the attached letter and feel free to reach out to me for further clarification. Kind regards, ***************************

  Business response

  10/14/2022

  **** has had multiple communications with this family regarding the experience the family and student had on their respective summer program with ****. Unfortunately, this student was dismissed from the program on the 5th day of an 18 day program for violating ****s zero-tolerance policy towards alcohol. **** has engaged with the family following the dismissal to attempt to address grievances and were as transparent and forthcoming as we felt warranted given the circumstances. 

  With respect to the incident involving consumption of alcohol that led to the dismissal of students from the program, the scenario represented by the family in their complaint is not reflective of ****s version of events. Multiple students were alleged to have drank during the incident in question. After proceeding with ****s procedure to review and understand the circumstances and student involvement, it was determined that students knowingly engaged in the consumption of alcohol, violating ****s zero-tolerance policy. Despite initial claims that students had ordered non-alcoholic drinks and received alcohol, it was determined that this was not the case and students were knowingly ordering and consuming drinks that contained alcohol. 
  

  Multiple members of the **** staff spoke directly with the family to coordinate and confirm return travel plans for this student. The options presented included a group flight with other students departing the program and an **** staff member meeting the students upon arrival in the US, flight options out of multiple departing cities, and unaccompanied minor services for those families wishing to have their students escorted throughout the travel process. We coordinated travel from start to finish with a number of the families, while others, chose to handle the process themselves. We also supported the family in having their student be an unaccompanied minor with the airline throughout the itinerary, so the families claims that the student was dropped off at an airport without any information or resources is blatantly false. In the end, we accommodated every student and familys individual itineraries.
  

  False Advertising
  **** makes leader hiring decisions based on a multitude of factors including but not limited to experience, skills, knowledge, and character. While we do strive to have a co-leader pairing of one male and one female leader, this is by no means a requirement for an **** program. **** has run many successful programs with both mixed and same-gender leader pairings. Ultimately, co-leader pairings are made based on experience and ****s determination of what will be most successful for a specific program or region. This program had a relatively even split of male and female participants, and no student who successfully completed the program raised concern or discomfort with the gender of our leader pairing. To add to this leader pairing, **** employs local partners to help engage our students in local customs, cultures, and to remain the experts in the areas we visit. These local partners represent relationships we have fostered over many years to develop trust, policies and protocols, and our trip itineraries and logistics. These relationships remove the necessity for our leaders to have specific in-country experience in order to successfully lead a program and enables them to focus on the overall group experience, interpersonal work, individual needs, and overall safety. Both leaders for this specific program had prior trip-leading experience for both **** and other organizations, and had worked with adolescents in various capacities including those in the age population of this program. 
  

  Breach of Contract
  Communication amongst families, students, and leaders is an essential part of coordinating an arrival or departure day in airports or other locations as trips require. Our leaders are in constant contact with our support team in the office coordinating all arrivals and departures worldwide, and steps are taken in each location to ensure this happens as smoothly as possible. This commonly requires establishing a multi-hour arrival period to allow students arriving on different flights to transfer terminals, collect their baggage, and meet up with our staff collecting students from multiple locations. 

  
  **** prides itself on being an inclusive organization and does not condone cliquey or exclusionary behavior on any type of our programs. If we witness such group behaviors occurring, our leaders and office staff will take steps to facilitate a positive group dynamic and inclusive behavior for all participants in order to try to create the most positive experience during the program. This may at times require individual conversations about corrective behavior or group discussions regarding expectations.
  

  At no point did **** take down the program blog, and it remained accessible to all families throughout the duration of the program. Regardless this is a platform simply for providing updates to families throughout the program and has no portal or functionality for communication amongst participants or families. These claims are simply baseless.
  

  Inconsistent Enforcement of Policies

  Their request for a refund for their program cost has not been granted for justifiable reasons. **** has a strict zero-tolerance policy regarding the use of alcohol on our programs. All students and families sign a student agreement attesting to this policy and acknowledging that should this policy be breached, a student will be sent home from the program at the familys expense and with no reimbursement for program tuition. **** takes great care in reviewing these difficult situations and to remain objective, fair to all families and students, and make as informed decisions as possible given the available information. As difficult as these situations are, **** cannot make exceptions in fairness to others that have made similar violations historically, and in order to maintain the integrity of our rules with the others on this program or any other program globally. We are disappointed to receive this familys BBB review as a result of a rule violation, and despite the students admittance for knowingly violating the policy, there appears to be no accountability on the part of the family, simply attempts at discrediting ****.

  
  

  Customer response

  10/26/2022

  Hello resolution department,  
  
  I missed the 7 day window to respond to the response from the business but my complaint HAS NOT been resolved.    
  
  I reject the response from the company because not once during this process has ARCC taken responsibility for the mismanagement of this trip.  ARCC has refused to accept ownership of the multiple fumbles and miscommunications beginning with the confusion at the airport at the onset of the trip.  Issues of false advertising regarding the leadership, misrepresentation of the events that were communicated with the parents and the fact that the company did not INSURE that parents had the opportunity to speak with their children before sending them away.   I was not told the truth.  *********** claims that their policies are in place and "cannot make exceptions in fairness to others that have made similar violations historically, and in order to maintain the integrity of our rules with the others on this program," yet they allowed others who were in the same reported violation to remain on the trip.   My son was separated and subjected to harassment by the counselors and the other participants, and counselors allowed blatant lies to be spread about him and the others, even after they were home.  I strongly feel that other parents need to know this information before sending their children away with this company.  
  Sincerely, 
  ***************************
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  BBB unable to locate business

  More info

  Our daughter ***, went on ARCCs trip to ********/*******. *** had an eating disorder in the past, so prior to the trip, we contacted the company to make sure they could handle it. I was assured that they could and was told they had experience with this. **** therapist also filled out the companys mental health form and, when asked how the trips staff could best support our daughter, she said that all conversations with *** about this issue should be handled privately. Instead, the trip leaders publicly brought it up in front of the group (15 kids) multiple times, including asking if she was bulimic and asking if she was throwing up. *** eventually had to go to the leaders and ask them to stop b/c it was making things worse. 5 days into the trip, 5 of the kids were sent home for violating the no alcohol policy. According to the staff and kids, 9 kids ordered virgin drinks, but were given alcoholic drinks by the hotel. According to *** and all the kids, *** had only a few sips of her drink. We asked the staff if they believed this, and they said that they did. The owner, ******, also told us this, but said the zero tolerance policy meant she had to go home (at our additional expense), even though she ordered a non alcoholic drink and pushed it away after only 2-3 sips. According to the kids, 9 kids drank and only 5 told the truth. However, when he spoke to the college advisor whod recommended the trip to us, he lied and told her that, "according to his notes" all of the kids who were sent home had at least a full drink and that he would never send a kid home for only having a few sips. He would, instead, praise that kid. That is, in fact, what our daughter deserved, particularly given her known mental health challenges.*** flew home from Asia all alone (after we pleaded with ****** to send her home with at least one other kid) and didnt eat for two days. Her eating issues recurred after the trip. Were still working to get things back on track.

  Business response

  09/14/2022

  **** is previously aware of this familys grievance against the company for their students experience on our program. Unfortunately, this student was dismissed from the program on the 5th day of an 18 day program for violating ****s zero-tolerance policy towards alcohol. **** has engaged with both the family and the advisor as mentioned by the family. We do refute the claims made in their complaint, as they do not align with the version of events as we know them. For confidentiality purposes and as is our policy, **** will not address anything regarding a student by name, personal information, or anything that relates to an individual's mental or physical health and health history in a potentially public forum.

  
  **** leaders wear many hats during an **** program. They are educators, leaders, mentors, and friends, and they are committed to student growth and personal development. As part of their many hours of training, they also receive fundamental, supplementary training in mental health to be able to try to support students on program. They are not mental health professionals and are limited in their scope and abilities to handle more significant mental health crises. That being said, our leaders and office staff take great care in trying to support all individual student needs on a program. Both **** and our leaders gather information pre-program and work closely with families and participants to understand individual needs, to ensure our program is the right fit, and to best try to support them while on program. The situation described in the complaint is not reflective of how **** and its leaders are trained to handle such situations, nor the discretion that would have been used by the leaders assigned to this program. Once again **** will not discuss any specifics related to an individual in this forum, but ultimately does not agree with the characterization of its leaders and the alleged manner in which they attempted to support students on the program.

  
  With respect to the incident involving consumption of alcohol that led to the dismissal of students from the program, the scenario represented by the family in their complaint is not reflective of ****s version of events. Multiple students were alleged to have drank during the incident in question. After proceeding with ****s procedure to review and understand the circumstances and student involvement, it was determined that students knowingly engaged in the consumption of alcohol, violating ****s zero-tolerance policy. Despite initial claims that students had ordered non-alcoholic drinks and received alcohol, it was determined that this was not the case and students were knowingly ordering and consuming drinks that contained alcohol. It was indeed stated that if a student were to accidentally be served alcohol and upon realizing had immediately stopped drinking, it would have been viewed as the appropriate decision and punitive action would not have taken place. However, those are not the circumstances that were shared with **** by the students in question at the time of the incident, and the students admitted to participating knowing the drinks had alcohol in them. 

  
  Multiple members of the **** staff spoke directly with the family to coordinate and confirm return travel plans for this student. The options presented included a group flight with other students departing the program and an **** staff member meeting the students upon arrival in the US, flight options out of multiple departing cities, and unaccompanied minor services for those families wishing to have their students escorted throughout the travel process. We coordinated travel from start to finish with a number of the families, while others, chose to handle the process themselves. In the end, we accommodated every student and familys individual itineraries.

  
  **** has a strict zero-tolerance policy regarding the use of alcohol on our programs. All students and families sign a student agreement attesting to this policy and acknowledging that should this policy be breached, a student will be sent home from the program at the familys expense and with no reimbursement for program tuition. **** takes great care in reviewing these difficult situations and to remain objective, fair to all families and students, and make as informed decisions as possible given the available information. As difficult as these situations are, **** cannot make exceptions in fairness to others that have made similar violations historically, and in order to maintain the integrity of our rules with the others on this program or any other program globally. Their request for a refund for their program cost or additional expense incurred has not been granted for justifiable reasons.

• Initial Complaint

  08/28/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On an ARCC overseas summer program to ****************** in July 2022, we experienced the following:False advertising: ARCC promises in its literature that:1) A male & female leader will be provided for every trip, yet this trip was led by 2 females, and a large portion of the participants were male and felt uncomfortable .2) Leaders will be experienced, yet neither of the leaders had led a trip to the region and only 1 had been to the region previously.3. Leaders have experience with teenagers, yet only 1 of the leaders had experience with older teens (over 17) and neither had experience with this age group.4. Participants will eat in local markets with authentic food, yet they took participants to eat at an American mall.Breach of contract 1) ARCC boasts about their safety record, yet the leaders failed to show up at the airport meeting spot, leaving participants confused/anxious on day one. Only after 1 of the parents called the helpline were the leaders reached, 1 hour after the designated meeting time. They were at the wrong spot, showing a lack of concern for safety and communication.2) Leaders created an unsafe environment, berating participants for being "cliquey" when participants were simply forming friendships. They confiscated participants' phones and didn't allow them to call home when it was necessary for their safety.3) Leaders did not share expectations about curfew or where they needed to be at any given time.4) Leaders created a divisive environment; participants were gossiped about when they weren't there to defend themselves.5) Leaders deprived participants of food & sleep. Inconsistent Enforcement of Policies 1) ARCC enforced their policies inconsistently & unfairly with participants during the trip; favoritism was shown. Lack of ******************************* 1) ARCC communicated incorrect information and falsely represented leader and participants' actions.2) ARCC denied requests for transparency and ignored emails.

  Business response

  09/12/2022

  ARCC has had multiple communications with this family regarding the experience the family and student had on their respective summer program with ARCC. Unfortunately, this student was dismissed from the program on the 5th day of an 18 day program for violating ARCCs zero-tolerance policy towards alcohol. **** has engaged with the family following the dismissal to attempt to address grievances and will continue to attempt to address them here. ARCC refutes the claim that we denied requests for transparency or ignored emails. We engaged in numerous communications and were as transparent and forthcoming as we felt warranted given the circumstances. 
  

  False Advertising
  ARCC makes leader hiring decisions based on a multitude of factors including but not limited to experience, skills, knowledge, and character. While we do strive to have a co-leader pairing of one male and one female leader, this is by no means a requirement for an ARCC program. ARCC has run many successful programs with both mixed and same-gender leader pairings. Ultimately, co-leader pairings are made based on experience and ARCCs determination of what will be most successful for a specific program or region. This program had a relatively even split of male and female participants, and no student who successfully completed the program raised concern or discomfort with the gender of our leader pairing. To add to this leader pairing, ARCC employs local partners to help engage our students in local customs, cultures, and to remain the experts in the areas we visit. These local partners represent relationships we have fostered over many years to develop trust, policies and protocols, and our trip itineraries and logistics. These relationships remove the necessity for our leaders to have specific in-country experience in order to successfully lead a program and enables them to focus on the overall group experience, interpersonal work, individual needs, and overall safety. Both leaders for this specific program had prior trip-leading experience for both ARCC and other organizations, and had worked with adolescents in various capacities including those in the age population of this program. 
  

  Breach of Contract

  Communication amongst families, students, and leaders is an essential part of coordinating an arrival or departure day in airports or other locations as trips require. Our leaders are in constant contact with our support team in the office coordinating all arrivals and departures worldwide, and steps are taken in each location to ensure this happens as smoothly as possible. This commonly requires establishing a multi-hour arrival period to allow students arriving on different flights to transfer terminals, collect their baggage, and meet up with our staff collecting students from multiple locations. 

  
  ARCC prides itself on being an inclusive organization and does not condone cliquey or exclusionary behavior on any type of our programs. If we witness such group behaviors occurring, our leaders and office staff will take steps to facilitate a positive group dynamic and inclusive behavior for all participants in order to try to create the most positive experience during the program. This may at times require individual conversations about corrective behavior or group discussions regarding expectations.

  
  With regards to ARCC confiscating student phones and creating an unsafe environment, all of ARCCs summer programs are tech-free. Leaders keep possession of all students phones throughout the duration of the program, distributing them at predetermined times to facilitate calls home to families for periodic updates. At no point were phones confiscated from students during a time that would have been a safety risk or in any manner that deviated from ARCCs clearly communicated tech-free policy. Throughout all programs, however, leaders have constant communication with ARCCs office staff, partners, and emergency support resources 24 hours a day. As stated previously, ARCC neither condones nor supports divisive behavior or disparaging commentary on the program, and our leaders are trained to respond to address this behavior when they are aware or see it. Leaders also have access to support staff to help with facilitating conversation regarding behavior issues or group dynamics.
  

  Inconsistent Enforcement of Policies

  We have engaged in several communications with this family regarding their experience with ARCC and their students participation in the program. Their request for a refund for their program cost has not been granted for justifiable reasons. ARCC has a strict zero-tolerance policy regarding the use of alcohol on our programs. All students and families sign a student agreement attesting to this policy and acknowledging that should this policy be breached, a student will be sent home from the program at the familys expense and with no reimbursement for program tuition. ARCC takes great care in reviewing these difficult situations and to remain objective, fair to all families and students, and make as informed decisions as possible given the available information. As difficult as these situations are, ARCC cannot make exceptions in fairness to others that have made similar violations historically, and in order to maintain the integrity of our rules with the others on this program or any other program globally. We are disappointed to receive this familys BBB review as a result of a rule violation. 
  

  
  

  Customer response

  09/20/2022

   
  Complaint: 17788252
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  ARCC is misrepresenting reality without acknowledging any of its responsibilities. I advise parents of kids interested in ARCC programs not to follow through. The experience of five families related to one of ARCCs projects was a nightmare, including breach of contract and mismanagement of an otherwise easily manageable situation. 

  ARCC contacted us on the third day of the program to advise us that our children had violated the zero-tolerance alcohol policy and were being sent home. We were told that several students snuck out after curfew and were drinking alcohol. ****** and immediate travel home was required for all individuals involved and no exceptions were to be followed. Facts clearly contradict what we were told that day.
  
  The leaders did not give instructions to go to the rooms, and there was no discussion of curfew. Nine students, half the entire group, who were jet lagged, left their rooms to go to the roof of the hotel, and were observed doing so by the counselors, who did not ***** them back to their rooms. They went to the roof to play some foosball until they became tired enough to sleep. Some students, as young as 14 years old, ordered non-alcoholic **** coladas and other red fruity non-alcoholic beverages. The participants had no intention to drink alcohol.  After a sip, they realized that they were given adult beverages. Some of the Nine students took a few sips, some others consumed slightly more. None of them had enough to act irresponsibly or do anything to compromise their safety. In any event, there was no intention to order alcoholic drinks. and there was no curfew. 
  
  The night prior to departure to the next city, the Leaders held their nightly meeting.  At the conclusion of the meeting, the mood shifted. One of the counselors took the first student into questioning while the other counselor guarded the others in the hotel lobby. No one could make eye contact or speak to each other.  One student had a panic attack, not understanding what was going on. Another tried to comfort her, but Leaders told them to go back to their seats. Students were shushed and told to shut up when trying to communicate.Students were made to stay in the lobby for nearly 4 hours, some students slept on the floor while one by one, students were questioned for 30 minutes at a time about what they knew about what happened on the roof.  Some told the truth, some did not. The group was isolated and interrogated.  
  
  Six students told the truth during the bizarre and abusive interrogation the following night. Three of them did lie. Immediately after this incident, there was no communication with our children and parents were made to wait over 24 hours before speaking to them, which we now know is because the counselors were interrogating the participants, depriving them of food, sleep,and the ability to speak to each other, or anyone for that matter, for four hours. 

  We also now know that ARCC Executive Director was planning for their departure without ever giving them the chance to tell their story to their parents, in a private forum. It was always with a counselor by their side, listening in and coaching them, or directly with ARCC Executive Director. Parents were never brought into this conversation. When parents finally got through to someone after a message was left on our voicemail, there was such extreme urgency to send our children home, that we received little explanation or the chance to discuss the situation with our children. ARCC Executive Director had already made a decision.
  
  As mentioned, nine students sipped alcohol that night after ordering virgin drinks but only five were sent home. Six of them acknowledged having sipped alcohol. Three of them did not acknowledge the facts, so they stayed in the program. For reasons unknown to the five families involved, a sixth girl who acknowledged being part of the group of nine, was not sent back home. Hence, standards were not applied equally to all participants.
  
  When parents were contacted that night by ARCC Executive Director, they were told that students had violated curfew and that they had snuck out of their rooms. He stressed that point multiple times across different conversation with all parents. Two weeks after the return of the students, ARCC Executive Director acknowledged that there was no curfew and that the information he had gotten from the counselors on that regard was wrong. Despite that, he took the decision of sending adolescents halfway around the world based on inaccurate information.
  
  ARCCs only thought was to send all participants home quickly,not to take the time to understand the nuances of the situation, to allow them to tell their story to all parties involved, (including and especially their parents), and to thoughtfully discuss next steps. Some families never spoke with their child until arriving in a stopover city (one of the students had a 16 hours wait in that city).  All five students flew home alone, and some parents had to pay for unaccompanied minor service. All flights involved either one or two stops in countries where our children did not have neither visas nor local currency. And all of that in the middle of massive air travel disruptions this summer. The risk of minors travelling alone through the globe was less relevant than accidentally drinking alcohol.
  
  What kind of a safety records is that? Sending kids into airports on their own, leaving parents no choice but to surrender them as unaccompanied minors?

  Two students who transparently shared with APCC anxiety issues and disclosed that in documents provided to the program well in advance, were subject to the same type of interrogation tactics. One of the students suffered multiple panic attacks in the span of 48 hours.

  In any case, AARC misrepresented to parents the type of leaders that would lead the trip. AARC indicates that its leaders know the countries they travel in, have experience leading trips in those countries, that there would be a male and a female leader. In this case the trip leaders did not know the countries the group was visiting, had no experience leading a trip there. Neither of them ever led a trip to any of the countries visited and only one had ever been in one of the countries. **** represented that there would be both a male and female leader of the trip, but that was not the case. Both leaders were female.

  Regarding communications, an e-mail sent to ARC Executive Director by end of July hadn't been responded by mid-September.

  Summary
  
  a) Students did not sneak out of the rooms nor there was any curfew in place contradicting misrepresentation by ARCC Executive Director in multiple conversations with parents
  b) Nine students, half of the entire group, ordered virgin drinks but were served alcoholic drinks
  c) Five of the Six students who were truthful were sent home
  d) One of the Six, stayed in the program totally contradicting ARCC Executive Director claims to different parents that there were no exceptions to be applied
  e) Three students who participated in the incident but lied, stayed in the program
  f) A rash decision was made by ARCC Executive Director, despite the clear mitigants, lack of intent since the nine students ordered virgin drinks, and despite being given erroneous information by the counselors (there was no curfew in place)
  g) Children were sent home in a hurry, flying half-way through the world amid massive air travel disruptions
  h) Children were not allowed to freely speak with their parents in the days immediately following the incident
  i) One of the children had multiple panic attacks those two fateful days
  j) ARCC leaders did not have previous experience in the countries visited
  k) ARCC breached contract by not having a male and a female leader

  
  Conclusion:
  
  Private companies have the right to institute policies but those have to be commensurate and proportionate to the facts and take into account mitigants while preventing potential child endangerment like sending minors half-way around the world in the midst of a massive airline industry disruption. And above all, ARCC has to apply to themselves the high standards it applies to adolescents. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  08/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On an ARCC overseas summer program to ****************** in July 2022, we experienced the following: False advertising: ARCC promises in its literature that: 1) A male & female leader will be provided for every trip, yet this trip was led by 2 females, and a large portion of the participants were male and felt uncomfortable . 2) Leaders will be experienced, yet neither of the leaders had led a trip the region and only 1 had been to the region previously.3. Leaders have experience with teenagers, yet only 1 of the leaders had experience with older teens (over 17) and neither had experience with this age group. 4. Participants will eat in local markets with authentic food, yet they took participants to eat at an American mall.Breach of contract 1) ARCC boasts about their safety record, yet the leaders failed to show up at the airport meeting spot, leaving participants confused/anxious on day one. Only after 1 of the parents called the helpline were the leaders reached, 1 hour after the designated meeting time. They were at the wrong spot, showing a lack of concern for safety and communication. 2) Leaders created an unsafe environment, berating participants for being "cliquey" when participants were simply forming friendships. They confiscated participants' phones and didn't allow them to call home when it was necessary for their safety.3) Leaders did not share expectations about curfew or where they needed to be at any given time. 4) Leaders created a divisive environment; participants were gossiped about when they weren't there to defend themselves.5) Leaders deprived participants of food & sleep. Inconsistent Enforcement of Policies 1) ARCC enforced their policies inconsistently & unfairly with participants during the trip; favoritism was shown. Lack of ******************************* 1) ARCC communicated incorrect information and falsely represented leader and participants' actions.2) ARCC denied requests for transparency and ignored emails.

  Business response

  09/06/2022

  ARCC has had multiple communications with this family regarding the experience the family and student had on their respective summer program with ARCC. Unfortunately, this student was dismissed from the program on the 5th day of an 18 day program for violating ARCCs zero-tolerance policy towards alcohol. **** has engaged with the family following the dismissal to attempt to address grievances and will continue to attempt to address them in this forum. ARCC refutes the claim that we denied requests for transparency or ignored emails. We engaged in numerous communications and were as transparent and forthcoming as we felt warranted given the circumstances. 

  
  False Advertising
  ARCC makes leader hiring decisions based on a multitude of factors including but not limited to experience, skills, knowledge, and character. While we do strive to have a co-leader pairing of one male and one female leader, this is by no means a requirement for an ARCC program. ARCC has run many successful programs with both mixed and same-gender leader pairings. Ultimately, co-leader pairings are made based on experience and ARCCs determination of what will be most successful for a specific program or region. This program had a relatively even split of male and female participants, and no student who successfully completed the program raised concern or discomfort with the gender of our leader pairing. To add to this leader pairing, ARCC employs local partners to help engage our students in local customs, cultures, and to remain the experts in the areas we visit. These local partners represent relationships we have fostered over many years to develop trust, policies and protocols, and our trip itineraries and logistics. These relationships remove the necessity for our leaders to have specific in-country experience in order to successfully lead a program and enables them to focus on the overall group experience, interpersonal work, individual needs, and overall safety. Both leaders for this specific program had prior trip-leading experience for both ARCC and other organizations, and had worked with adolescents in various capacities including those in the age population of this program. 
  

  Breach of Contract
  Communication amongst families, students, and leaders is an essential part of coordinating an arrival or departure day in airports or other locations as trips require. Our leaders are in constant contact with our support team in the office coordinating all arrivals and departures worldwide, and steps are taken in each location to ensure this happens as smoothly as possible. This commonly requires establishing a multi-hour arrival period to allow students arriving on different flights to transfer terminals, collect their baggage, and meet up with our staff collecting students from multiple locations. 

  
  ARCC prides itself on being an inclusive organization and does not condone cliquey or exclusionary behavior on any type of our programs. If we witness such group behaviors occurring, our leaders and office staff will take steps to facilitate a positive group dynamic and inclusive behavior for all participants in order to try to create the most positive experience during the program. This may at times require individual conversations about corrective behavior or group discussions regarding expectations.

  
  With regards to ARCC confiscating student phones and creating an unsafe environment, all of ARCCs summer programs are tech-free. Leaders keep possession of all students phones throughout the duration of the program, distributing them at predetermined times to facilitate calls home to families for periodic updates. At no point were phones confiscated from students during a time that would have been a safety risk or in any manner that deviated from ARCCs clearly communicated tech-free policy. Throughout all programs, however, leaders have constant communication with ARCCs office staff, partners, and emergency support resources 24 hours a day. As stated previously, ARCC neither condones nor supports divisive behavior or disparaging commentary on the program, and our leaders are trained to respond to address this behavior when they are aware or see it. Leaders also have access to support staff to help with facilitating conversation regarding behavior issues or group dynamics.
  

  Inconsistent Enforcement of Policies
  We have engaged in several communications with this family regarding their experience with ARCC and their students participation in the program. Their request for a refund for their program cost has not been granted for justifiable reasons. ARCC has a strict zero-tolerance policy regarding the use of alcohol on our programs. All students and families sign a student agreement attesting to this policy and acknowledging that should this policy be breached, a student will be sent home from the program at the familys expense and with no reimbursement for program tuition. ARCC takes great care in reviewing these difficult situations and to remain objective, fair to all families and students, and make as informed decisions as possible given the available information. As difficult as these situations are, ARCC cannot make exceptions in fairness to others that have made similar violations historically, and in order to maintain the integrity of our rules with the others on this program or any other program globally. We are disappointed to receive this familys BBB review as a result of a rule violation.

  Customer response

  09/11/2022

   
  Complaint: 17685017
  
  I am rejecting this response because: the company did not address our complaint, they merely deflected from the issues that we raised. There is no ownership or contrition being shown for the false advertising, breach of contract, as well as the lack of transparency, communication, and the inconsistent enforcement of policies. Furthermore, there are many examples of the trip being mismanaged and our child being mistreated that have not been taken seriously, from the neglect of the children at the airport meet-up, to the refusal to let our child speak to us on the phone when necessary, to the harrassing behavior and toxic environment that the counselors fostered, to the blatant disregard for our child's well-being (keeping him up past 1am in the morning without food and a proper place to sleep during an interrogation). I am concerned for other families who may send their children on these ARCC trips in the future. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************

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