ComplaintsforGirls Like Me

• Initial Complaint

  12/05/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Girls Like Me and the owner ******************* claim to offer inclusive services to girls to build confidence. We signed up over the summer and after my daughter submitted a video, we received a letter indicating she qualified for a scholarship for a discount of $248 from the total price of $1738. Bi weekly sessions from 9/9/23-5/18/24. A month into the program, **** forced my 13 year old daughter to sell 2 boxes of chocolate for a "fundraiser". They never asked my permission to allow my daughter to solicit sales and I was never told that children would be forced to work in order to earn their already approved slot within the program. When I expressed my discomfort with forcing my minor child to work and sell items by soliciting sales, **** told me that my daughter can no longer attend the program and did not provide a refund. I also have not been pleased because they advertise that they provide catered meals. That is not true. Girls are left to make sandwiches themselves and DIY salads. My daughter did not consume the cold food they provided. Also for a company who claims their interest is in empowering girls, they quickly cut my daughter off just because she did not sell any of the chocolate. **** also tried to force me to give her the value of the chocolate and stated that if I did not want my daughter to sell anything to earn her organization more money to pay for food and transportation that I would need to pay an additional $120. I felt swindled because none of this was previously discussed and was a surprise to me until they kicked my daughter out of the program after receiving the final email from ****.

  Business response

  02/14/2024

  We appreciate your attention to the matter at hand and value the opportunity to address the concerns raised. At Girls Like Me ***** fostering a positive and supportive environment for all our participants, parents/guardians, community partners, and staff is paramount to our mission. We are disappointed anytime anyone does not like their experience. Under these unfortunate circumstances, were pleased to have the opportunity to address this matter.

  Girls Like Me **** hosts a mandatory orientation for every participant and guardian, ensuring clear understanding of program expectations, including fundraising initiatives. From October 4th to November 28th, ****************** received a total of 7 fundraising communications from us. However, she only responded on November 28th, expressing her discomfort with her daughter participating in the fundraiser. Additionally, it came to our attention that ********************** daughter indicated that her mother was consuming the candy. Despite our request for ****************** to return the candy, she failed to comply with these instructions, resulting in the incurred cost for unreturned products.

  Girls Like Me **** ensures that all participants are provided with meals during meet-**** without any obligation for parents/guardians to contribute. Our meals are consistently catered either in-house or by local and chain restaurants. However, due to inaccurate information provided by ****************** on her daughter's application, her daughter chose to abstain from eating during one of our meet-**** Promptly upon noticing this, we contacted ******************, discovering that crucial dietary information was omitted from the application. Despite this discrepancy, we immediately consulted with ********************** daughter to determine necessary accommodations and worked diligently to ensure she had access to meals for the duration of her participation in our program.

  
  To provide transparency, our program costs $1728 per participant, yet families are only charged $497, as clearly outlined on our website, including fundraising expectations. Additionally, scholarships are offered and ********************** daughter received such support, reducing her responsibility to $248.50. According to the agreement ****************** signed, we do not offer refunds for this program. Due to ********************** failure to return the products we've already paid for, as well as the depletion of resources resulting from her efforts to secure a refund, we are unable to entertain the possibility of issuing a refund at this time or in the future.

  
  Despite our efforts to resolve this matter amicably, we have unfortunately been met with continued disputes, including attempts to circumvent established agreements. It's important to note that the dispute ****************** filed with her bank was resolved in our favor. Furthermore, we have had to resort to filing a police report due to ********************** refusal to return the product in her possession. Such actions not only strain our resources as a small nonprofit but also detract from our ability to serve our community effectively.

  
  We hope this interprets the situation further and facilitates a better understanding of the circumstances at hand.
  

  Sincerely,

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

  Founding Executive Director

  Girls Like Me ****
  

  
  

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