When we started Victory it was a preschool day class in fall of '15. Things were very organized. Staff was friendly and the instructor made sure to know the kids and communicate with the parents about their progress. \r
\r
Fast forward to this fall when we again enrolled after taking the summer off. \r
BellaRose was first in a class of 3. After Christmas the other two didn't continue at that same time slot, leaving just her. \r
On multiple accounts before Christmas she was ""stretching"", mostly independently, for half of the class time while the teacher chatted with other staff- leaving the kids to fend for themselves and often times sitting doing nothing. When confronted she was ""waiting on others to arrive before starting"", ""reviewing safety cat"" etc. Excuse after excuse. Bella informed me several times that she had to remind her teacher of her name. She was one of three. It's not that difficult to remember names after a few weeks. Bella was out sick several instances and when I asked both in phone calls (Never returned) and in person what the makeup/refund policy was, I could never get a straight answer. We drive 40 minutes specifically for this class and budget this tuition very carefully to allow Bella to pursue her passion for gymnastics. \r
In January, My mother in law spoke with a gym manager one evening and then the owner about the instructors attitude, length of ""stretching"" time, use of cell phone and lack of teaching. This was mostly dismissed by all staff and excused. They said they'd talk to her. I did notice some improvement when I was able to bring her the next couple of weeks. However after those two weeks, we saw a decline again and use of cell phone and generally acting bored on the job, ignoring Bella, etc. I don't really understand this as having her one on one should be a great opportunity for growth. She went backwards in skill level with this particular instructor from where she had ended up at the end of her preschool year. \r
\r
Also after the new year, she was out another 2 weeks in a row? (Kindergarten germs have been really hard on her). I again called her in so the teacher would know she wasn't going to be there- leaving messages to please return my call with makeup policy at least twice across these weeks. I got a male on the phone on February 8th who proceeded to cut me off with each question I asked. He was rude, short and condescending with me. I asked for a manager, he reused saying he could answer anything I needed. I asked for an email for the owner and he said I could email the generic one and see if it would get passed along. I simply wanted to know what could be done to make up for the times she had missed since I finally had someone on the phone! \r
\r
I never felt like we had too *high* of expectations for Victory. Simply that our tuition was going to pay for gymnastics lessons and maybe some decent customer service when my child couldn't attend. Pretty sad that those two things weren't met in the same way they had been before and no one seemed to care. \r
\r
Needless to say we haven't returned and will not be. We haven't seen any interest in Victory keeping our business. I've also been in contact with former parents who shared my same concerns and who have found gyms that work much better for their expectations. We will be following suit.
more