We paid upfront for a 1-year membership for our son to attend YCA. They had 3 classes to choose from, at various times/days. For 9 months we had no problems. Then, with only 5 days notice, the owner, Mel, opted to arbitrarily cancel all but one class. This class was to be held on the day our son was already playing on a baseball team and would be for the next 3 months. We explained this to Mel, who said he would "work something out," which sounded okay until we actually tried to take him up on the offer. We went thru multiple attempts to find a way to utilize the remainder of the membership, such as simply postponing it until baseball was over, taking summer camp classes, etc., etc. But it was obvious Mel had no intent to allow us to recoup the money we had paid. He flat out told us we would either HAVE to attend the one class or have our son attend a class for little kids! These classes limit what is permitted in the kitchen (no knifes, no stove, etc.), so obviously my 12-year-old was NOT interested in doing that. And, though there were plenty of summer classes available, Mel told us it would cost him "too much money" to do that!! Given that it was HE who eliminated the classes with virtually no warning, we felt it was certainly HIS responsibility to accomodate us in using the remainder of the class time OR provide a refund. After telling him this, he sent us a letter with some totally bogus "calculation" he concocted that is nowhere in the contract saying we would actually owe HIM money! UNbelievable! We finally complained to YCA headquarters and spoke w/one of the co-founders. She was very gracious & apologetic, saying they had received other complaints as well. Evidently they are having problems w/franchises that had been opened via brokers rather than themselves & are now having to do "damage control." YCA itself is good, but I would NEVER pay up front as you lose too much control. And, due to the unethical bait-and-switch tactics & rudeness to the customers by the owner, I would NEVER frequent this YCA.
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