Five Star Music will squeeze every last penny out of
you. In registering for their piano lessons, I
believed that I would be paying $40 for a 45 minute
lesson. Instead, I found out that there is a
continuous registration fee of $50 payable every 6
months ($100/yr) plus a $48 materials fee every 6
months ($96/yr). Students are provided with
photocopies piano book excerpts. I would rather
purchase the book and own my own copy, rather than
paying Five Star close to $100/yr to end up with a
stack of photocopies. The lesson fees are also taxed,
so the lessons are, in fact. $40 + Tax.
For all of these expenses, the quality of the lessons
is quite poor. Instructors are apathetic, (some are
horribly under-qualified), and the quality of the
photocopies is grainy, and there is not much
instruction. A student just “plays through” the
piece, simply playing one piece to the next, then to
the next piece again. Lessons are often cancelled at
the last minute (with assurances that a substitute
teacher will call to schedule a make-up lesson, but
they are not prompt or organized about their
schedules). On the other hand, their cancellation
policy with regards to students is quite unreasonably
strict. Students must provide a 30-day written notice
of cancellation, or else Five Star Music reserves the
right to charge a minimum of a six (6) month course
fee.
The registration process is unreasonably strict, their
registration fees are exorbitant, and the quality of
their instruction is mediocre to sub-standard at best.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY TAKING PIANO LESSONS WITH FIVE
STAR MUSIC
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