Our original refund request • October 22, 2024
Hi Brian,
In the end, my son was never able to do the special option. He had to take gym class in school, so we ended up never doing the karate. Is it possible to process a refund for it?
Thanks,
NAME REDACTED
Brian McCann’s response • Inner Power Martial Arts
Hi Chris,
Thanks for reaching out. Sorry to hear about the gym situation not working out for you guys.
While our policy does not include refunds for our programs, I’d like to offer you a few options that will help:
- Membership Freeze: freeze the membership for up to 12 months if he planned to apply for the same program the next year.
- Transfer Membership: transfer the membership to another family member.
- Split Membership: convert the membership into two separate five-month memberships if both children attended.
Brian McCann, Owner
Inner Power Martial Arts
Our follow-up email
Thanks for getting back to me.
I understand your general refund policy, but this isn’t a typical situation. My son never ended up taking a single class — the school gym exemption didn’t go through, and he’ll be doing gym again next year. Option 2 just didn’t work out.
When we signed up, we were told that if he didn’t get approved for the program at school, we’d be able to get a refund. That’s what I relied on when I paid for the full year.
I know you spent almost an hour putting together the contract and exemption letter. While you didn’t ask for anything specific for that, I think $125 is fair compensation for your time, and I’m happy to leave that with you. But I would like a refund for the remainder of the payment, since no services were ever used and no classes ever taken.
I’ve held off on getting back to you these past few months because I wanted to be certain we wouldn’t need the program next year. Now that it’s clear he’ll be doing gym again, I’d like to resolve this.
If it’s easier for your business, I’m fine with the refund (minus the $125) being paid out in monthly installments over six months. I’m just trying to handle this fairly and avoid needing to go through small claims, but I’ll take that step if we can’t work something out.
Let me know how you’d like to proceed.
NAME REDACTED
What happened next
According to our records, Brian McCann did not respond to the follow-up emails after his original response stating the school’s refund policy.