Charges £800 to leave kids karate club?

hollydays

Bobcrowther wrote: »

Smells fishy.
OP claims the organisation are fairly large but won't name them, yet happy to do a photo op in local paper.
A fairly in depth Google reveals little matching said organisation or fees structure.
Doesn't add up IMO...

I know who the organization are, knowing that I've found various things on line which aren't found particularly easily even if you know the name . Other people have had the same problems. It's definitely a pressured hard sell where the focus is on money. They don't openly advertise most prices , or any, prices , therein lies a tale.
It does seem a bit incongruous but perhaps the op has changed her mind as she's gone along?

barbiedoll

I think we had a similar set-up operating in my area a few years ago. We had a knock at the door one night, someone had come round offering karate classes locally. My son was interested in trying karate but I wasn't too impressed with the door-to-door salesman who was very cagey about prices and who also spoke about a "lifetime" contract. (Who signs up a 7 year old to a lifetime of anything? :eek:)

We found a local class which used to charge around a tenner for 2 hours on a Friday night. My son progressed up through the ranks, gaining several belts (£15 each, the suits were only changed when he grew out of them) and he stayed there for around 5 years. I did speak to a couple of mums at the school gates who asked me about his classes, they had signed up for a very expensive course of lessons but were unhappy with their child's progress and with the spiralling costs, it sounds like they were caught up in a similar scheme to OP.

Get a copy of the contract, or else just ignore them. How far are they going to go....debt collectors, court orders, CCJ's? I doubt that they will want their (possibly) shady business practices highlighted in a court, nor will they want the adverse publicity. If it were me, I'd tell them to go whistle...losing your cancellation letter for several weeks? Yeah, right.

custardy

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

Sorry but I find this very hard to believe.


My daughter has done Karate from the age of 4.


The only upfront fee is the cost of the licence currently £20.


What they wear is called a gi and is standard for all Karate clubs and will only need a new larger size as they grow out of it.


She pays around £6.50 per week for approx. 1 hour.

Sounds like a Mc Dojo.
Sadly, plenty around.

Like you,I pay £30 a month for my sons judo.
This covers 3 1hr classes a week.

dacouch

Companies like this should be for the chop

[Deleted User]

Bobcrowther wrote: »

Smells fishy.
OP claims the organisation are fairly large but won't name them, yet happy to do a photo op in local paper.
A fairly in depth Google reveals little matching said organisation or fees structure.
Doesn't add up IMO...

I just enjoy making up weird and wonderful stories :rotfl:

Seriously why would I want to invent such a situation and then ask for advice :cool:

I didn't name the company, as I'm told by others on this forum that companies will often check for related cases, and I didn't want them to be ahead of me in terms of what actions I'm taking.

Will keep everyone posted and thanks for the ongoing support :-)

Ms_Chocaholic

Is this GKR?

[Deleted User]

No sorry, but if you want to message me I will tell you, I just don't want it to shown in search terms for them to know what I'm doing. Thanks :-)

Nessun_Dorma

bris wrote: »

You agreed to the contract so there is nothing unfair about it so you can forget about all that nonsense that is written in other posts.


It's no different to any other contract like Sky, mobiles or gyms, if they have you they have you and as you agree you are in a contract then there is little you can do except ignore them and hope the court summons doesn't hit the letterbox.


Who in their right mind pays £170 pm for a kids karate class.

Not a very helpful post, if I am honest.

Nessun_Dorma

iammumtoone wrote: »

where does the £800 pounds come from?

Even if you go by what they are saying, 3 month contract, the last price you agreed to and paid was £120 per month, therefore you should owe £360?

Still a lot of money and you may well still dispute I just wondered what the extra £440 pounds is for?

even the new price of £170 at 3 months is £510 not £800!

Have I missed something?

My guess is that the club have refused to cancel the contract and the fees are mounting up. Or, they are applying a cancellation fee, on top of the outstanding monthly subscriptions.

Nessun_Dorma

hollydays wrote: »

I know who the organization are, knowing that I've found various things on line which aren't found particularly easily even if you know the name . Other people have had the same problems. It's definitely a pressured hard sell where the focus is on money. They don't openly advertise most prices , or any, prices , therein lies a tale.
It does seem a bit incongruous but perhaps the op has changed her mind as she's gone along?

A few years ago, when I was in training, I came across a firm called GKR Karate. They had a number of branches throughout the country and had a very tricky business model. There were quite literally thousands upon thousands of complaints about their business practices. I thought they had been shut down, but this sounds far too familiar.