Karate club charging direct debit during Corona virus

bono8

Good afternoon
I wonder if anyone can help me. 

The karate club my children attend are still charging me £100 a month by direct debit even though the club closed on the 20/3/2020 due to corona virus. The club took £100 on the 16/3/2020 which would take lessons to the 15/4/2020. They again took £100 out again by direct debit on the 16/4/2020 which would take lessons though to 15/5/2020.   I did email the club many days before the April direct debit asking whether they are going to freeze membership and stop direct debits, however their email response was only that they have a 30 day cancellation policy and that they are now doing karate lessons through Zoom which is an online video conference app.  I have discussed this with my children and they do not want to do karate lessons online through Zoom. 

What I should do? My children like the karate club and I wish them to attend after things settle in regards to the corona virus. Currently my children are not getting the service that I pay for from the club.  On another note my gym has temporarily closed due to corona virus and have frozen my membership and stopped direct debit payments and my local swimming pool have stopped my monthly direct debit payments for swimming lessons. 

What can I do in regards to direct debit payments for my children’s karate lessons?  Don’t the karate club have any moral obligations during this unprecedented period where they should stop direct debit payments of customers when the karate service that they provide cannot be delivered?
Any advice greatly appreciated. 

Regard 
Bono

bradders1983

You can recall the DD payments back using an indemnity claim but the kids can wave goodbye to the karate club if you do.

Aylesbury_Duck

They don't have to do anything, but you have a choice.  If they won't entertain frozen or reduced rates in this period, then exercise your right to cancel and re-join when they recommence physical classes.  Switching to online classes is a reasonable compromise, and one being played out in all sorts of education and sport settings.  It is a sport where training and practice can be done alone, and presumably your children can work together with the online classes?

You may feel they have a moral obligation to stop charging but you said yourself you want your children to attend when all this is over.  If they stop charging everyone there might not be a karate club to return to, so perhaps there is also a moral obligation on you to support the club your children enjoy?

bono8

Thank you for your quick responses Bradders1983 and Aylesbury_Duck

I am hoping that the karate club can come to a compromise with me.  I’m afraid my children will not work together with an online zoom class due to lack of space in our home and their age gaps. They are at that age where they do not want to compromise with each other. 

On another note I did advise the karate club in my email to them that my own personal income had been severely cut because of the corona virus. However it looks like that didn’t make any difference.

Regards
Bono

bradders1983

I agree that keeping it the same price at the moment is unreasonable, btw 

daveyjp

It would concern me more that a club teaching children think Zoom is a safe platform for them to be using.  There is no way it would pass any basic IT security checks when looking at the safeguarding of children.

bradders1983

daveyjp said:

It would concern me more that a club teaching children think Zoom is a safe platform for them to be using.  There is no way it would pass any basic IT security checks when looking at the safeguarding of children.

Worth the OP pointing this out. 

Aylesbury_Duck

I think pragmatism has to come into it and the children would need to be supervised.  All the more argument for a lesser fee in my view.

Schoolworker

My son does some similar tykwanko. We got the chance to keep on paying our usual monthly fee and able to log on Facebook live sessions everyday as well as zoom lessons or pay a reduced rate or halt the fee and this can be reintroduced when back to normal. We have gone for option 1 at the moment and hubbie is doing this 3 nights  a week with son and they will use the monthly fee to go towards any grading fees in the future. We are doing this as our money is not reduced yet but will reconsider if this happens. 

bono8

Thank you Bradders1983, Aylesbury_Duck and Daveyjp 

I will advise the karate club of the IT security aspects of app Zoom towards safeguarding of children if I don’t get a compromise in my monthly direct debit payment durIng this unprecedented time. 

Thank you. 

Bono

bono8

Thank you Schoolworker.
i now have some idea what other clubs are doing during coronavirus. 

Thank you.