As the parent of two here in Hermosa Beach, I'm always on the lookout for new and healthy activities in the Beach Cities and always happy to pass along information for kids activities. We had the chance to get a free session at Dawn Barnes Karate Kids back in 2006 in Redondo Beach. Our daughter seemed to enjoy it so we enrolled in the age appropriate class and were happy....for a while.
We quickly realized that the original tuition quickly becomes so much more. Our one day a week class soon turned into two as our daughter got a bit older, and along with it our tuition doubled.....OK more classes more money...I get it. As we had our first "belt test" I realized that the costs of this were starting to become a bit daunting. In this "belt test" she performed the same moves she had in class in front of the teacher. After about 5 minutes (I'm not exaggerating and have the video to prove it) she passed and was awarded the new belt. Then we were told that the past 5 minutes would cost $55. Yikes.
Over time our daughter started to decide she would rather do other activities and no longer wanted to do Karate Kids. We notified the staff and were told we would be fine as it was the end of the year as they make you sign your life away with a 12 month contract.
All was well until the billing company called us about 2 months later saying we owed money. For what we asked....their response was that we needed to talk to Karate Kids to find out. We called Karate Kids and they told us to find out what the cost was from the billing service! Round and round we went until we were finally told it was a cancellation penalty. One of which they had never mentioned of course. After endless phone calls and a huge waste of time, they realized it was their error and forgave the cancellation penalty.
Until just the other day we receive a call from the billing service! We still owe the money......2 years later.
In a normal situation I wouldn't post a negative article about a local business, but as a local Realtor, and one who gives advice and information about local events and activities I thought I'd be doing a service by putting this out there.
Karate Kids...buyer beware.
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I agree 100%! This company uses scam sales methods to give you a FREE class, and if you take it they will not let you leave until signing a 1 year contract with an enrollment fee, cancellation fee, renewal fee, uniform fee, test fee for each belt, required t-shirt fee, sparring gear package fee required at orange belt, and forced enrollment into the BBC at green belt. One manager told employees to stand in front of the door if YOU dont enroll. Do you want to experience that awkward situation in front of your family?
Also the tuition increases 8-10% every year which the owners claim is due to salaray increases and rent increases, but the just initiated a pay freeze? The current average prices are $200.00 a month, and it is easy to find great programs elsewhere for half the price. Also, they will tell you that tuition includes unlimited classes, but managers do not worry because no one uses the unlimited classes....can you really take your child to karate class every day?
Please think and do more research at other locations before enrolling. Also, they treat most employees poorly with non paid meetings, non paid overtime. Check out the Rip Off Report!
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/410/RipOff0410747.htm