do you think I'm entitled to a refund on karate classes?

StormWarrior

I started this thread in the martial arts section:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=65373819#post65373819

I paid for the year in advance, £325. This is my fourth month and I don't want to go any more. When I signed up they said I could sit the jumping out because of my shin splints, and they never told me that in order to go up a belt they insist on 4 and a half hour gradings, where you're not even allowed a break even when people are fainting. I would never have joined if they had been truthful. I don't want to go any more, do you think I'm entitled to a partial refund for the months I haven't used?

Paulw

In short - no.

It's your choice about doing the grades. They are not forcing it on you. The criteria for the grades is set and applies to everyone (probably a national standard even).

But, it is your own choice to leave the club and not their fault.

You can still enjoy the club and learn, without having to do your grades.

StormWarrior

It's not my choice at all about doing the grades. If I don't move up a grade, I'll be stuck learning the few basic moves that you learn at white belt level. I'll never progress in the learning and the whole thing will be pointless. It's not that I'm not meeting the criteria for the grades, they can judge that in class. They just want people do go along to the official grading to make a day of it, there is no real reason for it. It's not a national standard, I know of other clubs who just grade you in class automatically. And that doesn't detract from the fact that forcing me to jump for long periods of time during the warm up is causing me such bad pain in my shin splints that I can barely walk some days. They originally said that I wouldn't have to do that.

Paulw

You'll need to discuss it with those in charge of the club. You can discuss your points and medical issues with them.

Contractually though, unless you can get them to confirm your agreement, then you have no way out of your contract, so are not entitled to a refund.

MagicMarker

TBH I was about to tell you to cop yourself on, then I read the other thread.

It's quite clear your instructor is an asshole, my advice is just to forget about the money and move on.

As for your shin splints, have you got this looked at? It's probably a simple case of changing your footwear.

StormWarrior

I've had hospital treatment for the shin splints because they are so bad, and I've changed my trainers to the ones they recommended but the only way to keep them under control is to totally avoid certain activities, like any form of jumping and other high-impact stuff.

StormWarrior

What do you think is the best way of approaching the owner of the club to persuade him to give me a refund?

Riesen_Meal

StormWarrior wrote: »

What do you think is the best way of approaching the owner of the club to persuade him to give me a refund?

Man up, just tell him its not for you, medical reasons and all that jazz.....

:cool:

Magenta

If gyms/sports clubs gave refunds for people who decide they don't want to go anymore, they would all go out of business. Ask any gym how many active members they have in the New Year and compare it to how many they have by Easter.

I don't get why you'd sign up for something like karate if you have a medical condition that would hinder you enough to prevent you from doing it. You surely knew that it could aggravate your condition.

StormWarrior

As I said before, they told me before I joined that I could sit out the parts (ie- the warm up) that would adversely affect me. When I paid to join though, they didn't stick to this any longer. If they had been truthful at the start I wouldn't have joined.

Cabaal

StormWarrior wrote: »

As I said before, they told me before I joined that I could sit out the parts (ie- the warm up) that would adversely affect me. When I paid to join though, they didn't stick to this any longer. If they had been truthful at the start I wouldn't have joined.

Just seems foolish to sit out warms ups and then expect to take part, warms up for any physical thing such as running, football etc are important in order to prevent injury

Your saying they said you can sit certain things out, did you get this in writing if not its your word against there's

StormWarrior

Cabaal wrote: »

Just seems foolish to sit out warms ups and then expect to take part, warms up for any physical thing such as running, football etc are important in order to prevent injury

Your saying they said you can sit certain things out, did you get this in writing if not its your word against there's

Well, they should have said at the beginning that it would be a problem and I wouldn't have signed up. On the form I signed to join, it asked if there are any medical issues and I wrote shin splints, and then had a thorough discussion with the teacher about what I can and can't do, and he told me that it's fine not to take part in that section of the warm up. But he didn't give me that in writing.

hohojojo

i am not trying to be cheeky but if you have a problem with impact training and jumping then why would you do any sports like this karate has kicking which would really affect your shin splints and more importantly why would you pay for a year in reality this is your own fault you really should have looked more into this before you joined and there really isn't any reason to say your instructor lied

StormWarrior

He lied because he said I could sit certain activities out and then wouldn't allow it after I had paid. And the shin splints weren't a problem for the actual karate itself. Anyway it's sorted now, I spoke to the owner of the club about it. He agreed that the instructor should never have pressured me to perform the unsuitable warm-up, and said that the instructor knew a different warm-up for people with leg injuries that he should have got me to do. He also said that I was right to take time out during the grading when I felt faint and no-one should be pressured to continue against what their own body is telling them. He apologised about that instructor and said he will refund me for the remaining period.

It's not only me who complains about that instructor, one woman has a neck injury from a car crash and complained to me that she was made to do unnecessarily dangerous things, and I saw him being far too aggressive with some students in class. For example, we were once in pairs practising a move where you bring your opponent to the floor. Every low-grade was working with a black belt and all of the black belts practised it with us safely so that we all performed the move properly and no-one got hurt. But the instructor can get very macho and OTT, and he grabbed the girl he was practising with and threw her down so roughly that she bashed her head really hard and had to be taken out for medical attention. He always insists that we be as aggressive as possible to each other, even the young kids, people often got hurt, like when he set 2 kids, a girl aged about 10 and a boy aged about 13, to spar against each other. The girl was new and very small, she was scared and didn't want to do it. The instructor insisted and as they sparred, the boy was getting rough and the girl didn't know what to do, the instructor egged the boy on until the girl ended up crying on the floor with an eye injury and was too scared to come back. Anyway I'm glad it's all sorted for me now.