Hartbeeps - AIBU?

[appletango3]

Hey everyone,

My oldest goes to Hartbeeps and since October, 5 of his classes were cancelled. The teacher kept saying she would do extra classes to make up for it but they were never mentioned. It's a lot of money and seems unfair that if we miss a class we have to pay, but if the teacher cancels we still have to pay. She had a loss in her family which is sad but if we had the same we wouldn't get our money back.

Has anyone had a similar experience or is anyone a Hartbeeps teacher? I don't want to complain directly about her but that's a lot of money from a lot of people taken. Many others in our class feel the same but we feel bad saying anything to her as she's still clearly upset.

It's meant having to spend £50 on classes not held, and then more money by having to pay for extra activities on the days cancelled.

Thanks in advance 😀

this is really unfair Op
for you to start this thread that is

Why on earth is it unfair to start a thread on this?!

What on earth? Not at all.

OP you should contact her and ask her about a refund. It’s a chunk of money and this is since October. It’s not fair.

I don't see how it's unfair??? They are self employed. I'm self employed and if I dont turn up to work I don't get paid, they are paid upfront for each term. That £50 would have really helped out towards Christmas!

My little one does Hartbeeps too and when they’ve cancelled the odd session they always do an extra one at the end of term to make up for it so we don’t lose out. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to contact the teacher about this.

Does Hartbeeps have some sort of Ts & Cs stating if the teacher cancels a class you still have to pay? I’d guess not.

either the next five classes should be “free” eg catch ups for ones you’ve already paid for but which got cancelled, or if you or anyone else is not continuing classes then you absolutely should be refunded for those that got cancelled.

maybe with the bereavement things have got lost in translation, but if the teacher is still refusing to refund or equivalent I’d suggest contacting the Hartbeeps head office. Cancelling classes but making people still pay is not a look any franchise is going to want.

of interest @appletango3 how many are in the class and how many classes are there each week? Were all weekly classes being cancelled do you know?

there’s you with £50 owed.

lets says 10 in your class, each owed £50, then that’s £500 owed.

if 10 classes each week and all being cancelled over five weeks, each with ten people then that’s now £5,000 owed.

the Hartbeeps business should be managed to plan for eventualities such as this. As you say in your op probably quite a lot of money taken, and possibly a mini financial black hole, or at least immediate cash flow problem, that the teacher is struggling to face up to and / or deal with. Not that that in any way excuses them. I hope you do get your money back or confirmed replacement classes.

it is unfair
not to pursue a refund or replacement but to start a thread naming this company on a national site.

You shouldn’t have mentioned the company name

It isn’t unfair because she is looking for parents/employees/franchisees who might be able to give specific advice for that company.

I had a terrible loss during one of my freelance projects, still had to keep paying my team and deliver my work. Unfortunately that’s freelancing.

again

the company didn’t need to be named

Of course it's not unfair.

I don't know what it is, but am presuming it is a franchise, in which case, it will be helpful for the OP to find out what other group leaders do.

i think an anonymous poster on a nationwide chat forum naming a company is unfair so i suppose we will simply have to agree to disagree 🤷

Do you know what Hartbeeps is? It's a nationwide franchise. There are dozens of teachers so this is not identifying an individual.

I had a similar problem with another identical national franchise that do baby music sessions. At the time I was too swamped with lots of other things to follow it up but now, a few years later, I'd advise my past self (and you) to contact head office and let them know that this has happened with one of their franchisees, and see what their advice is.

ah apologies
i have never heard and presumed a different type of business

I would do an email giving them one more chance to refund in the next five days, and then forward it to head office. I'd tell them this is what you'll do, too.

keep us updated OP