Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Just venting and ranting


Being a responsible mom, and considering we're spending 3 weeks in Puerto Rico, I signed my kids up for swimming lessons.  This was back in February.  I visited the Y and saw the place, and i was offered private lessons for just a little more than a group class would have cost.  I was supposed to start the next month.  March rolls on by and i get a call the last week in March to start classes.  By this time, baseball was in full swing, but since i had already paid, i figured i could squeeze it in.  I was willing to make the effort and drive to the Y, which by the way was a 35 minute drive each way.  Classes were the same day as Baseball Practices, which meant i left my house at 2:20 to get to 3:00 swim lessons, left at 3:40 to come back and have dinner before 5:30 baseball practice.  It was a heck of a day.

The second class the teacher is not really teaching my son, more just waiting for him to swim to her.  What he's really doing is going underwater and taking in water.   The third class i ask the teacher about the way that my daughter had learned 2 years before and she put a life jacket on him, then took it off and he took in more water.  By this time i'm thinking my son will probably just drown, because she's not really teaching him or telling him what to do. I talk to the director of the swimming program and she says that she'll watch the next class to see if there is anything the girl is not doing.  The fourth class comes around and the teacher shows up 30 minutes late.  I'm pissed.  I find the director and ask her what is going on, and what is up with the style of teaching swimming.  She tells me that swimming is now taught by discovery.  They let the children "discover" how to swim.  They don't tell him what to do, but let them figure out what they need to do.  Forget pissed, by this time i'm ready to yell.  I laugh in her face, mainly because if i didn't i would have shouted, and tell her that i paid to have someone teach my son to swim.  You don't give a 16 year old the keys to the car and let him discover how to drive, you don't put a child in the water and let him discover.  Plus the teacher was late.  The director sees that i'm not a happy camper and offers to let me start over with a new teacher.  I say fine and wait for her call.  I wait, and wait and wait some more.  By this time it's May and i'm leaving in 3 weeks.  She gives me some story about how the new teacher is going to call me that evening.  Surprise!!! she doesn't.  I'm beyond pissed now.  I call and leave the director a message saying i just want my money back, no one has called me and i'm not interested any more.  The new teacher surprisingly calls me a few hours later and tells me that she called the night before and it was busy.  HELLOOO its a cellphone.  If i'm on the other line it goes straight to voice mail, get a new excuse.  So i'm supposed to get a refund, but they need to see my receipt to see how much i paid and blah blah blah.

I find my canceled check, and i call and talk to the person in charge of accounts and tell her the date it was posted, the amount and all the info she needed.  She says that once the director signs off on it i'll get my money.  10 days have gone by and i still don't have any money from them.  Not even a phone call.  So i called today spoke to someone who was not the director, she couldn't come to the phone.  The nice lady i talked to took my name, and verified my address.  I asked her when the check would come out and she said "The director says that the check has been written and mailed out"  so i ask her why she's asking for this info if it's already been mailed out.  Did it really get mailed, or is it going out tomorrow??  she didn't know the answer to that one, so i'm expecting that on friday i'll get a refund check from the Y, with a letter postmarked tomorrow.

We'll see.


Wed, 17 May 2006 14:42:00 -0700

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