|
SSQQ Refund Policy Overview
Email
Rick Archer at dance@ssqq.com
for clarification on any problem
|
THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND THE
RULES AND THE EXPERIENCES THAT SHAPED OUR THINKING.
Point of View - The Nature of
Refunds and Contracts
Rick Archer
February 2005
People in the dance studio business consider the SSQQ Refund and Credit
Policy to be one of the most liberal in the industry.
Many dance studios take a much simpler approach to Refunds.
They either don't have one or they don't give refunds.
For example, in the picture below you can study the Refund Policy of the largest dance studio in New
York City. The URL is included
if you wish to double-check the legitimacy of this picture.
|
 |
Are you curious what
are the Refund Policies of other major US dance studios??
Well, when I got around to writing this article, I was
curious myself so I went on to Google on March 8, 2005. After a
twenty minute search, I discovered the ONLY POLICY I could
find was the one listed above!!
After visiting about a dozen web sites, I realized
most dance studios simply avoid the subject.
They obviously aren't as stupid as I am to put the policy in
writing.
Here's another one for you. My wife found it on February 27,
2006:
|
At the "May I Have This Dance" studio, you
need to cancel one week in advance to get your money back. If
you wait any longer there is an administrative fee. SSQQ
has the most liberal policy listed so far.
By the way, if you can find some other
dance studios that list their policies, email the site to Rick
Archer at dance@ssqq.com and
please feel free to share.
In the meantime, we not only don't avoid the subject, we
take the time to explain our reasons behind each policy. Here is what
I think about
Refunds.
|
The Incident that
Locked in the SSQQ Refund
Philosophy - Use It or Lose It
|
True story. In 1993 I was
invited to go skiing at Keystone, Colorado, with a group of
friends from SSQQ.
DAY 1: In order to get a discount for EXTREMELY expensive
ski lift tickets, I bought a ‘ski 4 days over a 6 day period’
package. This gave me two days off during the trip which I
figured would work out just fine. Excited to be back on the
slopes after a long absence, I skied very hard the first
day.
However I definitely overdid it.
DAY 2: When I awoke the next day, I was stiff, sore and
achy. I
could barely move! So I decided to take the
second day off and rest my tired body.
DAY 3: I skied the third day and loved
every minute of it.
DAY 4: On the fourth day my friends wanted to drive around Colorado
and see the beauty. So I took the day off to go
sight-seeing. I am glad I did because I had a wonderful time
sharing the day with my friends.
DAY 5: However I must have caught a bug because on the fifth day I
woke up sick out of my mind with some 24-hour virus.
Ski? No way. I was miserable. I stayed in bed all day.
Fortunately I bounced back quickly. Now I was ready to ski
again!
DAY 6: However it was
now the the sixth and final day of the trip. I
had paid to ski four days but had only skied twice. I was in
a bind because now I only had today left to ski. When I went
to the Keystone Resort, I asked if I could get a
refund for the day I missed.
Keystone's answer? Forget it. The guy at
the desk said, "Use it or Lose
it."
Could I give my ticket to someone else or
sell it to a stranger? No.
The ticket taker pointed out my picture was
on the ticket and could not be
transferred. Obviously
the picture was added because others had tried that same trick.
Basically I was out $67. I was irritated, but I got over it.
Would I ski Keystone Resort again?
Of course I would.
In fact, I have
been back to Keystone several times since
without any rancor.
However, wouldn't it have been nice if they
handed me a voucher that said, "Rick Archer gets one free day of
skiing if used within the next two years"? Would I have
appreciated a compromise offer?
Of course I would have. And I would likely have gone back
to Keystone within two years.
A Deal is a Deal
I knew the rules at Keystone. It
was my tough luck. I threw away one day
because I was sore, I burned another one sight-seeing,
then I had the bad luck to get
sick. Too bad.
I took a gamble sight-seeing and paid for it.
The SSQQ Policy is nowhere near as tough as the Keystone
Policy: We offer you the chance to make up
for your missed class. All you have to do is Ask.
SSQQ gives you more options. For example, if a
problem occurs, a student can often make a class up by
coming on another night. Or you can review what you missed
in the first hour of the next class.
If you cannot complete your class, you
may either retake your class for free by asking for an
EXCEPTION (You must email us in advance
for permission) or you can take it over for half-price.
However, once the One Hour Grace Period is over, don't expect us to give you your money back.
|
|
|
|
|
|
