This is a revised review posted to ensure, to the best of my knowledge, an accurate account and timeline of the events. I went to first line with my daughters a couple times in the summer of 2018 for a day pass. The girls had a great time as the facilities and staff are truly excellent. The owner was running a great promotion: 20 private lessons for 1/2 off if you sign up for a monthly membership (which includes weekly clinics!). So I purchased the lessons and signed up on 8/25/18 for what I planned to be a 1 month membership. We attended the clinics during September and used 4 of our private lessons all of which were excellent. As planned we stopped going in October because soccer and rec league hockey started. We were billed on 8/25 and on 9/25 (I assume for the upcoming month?) I was informed that the private lessons were valid regardless if membership was continued.
I soon learned that the monthly memberships are on automatic renewal. As there was no automatic bill or invoice sent, I was not aware I was still being charged until i did my quarterly budget check in December. I contacted the owner On 1/1/19 explaining that i had been billed for 3 months without visiting the facility during that time ($269/month on 10/25, 11/25, and 12/25). I requested to be reimbursed for the Oct-Dec charges and to have my membership cancelled. He directed me to the company's website which states that memberships are renewed automatically and that a written notification is required 30 days in advance and there is a no refund policy. I take issue with any automatic renewal billing practices that do not also include an automatic invoice for each charge. If you can bill automatically, you can send an automatic invoice via email. Fine, I guess they get their $269/month but it's not a way to make a customer happy. I then got charged again on 1/25/19 (30 days notice, ok I get it, but still not a way to preserve any good will left), and then yet again in 2/25/19! (Ok that's it!) This is when I decided to post my original 1 star review on Yelp. I also sent a complaint to the BBB, and notified my credit card company. (You may also be interested to visit the BBB website. There was another customer who had a similar complaint on 11/13/18. If you read First Lines response to this complaint it appears that First Line made threats to that customer of legal action to silence their criticism.) Upon request the owner did reimburse me for the 2/25/19 charge so I let the BBB complaint be removed from public view and did not follow up. I also updated my 1 star Yelp review to 2 star and mentioned he had reimbursed me for the Feb charge. After asking, the owner finally emailed me confirming that I still had 16 private lessons left. I still left my 2 star review, though. They may get their $1000 but don't expect to get a good review from me.
Wait, there's more!! On 4/16/19, the owner of First Line sent me a cease and desist letter in response to the Yelp review I posted in February. I guess he didn't like me being unhappy about having $1000 flushed down the drain! In the letter to me the owner states that I will be arrested if I attempt to enter the premises. What?! My question is, what about my 16 private lessons? Over the next 2 weeks I attempted to contact the owner requesting that he tell me what he plans to do about the private lessons I am owed. I can only think of 2 options: either I am able to bring my daughters to get their lessons, or I be reimbursed for the remainder of the lessons. He responded finally and stated that my daughters are allowed on the premises but I am not. (?!?!) He stated that because of my "public lies and slander" I have "forfeited my rights to enter". Whaaat?! I'm sorry but that's just weird and inappropriate. To be fair he may not realize that my daughters are only 10 and 12 years old, but still, I would never leave my kids somewhere when the owner has threatened to arrest me if I enter. He also said that "if I remove my dishonest slander from social media" my "access to the facility will be reevaluated". What the what?! Re-evaluated?! This prompted me to remove my prior post and write this prolonged more detailed account of my experience. I will let you, the public, judge for yourselves if my 2 star rating is warranted, as for me, it is a 100% accurate representation of how I feel about the customer service i received by the owner of First Line in response to my original billing complaint.
To sum things up, this has been one of the worst customer relations experience that I have ever had. This really sucks because, as I have already mentioned, the facilities, staff, and the hockey instruction are really great. Even the owner is a fantastic instructor and works well with the kids. If they could correct this one aspect, they would truly be 5 stars all around. They also do a great job sharpening skates. what a bummer. read more