Poorly run scam.
Took my kids to the Back to School Fair, paid $20 to get access to rides, games, petting zoo, face painting, bounce houses and pizza, as well as a backpack filled with school supplies. That's fair, right? Well, the event was scheduled to run until 6 p.m. We arrived at 4 p.m. Still plenty of time, or so I thought. After paying, we discovered there were no more backpacks. Fair enough, they ran out. There was no more pizza. Also fine, they ran out. The overcrowded bounce houses were being ignored by the teenagers who were meant to be supervising, so I pulled the kids out because it wasn't safe. Took them to find face painting. Face painter: "Sorry, closed. I was only paid until 4." FINE. Took them outside for the petting zoo. Petting zoo operator: "Sorry, I was supposed to leave at 4." Games? NOPE. Rides? NOPE? A balloon, at the very least? NOPE. Out of helium. I paid $20 for my kids to bounce in an overcrowded bounce house for less than five minutes. I returned to the front desk where the owner, Ali, was seated. I explained to him that I was disappointed that there was literally nothing left to do and I felt ripped off. He immediately got loud (because there were people behind me who had just walked in and were ready to pay) and said, "OH YOU WANT ATTENTION? YOU WANT TO LET YOUR KIDS PLAY ALL THE GAMES AND NOT PAY FOR IT? FINE! HERE, TAKE YOUR MONEY BACK SINCE YOU DON'T WANT TO PAY!"
I was so angry that he tried to paint me as a scammer when he's the one who was bilking people out of money I could barely speak.
Likewise, I'd already enrolled my little one in gymnastics at this miserable place. I wanted no further interaction with Ali, otherwise I'd have cancelled and requested a refund. So I took my kiddo to the first 30-minute class. It was held in an upstairs, out of the way storage room with a few mats on the floor. There was one teenage girl to supervise a dozen 3-5 year olds. Alright, I thought, maybe she knows what she's doing. Nope. She was confused, totally unable to keep order, even with parents assisting (a few, most just stood there, as is typical of Dearborn parents) , and so disorganized that each child got to do ONE flip on the mat and walk the beam one time. I thought maybe the disaster was simply due to this being the first class, so brought little one back the following week. Once again, the teenager "teaching" the class was so disorganized the kids ended up just running all over for the full 30 minutes, except for the first five minutes when she managed to wrangle the children and had them do static stretches BEFORE they warmed up. Does anyone not know how dangerous this is, especially for preschoolers? Well, she doesn't.
When "class" was over, I approached her and asked first if there'd be another teacher coming in because she seemed overwhelmed. She said, "He's trying to get me someone, but I don't know." I then asked whether the incredibly dingy mats were sanitized after each class. She said, "Ummmm, i think the janitors or somebody is supposed to clean them?" And that's how everything from ringworm to MRSA is spread, my friends. I took my kid home and haven't returned. I just wrote it off as yet another scam by CEO Ali. How this clown is still in business is a mystery. read more