I thought for a bit about posting this, but given what I've read elsewhere online about experiences…read morein dealing with this company, including here on Yelp, I felt I had to do so.
I own a gaming center. I had been looking to add computer classes to our offering. Last fall I explored buying a franchise from Stem For Kids and met with owner Moni Singh and her team. Ultimately, I decided against buying the franchise because it was not a perfect fit. It was then that SFK's salesman, Antwon Agurs, offered to license selected courses to me, chiefly one in Minecraft.
It took a long time to negotiate a simple licensing deal because the director of content, Shelby Jones, took two weeks to respond to pretty much anything, and no one seemed to be able to cover for her to move things along. When we finally did set a training date in March (and I did delay the date once, to be honest), the world changed with COVID-19. Before I had received any instruction materials, or undergone any online training, my business was forced to close until at least June by government order, and I had to lay off all my staff. As of now I don't know when I will be able to open, and under what restrictions (like the number of people allowed into the store) when that happens.
I wrote to Shelby asking her to consider a refund given that I had not received any training, and that I really could use the $4,180 I had paid to cover rent. We could regroup to do training and perhaps buy more courses for late summer or early fall, the earliest I could realistically begin offering courses. Of course, no response from Shelby, so a week later I contacted Moni, who initially dodged by referring me back to Shelby. To borrow a phrase, nevertheless I persisted.
Some days later, Moni wrote back to say that she would not issue a refund, and that we were all in the same boat. That was not true, because all her other franchisees and corporate stores were established, while I had not even started. Trying to launch this venture during a pandemic panic would be foolish.
When I pointed out that the course I signed up for was meant to be delivered in-person and not online, she responded that she had recently developed some online courses and that we could discuss those during training. Did that mean that she would not adapt the in-person courses I had purchased for online use at no charge? Sure sounded like it.
There's nothing like a crisis to bring out the worst in people. I had paid for the course only a short time earlier, and I had not received any training or materials. Since her course training was all virtual, SFK and Moni had not invested anything in personnel or materials as a result of my earlier commitment. While SFK may have a legal right to hold on to the money, and motivation to do so given the pandemic's impact on their business, I expected a little more humanity out of Moni and her team. I've seen other franchisors and licensors return money after deals were overtaken by personal and professional events. My company returned fees paid for events this spring without being asked to do so. Then again, reading stories like the one on Yelp from the couple who signed their kid up for a course at the Morrisville, NC location, saw it cancelled due to low enrollment, then have SFK try to force them to drive the kid to another, out-of-the-way location before grudgingly offering a refund, perhaps I should not be surprised.
I'll be fine, and I'm taking the time to retool much of my business for when we reopen. I'll get my material for courses elsewhere, in part because the shoddy responsiveness to date makes me wonder about the quality of ongoing support, and of tying myself to this company. If you are considering doing business with SFK, whether as a customer, licensee, or franchisee, be sure to protect yourself on the downside.
