We enjoyed classes here for a period of time up until one of the managers asked to take a picture of my son (with his personal phone) to send to a friend. This is completely inappropriate and unprofessional, and quite honestly creepy. This is a children's program and no grown man (who is a complete stranger) should be requesting to take photos of my child under any circumstance. This to me is a fireable offense in a workplace that deals with children. Our mistake was speaking to the COO and requesting to transfer out of there as quickly as possible because we felt extremely uncomfortable and concerned for our child's safety. Looking back, we should have just terminated our contract there.
We should've have just walked away at that point, but our children enjoyed the classes so we transferred to the Westview location. At first, we had a good experience. The teachers at both locations were great, my continued issues are with the management. The young man who admittedly shared he was new to management put us into a corner when our sons decided they were no longer interested in karate after several months. We said we would be happy to stick around and pay for another three months to get out of our contractual agreement. However, the manager tried to tell us 1) we couldn't, then 2) tried to manipulate me to take kick boxing lessons, in place of them opting out then 3) tried to convince me to keep at least one son enrolled. Ultimately, we kept getting the circle talk and shut down. This obviously led us to a second call to the COO again because of the lack of professionalism from the second manager. All in the name of maintaining (most likely) a sales or retention quota. Needless to say we were pretty upset by the lack of maturity and professionalism shown at both locations. Keep in mind each manager was young and from my understanding former, long standing students. They raise children up to be their employees that can't maintain the components they are taught in class even at a young age. This is not an environment I want my kids involved in after this experience.
Parents, avoid Kicks at all cost. There are plenty other time and money worthy options out there. Just because it is a "chain" doesn't mean it is quality. Sacrificing your child's safety and even subjecting yourselves to poorly trained staff and business practices is not worth it in my opinion. It was a creepy, frustrating experience and I don't wish that on any other parent.
Kicks staff, if you happen to read this, your management training and contract has some major holes in it. Parents do not appreciate being belittled, manipulated or even told they cannot opt out of their contract. If you are going to teach students how to be respectful in your classes, then I expect the ones you eventually hire to be managers to treat me with such. When a customer says they want to pull their kids out, the answer should be," I'm sorry to hear that, you will be missed. Would you give us feedback on how we can improve and make your experience better for the future? Thank you." Not fight and manipulate them to the desired result. The age old phrase of the "customer is always right" still stands and is appreciated.
Your contract is vague, and if you want to keep customers or even have returning customers, putting them into a corner isn't the way to do it. All you are going to get is a lot of angry parents, which clearly is a outstanding issue for this company per the many reviews of the same criteria. You need to be more specific and allow parents the opportunity to opt out as necessary. You will have more pleased customers. If your training and contract is crafted solely out of making money, then I think that's pretty shameful. I hope that you will take my comments into consideration, because you have upset quite a few families which I think could've been avoided if the customer was put first and people were more properly trained. read more
