I'm leaving this review because I believe parents considering the competitive team program at North Davis Gymnastics should be extremely careful about understanding the financial commitment and billing process before enrolling.
My daughter was enrolled in the Xcel Silver team. From the beginning, I was open with the gym about the fact that I am paid monthly. When a $325 payment declined in July, I specifically asked the office to charge me on the 1st of the month. They agreed to manually do that.
On August 4, I again put my financial situation in writing and told the gym: "I will need to stagger the payments monthly until it's paid. I can only do one payment each month for the team."
Two days later, on August 6, the TEAM billing system attempted four separate charges against my account:
$1,189
$585
$310
$914
That is $2,998 in attempted charges in a single day.
Regardless of what the total season expenses may have ultimately been, I never understood that nearly $3,000 would be attempted against my payment method at once--especially after I had just stated in writing that I could make one team payment per month.
My daughter ultimately withdrew from the program. To North Davis Gymnastics' credit, much of the money I had already paid was refunded. However, $275 remained disputed. I was later told that this money was a Team Fee used in part for summer camp and that the fee was non-refundable. The gym has since pointed out that I initialed documents concerning non-refundable fees, and I acknowledge that.
My problem is the communication surrounding those fees. My daughter attended only one day of the summer team camp, and I did not understand at the time that the $275 Team Fee was being applied toward camp costs or that withdrawing would mean forfeiting that entire amount. That explanation came later during the refund dispute.
This experience isn't why I'm telling people never to enroll their children here. I'm telling parents to protect themselves by asking very specific questions before joining the competitive team.
Get the entire season cost in writing. Ask exactly which fees are refundable and non-refundable. Ask what each "Team Fee" actually pays for. Ask when every charge will be processed--not merely when it appears on your account. And if you establish a payment arrangement, get that arrangement clearly documented.
There is a major difference between understanding that competitive gymnastics is expensive and expecting nearly $3,000 in attempted charges in one day after telling the business in writing that you can make one payment per month.
The gymnastics itself wasn't what ultimately left the worst impression on me.
The billing and communication did. read more