Completely neglectful and unprofessional establishment! I wanted to enroll my 3 yr old in the BAMS…read moreLittle Ninja's, age 3-6 program. I spoke more with Professor Bam, the owner, about the program and although there were many other programs near us I chose to support even though it was 30+ mins away. He even mentioned how his son started as a toddler at the gym. However, I quickly realized they have no idea how to run a class for 3 year olds.
1st Orientation - I quickly realized we were in a class with older/advanced belted kids who were already enrolled (maybe 6-8+ year olds). I was given the impression that we would attend a trial for the Little Ninjas kids class, not a drop-in to an advanced class with current students of older ages/belts. However, like the champ that he is, my child did a great job trying to keep up in spite of the lack of developmentally appropriate instruction. The owner insisted my child did well (given the circumstances) and said he should continue the trial period.
2nd Orientation - we arrived 5-10 mins early, did covid pre-screening & temp checks with Kimber, the owner's wife/co-instructor, who was not present at the 1st orientation.
Red flag #1: After pre-screening, I sat down to take my child's shoes off, but was told I couldn't sit on the chair bc of covid protocol. Ok cool - I got up, took his shoes off while crouched on the floor. Side note, I'm pregnant, but understand that protocol is for everyone. I then asked Kimber if I could use the gym restroom. Though I am visibly pregnant, she said I couldn't use the open restroom (located 5 ft away from me) due to covid, but could walk all the way to the main entrance of the bldg and find another. I looked at her with absurdity, but again respected the protocol and waddled all the way through the main bldg in search of a restroom which were all locked! Y'all, it took me 10 MINS to find one and a janitor to unlock it!! All bc she didn't let me use the one in the facility BEFORE class even started. If we were pre-screened to enter the gym, what was the big deal? Afterwards, I waddled all the way back around to the gym only to find my 3 y/o child OUTSIDE with just his socks on and Kimber standing inside the doorway like security. I asked why my child was put out with no shoes, she claims bc he wasn't listening/following along with the owner who was leading the older kids in a belt advancement test...says he kept taking off his mask and couldn't be in the gym without it, so he had to stand outside (without shoes!). I realized my son's mask was wet, took him to the car to get a fresh dry mask. I bring him back to the gym and she says she doesn't think the class is a good fit for him because of his age (well yeah, Kimber...he's 3 in an advanced "orientation" with over a dozen 6-8+ year olds). Kimber's verbal abuse continued as she called my child verbally unresponsive and asked me if he'd ever been to "other types of classes before". For the last 15 mins of class, Kimber dumped my child in the back of the class to fend for himself without any proper instruction. After class, she insisted we not enroll in the Little Ninja's class which would have been developmentally age appropriate. We came for a fun trial, but only received abuse and neglect.
...and Kimber, please do not message me on here to offer a farce of an apology in an attempt to vindicate yourself for your calloused and neglectful behavior. You know what you did and, as long as this review is, it still doesn't even fully describe the extent of your gross unprofessionalism. There is not a word you can type here that would excuse your actions nor negate the karma that you just asked for or may even have already gotten. Instead, do some deep self-reflection on this feedback and strive to implement better policies to make sure that the student of any parent who woefully spends their hard earned money with you, gets the absolute best care and service. Would you have treated your own child in that manner? A BETTER ATTITUDE can take you further than the negativity that you so boldly displayed!