I am writing to address the response to my dispute made by Tori Reynolds from the Speakeasy Yoga Studio. My correspondence with Tori regarding the effect of COVID-19 on the business, began on June 6th. When I signed up for the annual unlimited pass in December of 2019 at a promotional sale price, neither party could have anticipated the abrupt and necessary closing that took place. Although virtual yoga classes were offered in place of in-person classes during the pandemic, at the time the annual pass was actually purchased, there was never any indication that patrons might be forced to accept virtual classes as an alternative. In June, when the other local studio reopened, but Speakeasy chose voluntarily not to, I began my correspondence with the business owner. Tori had not yet committed to extending anyone's passes once the studio would eventually reopen, which seemed to imply that the virtual classes were being offered in place of what was paid for as an appeasement meant to justify keeping customers' money. This is particularly important because nearly all of the classes I attend at Speakeasy are hot classes, the 80-90 degree heat being the most important component of the class that I can't get at home. Not only would the possibility of substituting virtual classes have precluded my purchasing of an annual pass from the beginning, but plenty of high quality teachers provide classes for free through YouTube.
Over the several months of correspondence with the business owner, I was never provided a definitive number of months the pass would be extended after the studio reopened, and in fact, Tori did not specifically commit to covering the full number of all the missed months of classes until after this dispute had already been filed. This suggested to me that Tori had deliberately avoided answering the question, which raised the concern that she was leaving herself the option to offer an extension shorter than the period the studio has been closed. I also harbored a legitimate concern that after all the time the studio would have spent closed, it may not have been possible to reopen at all due to the loss of revenue. Although I am sympathetic to the difficulty small business owners have faced over the course of this pandemic, the fact remains that the risk inherent in owning a business falls on the owner, and not their patrons. The studio does specifically state that they do not offer refunds for any reason, however, this does not release the owner from any financial liability if the services are withheld, especially when it is voluntary.
Regarding the value of the annual pass, the business owner argued that a proposed refund should be based on the value of single-class passes, which is absolutely a logical fallacy of false equivalence. To argue that the higher cost of single-class passes can be used to calculate the refund on a pass that spans an entire year is akin to returning a bulk product to a wholesale store and being told that the refund is going to be calculated based on its price at a gas station. The fact that part of the pass was used becomes irrelevant in this matter, because there is currently no possible way to use the remaining portion. To be clear, the 25 classes that were attended in the time period between when the pass began on December 4th and when the studio closed on March 15th, Again, although the studio's policy is that no refunds are issued for any reason, this doesn't give someone the right to withhold services they have already been compensated for.
The annual unlimited pass I purchased on December 4th of 2019 was used for 25 classes, over a time period of 102 days, ending on March 15th of 2020. I purchased the annual unlimited pass for $800 at the reduced rate for the holiday sale, and I've explained previously in this letter why the value of the regular full price of the annual unlimited pass or a single-class pass are irrelevant to this discussion. I requested a 75% refund totaling $600, as the pass was useful for approximately a quarter of the time intended. To be more precise, the 102 days the pass was used account for 27.95% of the 365 days it was intended for. As such, if the business owner would refund $576, that would be the most accurate calculation by my reckoning. read more