Kids’n Keyboards Music Center

I had been looking for a place for my then 8yr old daughter for piano instruction close to my home (Fremont) and found this place which is conveniently located near FWY 880 and Stevenson Blvd. It turned out that the guy I spoke with (WING) is a parent at my childrens school as well. I thought that would be a benefit to me as I felt that there would be better accessibility and accountability should there be a need to communicate or if there were any issues we would need to discuss.
After the usual inquiry, the initial classes were:
Level 1A, 30mins at $ 24; 1B, 30mins at $ 28.
Level 2, 45mins at $ 36.
The instruction time remains 45mins until you get pretty far along at level 6. And of course the fees go up as you progress. ($ 46 at level 6)
Originally, my daughter was taught by an adult teacher for the first 3 months. Then they changed the schedule to a DIFFERENT instructor, DIFFERENT day about the same time. The change affected my other two children’s logistics for their after school activities which caused my wife to taxi my daughter while I taxi the other two.(I had to request the day off work each week for us to accomodate) This lasted for 5 MONTHS when they changed the piano teacher A-​G-​A-​I-​N to a 16 YEAR OLD WITHOUT INFORMING US of the change. It was about another 2 months before we became informed.!! Seeing that my daughter was acclimated with the change, we reluctantly obliged them.
My daughter, now 10yrs old, has been enrolled with them for about a year and a half as of this past January and has been satisfied with her instruction. She practices 4 – 5 times a week and plays the songs she memorized frequently, daily. When I brought her in to the Fremont Music Institute for an assessment of her skills, the piano teacher felt she was not where she should be for the length of time she had been enrolled.
This prompted me to reiterate and insist on my need for feedback which at this point should have been provided many times over. The 16 YEAR OLD NEVER SPOKE TO US. The proprietor, WING, then directed us to have the ABRSM level 1 test which they felt she was ready.
We paid them an additional $ 60 for the test. But after we paid them, they said that THEY HAVE TO CHANGE THE INSTRUCTION TIME TO A DIFFERENT DAY AT A LATER TIME!!! (insert expletive here)
This was not acceptable to me as the family logistics were just impossible for us to accommodate. They said they don’t have a choice. Imagine my frustration and anger at this point. After multiple phone calls to WING and face to face discussion, they couldn’t keep her schedule or find a different teacher for my daughter. WING stated they knew about the need for this 16 YEAR OLD change in schedule (because she’s in school) in December but failed to inform us or provide better timing for us to make changes! Of course a 16 YEAR OLD is subject to their own studies versus an adult professional whose livelihood is teaching!
We asked for a refund of the $ 60 dollars that we paid for the ABRSM test and he would not refund us!!! I said to him, «So even though you admit fault for not informing us of the need for change and then changing schedules, you’re not going to give us a refund?» He said it was paid to the ABRSM already and that he would attempt to get us rescheduled. REALLY?
Do not patronize this business as you will VERY LIKELY have problems!
I know that I have the right to sue but a lawyers fee for this is not worth it.
EDIT: This place has recently gone out of business since June of this year.