Hi flist, I need you to tell you about a problem I'm having with D's dance school. I'm angry with them and I don't know any more if I'm thinking straight because I'm so mad
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*puts annoying consultant hat on* Firstly, what is your intended outcome here? Take a look at the big picture. Totally understand if the wasted $45 is something you can't afford and need to recoup the cost. However, I suspect that $45 isn't going to make the different to being able to put petrol in the car or buying milk this week for you. Can I make the following assumptions about which are the most important outcomes for you (in descending order): (1) that D participates in dance classes which she enjoys and participates in the concert which she's looking forward to (2) that D is able to progress with the rest of her class to the next exam level (3) that repeats of the late notice and inconsistent behaviour from the dance school are not repeated.
The response you given above runs the risk of being dismissed as being too emotional (sorry, just calling it as I see it). I'd suggest a face to face meeting followed by an email confirming the outcomes. Before you talk to them, have written down in dot points the concise issues that you've had with their communications and the effect that each late or incomplete communication has had on you. (Including the narky email you've just received.) When you talk to them, start by asking them to hear you out on your list before beginning any negotiation. The more clam and restrained you are while going through the list, the better the effect will be. Then ask them what they intend to do going forward to make sure that you and D are not adversely impacted by late and incomplete communications on their part. Sit back and watch them burble for a bit. Then politely suggest that even though D will not be enrolling next year you would like to enrol her again when you return from Norway, but just don't see how that would be possible when they create such chaos for your family by not adequately communicating. Watch them burble a bit more. Finally, confirm that them paying half of the exam fee is more than reasonable considering what you've just outlined, that D will participate in the concert and that they will clearly communicate at the beginning of each term key dates and considerations that parents will need to know so they can plan. *annoying consultant hat put down* Good luck!
That's where my position comes from - that the outcome number (1) is the important one. That the aggravation this has caused all of us has cost us well over $45 in value already, and that outcome #3 isn't being helped either.
That and that I had a strong suspicion from stuff I'd heard that the exam was going to be at a different time, and had communicated my suspicion to Kate and been rebuffed with "they'd tell us if it was different". The dance school are crap communicators - which we kind of already knew. It's not the first time we'd got incomplete and late information from them.
But risking Della's enjoyment to "punish" the teachers and force them to see the error of their ways doesn't look like a good outcome to me.
Firstly, what is your intended outcome here? Take a look at the big picture. Totally understand if the wasted $45 is something you can't afford and need to recoup the cost.
However, I suspect that $45 isn't going to make the different to being able to put petrol in the car or buying milk this week for you.
Can I make the following assumptions about which are the most important outcomes for you (in descending order):
(1) that D participates in dance classes which she enjoys and participates in the concert which she's looking forward to
(2) that D is able to progress with the rest of her class to the next exam level
(3) that repeats of the late notice and inconsistent behaviour from the dance school are not repeated.
The response you given above runs the risk of being dismissed as being too emotional (sorry, just calling it as I see it). I'd suggest a face to face meeting followed by an email confirming the outcomes.
Before you talk to them, have written down in dot points the concise issues that you've had with their communications and the effect that each late or incomplete communication has had on you. (Including the narky email you've just received.) When you talk to them, start by asking them to hear you out on your list before beginning any negotiation. The more clam and restrained you are while going through the list, the better the effect will be.
Then ask them what they intend to do going forward to make sure that you and D are not adversely impacted by late and incomplete communications on their part.
Sit back and watch them burble for a bit.
Then politely suggest that even though D will not be enrolling next year you would like to enrol her again when you return from Norway, but just don't see how that would be possible when they create such chaos for your family by not adequately communicating.
Watch them burble a bit more.
Finally, confirm that them paying half of the exam fee is more than reasonable considering what you've just outlined, that D will participate in the concert and that they will clearly communicate at the beginning of each term key dates and considerations that parents will need to know so they can plan.
*annoying consultant hat put down*
Good luck!
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That and that I had a strong suspicion from stuff I'd heard that the exam was going to be at a different time, and had communicated my suspicion to Kate and been rebuffed with "they'd tell us if it was different". The dance school are crap communicators - which we kind of already knew. It's not the first time we'd got incomplete and late information from them.
But risking Della's enjoyment to "punish" the teachers and force them to see the error of their ways doesn't look like a good outcome to me.
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