Offer chops martial-arts bill in half
Greg Dawson | The Last Resort
October 26, 2008
Dear Greg: I took our 5-year-old daughter to Orlando Martial Arts to learn self-defense because she had been victimized by an older person and we were worried about her safety. The owner, Gary Richards, was very enthusiastic, acting like he was the answer to our anxiety. But two weeks later, I could see she was not learning self-defense, so Mr. Richards moved her from a basic $125-a-month program to a master program for $225 a month. Still my child could not defend herself, and the program was hurting her. The exercises Mr. Richards gave her, including push-ups, jumping jacks, and running, triggered her asthma and meant more medication, trips to the pediatrician and anxious nights to make sure she was breathing. She had to stop going to the class, but Mr. Richards kept sending threatening letters demanding payment. When I signed the contract, he put his finger on the monthly payment and never mentioned I am under a three-year contract. The letters from his attorney are demanding full payment of $8,967 (including lawyer fees). I feel trapped and stuck.
BADIA SAJID
ORLANDO
Dear Sajid: If P.T. Barnum were alive today he would be selling three-year contracts for cell-phone service and gyms. Somewhere, Barnum must be smiling. My conversation with Gary Richards was, like the life of insects, brutish and short. He rejected your plea for a refund, claiming that signing a contract for martial-arts lessons is like buying a car, and he's not taking it back. I had better luck with his attorney, Roger Kelly, who listened patiently and asked to see your daughter's medical records. "My client still has doubts that this is her real reason for wanting out of the contract, but he has told me to relay an offer that he will reduce the balance by 50 percent," Kelley said. Well, it's better than nothing -- and should wipe the smile off Barnum's face.