Anonymous777
New Member
We signed a 1 year contract for our 2 children with our local ATA Black Belt Academy. I love the teachers, 1 child loves the classes, the other child did not. We discussed it with the instructors and were told that we could just extend our current contract to 2 years to make up the difference. We were all satisfied with the arrangement.
Then we were told that we needed to purchase over $300 worth of sparring equipment and gear before our child could graduate to the next belt (currently a camo belt). We told them that we were not ready to spend that amount of money, and were told we would need to purchase official ATA gear soon. I began a search online for coupons/discounts/anything, and found a local listing from a parent whose child had outgrown their ATA gear/equipment. We bought it for a fraction of the price and rejoiced. We took it home and cleaned everything vigorously with soap/water and rubbing alcohol.
The next class, my child took the bag and equipment in to the building, and was very happy. The second class, the director asked me to come into her office. She asked me where I purchased the equipment, and I told her online. She then said that we were not allowed to use pre-owned gear for safety reasons, and I needed to pay the $300 for new gear. I told her the equipment is safe, and cleaned well, and there was nothing in the contract that prevents my child from using that gear to graduate. I was then told that they have different rules because they're privately owned, and they require only equipment bought through them. They would allow my child to attend class, but wouldn't allow my child to graduate to the next belt until I payed them the $300 for THEIR equipment. I was almost in tears at this point, I told her I could not pay them any more money, what my child has will have to do. I then went out to the parent/waiting area to watch my child participate in class and texted my husband about what had just happened. A few minutes later, the director came up to me again and asked to speak with me in her office. Once in her office, she said she would need to remove my child's bag from the room for safety reasons, but could not tell which bag was hers. I pointed it out to her, she smiled and said thank you for cooperating.
My husband arrived and asked to speak with the director when she had time. Once she did, he pointed out that they had no right to refuse to allow us to use the gear we had bought, it's not listed in the contract, nor is it anything that we were informed of. She told him that because we didn't buy the items from them, they couldn't guarantee it's authenticity (even though she couldn't tell which gear was my child's), and she couldn't guarantee that it was safe. When asked to elaborate on safety, she said that it could have MRSA on it. My husband pointed out that MRSA has nothing to do with buying something used or having it shipped over from China, and that if she was going to use that excuse, she should include every child's bag in that room because germs exist everywhere, it's not limited to used equipment. Needless to say, she never backed down, and neither did my husband. We aren't trying to back out of the contract, we just want to be treated fairly. My question is, can they enforce and require you to only purchase brand new ATA gear/equipment and prevent your child from graduating when it isn't stated in the contract that we signed?
The contract wording is this;
"The undersigned agrees that there is a required belt promotion fee for each level and that official ATA safety equipment is required at the rank of camouflage belt; and official ATA Black safety equipment is required at the rank of 1st degree black belt. Official Protech training tools (weapons) are required for members in any program. Members at the rank of brown belt and higher must have official ATA lettering on their uniform."
Then we were told that we needed to purchase over $300 worth of sparring equipment and gear before our child could graduate to the next belt (currently a camo belt). We told them that we were not ready to spend that amount of money, and were told we would need to purchase official ATA gear soon. I began a search online for coupons/discounts/anything, and found a local listing from a parent whose child had outgrown their ATA gear/equipment. We bought it for a fraction of the price and rejoiced. We took it home and cleaned everything vigorously with soap/water and rubbing alcohol.
The next class, my child took the bag and equipment in to the building, and was very happy. The second class, the director asked me to come into her office. She asked me where I purchased the equipment, and I told her online. She then said that we were not allowed to use pre-owned gear for safety reasons, and I needed to pay the $300 for new gear. I told her the equipment is safe, and cleaned well, and there was nothing in the contract that prevents my child from using that gear to graduate. I was then told that they have different rules because they're privately owned, and they require only equipment bought through them. They would allow my child to attend class, but wouldn't allow my child to graduate to the next belt until I payed them the $300 for THEIR equipment. I was almost in tears at this point, I told her I could not pay them any more money, what my child has will have to do. I then went out to the parent/waiting area to watch my child participate in class and texted my husband about what had just happened. A few minutes later, the director came up to me again and asked to speak with me in her office. Once in her office, she said she would need to remove my child's bag from the room for safety reasons, but could not tell which bag was hers. I pointed it out to her, she smiled and said thank you for cooperating.
My husband arrived and asked to speak with the director when she had time. Once she did, he pointed out that they had no right to refuse to allow us to use the gear we had bought, it's not listed in the contract, nor is it anything that we were informed of. She told him that because we didn't buy the items from them, they couldn't guarantee it's authenticity (even though she couldn't tell which gear was my child's), and she couldn't guarantee that it was safe. When asked to elaborate on safety, she said that it could have MRSA on it. My husband pointed out that MRSA has nothing to do with buying something used or having it shipped over from China, and that if she was going to use that excuse, she should include every child's bag in that room because germs exist everywhere, it's not limited to used equipment. Needless to say, she never backed down, and neither did my husband. We aren't trying to back out of the contract, we just want to be treated fairly. My question is, can they enforce and require you to only purchase brand new ATA gear/equipment and prevent your child from graduating when it isn't stated in the contract that we signed?
The contract wording is this;
"The undersigned agrees that there is a required belt promotion fee for each level and that official ATA safety equipment is required at the rank of camouflage belt; and official ATA Black safety equipment is required at the rank of 1st degree black belt. Official Protech training tools (weapons) are required for members in any program. Members at the rank of brown belt and higher must have official ATA lettering on their uniform."
The director at our ATA knows that I'm a nurse, as I have frequently chatted with her while my child was in class. The director also was told that I personally scrubbed every piece of equipment and the bag before allowing it in the building. 