Birmingham School Of Music

First of all, I would highly recommend Fred Song, he is an amazing piano instructor at Birmingham School of Music. We loved the instruction he gave my son and the growth my son displayed over the past year on piano with the school. Thank you, Fred. However, I was shocked at Russ Maddox, the owner of the Birmingham School of Music's response to my statement of cancellation. We had previously had a very positive relationship when he supported a sound project my son was involved in and I even wrote him a great recommendation for his website and gave him a gift for the time he spent helping us. However, I was totally taken aback by Russ' unprofessionalism and threatenting remarks that were made to me when I told him I was terminating our contract with the school. I gave him a 30 day cancellation notice to immediately terminate my son's existing contract (which I was told we could cancel anytime). This decision was based on multiple factors. The BSOM's business model requires you to be a part of the performer program that charges more each month and also charges parents and family members to attend the performances each month that they perform. They also elect who performs and how often they perform. It really wasn't working out for us and I wanted to return to regular lessons as a result and not incur the additional charges since the benefit didn't outweigh the cost for me. Over the year and quarter we were there, and a part of the program, my son only performed 4 times. I told Russ we were willing to go back to regular lessons without the performer status at the original price and he said they don't offer that option. There was no flexibility in his business model, so I told him that we will need to cancel immediately, since he was unwilling to compromise and I was never told we couldn't go back to the original rate. I had already paid for the month of November (since the notification was on Nov 3) and we would end it after that. He then told me I had would have to pay for the month of December too after giving them a 30 day notice at the top of November. Really! I responded by saying: "When does anyone have to give a 2 month cancellation notice for any service when I was clearly told at registration it was 30 days?" As a result, I told him we would not be taking lessons through to the end of December and to cancel the subscription immediately and only pay for the month of November, as I had given him a 30 day notice. Russ responded by saying:" You don't have the money, it's a Money thing." And then he threatened to report me to the Credit agency for not paying. . . like, WHAT? What business professional would tell someone they don't have any money and threaten to report a client who has been in great standing for over a year and never missed a payment. AND BTW, it's not a money thing, Russ! It's YOU, and the business processes you put in place. You are working on getting the most you can out of your exisiting client base instead of being flexible with your business model to accomodate your clients needs. We were being overcharged for a service that wasn't what we wanted to continue as the value was NOT outweighing the cost. Instead of increasing charges on existing customers you might benefit by focusing on customer retention and drumming up new business. This mother knows you catch way more bees with honey vs. vinegar. No where on earth do you HAVE to give a music school 60 day cancelation notice, we've been to a few. You may also benefit by actually sitting in on the sessions of your students to understand the caliber of talent you have in your school instead of just announcing them on performance day. Note, threats directed at me or any of your clientel will not and should not be tolerated - it's offensive at best.