Log In

Username:

Password:

   Stay logged in?

Forgot Password?

User Status

 

Attention

 

Recover Password

Username or Email:

Loading...
Change Image
Enter the code in the photo at left:

Before We Continue...

Are you absolutely sure you want
to delete this message?

Premium Membership

Upgrade to
Premium Membership!

Renew Your
Premium Membership!

$99
PER YEAR
$79
PER YEAR
$79
PER YEAR

Premium Membership includes the following benefits:

Don't let your Premium Membership expire, or you'll miss out on:

  • Exclusive access to over 1,620 video demonstrations of patterns in the full bronze, silver and gold levels.
  • Access to all previous variations of the week, including full video instruction of man's and lady's parts.
  • Over twice as many videos as basic membership.
  • A completely ad-free experience!

 

Sponsored Ad

+ View Older Messages

Re: Arthur Murray difficulties
Posted by Days&Nights
12/21/2009  7:25:00 PM
Dpalincs, there are threads and threads and hundreds of previous posts regarding chain studios, policy practice, charges and the like. I too, when i started was with AM in Southern California. It was not a problem to attend group party nights at other AM venues - however that was the call of the franchise owner(s). Some other regions, here, the owners would prefer you go outside the 25 mile boundary. The social circles that develop in the AM studio - get together and find a dance e.g., as other posters have suggested in your area - and all of you go to it. Or you and your friend go to a dance venue. It takes some research, and yes, there are policies that can leave you scratching your head, for the most part it's a matter of protecting ones business student income from going elsewhere. We left AM years ago, and while we loved our instructors - the owner/managers literally drove us nuts with the policies. We found plenty of other independent studios and teachers that had no problem with us visiting, or going to someone elses dance/show/party/open houses - etc etc. Good Luck!
Re: Arthur Murray difficulties
Posted by FNovaBklyn
12/23/2009  6:41:00 AM
This sounds more like the fault lies with either the franchisee or the manager of the studio (if they're different people).
My wife and I have gone to an AM in Morton Grove IL for a few years now, and not only have we taken lessons (and attended parties) at other AM studios (owned by other franchisees), there's even a standard AM form that the branch you're visiting sends to your regular branch.
The Chicago franchisee seems to run a very tight ship, and the instructors have never been anything other than completely professional both in their conduct in the studio and in their teaching methods.
Re: Arthur Murray difficulties
Posted by John
11/11/2010  6:51:00 AM
Big time difficulties. A cookie cutter approach, and if anything happens to you--a move, a debilitating illness--you won't get a penny back for unused lessons. You will be stonewalled. This is what happened when my wife became ill last spring. Check out "Arthur Murray Dance Studios Ann Arbor" at ComplaintsBoard.com for the story of someone who lost $800 to the studio because of a job transfer.I might note that Curves was very compassionate toward my wife when refunding the unused portion of the package deal she had with them.
Re: Arthur Murray difficulties
Posted by terence2
11/11/2010  8:50:00 AM
Again, each studio is independantly owned, and the obligation by each studio is normally up to the franchisee.

I have worked for both A/M and F/A in past yrs , and there are decent and good owners, and some that are otherwise.

One should not use a broad brush to decribe the whole organisation .
Re: Arthur Murray difficulties
Posted by anymouse
11/11/2010  9:27:00 AM
"Again, each studio is independantly owned, and the obligation by each studio is normally up to the franchisee.

I have worked for both A/M and F/A in past yrs , and there are decent and good owners, and some that are otherwise.

One should not use a broad brush to decribe the whole organisation ."

This claim always struck me as pointing out the fallacy of the whole idea.

What's the point of having a brand name - and paying a premium for it - if those in the know will then point out that each individual franchise location is different, some being good and some unfortunately not so much?

I've always felt that ballroom teachers must be evaluated as individuals. Sometimes that meant taking from people who happened to own franchise studios, but such fact was never relevant to the decision - in effect owning the franchise location was their "day job" unconnected to their real teaching role which was entirely separate from the commercialized offerings available to walk ins at the reception desk.

A natural extension of this is that one is a student of a specific teacher sought out for one purpose or another, not of the studio where they happen to be operating on any given day.
Re: Arthur Murray difficulties
Posted by terence2
11/11/2010  10:01:00 AM
Then "rail " at the people who buy the franchises.

ALL franchises, no matter the product are good, bad, and indifferent.. its a BUSINESS model that works, whether you or I agree or disagree on its merits wont change one damn thing.
Re: Arthur Murray difficulties
Posted by Timbok
11/15/2016  7:13:00 AM
Started dancing not long ago. My instructor has made dancing FUN for me. I can tell you if it was not fun I would not be doing it. I do think the prices are rather expensive. If you figure in how much I dance every week including two lessons I can't say enough about the format. This is the corporate world, which I was a part of for many years. They provide floor space, good instructors and weekly activities. You need to take it for what it is and what it provides. Now go out and have some FUN!
Re: Arthur Murray difficulties
Posted by Swing2016
1/18/2017  3:09:00 PM
To the official poster. I've been a Fred Astaire student for a couple of years now and I sometimes wonder why I'm still there. I guess I don't have the guts to move on. I totally see what you're talking about when it comes to concerns basically being ignored by management. I sometimes even wonder if they gossip about me or any other student which is something else that you brought up. For some reason, my instincts are saying that they are. I'm not going to go any further in explaining my situation since I know what I should do to make things better and I can't find the nerve to do it so I only have myself to blame.
Re: Arthur Murray difficulties
Posted by Dot
1/19/2017  11:59:00 AM
A fiend and AM student told me she had been really looking forward to a comp that was coming up in January. She paid for it long in advance. She worked hard with her instructor. She was told 3 weeks before the event her instructor was NOT going to be allowed to attend. She would just have to dance with someone else. Had she have known she would NOT have gone to this event.

If people get out of franchise studios they will find they pay way less for what they get. You will NOT get the rug pulled out from under you and told to suck it up either.
Re: Arthur Murray difficulties
Posted by Dr. F.Knox
2/6/2017  6:42:00 PM
If people are to take the trouble to learn to dance, why not do it properly and get lessons in International Ballroom Dance.
I have yet to see anyone from these studios able to dance.
Slow motion box steps etc., are not dancing.
Spend your money wisely. Don't waste it. Also avoid the politics of these "studios", which can be nasty.

+ View More Messages

Copyright  ©  1997-2024 BallroomDancers.com