I couldnt agree with all of you more! I am so glad someone come out and exposed that company for what it really is! I left because I had so many problems with the studio I just got tired of it. I still had four lessons but they refused to give me my money back. They said I had to take them. I started taking lessons at a locally owned studio as well and by the time I left Arthur Murray I was a more experienced better dancer than my instructor! What a joke! Its not fair how they play with your emotions even go as far as flirting with you to make you come back for more lessons using people vulnerability. And as much as I understand that this is a business franchise, there are many many big studios that make a lot of money that are bigger and better than their studios that dont use those tactics or at least dont use them to that extreme. I am very disappointed in the company. And than you so much for posting this up!

I would like to remind everyone that Dance Studios are a Dance BUSINESS. That means it makes money for services provided. Learning is not free or cheap no matter which institution you choose.

Many people do not realize that most dance instructors are FULL TIME dance instructors and live off of the money made from teaching and comps. We must live to the same cost of living standards as all you lawyers an doctors complaining about the cost of dance lessons which are a luxury in life. Dance lessons are a service-there is nothing material to take home but knowlege. Once learned it is possible for the students to steal material and teach it to their friends. There is no way to control that. Do the studios not deserve top dollar for their knowlege and expertise because of this? Ask yourselves why other professionals such as lawyers, therapists or other medical fields charge what they do-their quality varying the gamet.
If you did not make sure you ask for the kind of instruction you are looking for, then it is your fault the studio did not work for you.

All Arthur Murray instructors MUST be ceritified by the NDCA in order to teach and continue to be certified their entire career.

Please get all the facts before you go out bashing a business and taking money away from some great instructors.

"Many people do not realize that most dance instructors are FULL TIME dance instructors and live off of the money made from teaching and comps. We must live to the same cost of living standards as all you lawyers an doctors complaining about the cost of dance lessons which are a luxury in life. Dance lessons are a service-there is nothing material to take home but knowlege."

Quite fair, provided that you, the teacher both know what you are doing and can communicate it. If not, then it's a ripoff.

"Once learned it is possible for the students to steal material and teach it to their friends."

Hahahah... very funny. Any teacher with something real to offer would know that there is no way their students can trivially repeate it in a way that substitutes for the original. Their better students may be able to pass on some sense of it, but that's encouraged, because it causes the recipient friends to want to get lessons from the source of the knowledge.

But "teachers" whose total knowledge is a bunch of silly step patterns, they are running scared. If you can be that easily replaced, then your business is founded on the ignorance or laziness of your customers. There are succesfull businesses like that, mostly catering to the rich.

"Do the studios not deserve top dollar for their knowlege and expertise because of this? Ask yourselves why other professionals such as lawyers, therapists or other medical fields charge what they do-their quality varying the gamet."

They are selling the service of their exerptise interpreting a collective body of knowledge for you. It's not like you need authorization to buy a medical or law textbook, you just won't do to well without the context of experience to guide your attempts to interpret it. Likewise the real dance manuals that cover the important things - anyone can buy them, but only some can understand them. So sure, keep your silly step lists a big TRADE SECRET. Real dancers will just laugh - your secrets aren't worth waisting time on.

"All Arthur Murray instructors MUST be ceritified by the NDCA in order to teach and continue to be certified their entire career."

Not only false, but impossible. You've just proved your total ignorance of the subject. THE NDCA DOES NOT CERTIFY ANY TEACHERS, PERIOD. Dancers registered with the NDCA may list credentials they have from NDCA member organziations, but the credentials are from those other organizations, NOT FROM NDCA.

"Please get all the facts before you go out bashing a business and taking money away from some great instructors."

You've shown a poor grasp of the facts, and an even poorer grasp of the fundamental realities of dancing.

That's not to say that there aren't some good teachers working in chain studios, and in a number of cases owning them. But they are good because they personally are knowledgeable people, they'd be good on their own too. And unfortunately, having a good teacher as a studio owner does not mean that their employed teachers are worth a dime.

WOW, This is the most popular forum?
Thanks for all your stories. I will never take a lesson from Arthur Murray Stinks Studio.

I can't find Arthur Murray Stinks Studio around here anyways.

WOW

Ha Ha,

Very funny indeed if it wasn't for all the sad stories.

Hilary

Very funny?

I find it interesting what these posts are saying...I am also from NY and have found the same thing about being the 'favorite'. The minute I decided to cut back...and eventually leave the studio...I was given the cold shoulder and the rumors started to fly. I even had a friend tell me that the staff was bad-mouthing me to her after I left. I was crushed! I will NEVER set foot in another Arthur Murray studio...especially my local one, and have GREAT reserve of taking any lessons at any franchised studio. I have found a refreshing locally owned studio here and I love it! No sales pitch...no strings...or headaches...It's great!

I soo agree with the message alot of you are portraying about AM. I have been taking lessons there since the end of 2008, and am only a Bronze II student. I am no Kym Johnson, but I'm not Kate Gosselin either. I have taken many other styles of dancing my entire life, and have danced fairly well. This is why it SURPRISES me it's taking me that long to move on @ AM. Everytime I try to ask my instructor or one of the other instructors why I feel like a special education ballroom student, they really don't have an answer. They keep on "praising," me how good I am doing at my dancing yet don't move me foward. My instructor a couple of times has told me it's about "technique," and since I plan on one day being competitive its in my best interest to learn everything properly (obviously, at the speed of a snail). I am a single woman, and I am not starving, but at the same time I'm not one of those high end accountants that could afford the astronomical prices either. They believe at AM that your talent is based upon the amount of money that you shell out a month. If you shell out more money to them, they will kiss your *** and dance with you during every single social dance on Friday night. However, the less you spend the less compliments you start receiving, and the less they start to care about you. I understand that it's a business and nobody is going to dance for free; however, in order for them to stay successful they must start to have more competitive pricing with other local companies. Also, they must teach their students what they want and are paying BIG money to learn. If I want to walk in off of the street, I'm a beginner, and want to learn a Bolero, then damnit I should be entitled to learn that! I shouldn't have to be a "Bronze III," student in order to learn this. Their little hierarchy of dance levels, is a hierarchy of how much money that student puts into the studio. It truly disguists me how they operate, and can't believe it almost took me two years to figure this out. One lady from our studio doesn't dance, she truly is a Kate Gosselin wannabe, and yet she went to competition in Vegas last year! The studio should've been ashamed to let her perform! I am just hoping I find something locally thats reasonable, will teach me what I want to learn, and appreciate my talent and dedication to dancing.

Dear sexysamba82: really? It took you almost 2 years to figure it out?
It took me 10 minutes to start to smell it and 2 weeks to positively figure
it out. The facts and proofs are too numerous to list them all.
here are a few. I asked for group lessons; they convinced me (under pressure
mixed with smart talking)to try introductory private lessons at a discount. They acted like they didn't hear me ask for group lessons. My first instructor was overweight and quit, complaining of pain due to a car accident. A substitute
for one sance, instead of teaching, kept bragging that he was a top level
instructor which doesn't teach beginners. The next instructor was all the time
confused and had to figure out the steps right on the dance floor
before showing them to me and my wife. as I said, the list goes on.
The problem is not only with the instructors but with the company since
the dealing and contract signing was with the manager who made me feel uneasy
with his sweet talks, pressures, insistences and finally rudeness when I
told him I cannot sign a new contract for a full year (at exorbitant fee)
until I came back from a cruise vacation I had already planned.
Any business has its few bad apples but the problem is that, in this case, the bad apples are not the exception. They are the majority, the norm.

This form of dancesport club is the most common for local sports clubs in Germany where I live. The biggest advantage is that you can decide what kind of instruction you require and hire the best professionals that meet your requirements.

The professionals like this form too, since they increase their customer base for private lessons with each club they train.