Karate America

I would love to speak with you about it as well. My daughter has zero intereate because she was playing babysitter to the younger kids and the place is chaos. It was once a wonderful, cool place. Not it's just making money, even if the kids have become disengaged due to their lack of actual discipline

As I read most of these complaints, it is almost comical to see the Karate America reps reply. It makes me wonder if they all have black belts in dishonesty. I have been going to the Krav Maga school, and paying good money to do so. I have not seen my instructor in over a month. He has "Instructors in Training" who have been doing Krav slightly longer than I have. I hardly think being instructed by students is worth what I am paying. I tried calling to see if we were going to a certified instructor and was told that our instructor would be back in May... well, it's may... he is not coming back. Karate America is a scam, all they want is your money, they do not care about you, they do not care about your kids, they just care about money. They make you buy all their equipment saying it is for insurance purposes, but really, they just buy it from Revgear and mark it up. Rumor has it Karate America is so far in the hole that this is the only way they are going to stay in business, but who knows if it is really true. All I know is that if I have to base my opinion on their product I would believe the rumors to be true.

Dear Broke Parent: my recommendation, if your child still wants to learn martial arts, is to look for an instructor who does NOT teach Karate full-time - that's the teacher who does it because s/he loves it. The fees will be so much more reasonable. I LOVED Karate, and was blessed to have 2 amazing instructors. I blew out my knee, and have not been able to go back...

In Response to KravMaster

First, we apologize. We have been having scheduling problems with the chief instructor. He is finishing his semester in school (which ends May 20th), and his assistants have been running classes when he is not able to be there. The chief instructor has assured us he will be running all classes starting Monday, May 23rd.

If you would please contact our office, we can give you options—either putting your membership on hold or cancelling (with no cancellation fee). We sincerely thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,
Karate America Employee

My kids were taking classes for 1 year and when 2 of them were getting close to earning there black belt the instructors became real mean.. Ever class one instructor mad my son cry. They became so hard on them that no one wanted to go to classes. I put all this money and time into KA and for nothing. My kids hate going and I will not make them. My kids are little too and to be that hard to make them cry is not right. What a waste of time and money.

I have never seen a more fraudulent contract process than that with Karate America. I signed up my two sons in hopes we could make this work as a long term activity for them. I was told by local owner that if it didn't work out, we could pay a cancellation fee and get out of contract as I was very nervous that my youngest son would be able to participate. This happened in 2014. I paid the cancellation fee with total hardship to our family as my husband had lost his job but I have never not paid a bill in my life. They harassed me and said I had to pay the entire contract for 12 months. I sent letters with proof of payment and made multiple phone calls to Karate America and the credit agency they turned us into. I heard nothing for 18 months after sending proof of payment etc. I assumed it had been taken are of as I wasn't getting harassing phone calls from collection agency. 18 months later at end of 2016, I got a collection letter demanding $3, 000 (my sons participated for 60 days in this program of which I paid for as well as a $300 cancellation fee). Again, I responded to that letter with proof within 30 days. I never heard back from anyone and in March of 2017, a $3000 credit issue was reported on my credit report. I am appalled these people can stay in business as reports of this are all over the internet. I am sure the program is a good program, but they are taking advantage of trusting consumers.

Karate America empathizes with families having financial hardship. We understand it is a difficult economy right now, as it is for businesses as well. We are willing to offer several methods to assist our students. We offer to freeze a payment to allow the student to catch up on bills, the possibility of lowering the program and therefore the monthly payment, or transferring the membership to another family member. It is unfortunate that none of these options will work for this student.

As far as the membership is concerned, our memberships clearly state the time commitment. Both the expiration date and number of months of commitment are written in two different places. This is to ensure that everyone is clear as to what the agreement is.

Within the membership, written in plain English, not legal jargon, it states the purchase of safety equipment will be necessary for certain activities in the classes. This is for safety, and also required by our insurance company. Also, it is written in the membership that promotional rank examination fees are not included in the membership fees. This information is clearly written in order to ensure the student knows the terms and conditions up front. We do not wish to trick anyone, but we also cannot force people to read that which they are signing.

We are not in this business just for the money. There are many much less strenuous jobs that could earn our instructors a living, but they have chosen to dedicate their lives to the study of martial arts and to passing on that information to students—in order to better those students’ lives. We disagree that young children cannot make a commitment for achieving their black belts. They may, however, need the help of their families to reach that goal. This is why the membership is signed by the parent, not the child. Children learn commitment and follow through at a young age. I would encourage anyone who reads this to attend one of our Black Belt testings in June or December, and watch the ring with the youngest students, as young as 6. These children have been training since 3 years old and now understand the concepts of commitment, goal setting, and perseverance. If they learn to be successful at a young age, they will be successful their entire lives.

We are still willing to offer our assistance as noted above. Please call, and we will do all that we can to help.

Sincerely,
Karate America Employee

I do believe that children are at the most important learning stages of their lives between the ages of 1 and 6. So if you don't beleive that children as young as three can learn how to listen, pay attention, and follow directions, you are wrong. There are many parents that have to find a good learning centers for their children. Karate America core foundation is to teach COURTESY & RESPECT. There are seminar all over the country that charge a lot more than 150 per month, to teach your child CONFIDENCE. And they are just a weekend seminar and about three times the amount you are being charged for one month. And to have unlimited training for your child for a month at 150 is not expensive at all. Do the math: the average child does 3 to 4 classes per week, that is about 8 dollars per class. That is about minimum wage, for something that is much more value than minimum wage. And I know you and your child and your child didn't loose interest HE LOVED THE CLASSES!

Yes a complete scam of handing you a contract on a piece of paper, you signing it, then claiming they defrauded you. Apparently you can write so I will assume you can read too what is your excuse for not reading it, it took to long, the lettering was small, the words to big? You’re the type of person who will next demand a bank modify your mortgage because you again cannot live up to your responsibilities. I feel sorry for your kids, hopefully they see you for the [censored] you are and decide they want to be productive members of society instead of a drain like their mother.

I can tell you, from this story alone I would never join Karate America. It is hard to imagine the hassle they put this man and his wife through. Transfer orders should be enough to document that a member is leaving. Soldiers are generally not transferred within the same city, so it should not matter where they are going, just that they are. Quite frankly, it is not their business where they are going. That is probably why they were let out of their lease with no problem, regardless of who was on the lease.

Following policy and doing the right thing might not be the same. This man had a document that showed the woman named was transferring. The fact that he had the document is near solid proof of his claim, why else would he have it in his possession? The fact that their last names were not the same is irrelevant. I was married also and we did not change our names either. In the military, it is a pain to go through all that and retain your identity and familiarity. Many people wait till they get out to change their names and some never do. He said it was his wife, end of story. There should be no questioning, interrogation or proof necessary.

I can only speculate that had this been an unmarried partnership or same sex couple, KA might have held the member hostage indefinitely. Marriage is only a piece of paper and people do have long lasting and permanent relationships that are equally important. They should not have to be married to move together. If the contract protects only married couples, then they need to get with the times and change that language. Even though this member was married, if the contract was more comprehensive, then he would not have had to prove that he was.

If I had been this member, I would have canceled my method of payment. If KA wanted to sue for the remainder, then they would have to get extradition from Italy. I doubt any judge would rule in favor of a company that was so unpatriotic and one to take money from people who were unable to take advantage of the company services. This is just an example of why not to sign up for any service that has a cancellation fee. They make plenty on your membership while you are using their service. There is no logical reason to pay them for nothing. I left a gym that had one after my year was up and moved to one that doesn’t hold their members hostage with a contract. I can leave anytime and go back anytime. That is the way to keep your members happy, not by arguing with them.

I would again like to clarify that Karate America did not benefit monetarily from the circumstance previously discussed. We froze the student’s payments in order to give him time to obtain proof of move, as he agreed to provide when he signed his membership. We were not required to freeze payments. We did it solely to assist the student.

The orders did not specify accompaniment. I personally read the orders in their entirety. I also had several of my coworkers review them to be sure I had not missed something. None of us found anything remotely connected to the membership signer. As I had mentioned, the military personnel and the membership signer did not even have the same last name. We had no evidence that they were connected in any way, let alone that the signer was accompanying the military personnel to Italy.

As for the apartment complex breaking the lease, again, the military personnel was, surely, listed on the lease, if not as the primary signer, then certainly as an occupant. The orders would likely be enough to break the lease in that circumstance. Unfortunately, we did not have the same circumstance. I wish we had. It would have been a much easier situation.

I hope this helps clear up any confusion.

Sincerely,
Karate America Employee

Karate America knows it's customer service policies suck which is why the try so hard on these comments to try and "prove the customer wrong." What branch of the military was this "karate america employee" in? None I bet. Just another civilian with a "support our troops" bumper sticker doing everything he or she can to screw the military out of their money. If the orders are "accompanied" orders then YES MILITARY ORDERS DO MEAN THE SPOUSE IS MOVING TOO. I find it strange an apartment complex would break it's lease without hesitation but you idiots at KA wouldn't.

-Navy Veteran

We have already addressed your concerns. Please give me a call to finalize the cancellation and to discuss any further questions you may have.

Sincerely,
Karate America Employee

I did ask the student to send a copy of his orders, initially thinking the orders were for himself, and when I realized they were for his wife, I assumed they would contain something within that would specify her husband was travelling with her. I apologize for having made that assumption.

When the student first made the offer of sending a letter from his lawyer, I did not know the lawyer was with the navy. If the student can offer official documentation from the Navy showing that he is moving with his wife, we would accept it as proof of move. I am not in the Navy and, therefore, do not know exactly what kind of documentation could be acquired. As long as it is official Navy paperwork and specifies that the student is moving to Italy, we would accept it.

Having said that (making sure our policy on military moves is clear), I am happy to report that I have talked to the membership board, and having spoken with the instructor, they have decided to cancel the membership. The instructor verified that, to the best of his knowledge, the student is married to the person named on the orders, that the student had told him about the move previously, and that he trusts the student is being truthful. This is not something Karate America usually does, but the membership board has decided the military orders will suffice, given that we have the instructor’s word. The cancellation paperwork will be sent to the student’s home today, 2/16/11.

We want to thank the student for being a member of the Karate America family and wish him and his family luck in Italy. Also, we thank the family for their service to our country.

Sincerely,
Karate America Employee

I am the employee who wrote the response. I am extremely upset that the response has offended anyone, especially a former member of our military. That was, absolutely, not my intent.

Unfortunately, being a business, we must follow protocol, just like the military. We want to help the student with his transition as much as possible—which is why we are willing to offer the freeze of payment in order to give him time to acquire the necessary documentation.

Normally, we do accept military orders as proof of move. We cancel memberships for military personnel who are moving on almost a daily basis. This circumstance just happens to be peculiar. I have had several other people read through the orders, and none of us has found anything that specifies that the transferring member of the military is bringing anyone, let alone the membership signer. If it is possible for something from the military to be provided to us that would show that the signer of the membership was being moved with her, we would be happy to cancel the membership immediately. Unfortunately, what has been provided offers no link what so ever between the person on the orders and the membership signer. The last names are even different. (We received only orders, no marriage license.) We are only asking for what is specified in the membership—which was agreed upon by the student: “legitimate verification of the move.”
Having talked to the instructor who has taught the student and being told that he is a nice man, I personally believe everything the student has told me, but unfortunately, that does not give me the ability to brush aside standard procedure. I am hoping whoever reads this will understand the predicament we are in with this particular circumstance. We very much want to help the student and be able to put this behind us, but we have to follow the same rules that we do for everyone.

Also, please remember we have no motivation to give the student a hard time. As I have already mentioned, we are willing to freeze the March payment in order to give the student plenty of time (two months) to acquire proof of move. If we are not making money off this, we have no reason to purposefully be difficult. Personally, I would prefer to be able to put this behind me.

I hope to be able to resolve this quickly, for both the student’s benefit and my own.

Sincerely,
Karate America Employee

We understand the student’s frustration, and we feel for his stress at moving to another country. Much work must be involved in that large a transition.

We did receive the referenced orders and have reviewed them to find the signer’s name does not appear on them and that there is no specific reference to a family moving with the military personnel. Unfortunately, military orders for someone else do not serve to prove move. It is policy that the move of the signer and/or student must be proven. The name on the orders does not appear on the membership, neither as student nor as signer, and there is no mention in the orders of the name of the person on the membership.

In order to assist the student, we have offered to place a hold on the March payment to give him plenty of time to acquire proof of move for himself. This will allot him two months—from February 15th to April 15th—not two weeks as stated in the complaint. We understand the pressure he must be feeling with moving out of the country, and we are willing to work with him to make it as fair a process as possible. The membership does not require us to offer this freeze of payment.

The student did offer other documentation to prove his move. Unfortunately, anything he offered was not going to show to where he was moving. A cancelled lease could simply mean he was moving his apartment within Jacksonville. His apartment management was probably able to cancel his lease because his wife was surely listed on the lease as a tenant. (If her name appeared on his membership with us as the student, we would be able to accept the orders as proof.)

We hope we can come to an amicable understanding, and we wish the student luck in Italy.

Sincerely,
Karate America

Thank you customer 31579 for your kind words and praise. This is of course the experience we want all of our students to have.

Just wait. You will find the JaxHomeSchoolMom knows exactly what she is talking about, lol.

They are a MCDojo that cares more about the all mighty dollar than actually teaching kids...They shame the art and I am glad we went with a non-corporate dojo like Kenjin Ryu Martial Arts Center. They actually care about the kids and you will always find instructors teaching the class, instead of paying students teaching as Karate America does, Talk about making the buck off of free teaching for them, while making a profit off of the person teaching!