contracts

[kazon33]

I was wondering what people think of extending contracts to accomidate people who dont come to class. At the school that I teach at the owner allows people who go on extended vacations for a month or more to add a month to the end of the contract to make up for the time they were gone.

I can understand doing this if there is a medical issue or a work related trip but if they are just taking a very long vacation or they get involved in other activities it seems to me that they should not get an extention.

my question is in what situations would you give someone extra time on their contract? should their situations be accomidated or should they still be held accountable for payments durring the time they missed?

[Scott Bolinger]

I usually don't do that.

what i've done were if someone is on job that there on call all the time, what I do is the monthly payment pays for 8 sessions and if they don't use up at least 8 sessions in that month, then the other sessions will carry over into the next month. On paying yearly, I don't think i'd do anything special. Usually doing a yearly payment plan you usually cut a pretty good deal. But, thats up to you. It's not a bad idea to beflexable on that

[KatPark]

In general, I would advise against that. That slot is one that cannot be filled by someone else during the time that the student is away on vacation. Of course, in extenuating circumstances, I think it's acceptable. You should, however, have a solid idea of what defines "extenuating circumstances". Further, the kinds of extensions can permit some individuals with entitlement complexes to demand leniency for lousy absenteeism. "I forgot, but I can get an extension since I didn't use the time, right?" for example. As much as we care about each student/student's family on an individual basis, making small concessions can result in huge cuts in revenue.

[shaolin-warrior]

I agree....the only concessions that I make, and my students are month to month, is I will pro rate the first month. If you start 2nd week of the month, i reduce by 25%, third week,50%, and so on. I try to be fair but it's not my fault if you let life get in the way. I reqire my students to make at least 2 classes a week, I'm there 6 days a week, there is plenty of opportunity to show up and learn.

[jeffbarnes]

If you look at most gym memberships, they don't allow for anything like that. Why should you? Well...

The only reason to allow for this is that you know you have big competition with school / community sports programs where all the kids want to play soccer, flag football, or t-ball.

If you say it is me or them, they will choose them (school/community sports) simply because most of the community is involved in those programs. More importantly these kids can bounce from school sports or other community programs for nearly half the cost of your monthly tuition. If you allow for it, more than likely you will get the student to come back.

So by offering it will enable you to keep students for the long term. But don't be too easy to be flexible.

Also, expect payment for the month that they take off. Tack on the extra month to the end of their agreement. This allows you to be flexible but not hurting you financially.