Pacific Arts Center & Dance Studios

We had a shockingly bad experience at this place's summer camp this week. On Monday morning, the first day of camp, my child and the child of a friend were greeted by an employee who looked not just disinterested, but nearly asleep. There was no active supervision and the children were left on their own. When asked what art activity the children would be participating in that day she responded "coloring Dora coloring books" -- not at all the way they describe it on the studio's website. The friend was concerned enough by what she saw that morning that she asked her husband to visit the camp and check on our children.



Taking time from his schedule to confirm their welfare, when he got there he found our girls sitting alone, unsupervised, in a hot corner of a fenced-in outdoor area. While it appeared as though some of the children knew each other, our girls were treated as outcasts. He found the studios hot and uninviting and the staff disengaged. He immediately called me and explained that based on what he had witnessed, he was going to pull his daughter out of camp and highly recommended that we do the same. "We would be doing our daughters a disservice by keeping them in that camp another day," he told me.



When I called the camp director, Shida Pegahi, and explained the situation, she was argumentative and unapologetic. She suggested that my friend didn't know what he was talking about. After a lengthy discussion, she finally admitted that things should have been better and offered to issue a refund for half of the week's tuition to both of us. Given what had happened, I felt more than justified in asking for a full refund. But in an attempt to put the issue to bed, I agreed to her proposal. That proposal had a caveat however -- that I come to the camp in person to collect the refunds.



Today, three days after my daughter's terrible experience and two days after Ms. Peghai agreed to refund half of the tuition, I drove the almost-thirty miles from my office to the Pacific Arts Center to pick-up what we were owed. Upon introducing myself I was almost immediately confronted with a belligerent "office manager" named Victoria McQuaid (spelling is uncertain as she refused to provide it to me). In front of young campers, Ms. McQuaid and Ms. Pegahi loudly argued their case, saying that although they previously agreed to refund the tuition, they had since decided not to refund any money because they "are artists," "it's a small camp" and my friend "should have asked more questions before deciding to remove his daughter" from what he perceived to be an unacceptable situation. Is being an "artist" an appropriate excuse for poor business practices, operating a shoddy summer camp, and treating customers with disdain and even anger? Is it a customer's fault that a camp is "small," under financial pressure and apparently desperate for tuition funds? When a parent sees their child in an bad environment, should they have to ask why the environment is unacceptable before removing the child from the situation?



Today's experience with Pacific Arts Center was the worst customer service experience I can remember. But lack of customer service and breaking their agreement to refund tuition are the least of this place's problems. It is Pacific Arts Center's failure to provide an environment that inspires parental confidence that is the reason not to send your child to Pacific Arts Center.