Has anyone heard anything about refunds from Calleva?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you upset? They said they will refund everything except $150, which applies as a credit to next summer. This is wayyy better than what Valley Mill Camp is doings which is keeping ALL the payments and applying as a credit to next summer.

well its $150 per kid per wk right - and what if your kid is aging out after this summer? there is no benefit to having a credit at a camp you'll never return to

get some perspective

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you upset? They said they will refund everything except $150, which applies as a credit to next summer. This is wayyy better than what Valley Mill Camp is doings which is keeping ALL the payments and applying as a credit to next summer.

well its $150 per kid per wk right - and what if your kid is aging out after this summer? there is no benefit to having a credit at a camp you'll never return to

get some perspective

They have offered other options that could still work for you. They may also, on a case by case basis, be willing to make an exception for a family whose only/youngest kid is aging out and you can show you really need the full money, not the $75 now option available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you upset? They said they will refund everything except $150, which applies as a credit to next summer. This is wayyy better than what Valley Mill Camp is doings which is keeping ALL the payments and applying as a credit to next summer.

well its $150 per kid per wk right - and what if your kid is aging out after this summer? there is no benefit to having a credit at a camp you'll never return to

get some perspective

They have offered other options that could still work for you. They may also, on a case by case basis, be willing to make an exception for a family whose only/youngest kid is aging out and you can show you really need the full money, not the $75 now option available.

so with 2 kids both aging out at the end of this summer and both doing several weeks that offer of $75 x potentially 6 weeks becomes $450

why would anyone say yes that's totally fine to losing out on $450? - essentially a week or two (depending on cost) of another week of camp or childcare.

[Anonymous]

If they end up cancelling camp I just hope I can get returning family registration openings next year (this would have been our first year)! The important stuff!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you upset? They said they will refund everything except $150, which applies as a credit to next summer. This is wayyy better than what Valley Mill Camp is doings which is keeping ALL the payments and applying as a credit to next summer.

well its $150 per kid per wk right - and what if your kid is aging out after this summer? there is no benefit to having a credit at a camp you'll never return to

get some perspective

They have offered other options that could still work for you. They may also, on a case by case basis, be willing to make an exception for a family whose only/youngest kid is aging out and you can show you really need the full money, not the $75 now option available.

so with 2 kids both aging out at the end of this summer and both doing several weeks that offer of $75 x potentially 6 weeks becomes $450

why would anyone say yes that's totally fine to losing out on $450? - essentially a week or two (depending on cost) of another week of camp or childcare.

If you have two kids aging out the same year, you are in a fairly unique position. When I said they might make an exception on a case by case basis, you might have a better shot than most. Whether they would actually offer you something different, I have no idea.

But, they also said you could use it for one of their programs during the year. My guess is some of them cater to old kids and you could use it that way.

This is a tough situation all around. In my mind, what they are proposing is reasonable. If they simply refund everything, they would probably go under.

[Anonymous]

While it is a nice thing to do potentially to have families float the camp $150 or more (mine is on the hook for $450 at the moment) I’m not in the habit of loaning organizations $450 that maybe I will get to use next year. This essentially is asking us to be “investors” in the business without us having any knowledge of financials of the camp. How do we know they won’t go out of business or decide to retire between this summer and next summer? There is absolutely insurance of some sort that should be covering these unforeseen expenses, not their clients. We are not shareholders and I have other things to do with the full amount of my money if the terms of the service (childcare, camp, classes) have changed.

[Anonymous]

I'd like to know if they accepted PPP money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd like to know if they accepted PPP money.

I am sure they would accept if they could get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While it is a nice thing to do potentially to have families float the camp $150 or more (mine is on the hook for $450 at the moment) I’m not in the habit of loaning organizations $450 that maybe I will get to use next year. This essentially is asking us to be “investors” in the business without us having any knowledge of financials of the camp. How do we know they won’t go out of business or decide to retire between this summer and next summer? There is absolutely insurance of some sort that should be covering these unforeseen expenses, not their clients. We are not shareholders and I have other things to do with the full amount of my money if the terms of the service (childcare, camp, classes) have changed.

exactly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While it is a nice thing to do potentially to have families float the camp $150 or more (mine is on the hook for $450 at the moment) I’m not in the habit of loaning organizations $450 that maybe I will get to use next year. This essentially is asking us to be “investors” in the business without us having any knowledge of financials of the camp. How do we know they won’t go out of business or decide to retire between this summer and next summer? There is absolutely insurance of some sort that should be covering these unforeseen expenses, not their clients. We are not shareholders and I have other things to do with the full amount of my money if the terms of the service (childcare, camp, classes) have changed.

You already made yourself investors, using your loose terminology, when you paid for camp five months in advance. If Calleva went out of business in the interim, you would be out of luck. This is no different, other than you now caring about the risk because it is slightly more real.

From a purely legal standpoint, they would have a decent argument that you are not entitled to your money bank under the circumstances, and to get back anything you already paid you would have to sue if they didn’t volunteer anything.

I understand why you would want everything back now, but I don’t think they are being unreasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While it is a nice thing to do potentially to have families float the camp $150 or more (mine is on the hook for $450 at the moment) I’m not in the habit of loaning organizations $450 that maybe I will get to use next year. This essentially is asking us to be “investors” in the business without us having any knowledge of financials of the camp. How do we know they won’t go out of business or decide to retire between this summer and next summer? There is absolutely insurance of some sort that should be covering these unforeseen expenses, not their clients. We are not shareholders and I have other things to do with the full amount of my money if the terms of the service (childcare, camp, classes) have changed.

You already made yourself investors, using your loose terminology, when you paid for camp five months in advance. If Calleva went out of business in the interim, you would be out of luck. This is no different, other than you now caring about the risk because it is slightly more real.

From a purely legal standpoint, they would have a decent argument that you are not entitled to your money bank under the circumstances, and to get back anything you already paid you would have to sue if they didn’t volunteer anything.

I understand why you would want everything back now, but I don’t think they are being unreasonable.

That’s kind of how that goes, unfortunately. Imagine that camps are starting next week but Covid causes shutdown as of Monday. You would never argue a refund or even a credit, right? Because it’s been so long you start feeling different about it but guess what, nothing is changing unless the restrictions are lifted. Nobody asked for it and yes I would like the $$ paid for camp because it would be nice, but the truth is that there’s nothing they can do and there’s nothing we as parents can do to get services rendered. They probably really really want to as they have been doing in the past.

[Anonymous]

Except that they are not just learning about this now. They have had at least three months to prepare. A safe option was to decide to put the health and well being of their staff and campers first and cancel camp...give everyone refunds and hope to open next year.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but I paid for camp. If they cancel, and I am not getting what I paid for, I want all of my money back. If they need to lay off their employees, then fine. That is what unemployment is for. If they need money for their business, they should apply for the PPP loan. There are a variety of options that do not include taking families' money and keeping it when camps are canceled. And they will be canceled. Just watch.

[Anonymous]

It seems like more camps, such as Holton, are offering full refunds. I wonder if that will impact Calleva’s policies.

[Anonymous]

What is everyone else doing re: Calleva? Are you waiting to see if full refunds will be given? Or is that off the table completely?