SCHOOL POLICY
POLICIES & GUIDELINES
SCHEDULING PROCESS
The Music Factory’s process is organized around the routine of weekly lesson appointments, conducted at the same day & time each week.
Our lessons are offered in the following durations (subject to availability), at the following rates:
Weekly 30 Minute Lessons – $40 Per Lesson (paid as a monthly tuition)
Weekly 45 Minute Lessons – $55 Per Lesson (paid as a monthly tuition)
Weekly 60 Minute Lessons – $65 Per Lesson (paid as a monthly tuition)
Upon selecting your preferred weekly lesson appointment on your teacher’s schedule, this appointment will be reserved for you (or your child) from week to week, and your monthly tuition payments ensure that this reservation remains in place.
You are always welcome to inquire with your teacher about switching your regular lesson appointment to another day & time of the week (either as a permanent or occasional one-time reschedule), but we cannot make a routine practice of rotating/alternating your lesson appointment from week to week.
Please inquire with your teacher (and/or The Music Factory’s management) if you cannot adhere to a regular weekly lesson schedule as described above… depending on your circumstances (and subject to your teacher’s approval), we may be able to arrange an adjusted schedule to fit your needs. All adjusted lesson schedules which deviate from
The Music Factory’s standard weekly lesson process will incur an increased per-lesson fee & a decreased amount of schedule flexibility with regard to cancellations & makeup lessons (please inquire for details).
PAYMENT PROCESS
The Music Factory’s lesson payments are processed as a monthly tuition fee, whereby our students (or parent/guardians) issue a lump payment to The Music Factory upon the first lesson of each month, encapsulating each lesson date scheduled for that month.
For example: If you (or your child) select a 30-minute lesson appointment on Mondays, your grand total will come to $160 for months containing four Mondays (4 x $40), and $200 for months containing five Mondays (5 x $40).
Lesson payments may be processed via cash, check, debit/credit card or PayPal account, and you’re also welcome to sign up for our “autobill” subscription billing service (see below for details). Please inquire with your teacher or another Music Factory staff member if you have any questions about these processes.
All tuition payments received after the 10th date of the applicable calendar month will incur a $25 late fee. Please ensure that your tuition payments are issued in a timely manner.
It is very important to note that your monthly tuition payments are to be processed on the principle of establishing an advance reservation of your teacher’s time, as opposed to a retroactive total reflecting the number of scheduled lessons attended by the student. We also cannot collect payments on a lesson-by-lesson “pay as you go” basis.
MISSED/CANCELLED LESSONS
By default, The Music Factory cannot provide refunds for missed or cancelled lessons, nor can we “credit forward” a payment for a missed/cancelled lesson from one month into the next (with the exception of lessons missed/cancelled due to an error or emergency on the teacher’s part, as described below).
In the event of a scheduled lesson which is missed (or cancelled) by the student, you are always welcome to inquire with your teacher about the possibility of rescheduling this lesson as a “makeup” for the cancelled date. These “makeup” options are offered as a courtesy, are subject to the availability & discretion of our individual teachers (please inquire directly with your teacher for clarification on these points), and must take place during the same month as the originally scheduled lesson.
In the event of an absence on your teacher’s part (a sudden illness, emergency, etc), The Music Factory will make every effort to ensure that a qualified substitute teacher will be available to work with you (or your child) at your usual lesson time. If a substitute cannot be arranged in time for your lesson, we will be glad to explore options for a rescheduled lesson date within that same month; if this is not possible, The Music Factory will apply the fee for this lesson as a credit to your account.
AUTOBILL
As a convenience for our students/parents/guardians, The Music Factory offers an “autobill” subscription billing service. If you elect to enroll in this service (by providing the required information & signature on your authorization form), The Music Factory will automatically bill your debit/credit card for your monthly tuition fees at the beginning of each month (generally on the first calendar date).
By default, your monthly total will be processed under the assumption that you (or your child) will be attending lessons every week, at your reserved lesson date/time. We cannot retroactively refund (nor prorate) fees for missed/cancelled lessons after our lesson payments have been processed (with the exception of cancellations due to error/illness/emergency on your teacher’s part, as described above).
In the event of any errors on your account (expired account information, erroneously processed payments, accumulated balances, etc), The Music Factory will contact you to resolve these issues. If the need arises to process any payments which deviate from your standard monthly lesson payments (in cases of accumulated balances due, for instance), we will do so only after reviewing the details with you & receiving your authorization.
Upon request, The Music Factory can provide monthly receipts for your autobill payments via email. We do not provide this service unless specifically requested, however.
If you wish to withdraw from the autobill service, please notify The Music Factory’s staff (in writing) prior to the processing of your next monthly payment.