Canadian company hides behind COVID-19, denying thousands in refunds to families.
In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, a Canadian company that organizes
soccer camps,training and trips, has refused to refund fees to families.
BCN Sports Services Canada Inc. is the co-organizer for the Barca Academy soccer training programs in Canada. On March 13th, Edmonton families were sent an email informing them that the March Break Summer Camp being held ten days later was cancelled.
"Not surprising at all." says Danny. He had registered his son for the
week long camp and paid for the registration and required uniform, a
little more than $500. "The situation had changed so much from when we
registered, but by then a lot of things were being cancelled. Gatherings
under 250 were still okay, but I understood the move. This was a spring
break camp. It was best to give families a chance to find
alternatives."
But
then Danny was hit with the bad news. BCN Sports would not refund the
fees. "The notice said that a credit for summer camps in Spruce Grove
would be given to participants, or they could hold on to the credit
until spring break 2021. That didn't work for us. We live on the
opposite end of town from where they were holding the camp. Our son was
going to stay with my parents, who live close, and they would shuttle him back and forth from camp while
we worked . The Spruce Grove summer camps are even farther away and we
couldn't commit to those; I'm not sure how BCN could either with no one
being able to predict when restrictions would be lifted. And next year is a complete unknown."
So Danny called Edgar Chandre, Project Director at BCN Sports,
and asked for a refund. Danny explained the situation and was told to
submit his request in writing. Danny emailed a request to the same
address he received the cancellation notice from but there was no reply.
A week passed with no communication from BCN Sports. Then, on March
20th, Mr. Chandre called and confirmed that there would be no refunds.
Danny asked how that could be. The Participant Agreement that was on the
website stated that if the camp was cancelled refunds would be issued.
"I couldn't believe what I was hearing" says Danny. "I was reading the
text from their agreement to him, and Mr. Chandre just kept repeating
himself, saying they would not refund the fees. He said that they
couldn't afford to do that. I told him that they were violating their
own legal conditions and all he could say was that he knew that, but the
management at BCN Sports had decided that they would not issue refunds.
He said they have other things to pay for."
At the end of a lengthy conversation with Mr. Chandre, Danny was left
with no refund, but was not giving up. "I had already called my credit
card company and initiated a dispute, but that may not get our refund."
So Danny did what is common these days, and posted his story on
Facebook. "Within days, I had connected with six other families that
were just as upset with BCN Sports and Barca Academy Canada. We had all
been treated the same way. We had all been given the same message. Too
bad, so sad."
What they also found was that BCN Sports was moving the goal posts.
Mariem registered her son in the same camp. She went through the on-line
registration process using her phone. "I am not sure how it does this,
but when I check an accept box, my phone saves a copy of the document I
am accepting." So on the day Mariem registered on-line, she saved a copy
of the Participant Agreement. "On the day we got the cancellation
notice, I also took a screenshot of the Barca Academy Edmonton webpage
cancellation policy. They aren't the same anymore."
Crystal agrees. "Truly unprofessional and unethical." After speaking
with Mr. Chandre, Crystal was told that BCN Sports was worried about
financial distress and the bottom line. Crystal goes on to describe how
Mr. Chandre kept referring to the cancellation policy which she says
"has been conveniently changed since camp was cancelled and the pandemic
started. And we have screenshots to prove this."
When Danny got the cancellation notice, he immediately went to the Barca
Academy website and saved the legal conditions. "I now have five
versions. The one that existed when we registered, and four more that
BCN Sports uploaded on and after March 13th. Each subsequent version
changed the cancellation policy with the wording on refunds getting
stronger to protect them. It now clearly states no refunds for
pandemics."
Since finding each other, Danny, Mariem and Crystal have connected with other families who have all been treated the same.
But its not just this camp, says Danny. "BCN Sports has gone silent on a
trip to Spain that was in the works but got cancelled. I know one
family that is waiting to hear from BCN on their trip fees; they gave
BCN Sports $20 thousand dollars. And there were families from all over
Canada going. When you add up the camp fees, trip fees, and the academy
fees, they are bilking Canadian families out of potentially hundreds of
thousands of dollars, if not more."
On April 6th Danny
learned that BCN Sports laid off the local Barca Academy managers and
coaches across Canada. "They have effectively closed, leaving all the
families who have paid them money, with little to no chance to recover
anything. Even the staff they laid off are out registration fees for their own children. Who does that to their own employees?"
BCN Sports Services Canada Inc. is the co-organizer licensed by FCB Escola Soccer to
operate the Barca Academy brand in Canada "But they have no real
assets", claims Danny. "They rent some office space to administer their
business, but they operate by renting space and time from soccer clubs
and sports facilities. They might have some bags of soccer balls and
some basic equipment, but they could fold tomorrow and likely not fill a
U-Haul with anything they own."
Danny and the other families are not giving up. "We have sent emails and
phoned BCN, but that's going nowhere. We have emailed the soccer
associations, leagues, teams, the Better Business Bureau, provincial
consumer affairs, elected officials, media outlets, and are sharing our
stories on social media."
And according to Danny, the story is getting heard. "I have been
contacted by Canada Soccer, and we know that associations are sending
out information to their members advising people to look at their
dealings with BCN Sports and Barca Academy. The BBB has let us know that
BCN Sports and Barca Academy are not responding to the claims, but
that's no surprise. I have heard back from elected officials, facilities
and government departments. The one message that is consistent - no one
agrees with what BCN Sports and Barca Academy have done."
"We know that there are more families out there that have been impacted
by BCN Sports and Barca Academy's decision to refuse refunds. We know
that there are families that had paid the registration fee for camp and
then lost their jobs. We know that families were planning on that camp
as week of child care while they worked, and then had to find alternate
care and pay another fee. And we want to hear from them. There are still
options to hold BCN Sports and Barca Academy accountable. This is far
from over."
Whatever the eventual outcome is, the families that have found each
other have bonded over principle and the need to support each other.
Crystal says "this isn't about the camp fees any longer. This is
people's livelihood. Many people have lost their jobs and have no idea
what tomorrow holds. This could cover medications, this could be food
for a month, this may be housing payments."
Danny hopes that FC Barcelona and
FCB Escola will step in. "This club and school have a worldwide
presence and brand that is being tarnished by the actions of some
disreputable individuals. I hope that FC Barcelona looks at their own
Code of Ethics and Conduct and holds this licensee to those same
standards. I wonder what star players like Lionel Messi, Antoine
Griezmann or Luis Suárez would have to say about this?"
According to their Facebook page, BCN Sports Services Canada Inc. is headquartered in North York, Ontario and was founded in 2013 by Francisco Cervera & Stephen Tung. On the BCN Sports website their team is listed as Victor Berenguer (Managing Director Operations), Edgar Chandre (Project Director), former (Sports Director), Hélène Zannou (Marketing Manager), and Alex Bosch (Operations Manager). In Canada, Barca Academies are operated in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
Repeated attempts to contact BCN Sports and Barca Academy Canada have gone unanswered.
#BCNSportsIntl #FCBCampCanada #BarcaAcademyCanada
#BarcaAcademy #FCBEscola #BarcaEscola
#FCBarcelona
#BarcaAcademyVAN
#BarcaAcademyVancouver #BarcaAcademyEDM #BarcaAcademyCAL
#BarcaAcademyCalgary #BarcaAcademyTOR #BarcaToronto
#BarcaAcademyOTT #BarcaAcademyOttawa #FCBEscolaOttawa
#BarcaAcademyMTL #BarcaAcademyMontreal #FCBEscolaMont
#YEG #YVR #YYC #YYZ #YOW #YUL
#AlbertaSoccer #BCSoccer #OntarioSoccer #SoccerQuebec #CanadaSoccer
To contact the author email atkinson.dannyr@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment