Registration Fee: There is a registration fee of $35, payable per family in your first year, and $10 per family in your subsequent year(s). This registration fee is non-refundable and is insurance to cover up to 5 makeup lessons for lessons students miss in our teaching year. Please note that students who registered prior to January 1, 2013 are not charged this $10 yearly fee.
Customer Accounts: Online accounts are only available for clients who are paying with credit card. Once we have received your credit card information, we will create an account for you and assign you a username and temporary password. You can use this to log into your account to view and print invoices, see your account balance, and update your contact information.
Payment: For students who are registering for our Summer Session, payment in full is required prior to the start of lessons. For our Three Month, Six Month and Ten Month Packages, payments can be made in monthly instalments.
We have three main payment options: post-dated cheques, dated for the first of each month; pre-authorized debit from your chequing or savings account; and credit cards. We also accept Visa and Mastercard debit cards. To use the pre-authorized debit method, we will require either a void cheque or a signed Pre-Authorized Debit Form from your bank. Summer Sessions may be paid in full using your credit card.
Please note that we do not accept cash and teachers are not permitted to accept payments of any sort.
Cancellation Policy: Cancellations at least seven (7) days prior to the start date of your lessons are eligible for 100% refund of your fees, less your non-refundable registration fee. Cancellations between one (1) and six (6) days prior to the start date of your lessons are subject to a $50 cancellation fee. Cancellations on or after the start date of your lessons are not permitted and you are obliged for the duration of your chosen package.
Once you have started lessons, you are obligated for the duration of your chosen package. However, if you choose to discontinue lessons after your commitment has been fulfilled, we require 30 days written notice, ie. if you've chosen our Six-Month Package, we must receive this notice no later than the end of month five of your lessons.
Automatic Renewal: Clients that continue lessons to the end of June of each teaching year will be automatically renewed for the next teaching year. However, clients then have until August 25th to officially cancel without penalty. Cancellations made between August 26th and August 31st are subject to a $50 cancellation charge, and clients who cancel September 1st or later are subject to either: 1) a minimum of one month of lessons, or 2) payment in lieu thereof.
Makeup Lessons: Students taking lessons in-studio will be limited to a total of five (5) make-up lessons per year. Once this maximum has been reached, missed lessons will be charged as per usual. Due to the high numbers of students and the complexity of creating a travel schedule, travel students will unfortunately no longer be permitted make-up lessons. The only exception to this is if a lesson has been missed by your teacher. Some of our teachers have their own make-up lesson policies, but none of them, outside of the conditions listed above, are obligated to perform make-up lessons.
Returning Students: Our returning students are not bound by our 10 Month Registration package and may give 30 days notice to discontinue lessons at any time. However, cancelling lessons before the end of June will not guarantee that your spot will be available for the following September. Many of our teachers have waiting lists and we cannot hold spots without payment. If you need to be finished lessons prior to June you may speak with your teacher and add extra make-up lessons throughout the year to cover the time you will have to miss. This will ensure your spot for September.
Teaching Schedule: We will send out a lesson and payment schedule, as well as a yearly calendar. This will show you how many lessons you have from month to month. It will also show you a breakdown of your monthly payments. The included calendar will have all non-teachable days greyed out.
Overdue Accounts: Accounts 30 days past due are subject to suspension of lessons, 18% interest per annum and a $50 administration fee. There is also an NSF fee of $40 for any payment not honored. Full payment of all past due fees, including any outstanding interest, the administration fee, and any fees currently due, is required prior to the reinstatement of lessons. Lessons that have been missed due to suspension for non-payment are forfeited.
Summer Lessons: Summer lessons are available with select teachers. These spots are extremely limited and therefore we require full payment for all summer lessons for July and August prior to your first lesson.
We are an experienced group of teachers, many of us recording artists, and lifelong musicians. We tend to be more experienced and more musically skilled and diverse than most of the other studios. This is our second generation, having been born from the Arcade Music Centre chain of music stores from the 1950s to the 1980s.