BrainVyne LEGO & Money Camps — Local services in Palo Alto

This place is terrible at handling shy kids and didn’t refund us properly. We signed up for the Brainvyne in Burlingame this summer. On the first day when we arrived , the room was empty without a single piece of Lego. They said Lego is delayed. My kid didn’t want to stay because he was expecting Lego. The teachers were really young just standing there don’t know what to do. Later Lego arrived and we left. After a while we got a call saying that we have to pick up my kid because he couldn’t participate in the class and didn’t share his name. My kid is quite shy but he had no problem going to another Lego camp last year. They promised to provide full refund. When I arrived to pick my kid, he wasn’t in the class. He was taken care by two staff member from Burlingame community center. They also promised full refund. One week later, Brainvyne provided 4 day refund instead of 5 day, charging us over $100 for expelling my kid from the class! Again my kid is just more shy and he is doing well in other summer camp. It’s a shame this place has unprofessional stuff who can’t accommodate shy kids and gave partial refund when they promised full refund.

The owner responded below and you can see how they find excuses for themselves. My kid has no bad behavior at all and I NEVER feel ashamed by my kid who is only quite introverted. That’s why he loves Lego and why we signed up in the first place. The owner continues to shame our kid and provides poor excuse for their unprofessional behavior.

If you scroll the review you can see another 2 star review which is saying this place is a mixed sports and Lego camp. That’s indeed what we saw when we pick up our kid. There are a lot worse reviews on Yelp. I regretted not reading all these reviews before signing up.

If you have a kid who really loves Lego, and who is a bit introverted, avoid this place!!! If your kid isn’t that obsessed with Lego, this is one of the most expensive camp and there are a lot more cheaper and nicer camps that well...

We were so excited to send my 4 year-old Lego obsessed son to Lego camp during spring break. We signed him up for the full-day week-long Lego camp, not the combination Lego and soccer camp because well.... did I mention that my son is obsessed with Legos?!

After the first day of camp, my son came home deflated. I quickly realized that the first half of their day was all outside activities like soccer and other games. After looking at the photos on their website, it looks like he spent a good part of the morning sitting out by himself on a field. It broke my heart that my son who was so excited to go to Lego camp, was sitting alone outside for much of the morning.

I spoke with the camp director, Rathna, about my concern. As another reviewer mentioned, she is not receptive to feedback and become defensive. I explained that the camp itinerary explicitly said that both the morning and evening activities would be Lego builds and that this was not actually the case. She kept saying that the outdoor activities were due to COVID, but didn't address the fact that the itinerary was false advertising. I would not have signed my son up for the camp if I'd known that this would have been the itinerary.

I give the camp two stars because the counselors were fantastic and great with my son. Otherwise, I am very unhappy and won't send my son back to the camp because I cannot trust the director and her poor...

Broken Written Promises and Unprofessional Staff Response.

What happened: July 23 BrainVyne texted that our St. Stephens session was being moved to Palo Alto. When I said I would cancel, they wrote "we'd be able to offer extended care till 5:30 PM at no cost if it will help." I stayed enrolled based on that written offer. July 29 (Day 1): At 12:45 PM I confirmed the 5:30 PM pickup. Staff replied: "Pick-up for half-day caps at 1:30 PM. All parents are well aware there is no free childcare in the world." When I quoted their earlier message, they called it a "misunderstanding" and said they were already "more than generous."

I had to arrange emergency childcare on Day 1 after organizing my work schedule around their written commitment. In my experience, when presented with their own text message, staff responded with lectures rather than solutions. Other recent reviews describe similar experiences with last-minute changes and dismissive customer service. Several public reviews (see Yelp) mention being offered incentives for five-star ratings.

My recommendation: The LEGO activities themselves were adequate, but my experience suggests their commitments may not be reliable. If you choose to enroll, I'd recommend keeping screenshots of all communications and having backup childcare arranged in case policies change...