Hauteyoga Queen Anne — Local services in Seattle

This is not a comment on the yoga instruction, but how they run their business. My wife is a member and enjoys the classes. But their business practices are predatory - to the detriment of members.

In August, my wife invited me to try a class and I did, signing up for the $27 two week introduction series (this is the only way to "try it out" - you cannot pay per class). I was not a fan of the heat, and didn't return. Shortly after, my mother passed away and I was focused on the accompanying personal issues for a few months. In November I was doing an overdue review of my credit card statement, and realized that Haute Yoga had charged me $159 a month for September, October and November, a total of almost $500. I of course contacted them to see what was going on. They informed me that I didn't cancel my "membership" before the two weeks of the intro course were finished, so they had automatically charged me the monthly membership rate. I wasn't told about this policy when I signed in. Given that you have to register for every class you attend, they had the data that showed I had only attended the one class. Again, I wasn't told about the policy or provided with any paperwork. They informed me it was "in the fine print."

So they are "right" in a legal sense, but as a business leader for the past twenty years, this is just horrible customer service. My wife is a member, some of her friends are members, and they all know this story. We live on Queen Anne, and we've both told others about this - because it's just kinda unbelievable. So I cannot recommend this studio based on their putting a few hundred dollars above the satisfaction of both new and existing customers. If they'd refunded me even something, I would be recommending them here instead of posting the above.

Proceed carefully. Read the fine print.

And I just reviewed the response from the "owner" below. I double-checked my e-mail, and I received no e-mails about billing. My wife (who is a monthly member) has never received any e-mails related to billing either. And if there was a 30-day grace period, the "fair" thing would have been to refund me at least one month of fees. Again, just very poor customer service, and a complete disregard for...

I am quite saddened by the business practice behind this studio. The instructors were great and shared loving practices for relief. Unfortunately, considering the money I lost and the time I need to work to recuperate the funds…the two weeks of trial yoga was not worth the stress their business management has caused.

They automatically charge your card without any email notifications or reminders. I only realized this when checking my credit card statement, but I was charged for two months for a total of $300. It was my error in forgetting to cancel; I was moving, a lot of other life things to manage. I originally figured that it should be easy to get my money back based on my in-person experience with the crew and because they will have a clear record that I didn’t use any classes in the last two months. Unfortunately, no.

Their email responses make me feel like I should count my blessings that I was only charged for two months and not a full year.

I thought this was a people-oriented studio. Nope, they prioritize the written contract, where we agree to be automatically charged without notification (It was constantly reiterated that that’s what I signed. Yes, thank you for all the reminders AFTER charging me for two unused months).

In a tech heavy city like Seattle, is it that difficult to find a way to send automatic emails to your students when you already automatically charge them? What is the reasoning there? This is also not the first incident. That it’s still an ongoing issue and that they would rather fight the refund requests than implement a friendly and more considerate...

I signed up for a monthly membership at this business through a third-party app called MINDBODY. I assumed I would be able to cancel the membership through the same platform, but there was no option to do so. I even tried removing my payment method from MINDBODY, but it didn’t work, and my credit card was charged for two additional months.

During those two months, I did not attend a single yoga class, yet they continued charging my card. I reached out to the merchant, and they initially promised to refund at least one month’s charge. However, after waiting for a week with no progress, I followed up and was told to email someone else. After multiple calls and even visiting the location in person, I was still bounced around between different people with no resolution.

My request is straightforward: I want a refund for the two months of charges during which I did not use the service. It is unreasonable that I cannot cancel the membership through the same platform where I signed up and that the business is refusing to process the refund they originally promised. This has wasted a significant amount of my time and energy without...