I want you all to “make the call” and settle a dispute.
Three years ago I signed up with a online coach at a reputable coaching group to train me for my first Ironman. The first year was great. I got a training plan every week and two phone calls per month. The first three races went great. After the first Ironman I continued the monthly service for future events. However, the coaching relationship evolved in that the coach and his family became friends, while the reliability of getting the weekly training plans started to slide. (This is perhaps my mistake - mixing the business of the coaching with becoming friends). After the 2nd year of coaching, and trying to find a way to stop the “slide” in service provision I made a deal (in retrospect a bad deal). Last November, when my coach was experiencing a little financial distress, I asked the coach what percentage of my monthly fee actually went to him to which he replied 60%. So I told him “listen, I’ll give you the 60% - up front for a year - if you help me to ramp up in an attempt to qualify in 2008”. But I told him that he needed to get back to the weekly training plans and phone calls. He said yes and I sent the check which he cashed immediately. I got no training plans in November or December - only a lot of excuses. Again, I got no plans in January. I sat down with the coach and expressed my dissapointment over the service and requested a refund. He said that he didn’t owe me anything because “Your plan was executed the moment I cashed the check”. My reply was that if that was true then why hadn’t I seen any weekly (or other) plans? Obviously we were at an impass. He reluctantly agreed and did provide a plan that covered the final 10 weeks leading up to Ironman Arizona this year but we both agreed that we would re-evaluate wether or not to continue the coaching relationship after the race. During that 10 weeks prior to Ironman Arizona, I received exactly one (1) “so how was your run today?” inquiry from the coach, otherwise no interaction, interest or “coaching” of any kind. So immediately after the race I said “Coach, I think you’d agree that the coaching relationship isn’t working out so I want it to stop and get a refund on the final six months of the coaching that will not be used”.
The coaches final word? “I don’t owe it to you…”
So here’s the question: Should I get a six month refund or not? (Obviously I think so because I was paying for a service that was not provided AND because if I would have kept on the original month to month plan (through the reputable service), I would have just stopped paying due to the lack of services provided.)
Unfortunately, “coach” has decided that our friendship is also over because, in his words, “I chose to put the money between us.”
And to set the record straight, it really wasn’t about the money, it was about not letting a “friend” take advantage of me fiancially. At a minimum, I guess I know how little coach’s “friendship” is worth (60%).
Lets see. I think Dan posted a few days about about an issue he and a supplier had about oweing some money.
After he spent 25K in legal bills, which was a huge increase from the original issue, he learned his lesson about the legal system.
So, looks real easy. You lost a friend, and paid some money to learn how not to have a coach. Letting it go, and getting on in life
will be the best investment you have ever made!!! (yea, but its the principal.) Do you want to waste your energy chasing
something you can never recover? Your time, attitude, energy? Or, do you have a great story to be able to tell many times
on ST that never pay upfront in life for anything. Whether it is coaching or a home remodel.
Sorry to see you got screwed. Never ever do business with a “friend”. You will always end up losing both.
Should you get a refund? Sure. Will you? Not freaking likely.
For whatever reasons, this coach’s life and coaching appear to be a mess. You’re trying to get blood from a stone. You can chalk it up to a bad investment and move on or continue to hound him. You can be vindictive and approach the coaching group to let them know he’s working around them (I would guess he has some sort of no compete clause so he can’t steal clients like this). Hell, you could even approach it through civil or criminal legal angles. He’s already proven he can’t be trusted on any fixes and if he was in financial trouble before, I’m sure the money you gave him a year ago is long gone.
All of the “solutions” beyond letting it go are only going to keep bringing up the hurt of the lost friendship and the sting of the wasted money. It looks like a shitty situation where you should express your extreme displeasure (I prefer lots of f-bombs) to him and the coaching group and then move on with your life.
since you chose to go outside of the coaching group and hire this person direct, and then paying a year in advance on a verbal agreement, you have very little recourse. were you still paying the full fee through the group, you could complain to the owner of the company but by doing what you have done, the owner probably wouldn’t want anything to do with you. also, in going along with this arrangement, your coach is most likely in violation of his employment contract. as i see it, your actions were just as unethical as your coach’s actions. as for getting your money back…good luck.
This is why we have small claim courts. In most states you can collect up to 5k. It is relatively inexpensive to file the suit and I don’t think it would take long to prepare your case. Then a judge will “make the call” and you can move on.
I would guess that the company he works for would be very unhappy to hear about your agreement. I wish you the best in trying to sort this out, it sounds pretty terrible.
I agree with most of the posts above. Sounds like you sure deserve the money. But getting it back will be a MAJOR pain in the ass, if possible at all. I don’t know enough about the legal system to say if you would get it or not, but I know enough that it would be a huge undertaking. If the money isn’t a huge sum I would probably just walk away from the whole thing. If he does answer to anyone in particular and isn’t just independant I would for sure tell them your story, they need to hear this kind of information.
You should definitely get a refund from him. His behavior is unacceptable to say the least. being friends with someone you do business with does not mean, in any way, shape or form, that the service should be anything less than spectacular.
You even went out of your way to provide help when he was in financial distress.
I am amazed sometimes with the type of things some people try to get away with. Absurd!
Honestly, I think the right thing and what will happen are very different. I think you should get your money back, but there is no leverage you really have to get it back. You made a side deal, and I suspect without putting it in writing.
I’d ask him to refund you the difference and if he doesn’t just walk away.
Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where he starts dating his maid…
You should get a refund, but you have already gone a bit past a “just business” relationship, so it makes playing hardball more difficult. I would just walk away from the coach relationship, chalk up the lost money as an expensive lesson, and get a new coach.
You did not get your money’s worth, but I don’t see any evidence of a contract with defined terms for refunds in your post so you may be on the short end of the deal–despite being in the right.
You deserve your money back, but you’ll never get it. Consider it lost as an expensive lesson – never pay for 100% of a service up front, verbal contracts are dangerous, be careful doing business with “friends.”
My $,02 is that it sucks, but you’ll probably have to swallow the loss. Small Claims Court would be your best option, but unless you have something in writing, don’t even bother.
Alot of these posts recommend small claims court. Not sure how much money we’re talking about here, but if you don’t have something in writing, my guess is that it might be hard to get a judgement in small claims court, and as many have pointed out, if this guy is in tough financial straights, getting paid might be next to impossible. I would tend to agree that you might want to just chalk it up to a bad decision and move on, and obviously cut this guy out of your life. Totally sucks!
Should you get the money back? Absolutely. Will you? No chance. Several other posters provided great insight. You could use small claim’s court, but, do you really want to go through that?
However, you were trying to qualify for Kona and you do know what Jackie would say:
Jackie: What was you golf score, the last round you played…before you
shoulder was injured?
Kramer: Three under par.
(Stan nods proudly)
Jackie (impressed): Oooohhhh, three under par…That’s what the
professionals shoot, isn’t it?
