In 1999 and again in 2003, Classical Singer received a host of complaints from disgruntled singers about the Sessione Senese per la Musica e l’Arte in Siena, Italy. (For the full report, see Jan ’93 and ’03 issues in the CS Archives at
www.classicalsinger.com.)
CS received additional complaints about this program in our recent survey on 2008 summer programs. This time the complaints were different. Instead of actually running the program and not following through with promised events, as was the complaint in previous years, SSMA cancelled the program altogether in 2007 and 2008, and in at least one case refused to refund the singer’s money.
“On April 22 my daughter received a letter stating that she had been accepted into SSMA’s summer program,” wrote this singer’s mother, “and that further information on the program, including a check-off list, would be mailed to her at a later date.
“On May 30 my daughter spoke to Ann Testa, the program’s secretary. The cost with various program fees, trips, and two mandatory courses was $4,385. This amount was charged to my daughter’s credit card on May 30.
“On June 4 my daughter received a voicemail from Ann stating that she had booked my daughter’s flight on Continental Airlines and that she should call them promptly with her credit card information to assure her seat. She did that immediately at the cost of $1,355 (non-refundable).
“On June 6, my daughter received the aforementioned checklist dated June 3, showing everything taken care of with the exception of her passport number and a necessary 484 form to be signed and notarized. The form was not enclosed. Had it been, she would have signed it and returned it, unquestioningly, as she had with all other forms they had asked for.
“On June 9 my daughter got a phone call from her friend informing her that she had just been told the program had been cancelled the previous week. My daughter e-mailed Ann to ask if this was true. On June 10 Ann e-mailed, stating that they had e-mailed her about the cancellation on June 3. We received no such correspondence. Furthermore, why did they book her flight and have her pay for it the day after they cancelled the program?
“SSMA then told us, ‘No form 484, no refund.’ We told them we never received the form. They sent us the form postmarked June 16. The form stated ‘refund can be made of only those funds not actually used or committed. The amount of said refund in each individual case is to be determined by SSMA.’ It also stated that we wouldn’t hold the director or employees responsible.
“When we read what it said, my daughter informed SSMA that she would sign it after they told her the amount that was to be refunded and when. We needed something in writing. We have told them numerous times we will send the signed, notarized form if they tell us how much they are refunding. They have repeatedly refused to answer this question.
“I believe they let her continue to believe the program was going on as scheduled because they didn’t have that form, which they needed to protect themselves. They sent her the checklist on the day they cancelled saying, ‘We look forward to a wonderful summer in Siena!’
“On June 10 we filed a dispute with Discover. SSMA was informed of this and told Discover they would return all but $161 for course fees (what course?), a late fee, and application fee. Discover told SSMA this was acceptable to us and SSMA agreed to credit the correct amount to my daughter’s account.
“[As of November 2008,] there has been no refund. They managed to get Discover off their backs but then didn’t follow through with the refund. They now are not answering our e-mails.”
CS contacted SSMA for a response. “Dawn’s application was at best problematic for our staff from the beginning,” said program director, Joseph del Principe. “She did not follow our registration sequence as did some 40 other applicants: 1) fees were documented at SSMA well past the deadline, [and] 2) [she] refused to mail a necessary form, required for our non-profit State
mandates . . .”
Del Principe also claimed that Dawn’s money was returned in August. After CS pressed him on the matter, saying that this did not agree with Dawn’s story, he ultimately conceded that the money had not been returned, but blamed this on Discover. He has made promises to return Dawn’s money, but at the time of writing this article, he had not yet made good on those promises.
