ComplaintsforKinderCare Learning Centers LLC

• Initial Complaint

  05/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This complain is about poor management, lack of staffing overall, lack of staffing for mornings and evenings, parents are standing outside of classrooms waiting for teachers to show up, a lot of attrition, management is not open to feedback and are exceptionally rude to the parents when parents try to bring issues to their attention. Management isn't paying enough for the employees to stay and are treating them poorly. There have been incidents where teachers have yelled at children and kid would come home crying explaining that they are not being treated right.The directors (****** and ******) are constantly being told about the issues and instead of listening to parent's concern, they yell back and say things like "if you have concerns, pull your child out" versus trying to correct them.

  Business response

  05/25/2022

  Hi Nadia,

  Thank you for bring your concerns to our attention. We have reached out to **** Silversti in regards to your concerns. **** informed us that she has spoken with you via phone on 5/24/2022 in regards to this situation. She has explained the reason for new teachers that will be hired and starting soon is due to the growth in the center. Also to provide support for the current teachers as they take time off. Please let us know if you have any other questions. Thank you for being a part of our family; we are so happy youre here!

  Warm Regards, *******, Family Support

• Initial Complaint

  05/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The KinderCare in ******, ** was both verbally and in one instance physically abusive towards my autistic son. After attempting to make it work so I could work as a single father to two autistic children - both of my special needs children were told they aren't welcome at KinderCare. I am devastated that any company would be allowed to discriminate against special needs children. if my son's needs were too great they could have asked me to take him out. I would have agreed. But instead they threw my daughter out too who has autism but has never once had a negative complaint for me to pick her up. I have outlined the entire situation in my letter, but KinderCare (because of their director) I'm ****** ******* should be shut down. To disregard special needs children because it is an inconvenience will never be ok.

  Business response

  05/13/2022

  Hi ******,
  Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Upon further review it appears you have been in contact with the District Leader in your area and are working on setting up a plan moving forward. We pride ourselves on having a safe, inclusive environment and we apologize this has not been your experience. An investigation was opened with Licensing and CPS, and after they reviewed the situation both licensing and CPS closed the investigation. We are currently not showing any paperwork submitted for disenrollment. After working with Soula, she has assured us that she will follow-up directly with you as discussed next week.  
  
  Thank you,

• Initial Complaint

  05/10/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This company has reported fraudulent information to a collections agency which is now reflecting on my credit report. Over the last 3 years, I have attempted to dispute this matter with the company's internal collections department. The only thing they are willing to provide to back up this claim is fake invoices showing charges for dates of service they are claiming my child received. I have provided documentation showing my child could not have been receiving services during the dates KLC provided because my child was receiving services else where. Upon receipt of my proof the charges are fraudulent, KLC informed me that the state mandated childcare vouchers I received were rescinded, which then would have me owing a balance of roughly $2000. I informed the center I have been in contact with the state's voucher program and my case manager stated THE ******** CHILDCARE VOUCHER PROGRAM WILL NEVER RESCIND PAYMENTS ONCE MADE. I was told by the center's director, *********************, she would be looking into the issue and subsequently was charged off to my collections without any follow up from the center/director. I have given them my documentation multiple times and the have neglected to update my account. This is an issue of integrity. They have since sold my debt to ****************************** I have attempted multiple times to dispute this off my credit and they give the same false information to the credit bureaus every time. My credit score is now being affected due to the money hungry scamming and lies from KinderCare Learning Centers Corporation.

  Business response

  05/13/2022

  Hi ******!
  
  
  Thank you for bring your concerns to our attention. After reviewing the account, we found these charges to be correct. None of the charges listed are for ******, they are all regarding Tyanni ****, they should not have gone under ***************************** account, but they were listed as being for ***********. We apologize for any confusion on names the charges were under. We understand there was a family emergency leading to a balance due of $1563.95 as of 1/11/2019 and in December 2018, the coordinator was notified by WPAS that the voucher for Tyanni was terminated as of 10/31/2018. We also noted that there was a transfer for 12/2 thru 12/8 returned on 12/6/2018, which was included in the accepted balance of $1563.95. On 1/25/2019 the coordinator returned the remaining transfers for dates between 11/4 thru 12/01 as private collections. Unfortunately, we are unaware of why all the transfers were not returned to you on 12/6 like the transfer for 12/2-12/8. We found that between 11/30/2018 and February 2019, the date the past due balance was sent into collections. These were the payments listed, including 3 payments for $80 (12/5, 12/13, 12/21), 1 for $50 (1/8) and one final payment of $5 on 1/26/2019.The total weekly charges were $76.25. The subsidy coordinator only returned 1 of the discounts for the week of 12/9-12/15 2018, even though Tyanni was no longer eligible for the subsidy discount as of 11/1/2018, the coordinator did not return the $76.25 for the 5 weeks they were ineligible.
  
  Thank you
  

• Initial Complaint

  04/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I started working at this facility a month and a half ago. I had a co worker who had the same job (no authority over me) YELL at me and was very rude. The head director (my boss) did absolutely nothing about it. Legally I was only supposed to have 11 kids with me with *** be in the only teacher of two year olds. They gave me 13 most of the time. There are kids in there who like to hit by yell scream at the teachers (me) multiple times, and they have not called the parents or done anything about it. I have talk to my boss the head director of Kindercare and she never did anything about it. The way the schedules are supposed to work is eight hours for each teacher. There are teachers that come in at 7:30 and they leave at 4:30 at nine to six. There are kids getting pushed over into my class and it brings me above where Im supposed to be with only one teacher. So that other people can try to leave early. I had an emergency happen with my car. My head directors said that because its understaffed that I am not allowed to handle my car situation and when I had gotten sick with a viral upper respiratory infection and went to the emergency room two different times. She was trying to make me work the whole entire time I even lost my voice and had to go in one day. I was there with a runny nose severe allergies from my starting point of the upper respiratory infection and the head Director just told me to go home at night when Im off of work and take some NyQuil and come back. There was parents walking in and I was around the kids because my boss told me I had to be there around two year olds with a viral upper respiratory infection. There was a child that was running a fever of 101 and they did not call the parents or send her home. I am a brand new daycare worker this is my first time in this field and they told me that I would have the right training and they helped me for about a week and put me in a classroom where I was only supposed to have 11 kids but with 13 kids.

  Business response

  04/21/2022

  Hi ******, 
  It truly means the world that you have decided to pursue a career with KinderCare, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with us here. Every employee of KinderCare should feel supported, encouraged, and appreciated.  We strive to provide extensive training to ensure that our teachers have what they need to do their jobs in the best way possible. What you have described here is unacceptable, from coworkers treating each other poorly and having classrooms out of ratio to being asked to work while you are ill, and we want to assure you that we hold our management teams to a much higher standard than what you have described here. We understand that our Senior Employee Relations Advisor, *****************, has attempted to reach out to you via phone to  learn more about your concerns and ensure we are addressing them in the best way possible. She has been unable to get through but has left you a voicemail with her contact information. She is a great resource, and we welcome you to contact her as needed. Your experience has also been shared with your center's District Leader, who will have ongoing conversations with center management and perform unannounced visits. We want to thank you again for taking the time to share your experience with us here. We assure you that we are following up with local management and the proper HR teams to ensure that we are supporting our employees in the best way possible. We rely on feedback like yours to improve every day, and we want to thank you again. 
  Warm regards,
  ******, Family Support 

• Initial Complaint

  04/19/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  ***************************** is the center director of KinderCare in Canton. That whole location is a complete farce once you actually experience their best rendition of "child care". Since my children have attended the school i've had to call out of work multiple times for doctors visits. This is the 3rd school my daughter has attended so I understand kids spread germs but once I realized my children don't go a straight month without getting sick and remaining ill it sparked a concern as a parent. After talking to multiple teachers and witnessing myself I not only realized why the children stayed sick but also discovered why they would never have a fighting chance at maintaining there health is because they don't clean the school AT ALL. I brought this to ************** and here best answer which happens to apparently be a catch-phrase at that location is that she's understaffed. As a parent there's no denomination I would put on the peace of mind knowing my kids are safe and learning however I be willing to pay that price because I've yet to receive it. As I've stated her own workers always confide to me of there mistreatment of long hours without breaks and how they are forced to come to worker with illnesses like strep throat and even stated that "**** is so money hungry she allows kids to come to school knowing they're sick." That same person ********** told me **** even bought a refrigerator for her house on the company card. Keep in mind all this information was bestowed upon me from the basic question of asking how my kids day was. I realized these teachers have more to say about their mistreatment than the actual curriculum. After asking enough questions not only are these teachers not experienced but they don't pass background checks to be paid $13/hr. I have to end this early because I would require **** additional characters to express the malfeasance that occurs at this establishment. Us parents have to rely on each other to stay privy to health scares/ concerns there.

  Business response

  04/21/2022

  Hi ****, 
  Thank you for taking the time to bring your concerns to our attention. The experience you have described is inconsistent with what we expect from our team members, and we appreciate the opportunity to look into it further. Now more than ever, we understand how important it is for our teams to be following enhanced health and safety measures. While we understand that children may get sick during their time at daycare, we strive to take every step possible to prevent it from happening as often as we can. This includes cleaning the center regularly and asking sick employees and children to stay home until they are feeling better. Since your concerns have been brought to our attention, the District Leader of your center has made unannounced visits to the center. So far, she has experienced a clean center and teachers cleaning at the time of her visit. On the day of her visit, a teacher was asked to stay home due to illness. We will continue performing unannounced visits to ensure our team members are meeting our standards when it comes to following health and safety measures. We would like to address your concerns regarding the Center Director's use of the center's company card as well. Your District Leader has confirmed there are no charges for a refrigerator on the company card for that center. Upon speaking with *********, she explained that she used a company benefit discount to purchase a refrigerator.  This discount is offered to all KinderCare employees. We apologize for any confusion caused by this, and we can assure you that the company card is to be used only for company purchases. We would like to thank you again for bringing your concerns to our attention and ensuring we are providing the best experience possible for our families. Your District Leader attempted to reach out directly to address these concerns, but we were unable to reach you at the contact information provided to the Better Business Bureau. If you would appreciate a call or email directly from your District Leader, please let us know a good phone number or email. Thank you again for taking the time to share your experience with us here. We rely on feedback like yours. 
  Warm regards,
  ******, KinderCare Family Support 

• Initial Complaint

  04/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  In the employee manual it states no employee shall be charged above $105 per week per kid compared to a $310 a week and $280 a week per child charge. This is why many mothers work there for the child discount. My 2 boys attend this school. My Ex-Fiance works there and also gets a ***** from the government covering a percentage of tuition. Once the school found out about the ***** they changed her employee discount from a $205 discount for one of my boys and a $190 discount for the other to a $40 & $65 discount leaving the balance for both boys combined to be around $500 before the ***** kicks in and pays a percentage of the remaining balance. It seems almost fraudulent to myself to change practice knowing a government entity is paying , as well as it costs more money out of my pocket as well as hers being the percentage paid from the ***** remains the same weather the balance each week be $210 as advertised in the employee handbook or $500 as they have changed it around to be.

  Business response

  04/12/2022

  Hello ********,

  Thank you for sending this over to us I have included a breakdown of the billing below. Your center director will also be following up with you in person to go over the billing details in the next few days.
  
  *******:$300 (KLC tuition)- ****** (ELC pays) =****** then divide by 2=$67.13 is their staff discount.  Their weekly tuition is then $67.13 + $20 ELC parent fee=87.13 is the total tuition due each week
  

  ******: $280 (KLC tuition)- ****** (ELC pays) =****** then divide by 2=$75.90 is their staff discount.  Their weekly tuition is then $75.90 + $15 ELC parent fee=90.90 is the total tuition due each week
  
  $178.03 is total tuition charge.  With only the staff discount the amount would be $220.00
  
  Please let us know if you have any questions.
  
  Thank you,
  
  Meagan

  Customer response

  04/12/2022

   
  Better Business Bureau:

  I would like to personally thank *********************************** for resolving my issue and giving me a complete breakdown that makes since. She has resolved my issue entirely.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

• Initial Complaint

  11/29/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My son, ****** *******, was enrolled at the Brown Deer Kindercare location - 8750 N 51st St, Brown Deer, WI, 53223. Phone number is (414) 354-3770. This is regarding account # **********. Parents are (me, father) *********** ******* and (mother) ******* *********. ****** was enrolled from 7/26/2021 through 11/5/2021. We gave 2 weeks notice (notified on 10/22/2021) that ****** would be exiting the program to Cynthia, who was the same woman who enrolled ****** originally. She indicated that she would have everything in order for ****** leaving (they call it "graduating") the program. Cynthia quit or left the position on 10/29/201. Around the same time period, the director, Alice B******, was not present most of the time; she indicated later by email to me that she was out ill for approximately a week. These two things apparently manifested a problem from our account because we continued to get charged for the next week of daycare (dates of 11/7/2021 - 11/13/2021). I contacted Alice that we had already put in our two weeks and ****** was no longer enrolled by email. She replied and indicated that she would look into it. It was my assumption that this was the end of the situation, but I was wrong. Over the following weeks, I received occasional "courtesy" calls and SMS messages from Kindercare about our account. I assumed that it took 1-2 weeks for processing the cancellation and ignored these. After receiving approximately 6 contacts from them, I logged into the online account and found I had a $73 fee. There is no indication of what the fee is for, but it appears to be a "late fee" for not paying the erroneous 11/7-11/13 fee. I have contacted Alice and had three replies. She indicates that she will look into it, but never a response on "what/why" the fee or getting it removed. Contacting the general Kindercare phone number leads nowhere but an answering machine and no call back. This fee seems to be erroneous by all accounts and should be removed

  Business response

  12/02/2021

  Hi ***********,
  We’re sorry to hear about your experience, and we appreciate you taking the time to bring your concerns to our attention here. We understand how frustrating it can be when you believe you have been billed in error, and we expect our teams to go above and beyond to address and resolve any billing concerns as quickly as possible. We apologize that we may have fell short in communication and transparency through our staffing changes, and we want to assure you that we have provided our teams with ways we can go the extra mile to support our families through the graduation process. This includes making sure all billing is accurate at the time of disenrollment, and we want to thank you again for sharing feedback that will help us better support our families. We have reached out to our local management team for your center, and we have been notified that they have removed the remaining balance from your account. From what we understand, we have also had the opportunity to speak with you directly regarding your concerns, and we want to thank you again for your time. Families like yours are why we do what we do, and you’ll always have a home here.
  Warm regards,
  Carlie, Family Support     

  Customer response

  12/02/2021

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  Please note that I spoke with a lady this morning after contacting the corporate office.  Her name is Yan (spelling?) and she was able to resolve the issue quickly and we were able to discuss the situation briefly.  The billing issue is completely resolved now and I apologize for any inconvenience.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********** *******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩