Terms and Conditions
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR TUITION AT MONSTER MUSIC
As of November 22nd 2023
The following Terms and Conditions apply to all lesson agreements made between Monster Music and its students and the parents/carers of its students “the customer”.
NB: While the Terms and Conditions described below may seem strict, these have been discussed at length amongst the Monster Music leadership team, with the endeavour of making them as fair as possible for both client/customer and provider. Monster Music is a business that functions with minimal margins, as such, lines in the sand have had to be drawn and are not a general reflection of how awesome the majority of Monster Music families are. They are a reflection of the small margin of people who have exploited Monster Music’s services without compensation, thereby endangering the livelihoods of our tutors and managers. We try to approach each individual case in good faith, with an open ear, and we hope that you will also approach us in the same manner. There will be times that the Terms and Conditions are more in favour of Monster Music, but there are also other times that they are more in favour of the student/caregiver.
IN 2024 WE WILL BE ROLLING OUT A NEW ONLINE PLATFORM CALLED OPUS1. YOU WILL SEE OPUS1 MENTIONED IN THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS BELOW. WE WILL SHARE MORE INFORMATION REGARDING OPUS1 CLOSER TO THE DATE THAT WE WILL BE ROLLING IT OUT TO MONSTER MUSIC FAMILIES.
1. Term Dates
1a. Teaching weeks at Monster Music roughly adhere to the New Zealand Ministry of Education School Terms. However, there are occasional differences and our term dates are sent out via email.
1b. At all times it is the responsibility of the customer to be aware of the first and last dates of term at Monster Music.
1c. A Monster Music term generally consists of 8-10 lessons.
2. Communications
2a. All customers are required to have a valid email address and phone number.
2b. All correspondence is sent out to the student by email, text or phone call.
2c. It is the responsibility of the customer (parent/carer) to make Monster Music aware of any changes to their contact details. Monster Music will not be held responsible for any missed communications, late/overdue payments, missed lessons, etc. if this is due to incorrect contact information.
2d. Due to the size of our student roll, a lot of Monster Music’s communication is done via bulk delivery services e.g. MailChimp, therefore there is a level of potential error associated with this. If you notice something incorrect e.g. lesson details or account details, it is not meant offensively. In these cases, please let us know via email to office@monstermusic.nz so we can rectify the situation as soon as possible.
2e. It is the responsibility of the customer to regularly check email inboxes (including spam) for Monster Music communications.
3. Timetabling of Lessons
3a. The customer will be informed of the lesson time and day, and the date of their first lesson, before their teaching commences, either by phone, in person or by email. Monster Music will aim to confirm all the lesson details by email, but does not guarantee that this will be the case if it deems sufficient confirmation has been provided by other means.
3b. All students are required to make their way to their scheduled music lesson on their own. Monster Music tutors will always try their best to locate students that haven’t shown up for their lesson, however this cannot be guaranteed.
3c. Site-based lessons - if the agreed lesson time or day needs to be changed, the customer will be contacted as far in advance as possible and alternative arrangements will be made to continue the lessons at a time and day that suits the student and Monster Music.
3d. School-based / School Programme lessons –
3.d.i. If the agreed lesson day needs to be changed, the customer will be contacted as far in advance as possible and alternative arrangements will be made with the school and the student for a suitable new lesson time.
3.d.ii. If the agreed School Programme lesson time needs to change to a new time, on the same day of the week and within school hours, the customer is not guaranteed to be informed in advance and the student will instead be collected at the new time by the tutor. However, we will attempt to inform you in advance when possible.
4. Absences and catch up lessons
4a. Monster Music does not offer 1:1 catch up lessons for student absences. Monster Music offers Monster Make Up workshops for students with explained absences.
4b. If the pupil is unable to attend a lesson please let Monster Music know at your earliest convenience by submitting your absence to our new online platform, Opus1.
4c. Where less than 12-hours’ notice is given for an intended absence, no Monster Make Up will be offered. This lesson is considered forfeited.
4d. Where at least 12-hours’ notice of an intended absence is given, this is deemed an “explained absence.”
4e. If your child is unable to attend a lesson due to sickness, notice must be given 12 hours before their usual lesson time in order to obtain a Monster Make Up.
4f. Monster Music will arrange a Monster Make Up for a maximum of two lessons per term for explained absences.
4g. Unexplained absences are not eligible for Monster Make Ups.
4g. It is only by managerial discretion that customer credit is placed on a pupils account to the approximate value of a missed lesson. Customer credit is not transferable for money but will be used at the earliest convenience - usually towards the next month’s fees. Any monthly credit is worth 10% of the annual fees. Any weekly credit is worth approximately 2.5% of the annual fees.
4h. No Monster Make Up will be offered in the event that a student who is absent from school, due to sickness, attempts to attend a lesson.
4i. In the event of a tutor absence, we will do our best to find a replacement tutor to fill in for the day. If a replacement tutor can not be arranged, Monster Music Management will evaluate and determine an appropriate course of action.
5. Duration of the Lesson Agreement – ongoing enrolment, annual fees
5a. The lesson agreement between Monster Music and the customer is a rolling enrolment that continues annually, unless written cancellation is received. You may be asked to re-enrol in order to get updated contact information.
5b. The customers are charged an annual fee, with invoices and payments spread monthly over a ten month period with respect to the coming month’s lessons, until a cancellation notice is received, as discussed below.
6. Cancelling the Lesson Agreement
6a. The customer must opt out of the Lesson Agreement with Monster Music. If the customer wishes to cancel the lesson agreement with Monster Music, written notice must be received by Monster Music Management.
6b. Monster Music works on rolling billing and expects customers to commit to at least 3 months at a time.
6c. Monster Music requires 4 weeks notice for cancellations and only accepts cancellations or “student drop-outs” on three dates throughout the year. In 2024 these dates are: 19th May, 18th August and 8th December. Monster Music will not accept cancellations at any other times.
6d. Verbal notice given to the tutor will not be acted upon and is not considered sufficient unless also confirmed in writing to Monster Music Management by the customer.
6e. Exceptions for special circumstances may be considered by Monster Music Management for cancellations outside of our set dates.
6f. If Monster Music has to cancel a lesson agreement it will endeavour to give two weeks’ notice to the customer. Any lessons remaining after the lessons’ end date will be credited to the customer's account if payment has already been made.
6g. If, in exceptional circumstances, Monster Music has to cancel the student's lesson due to damage of Monster Music property or harassment of Monster Music staff by the student, this may be done with no notice.
7. Photography & Filming
7a. Monster Music owns and reserves the right to use any film/media/still photographs of students for appropriate promotional purposes both in New Zealand and overseas, this also includes for use in social media.
7b. You (or your parents/caregivers if you are under 18 years of age) must inform Monster Music in writing at any time if you will not allow the use of such images.
8. Tuition Fees and Accounting
8a. Monster Music charges an annual rate, spread across ten flat monthly payments. No payments will be expected in January or December.
8b. Monster Music School Programme tutors CANNOT accept payments in any form at schools.
8c. Monster Music starts following up monthly fees with an assumption of good faith that it is an unintentional mistake.
8d. Generally, the customer will be billed for each future month in full in advance at the same time each month (except January and December). We will send invoices 10 days before the 1st of each month (this will fall on the 19th/20th/21st of the month, depending on the length of the month).
8e. Full payment must be received before the next month starts or within seven days of the invoice being sent
8f. We will ONLY be accepting debit/credit card payments in 2024. We will be using a service called Stripe to process these payments. There will be a 2.7% + $0.30 fee added to each invoice as a processing fee from Stripe.
8.f.i. Families will be expected to add their current credit card information into Opus1 before lessons commence.
8.f.ii. Families will not be able to cancel credit card charges. All cancellations must be made by Monster Music.
8h. New students will receive an invoice when their enrolment is processed.
8i. If the student commences lessons part way through a month, the remainder of that month will be billed in full and payment must be received within one week of the invoice being issued.
8j. Payments per lesson (weekly payments) are not acceptable as the full invoiced fee is payable by the due date on the invoice.
8k. Penalties for late payments will be applied as per the below.
8l. Lesson fees are an annual “set fee”, spread across ten monthly payments (excluding the months of January and December). If public holidays fall on the student’s lesson day, this will be offered as a Monster Make Up.
8m. In the event that Monster Music is unable to conduct a scheduled lesson due to circumstances outside of its control, such as the closure of a school, the student will be offered a Monster Make Up.
9. Penalties
9a. Overdue accounts will accrue penalties of $30 when overdue for 14 days and $15 for every following 14 day period.
9.a.i. LATE PAYMENT Penalties will be added to accounts that are 14 days in arrears. If the account remains overdue, further penalties will be added every 14 days.
9.a.ii. Late Penalty charges are made up of two parts - $10 late fee and $20 administration cost.
9.a.iii. The customer is responsible for any and all charges that their bank may levy for rejecting any payment to Monster Music.
9b. Monster Music does reserve the right to fully suspend students from lessons with unpaid term fees during term time. A full suspension means that Monster Music has the right to fill the students' lesson time slot with another student from the waitlist.
9c. Debt Collection details.
9.c.i. Payments more than 60 days in arrear may be handed over to Credit Consultants for debt collection.
9.c.ii. Monster Music will attempt numerous email and text communications prior to resorting to this unfortunate measure.
9.c.iii. All costs incurred for sending an account for debt collection are added to the customer’s outstanding balance.
Monster Music Lesson Rates
30 minute group lessons | $920 per year, spread across ten monthly payments of $92
20 minute private lessons | $1050 per year, spread across ten monthly payments of $105
30 minute private lessons | $1360 per year, spread across ten monthly payments of $136
All payments will occur between February and November. No payments are expected during January and December.
There is a 2.7% + $0.30 fee added to all invoices. This is a fee charged by Stripe to process payments.
Contact Details
Email – office@monstermusic.nz
To enrol for lessons with Monster Music, you must agree to the policies above. You must also agree that policies may change or need amending, but you will be notified of any changes/amendments via an email newsletter and/or social media. Our website always has the updated Terms and Conditions - you can find this document under “Resources”.
Clicking the button within our enrolment package is confirmation of your acceptance of these policies and future changes or amendments.