Not in tune as training institute faces the music from staff, students' parents
An offline campus of Xiaoyinka, a music training company, in Shanghai.
Xiaoyinka, or Little Musician, a music training company, is facing the music, with employees and teachers complaining about not being paid for nearly four months and parents of students asking for refunds due to its failure to deliver on its service promises.
The company, owned by Shanghai Yiqilai Culture Communication Co, was popular for providing one-on-one training for children aged between 4 and 12 years on musical instruments such as piano, violin and guzheng (Chinese zither).
Unlike traditional training organizations, where parents send their children to classes, Xiaoyinka students can take classes in its classrooms or teachers' studios or homes, or invite teachers to come and teach at home.
Tuition fees are paid to the company, with teachers being paid according to the number of classes they take in a month.
Gu Liqin, a mother of a 10-year-old girl, said she got to know about the primary school after it gave out a questionnaire in May last year about parents' interests in having their children learn some musical instrument.
"I answered 'Yes' and a salesperson of Xiaoyinka called me and arranged a demo class for my girl in August," Gu recalled.
She tried vocal music and guzheng and opted for the latter. Gu paid 50,600 yuan (US$7,545) for 180 classes and an additional 70 sessions for free. But only about 40 classes have taken place so far.
"I decided to pay so much because it reached us via the school and the company said it was funded by a state-owned firm under the Shanghai Youth League," Gu explained. "And also, I thought it would push my daughter to keep learning. She had tried learning piano and guitar earlier, but quit immediately after finishing some short-term courses."
Gu had another reason for choosing Xiaoyinka. It found a teacher who lived in their community and whom her daughter liked.
Also, at the end of last year, Xiaoyinka said it had signed an agreement with Bank of Shanghai to set up a special account for supervision of students' tuition, which made her more trustful of the company.
Xiaoyinka put a poster of its agreement with Bank of Shanghai over fund supervision at its outlet.
"Everything was perfect at first, and even after the company had to suspend offline courses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the teacher continued teaching online," Gu said.
"But in April, the teacher told me that she had to stop teaching as the company hadn't paid her for two months."
She contacted the salesperson and the assistant who had helped arrange the classes, and was told that the teachers were not paid as the finance staff could not return to the office due to the lockdown.
"I trusted them because of the citywide situation at the time and I paid the teacher personally to ensure the classes could go on for my daughter. She is going to sit for a grading test in summer," Gu revealed.
But later, with both the salesperson and the assistant out of contact, Gu joined some WeChat groups of parents having similar problems.
She noted that some of the parents had applied for refund but to no avail while others had checked with Bank of Shanghai and found that the account announced earlier had not yet been set up.
"We are worried and some have filed complaints with various government platforms, including the city's 12345 hotline," Gu stated. "Some parents have reported the case to police and I will go, too. I really don't know how to solve the problem otherwise."
Qiao Xue, a class assistant of Xiaoyinka, said the company had about 50,000 students around Shanghai, and she has been busy answering parents' inquiries and fielding their accusations and denunciations.
"Some of them paid 20,000 yuan, some paid 100,000 yuan while most around 50,000 yuan. But I can do nothing for them," she insisted. "I haven't been paid for three months. My supervisor messaged us that the company would lay off most employees and retain only 30 teachers and asked us to look for new jobs.
"It's impossible for me because I'm five months pregnant. The company has stopped paying my social security premiums, too, so I'm afraid whether I can get birth allowance after delivery."
On June 10, the company released two service hotlines for teachers and parents but many said their calls went unanswered.
Li Ai, founder of Xiaoyinka, issued an open letter to all teachers and parents on Monday, acknowledging that the firm was facing cash flow difficulties but pledged that it would not give up.
Saying that the company is actively seeking new financial support to continue its operations, she revealed that a detailed "rescue plan" will be released on Friday, calling on teachers to deliver classes with "discounted pay" while the rest and those owed previously will be paid gradually in the future.
But her explanation failed to ease parents' and employees' anxieties, especially when they found that Xiaoyinka's branch in Guangzhou had announced suspension of operations on the same day.
A WeChat group screenshot shows a message saying the company would lay off most of its employees.
Yuki Li, a guzheng teacher contracted with the company, said she messaged a company administrator via WeChat about joining the plan and continue teaching her students, but got no answer.
The teacher mentioned that she received an invitation from Xiaoyinka to use its platform about three years ago.
"I have a studio to teach children play guzheng but found it troublesome to recruit students by myself, so I agreed to subscribe to the company's service," she said. "We have cooperated well but since March, it has been delaying my payment again and again with excuses, including the lockdown. And even after the lockdown was lifted, it has still not paid me."
Parents and teachers also found that the company pays teachers more while charging parents less, drawing suspicion about the company's sustainable development.
Li revealed that she usually charges more than 200 yuan for each class while parents apparently pay less than 200 yuan. For example, Gao Xing, the father of a child, paid 25,200 yuan for 120 classes and got 60 more for free, which means he only spent 140 yuan for each class.
Class assistant Qiao said the company has now closed its customer relationship management system and dissolved staff WeChat groups.
"Even after our boss released the letter, many parents touched our hearts by leaving posts with encouraging messages, making me believe that we could go on," she observed.
"But yesterday, the company closed the system and dissolved the groups, and also our WeChat accounts for work, which means we can no longer contact parents or help them check contracts and remaining classes, or submit applications for refund. I'm really at a loss now."
