Reply from TunelarkJan 8, 2024
Hi Eric, I see where you're coming from. There's been a misunderstanding here, so I'd love to address your concern and explain some context in an effort to regain your trust.
All the teachers we work with are talented musicians and experienced teachers, and they all embrace our ethos of helping students connect with their intrinsic love of music and follow a personalized path to set and achieve musical goals. Beyond those commonalities, our community of teachers is, by design, incredibly diverse in their range of skills, teaching experience, personalities, and pedagogical styles.
The perfect teacher for one student isn't necessarily the perfect teacher for another, and finding that ideal match makes a huge difference in students' learning outcomes and in their enjoyment along the way. Excellent student-teacher matches are also more fun and fulfilling for teachers and lead to longer-term students.
We always hope students will be excited to continue with the first teacher they meet, but we've found that it's in the interest of both the students and the instructors in our community that we normalize switching teachers. If we don't, then people who don't initially connect with their ideal teacher may feel that their options are to stop altogether or continue with a teacher who doesn't quite match their needs. To facilitate the most long-term successful student-teacher matches possible, we make sure to communicate that it's normal to try out multiple teachers. The best case scenario is that the student loves working with their first teacher and continues learning from them, as you've done.
Some context: The email you received did provide a link to book more lessons with your current teacher. And it was sent only after two other emails that exclusively encourage the student to book more lessons with their current teacher. When it seems like the student may be stopping lessons entirely, that's when we send this email in which we did our best to express that it's normal and often helpful to try out lessons with multiple teachers before choosing one's long-term teacher.
Also, just to clarify, the email isn't offering a special discount to encourage students to switch teachers. Trial lessons are just always 50% off, so that's the same discount you got for your trial lesson with your current teacher. Our hope is always that people will find the right teacher as easily as possible (as you've done, which is great!) and stick with them long term. Our goal, as well as the most common case in practice, is for the first match to be the right long-term match.
All that said, I'm truly grateful you brought this to our attention. Based on your feedback, I've completely rewritten the email to better reflect our values and approach. We've also adjusted the timing, ensuring it's sent only after a more significant period of inactivity. It's important to us that our communications convey our deep respect and confidence in the abilities of all Tunelark teachers. We're committed to offering options without undermining the strong connections many students already have with their instructors. I believe the updated email more effectively communicates the intended message. Your input has been invaluable in this process, and I hope the changes we've made resonate with your experience and expectations.
If you feel that this response addresses your concerns, we would be grateful if you would consider revising your review. We're a small business, and we've worked hard to build a positive reputation by always seeking to make decisions in the best interest of our community of students and teachers, and by responding proactively to feedback. We are always eager for input from customers and you're always welcome to email me directly with any requests or issues that come up. As mentioned, I've already implemented changes based on your feedback. If you have any other feedback or ideas for us, please don't hesitate to reach out. We're always looking to improve!
