Stephens Family YMCA

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CLOSED NOW - Opens at 5:00am

Let me tell you my experience with the new Y so far:1. My 2.5-year-old son was able to leave the Child Watch ("Watch"?) area his first day there. The staff told us he "left unnoticed and was unattended and for some time" - and they didn't take any responsibility for this. None. Not even an apology to us. Apparently he bailed and tried to find us. This is a calm, quiet boy who is used to being places without us. The Y's solution? To tell us to tell our son to stay in the room. We are apparently supposed to ask a toddler to mind each time he's there because the staff cannot watch him or address the door issues that enabled him to get out in the first place? Aren't we supposed to be the parents that are working out while he's there? Do they understand the definition of "watch"? I was very unimpressed.2. There's a TV in the toddler room. Very inappropriate and we do not allow our toddlers to sit in front of a TV for 1-2 hours at a time. When I brought this issue up with a Y manager her response was "maybe the Y isn't for you". Wait...and it somehow is for those that are ok with their kids being plunked down in front of a TV? Where's the being accommodating for all families and the sense of community talk that they stressed over and over in orientation? I'm not seeing it. I brought the issues up with the Child Watch manager. No response. It's been ignored. I brought it up with leadership...again, no response. We discussed it on the Facebook page for the Y and some good suggestions were brought up - that post was deleted as being "not the right forum". Note that they didn't discuss what was the right forum or actually deal with the issues.I'm giving the Y until the end of the month to take any level of professionalism before I drop membership. I really want to love the Y. It's close to our house. It has everything we'd want at a reasonable price. The hours are great. I just cannot leave my children with people that can't actually watch them or have them plunked down in front of the TV the entire time. So the kids that go there will get the idea of "I'm going to the Y to watch TV" and not "I'm going to the Y to climb or play or ...um, anything physical?" How ironic and frustrating.I'd probably be less outraged if I didn't get the impression they were actively blowing me off for having any criticism. It very much feels like "the Y or the highway" in their tone and approach so far. I'm giving them until the end of the month to learn anything about basic levels of customer service before I ditch them. Our children are members of a community too and deserve better than sub-par treatment. s