Tuition at Epic Music Academy - Terms and Conditions
As of September, 2024
The following Terms and Conditions apply to all lesson agreements made between EPIC MUSIC ACADEMY (“EPIC MA”); its customers (parents/carers of under 18 year old pupils); and/or its pupils.
The Terms and Conditions described below may seem relatively strict but have been discussed at length amongst the EPIC MA leadership team with the endeavour of making them as fair as possible for both client and provider. As EPIC MA functions with minimal margins, such lines in the sand have had to be drawn and are not a reflection of how awesome the majority of EPIC MA Families are. They are a reflection of the small margin of people that have taken advantage and never paid for services rendered that jeopardise the livelihood 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 EPIC MA but there are also other times that they are more in favour of the student/caregiver.
1. Term Dates
1a. Teaching weeks at EPIC MA roughly adhere to the New Zealand Ministry of Education School Terms. However, there are occasional differences and our term dates are sent out before every term begins.
1b. At all times it is the responsibility of EPIC MA families to be aware of the first and last dates of term at EPIC MA.
2. Communications
2a. Our normal practice is that all correspondence is sent out to EPIC MA families by email. If this causes a problem, please let EPIC MA know.
2b. It is the responsibility of EPIC MA families to make EPIC MA aware of any changes to their contact details. EPIC MA will not be held responsible for any missed communications, late / overdue payments, missed lessons, etc. if this is due to incorrect contact information.
2c. Due to the size of our student roll, most of EPIC MA’s communication is done via bulk delivery services e.g. mail merge, 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 schools@epicma.nz so we can rectify the situation as soon as possible.
3. Timetabling of Lessons
3a. EPIC MA families will be informed of the lesson day, time and the date of their first lesson before their teaching commences, either by phone, in person or by email. EPIC MA 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. Student timetables are always subject to change due to the ever-evolving nature of the school environments in which lessons take place. EPIC MA endeavours to minimise the impact these changes may have on lessons, and will endeavour to communicate changes effectively. Where requested (at CCS for example), timetables may not ever change due the express desire of the school management.
3c. School-based / School Programme lessons – To be read in conjunction with 4d.
3.c.i. If the agreed lesson day needs to be changed, EPIC MA families will be contacted as far in advance as possible and alternative arrangements will be made with the school and EPIC MA families for a suitable new lesson time.
3.c.ii. EPIC MA will always do its best to arrange catch ups for clashes in the timetable that it is made aware of before the beginning of each term.
3.c.iii. Lessons missed due to school activities, public holidays, or student absences that aren’t able to be rearranged will be offered as workshop credits to be used in the next school holidays. Any workshop credits not used during the school holiday period immediately following the absence will be forfeited.
3.c.iv. 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, EPIC MA families will not be informed in advance and will instead be collected at the new time by the tutor.
3.c.v. In order for pupils not to miss the same classroom lessons/ activity each week, EPIC MA may offer a rotating timetable to suit the school.
3.c.vi. Pupils scheduled for lessons on a rotating timetable will be given the details of the varying lesson times, as will the tutors and the school, so that attendance at the School Programme lessons is not impacted adversely.
4. Absences
4a. Individual/Private lessons –
4.a.i. If the student is unable to attend a lesson please let EPIC MA know at the earliest time possible by email to schools@epicma.nz
Emails and Absence forms will be passed on to the relevant tutor(s) - you are welcome to make direct contact with the tutors as well if you choose to.
4.a.ii. Where less than 24-hours’ notice is given for missing a lesson no catch-up lesson or credit will be given. This lesson is considered forfeited.
4.a.iii. Where at least 24-hours’ notice of the intended absence is given, this is deemed an “explained absence.”
4.a.iv. Your or your child’s EPIC MA tutor will arrange replacement/catch-up lessons for up to two lessons per term for explained absences with you at a mutually agreeable time. This often happens in the form of an extra 30 minutes on your next lesson or an extra 15 minutes on top of your next two lessons or if this isn’t possible with the tutor’s schedule, they will choose a day or two during the first week of the term break to provide this lesson.
4.a.v. EPIC MA tutors are trained to go above and beyond to help work these replacement/catch up lesson timings out with you, however If you decide that you would prefer to not have this, this lesson is considered forfeited.
Please note the onus is on the caregiver/parent to jointly work with their tutor to find a mutually beneficial time. The tutors are instructed to diligently help in this so please let the main office know if you feel this is not happening.
4.a.vi. It is only by managerial discretion that customer credit is placed on a pupils account to the value of a missed lesson. Customer credit is not transferable for money but will be used at the earliest convenience - usually the next term’s fees.
4b. Group and School Programme lessons –
4.b.i. Where applicable, lessons missed due to school activities, public holidays, student or teacher absences will be offered as a workshop credit to be used in the next school holidays.
4.b.ii. No catch-up lessons or standard term credits will be provided for an individual's absence from a School Programme / group lesson / band class / choir / or any other group-based tuition activity.
4.b.iii. Any workshop credits not used during the school holiday period immediately following the term the absence occurred will be forfeited.
4c. Tutor Absences –
4.c.i. If the pupil's tutor is unavailable to teach, EPIC MA will attempt to arrange a cover tutor and give you as much notice as possible.
4.c.ii. If this is not possible, the pupil’s normal tutor will arrange catch up lessons with the pupil as stipulated in 4.a.iii.
4.c.iii. A tutor’s absence is not counted as one of the two explained absences per term but as an additional replacement/catch up lesson owed.
4d. Unavoidable cancellations –
4.d.i. If EPIC MA cancels any lessons due to events out of its control, customer credit may be given at the discretion of EPIC MA management.
4.d.ii. EPIC MA diligently attempts to avoid all events planned by the school that conflict with lessons at the start of each term. However, we appreciate any parent who notifies us of events that may have been not communicated by the school. EPIC MA requires a minimum of 1 week's notice prior to an event to timetable required changes.
4.d.iii. If a school cancels EPIC MA's teaching due to events out of EPIC MA's control (sports days / school trips / etc.) the week of that event, it is not EPIC MA's responsibility to make itself aware of any such event, due to what is stipulated in 4.d.ii.
4e. Ongoing absences –
4.e.i. If a pupil will be absent for more than three weeks due to medical reasons, a credit may be given, at the discretion of EPIC MA management, and on the production of a doctor’s certificate.
5. Duration of the Lesson Agreement - ongoing
5a. The lesson agreement between EPIC MA and EPIC MA families is a rolling agreement that continues into each new term and new year.
5b. EPIC MA families are emailed their invoices towards the end of each term in respect of the following term’s lessons, until a cancellation notice is received, as discussed below.
6. Cancelling the Lesson Agreement – the customer must opt out
6a. If an EPIC MA family wishes to cancel the lesson agreement with EPIC MA, written notice must be received by EPIC MA Management at least two weeks prior to the beginning of the new term. Cancellation can only be made at the end of the term or year. Withdrawal part way through the term is not permitted (similar to sports, dance, gymnastics lessons etc.). Any early withdrawal from lessons will result in the forfeit of the rest of the terms fees. Exception is for 4.e.i.
6b. Verbal notice given to the tutor will not be acted upon and is not considered sufficient unless confirmed in writing to EPIC MA main office by the customer.
6c. If the EPIC MA family is unable to give notice before the due date of the invoice, they will be charged a late notice fee of up to 20% of the lesson costs.
6d. Exceptions on medical grounds may be made to this as decided by EPIC MA management.
6e. No refund or credit will be given for any cancellations part way through a fixed length programme (such as an Introduction to Music course).
6f. If EPIC MA has to cancel a lesson agreement it will endeavour to give two weeks’ notice to EPIC MA families. Any lessons remaining after the lessons’ end date will be credited to the EPIC MA families accounts if payment has already been made.
6g. If, in exceptional circumstances, EPIC MA has to cancel EPIC MA lessons due to damage of EPIC MA property or harassment of EPIC MA staff by the students, this may be done with no notice and no credit or refund for any outstanding lessons.
6i. If there are any credits in the form of a prepayment, this will be refunded to the customer upon receiving a New Zealand bank account. Any prepayments outstanding after 12 months will be forfeited and used at the discretion of EPIC MA management.
7. Payments
7a. Payment is accepted by internet banking, details are found on every EPIC MA invoice. Please make sure the customer surname, school, and invoice number are clearly included so we can track your payment to your account.
7b. Alternatively, you can take your payment to your bank or any ASB Branch and deposit manually into the above account. If doing this, please make sure the invoice number, customer surname, and school are entered into the details so we can track your payment to your account.
7c. Under no circumstances should payment be taken to the school office, or given to the tutor personally. This is to protect the school, EPIC MA families, and the tutor.
7d. It is wholly the responsibility of the parent/caregiver who signs up the student to ensure the payment is made in full. Payments can be made by other parties in whole or part. Epic is not responsible for making contact with other parties in relation to payment being received, unless we have written permission from them directly. This written permission needs to include the following information, sent to us via email:
First and Last Name:
Address:
Phone number:
Email:
Agreement that they are financially equally responsible for payment
Agreement to our terms and conditions and for payments, fees and penalties according to clauses 8. Tuition Fees and Accounting and 9. Penalties
This clause exempts those students whose payments are made through a government department.
8. Tuition Fees and Accounting
8a. EPIC MA tutors CANNOT accept payments in any form.
8b. EPIC MA starts following up term fees with an assumption of good faith that it is an unintentional mistake.
8c. EPIC MA families will be billed for each future term in full towards the end of the preceding term.
8d. Full payment must be received before the new term starts.
8e. EPIC MA prefers online / Internet banking payments.
8f. New pupils will receive an invoice when their enrolment is processed.
8g. If EPIC MA families commence lessons part way through a term, the remainder of that term will be billed in full and payment must be received within one week of the invoice being issued.
8h. Penalties for late payments will be applied as per the below.
9. Penalties
9a. Overdue accounts can accrue penalties of $35 when overdue for 28 days and $15 for every following 14 day period.
9.a.i. LATE PAYMENT Penalties will be added to accounts that are 28 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. Dishonoured Internet Payments – The EPIC MA family’s account will be debited with a $10 fee if any online payment is annulled.
9.a.iv. EPIC MA families are responsible for any and all charges that their bank may levy for rejecting any payment to EPIC MA.
9b. EPIC MA does reserve the right to temporarily and fully suspend pupils from lessons with unpaid term fees during term time. A temporary suspension means that EPIC MA will keep the lesson time slot available for the pupil in the hopes that payment will be made. A full suspension means that EPIC MA has the right to fill the pupils’ lesson time slot with another pupil from the waitlist. The following fees apply to these accounts:
9.b.i. Up to 20% penalty to cover the nonpayment and lessons received by the student. Any tuition books provided will also be charged at their usual cost.
9c. Debt Collection details.
9.c.i. Payments more than 30 days in arrear may be handed over to Baycorp NZ for debt collection.
9.c.ii. EPIC MA will attempt numerous contacts prior to resorting to this unfortunate measure.
9.c.iii. All costs incurred for sending an account for debt collection are added to the EPIC MA family’s outstanding balance.
10. Photography & Filming
10a. EPIC MA may use film or still photographs of students for appropriate promotional purposes from large group activities (e.g. our EPIC Live concerts).
10b. You (or your parents/caregivers if you are under 18 years of age) must inform EPIC MA in writing at any time if you will not allow the use of such images.
10c. EPIC MA also endeavours to get written permission from every family whose film and/or photographs to use for educational and promotional purposes, however we accept no liability for getting this wrong if we haven’t been explicitly instructed not to share.
11. Changes to the Terms and Conditions
11a. The Terms and Conditions described above are agreed to upon enrollment and may be changed at any point by EPIC MA without providing notice to EPIC MA families. A copy of the Terms and Conditions will always be available on our website and may be emailed to EPIC MA families on request.
The Epic Holiday Program - Terms and Conditions
As of September 2024
INTRODUCTION
The following Terms and Conditions apply to The Epic Holiday Program from March 2024 and are made between Epic Music Academy (EMA) and its pupils and the parents / carers of its children. Submission of this form is deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.
COMMUNICATION
1) All correspondence is sent out to the primary contact person by email and it is appreciated if email is the format you use to contact EMA as well.
2) Submission of the registration form means a place in the programme has been confirmed. However if EMA sells out, registrations will be accessed on a first in first serve basis (with preference given to EMA students).
3) A minimum of 2 weeks notice will be given in the unlikely event that for an unforeseen reason a programme day has to be cancelled by EMA.
4) Any changes made to what day a pupil will attend including full days, early starts needs to be made in writing (via email) and will only be accepted up till 5 business days before your child's enrolment begins. After this point EMA reserves the right to not accept these changes.
5) It is the responsibility of the parent/caregiver to make EMA aware of any changes to their contact details. EMA will not be held responsible for any missed communications or missed sessions, etc. if this is due to incorrect contact information.
6) By filling out this form, I agree that I have authority to do so as the caregiver of the student being registered.
PROGRAMME FEES
1) Programme Fees (per person) : A full week is $275 each week (unless stated otherwise), a full day is $60/day and an early start is $10/day. The cost of days may change due to the planned activity and will be shown on the enrollment page.
2) No refund or credit will be given for cancellations unless EMA receives written notification at least 2 weeks prior to the enrolled date.
3) No refund or credit will be given for any no-shows. This includes 'due to sickness', unless EMA management decides otherwise.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
1) I, the caregiver, agree to not bring my child to the program if they exhibit symptoms or are exposed to others with symptoms of contagious illnesses e.g. chicken pox.
2) I, the caregiver, give permission for the EMA staff to use an appropriate level of contact if my child becomes a harm to themselves or safety risk to others at any point during the program. This is under the understanding that I will be contacted at the nearest possible time from the incident, that EMA staff are trained to deem what is appropriate and not appropriate when looking after children and that it may result in the removal of my child for the remainder of the day or week.
3) I, the caregiver, give permission for EMA to take my child off-site for outings. All outing days can be found on the EMA website.
4) EMA adheres to the best practice guidelines from up to date legislation related to Health and Safety and Vulnerable Children. These may viewed at any time in the EMA Health and Safety Manual (outlining risk assessment and recruitment requirements), Child protection policy and available incident, hazard and discrimination forms.
5) I, the caregiver, by agreeing to these terms, acknowledge that there are unavoidable risks and potential for injury or accident in any activity and that I will follow all instructions by staff while on the programme.
6) I, the caregiver by agreeing to these terms, understand that the personal liability claims in New Zealand are entirely contained in the Accident Compensation Act and that I release EMA from any liabilities for damages, loss or injury that can be made against ACC.
OTHER
1) Each day is a stand alone one day programme filled with workshops and is different enough that your child can attend more than one day if desired.
2) EMA may use film or still photographs of children for appropriate promotional purposes. You must inform EMA in writing at any time if you will not allow the use of such images.
INFORMATION SHARING
The information collected within this form is to establish and maintain appropriate records required to perform our obligations under a contractual relationship with you and to comply with our legal obligations as a service provider. Information collected will be managed in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020, the Childrens Act 2014, The Children, Young Persons and their Families Act 1989, and other relevant legislation. Information collected by this service provider may be accessed by the Ministry of Social Development, relevant Government departments and other Audit organisations.
Reasons we may share your information with these authorised organisations include:
- To comply with any statutory or regulatory obligation requiring disclosure or use of the information.
- To assist any law enforcement or government agency in the performance of their proper functions, if we reasonably consider disclosure or use of the information to be necessary for that purpose, ensuring that we meet the requirements in the Act for your protection.
You may view your child’s and family’s information at any time by accessing your account via your Enrolmy Parent Portal and you can directly correct or update any information on your account.
COMPLAINTS
If you are unhappy with the service you've received, we want to know so we can work with you to resolve your concerns. To submit a formal complaint, please email epichp@epicma.nz and we will send you the complaints form.
Your rights when making a complaint
- You have the right to have an advocate support you at any stage of the complaints process.
- Your information will remain confidential and will only be shared with those directly involved.
- You may contact the Human Rights Commission (HRC) at any time for information, advice or to file a complaint with them.
Once we receive your complaint through our official complaints form, we'll send you an email confirming we've received it within 5 working days.
We'll investigate your complaint and contact you if we need more information. You should expect a response within 20 working days from the date we received your complaint. If we need more information or the matter you've raise is very detailed or complex, we might need more time to make a decision. If we do need more time, we'll let you know.
You will be notified of the result of your complaint, along with any actions taken.
CONCLUSION
As EMA is a social enterprise that functions with minimal margins, such guidelines have had to be made and are not a reflection or lack of trust in EMA families. They were made as a response to the small margin of people that have taken advantage and never paid for services rendered that jeopardise the livelihood of EMA tutors and supervisors. 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 EMA but there are also other times that they are more in favour of the pupil and their caregiver.
As of July, 2025
1. RENTAL PAYMENTS:
Weekly rental payments are made via Easy Debit and continue until a minimum of 2 weeks' written cancellation notice is provided. Payments are charged weekly regardless of usage or school breaks. Missed payments without contact may result in cancellation and recovery of the instrument.
2. MINIMUM RENTAL TERM:
All rentals have a minimum commitment of 1 term. After this period, rentals continue on a weekly basis until cancelled with a minimum of 2 weeks’ notice. No refunds are provided for early return outside the notice period.
3. GOOD CONDITION:
Instruments must be returned clean, working, and with all accessories. The renter is financially responsible for damage or loss beyond normal wear. Epic Music Academy may withhold part or all of the bond to cover these costs. If repair costs exceed the bond, the renter will be invoiced for the balance. If repair is not possible, the renter will be liable for full replacement costs.
4. RETURN OF INSTRUMENTS:
Returns must be made by the agreed return date. Rent continues until the notice period ends and the instrument is returned. Bond refunds are processed after inspection and may be adjusted based on condition.
5. BOND POLICY:
The bond may be used to cover damage, missing parts, cleaning, or unpaid rent. Refunds will not be issued until all dues are settled and the instrument passes inspection.
6. NON-PAYMENT & DEFAULT:
Failure to pay or communicate may lead to rental cancellation, recovery of the instrument, referral to debt collection, and loss of bond.
7. LIABILITY:
Renter accepts full responsibility for care of the instrument. Instruments must not be sold, lent, or modified. Unauthorised repairs may void the bond and incur replacement costs.
8. CABLE & ACCESSORY POLICY:
Electric guitars do not include a cable. Drum kits do not include drum sticks. Accessories must be returned in good condition. Lost or damaged items may reduce the bond refund.
9. OWNERSHIP:
All instruments remain property of Epic Music Academy. This is a rental, not a purchase or lease-to-own agreement.
10. COLLECTION RIGHTS:
Instruments may be collected in cases of non-payment or breach. The renter must make the instrument available for retrieval.
11. AGREEMENT CHANGES:
Epic Music Academy reserves the right to amend rental terms with written notice. Pricing may be reviewed annually.
Epic Music Academy does not provide insurance. You are fully responsible for the instrument while it is in your possession. This includes but is not limited to:
If an incident occurs, you may be liable for the full replacement or repair cost as determined by Epic Music Academy. We recommend including the instrument in your personal contents insurance.
NOT COVERED BY BOND:
In the case of theft or major damage:
