Austin Film and Maker Camp

I wish I had read the previous review before signing my son up for this camp.
My son attended the first two days of this camp and is not returning. The description of the camp says the kids will learn to create mods for Minecraft. That is not accurate. It also says that they will build a small computer. Also not accurate. The class instructor told us there were too many kids in the class to be doing that. We did learn that they watched a movie each day that had nothing to do with Minecraft.
That is only the start. We paid for the camp through Living Social. My wife called them to ask for a refund for the remaining days of camp and they said the owner needed to approve the refund. She finaly got in touch with the owner who was very busy taking her child to the train station. After several rebuttals for why we wanted the refund, she finally agreed to refund us for the remaining days of camp… until Living Social contacted her and she told them NOT to issue a refund to us. Luckily, Living Social did refund our money.
When the owner was told about what the instructor said about not building the computers, she was disappointed that the instructor even told us that.
I would thing twice about ever signing up for this camp unless you need an over-​priced babysitter who appears to be a dishonest person.

This will be a long review so for those not wanting to read my novel here is a quick summary: your child will have an okay time but as a parent your blood will boil if you spend any money on this camp.
What’s wrong with this fabulous sounding camp?
1. My son was in the Kano Minecraft camp. The description says it will teach children to learn to program. My son did the first two days. He had fun! On day three he finished all his ‘tasks’ early. So he played Sim City for two hours. On day four he played Sim City for the entire time after lunch (class is 9 – 4). Why? Because Suezean was teaching a film class and she needed it quiet for filming so my son’s teacher couldn’t teach the class! When I complained to the director/​owner, Suezean, she first told me there was no Sim City. So we went to speak to my son’s teacher. Yep. Sim City. Then she told the teacher he misunderstood. He could have kept teaching, just quietly. She also told me that the two hours my son played on Wednesday was acceptable. *schools take breaks too, you know? You can’t expect kids to code all day*. What?!? I do expect breaks, but not TWO HOURS STRAIGHT to play video games!!! And she wasn’t even aware of it! And when I made her aware she had excuses, not apologies! She actually told me she doesn’t know what my son’s class is doing, what time they eat lunch, how long their breaks are or what games they are playing. She is too busy teaching her own filming class.
2. The owner will send you multiple emails all with different start and end times for camp. When I told her how frustrating it was to keep changing my schedule she blew me off. She told me that I and one other parent had different times because we signed up early. So I should have disregaureded the emails. I told her it would have been nice if I and the one other parent knew that since I have other children to take places too. She told me she has 5 kids that she gets out of the house on time. Plus she is running this camp without being paid herself, to give back to the community. Basically telling me to stop complaining. Um, no. I’ve spent tons of money on this camp. Get your act together and tell me the times. 9 – 4. 9 – 5. Drop off 8 – 5. Then 8 – 5:30. Then 8:30 — 5:30. Pick a durn time! Again no apology. Just an I can do it so why can’t you?
3. Suezean wanted me to switch camps because of low turnout for the first date I picked. She never sent a confirmation email to give me something in writing stating I was now in a different week. I had to request it.
4. The owner did offer me a discount for switching camps. She waited too long to credit PayPal so she said she would mail it. Instead she handed me a check the first day of camp, because she was too busy to get stamps. I went to deposit it on Thursday and she had written two different amounts on the check. The handwritten amount did not match the numerical amount. The difference is only 50 cents but by now it’s the principle. She shouldn’t charge anyone any money for this camp so that’s 50 cents too much she is pocketing. However I don’t go to her because she is obviously clueless and disorganized.
So, if you want to pay someone hundreds of dollars to sit in a room with your child while they play a simulation game this is the camp for you! However, if you would rather send your child to a camp where the owner/​director knows what’s going on in the classrooms and there is a true STEM focus please do not sign up for this camp. I promise you, your child will learn nothing and you will regret giving this camp your business.