Ready? Fight!

Here's another post inspired by an assignment, this time from Informal Logic: 

Consider a recent argument and present it in a premise/conclusion format.  

The following is a true story.

Just a few hours ago, I was reminded of a bitter dispute between my family and, of all places, a karate studio.  We were sent a collections letter seeking payment in the amount of $1400, despite attempts to negotiate directly with the owner of the studio regarding the cancellation of a two-year contract for karate classes once my husband’s medical treatments and the costs thereof created a long-term shortage in our budget.

When the issue initially came up, following a robbery of our apartment and subsequent purchase of expensive medication to replace what had been stolen, we spoke to the owner of the karate studio with the hopes that he would be understanding of our circumstances and make arrangements to buy out the contract or, even better, forgive the remaining obligation completely.  Our premise was simple: we could not afford to continue paying for karate classes.

In response, the karate studio owner’s premise was that we had signed a legal contract and were obligated to continue paying him for the duration with no exception.  However, he advised us to pen a letter to the “customer service department” explaining our circumstances and that “they” would consider further action, implying that there would be some resolution if we followed this course.

We wrote the letter as he advised, stopped bringing our five-year-old to karate classes, and were surprised to see additional payments taken from our bank account via the debit card he had on file.  We followed up with the studio owner, insisting that we had written the letter as advised and were expecting resolution, not more charges, and he restated his initial premise in harsher terms: that we signed a contract and were obligated to pay at any expense, regardless of our circumstances.  Further, we discovered through subsequent phone calls that there was not a separate "customer service" department, as he was the sole owner of the studio and was obligated to no higher power.  

Facing this staunch opposition, we chose to cancel the debit card he had been charging, thus removing his iron grip on our finances.  Yes, I've been sleeping soundly.

This exchange took place several months ago, and the letter of collection came today. The conclusion I have drawn is that, despite being in the business of teaching honor and respect, the karate studio owner values money over people.  He may have concluded that we are liars or deadbeats, but I value his perception of me as much as he seems to value mine of him. 

Clearly, the fight is far from over.