Complaint Review: StepsBallroomDanceClub / Shane & letizia Carroll / Lon Wilkinson / Ben Henry / Wayne Tucker - Hammond Louisiana

I agree in that being the loyal, dedicated, talented, comitted to excellence, health oriented student that I am, it was then and is now very difficult to understand and make sense or logic out of what these people did to me. It is probably equally difficult for any legitimate, truly dedicated teacher of performing arts/dance to even imagine that this is going on and has been for some time and they are still getting away with it and I know personally several students who just have not come forward with their difficulties with Steps Ballroom in Hammond. I consider it my civic obligation and duty to protect fellow citizens and inform them of exactly how I was treated at Steps Ballroom in Hammond, La. hopefully saving many unsuspecting men or women from the regrettably destructive business practices at Steps Ballroom in Hammond, La. Maybe you don't know these people as well as you think you do and they really do put on a convincing facade initially of being a people friendly, legitimate, caring place, teachers of dance. However, my experience there reveals them to be different than that facade and I was subjected to bullying technique, manipulation, intimidation, abuse, fraud. I am a student of dance and theatre arts and I know what appropriate touch is and training necessary for these activities. Likewise, there is no confusion that this was a beating/whipping causing bruising and pain for many days for physical punishment/control and also an attack by an out of control angry man using enough force to cause whip lash and injury to the cervical spine resulting in fluid pouring from the nose, difficulty breathing, arms and hands turning blue and a body slamming session causing soreness and difficulty breathing and moving for 3 weeks necessitating MRI and radiological studies to look for fractures and internal bleeding. Just so you know, a police report was filed and warrants issued and signed for arrests of the two instructors for battery. A lawsuit has been filed in the 21st Judicial District Court, Parish of Tangipahoa. The Attorney's General Office was contacted however Steps would not reply to the representative's letter of the complaint against them. The week of the attacks an officer of the law was contacted and consulted with me, the victim. Also, after the attacks, the two Hammond Police Officers who guard off-duty for the parties and other events , I asked them to walk me to the car instead of the instructors. I told them the reason being is that someone there had hurt me and I did not feel comfortable with the instructors walking me to the car at night. Once again, the instructors were not concerned whether or not I came back for lessons or not or that they had hurt me. All my money was paid in advance. I was told their policy was that they did not give refunds. If I did not take a lesson, they would be free to take another student. The studio had already been paid and neither the owners, management or instructors were concerned. I initiated repeated attempts to work things out; but Shane Carrol, Wayne Tucker, and instructors failed to make any attempts to satisfy my requests for ins. info for the studio to cover the doctor bills for injuries, refunds of my pre-paid monies, and they continued to deliver uncaring treatment to me a loyal customer and their behavior non-professional and hostile. By alerting others to the terrible experience I had there, perhaps others will not go through the pain, suffering, injuries to health, financial losses, and injuries to emotional health caused by the gross negligence of the owners, staff, and management of Steps Ballroom in Hammond, La. Customer service surveys have shown in general that not all victimized consumers file a complaint, rather they just take their business elsewhere. In the case of Steps Ballroom leaving pre-paid money on the books that the customer will never receive the services or the refund of money. I am exercising my free speech rights and my duty as a lifelong member of this Parish and community to let my fellow citizens know of the harmful, destructive, abusive treatment I received at Steps Ballroom in Hammond, La.

I have known and worked with Shane Carrol and his wonderful wife for over 12 years. He has and will continue to operate the studio with high ethical standards and he truly cares about his clientele. I'm having a very difficult time believing the physical abuse claims. I cannot agree with patting someone on the butt nor leg because of false claims like this, we have too many lawsuit happy people in the world, so we have to be careful at where we place our hands but he instructor in this case was more than likely praising the student in the same matter as the professional football players do. I can't say he was right for doing it, but come on...why would he inflict pain on a student? This is how they get paid, if he hurts the student then they could not take any lessons...Doesn't make since. NO. The choking incident is a lie, if a student or non student was being choked in Shane Carrols studio, the police would have been notified and there would be a police report to support this claim. Again, this is a lie and I cannot nor will not believe it ever happened. Please keep in mind, this case has not been heard in a court of law and at this point it's considered hearsay...It has not been proven to be true and Steps Ballroom will come out of it with a verdict in there favor, not the plaintiff. Steps Ballroom is a well run facility, Shane and his staff offer the highest level of teaching and they are one of the finest studios in the whole southern half of the US.