General Etiquette > Family and Children

Playground problem

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kherbert05:
Since this involves a playground I'm putting it in family and children. I'm pasting a letter of compaint to my YMCA. I would like feed back on whether I have a valid complaint and on the wording of the letter.

December 28, 2006
In regards to: Playground Rules and Use
YMCA District Manager
Address,
Houston, TX ZIP

Dear YMCA District Manager:

I just had a very frustrating visit to the Name YMCA. My 2 year old niece was visiting and I wanted to take her to the playground. Unfortunately the playground in my neighborhood is in very poor repair and dangerous. I called the Name YMCA and asked if members are allowed to use the playground and was told yes, when the daycare and daycamp kids were not using it. I was told it would be free from about 10:30 – 11:30.

We arrive at 10:30 and the daycare kids are on the playground. We sit down to wait our turn. At 10:45 I call one of the employees over because 4 of the day care kids are unsupervised - picking and eating berries off a bush. The worker off handedly says – oh (names of children) you aren’t suppose to be over here. No attempt was made to make sure they had not consumed the berries.

They leave the playground at 11:00, and I try to enter. I am rudely confronted by a worker who tells me oh we're off schedule and we are bringing the big kids out now. Her attitude was rude, and gave me the impression I should never attempt to use the playground.

I made the choice to use this playground, because I was told it would be available. If I had known the playground would be unavailable, I would have taken my niece to Two big Houston Parks. It is now too late, because she needs her lunch and nap.

I would like answers to the following questions:
Are the playgrounds for members use or just for the day care and day campers?

If they are for members use, could a schedule be made, posted, and employees held to it?

Why can members use the splash and pool areas when the day care/camp kids are there, but not the playground areas? If it is because of the exit to the parking lot, why not fix that problem and allow members to use the facilities we pay for?

Why did the employee not check the children's mouths when I told her they were consuming the berries?

Sincerely,
My full name and address

Clara Bow:
Sounds good to me, but I think you're mixing up your issues a bit. The poor supervision of the daycamp kids is a separate issue and shouldn't be lumped in with your personal complaint about the unfairness of the policy regarding playground use. Give this complaint it's own paragraph and include your list of questions in the wording of the explanation for your letter, not separately.
I'm not understanding the point of segregating playground time, and I'm appalled by the lackadaisical attitude of the daycare provider about the kids eating berries. I'd have had a stroke!

Lisbeth:
I think you have multiple issues here, and I agree with Auntie Venom that each needs separate treatment:

1) The inconsistent posted and actual playground hours
2) The bad attitudes of the staff toward you
3) The lack of supervision of the kids in daycare

Also, this text merely indicates that you are unhappy.  I'd indicate at the end what you want the YMCA district manager to do in response to your letter other than change the layout of the parking lot.  Not proposing a course of action really weakens letters of complaint.  If you want them to discipline their staff, change the hours the playground is available, or whatever, you need to make that clear. 

Finally, I'd double check the grammar and spelling (that's just the editor in me, but I think that these kinds of errors also weaken letters of complaint).
 

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