I think it's a tough call to be honest. My girlfriend is the gym owner so I hear everything first hand. And I've also been witness to some crazy stuff also.
People need to realize that a gym owner has a business to run and decisions to make and they won't always be right, but in the moment they feel right.. Some parents When unhappy will move on quietly and respectfully and others will try and burn your organization to the ground on the way out. And the problem lies with the fact that it could make completely happy parents doubt something about a program, that isn't even an issue, just because they are listening to someone who isn't happy.
Example is, we had a student leave practice early twice without telling a coach, because she had plans. Coach turns around and she is gone. turns out those plans were made after she was on the team and knew the schedule.. a few other things happened and she was removed from the team completely. The parent happened to be a substitute teacher and noticed one of the cheer girls in her class... began to trash our gym saying we didn't know what we were doing and that they left because she fears for her daughter's safety. Out right lie just to try and make herself not look stupid... if people don't know the situation that can have a really bad affect for your gym..
So while I don't necessarily agree with the owners response I definitely know why it was done. To try and keep the drama to a minimum. In general a lot of people will listen to other people and think they know what they are talking about when in fact they don't. I've seen a completely happy team of parents get completely upset, just from listening to one unhappy parent trash a gym. Once everything came to light the parents found out that what they were told didn't happen they forgot about it... but what happens if they leave before they find out the truth...
We have our banquet before anyone's tryouts... that way once our last comp is done we are done..