[BTW I'm not a paid private coach - just an unpaid volunteer group lesson instructor.]
I coached learn to skate for a number of years in high school and college and we were often given fliers to hand out to the students (for things such as skate with santa, basic skills competitions, etc).
That's true where I volunteer. All the students are supposed to get the BS competition flyers. Though we do try to make it so most students win something.
I can see where you felt blindsided & a coach shouldn't push private lessons like that.
I know what I say next may bother some of you, but it seems to me valid anyway:
Various coaches and figure skating directors have told me that it is pretty normal and accepted for coaches to teach group lessons in order to recruit private students. That's part of how they recruit group lesson instructors, who are often paid less than they can earn as private lesson coaches. For the most part, recruitment happens during and after lessons rather than at competitions - but encouraging students to take private lessons seems to be a major part of the business of being a coach.
Some coaches specifically recruit those students who need the most help as private students. Some coaches, who want to coach more competitive skaters, do the opposite, and some do both.
It's not dishonest to tell a student or their parents that private lessons help. It's just plain true. A large part of group lesson time, whether it is in sport instruction, public school, or even college, is a combination of babysitting, and working to keep the class in a semblance of order. So private lesson time is usually more productive.
It may seem unfair that money for private lessons and other things helps in sports - and academia - but it is true. In figure skating, as in many sports, it is virtually impossible to reach the upper levels without a lot of money. It would be extremely dishonest for a coach to give you the misimpression that your child can do as well as students who take private lessons.
There are also strong limits to how much individual attention you can give in a large group setting. And if you give too much feedback, in front of the class (which is the only way to find time in a large group setting), it can be very discouraging to the less talented students. There are definite trade-offs.
It's also not dishonest that private students often advance more slowly, and only test and compete after they have more fully mastered the skills, in the sense that a good private coach often tries to make sure their students master the foundation skills before learning new ones. The directions given by the USFS to BS instructors are pretty specific - you shouldn't be too strict, that the emphasis is on having fun, not on getting things perfect. That also makes sense from the economic point of view of the USFS, as well as to the local BS program, because it makes more students happy to pass levels. But many coaches feel that isn't what you should do to make the student eventually be as competitive as possible at later levels.
Also: someone always comes in last place. So if you say that a coach is at fault if their student takes last place, and that the student and coach are failures, you are implying that some coach and some student are necessarily a failure - which isn't fair either. It's important to understand that if you compete, you will sometimes not do as well as you hoped. And sometimes you may even come in last.
OK, like I said, a lot of people won't agree...