Achieve Test Prep

This student purchased a 13 class package from Achieve Test Prep. She took 6 classes with us and passed all 6 exams on the first try. When the student moved from NJ to **4 she stopped attending classes; however, we do have virtual classes taught by live instructors available. Classes meet once a...

week for 3 hours.  As recently as May 2016, the student did call and request to be registered for a nursing class but changed her mind and unregistered a few weeks later. All of our enrollment agreements have a term length, which is customary for contracts. This student's contract reached full term in October 2015, which meant as of that point she was no longer eligible to invoke the withdrawal policy or drop courses. The student reached out to us in August 2016 and requested to drop classes from her enrollment agreement. We admit that a customer service representative made an error and told the student that she can pay a $250 modification fee to drop up to 4 classes. However, the student was ineligible due to her contract expiration. We have since offered to refund the $250 modification fee due to this error, which we regret. Despite the student's contract expiration, we have offered for her to still take her CPNE and NCLEX prep classes with us, since these are still outstanding. We offered to swap any classes she has not taken for classess towards an RN-BSN program in the future. We have also made an offer to this student to address her refund request, and we hope that she finds these offers to be a fair resolution to her complaint.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: This unusual term of yours was never explained to me and It should since has nothing to do with normal business. NO business gives a discount and in case of refund calculates in a non-discount price. Please refund my money within 10 days. 
Regards,
[redacted]

We regret that [redacted] has changed her mind about her daughter proceeding with the Achieve Test Prep program. We have corresponded since her response, and she has chosen to receive the refund amount as outlined in the enrollment agreement instead of her previous choice of receiving the smaller refund with a 4 course package and Degree Planning Report. While we understand people’s natural frustration with contracts, the refund calculation and withdraw terms are clearly outlined in the enrollment agreement which she signed. We believe our offer to modify her enrollment allowing for a refund plus a 4 course package with Degree Planning Report is more than fair given that she simply changed her mind about proceeding and did not have specific problems with our product or service. We would love to help [redacted] speed up the process of obtaining her degree by testing out of courses towards her ASN or BSN, and we wish her the best in her educational journey.

We understand that this student became frustrated when [redacted] State University (ISU) changed their policy of accepting credit-by-examination for English Composition for the LPN to BSN program and with the technical difficulties she experienced when attempting to register for ATP’s courses using...

her phone.   We also understand that she became frustrated when we advised during her education plan meeting to begin with prerequisite courses for ISU’s program instead of starting with other courses. However, we did respond and address these concerns in a timely manner. Our records show that the student had technology issues when attempting to use ATP’s student portal on her phone and that the issues were resolved when she logged in using her computer instead. Also, we sent a simple swap form to this student for swapping into the prerequisite courses for no additional charge, but the student never signed and submitted the swap form.  We advised this student of ISU’s change of policy regarding English Composition even though all of the courses on her enrollment agreement are still being offered and are still eligible for credit-by-examination.  Shortly thereafter, the student contacted Academic Affairs and informed us that she wanted to switch from BSN courses to ASN courses.  A new enrollment agreement was generated and sent to this student for signature, and this updated enrollment agreement was never returned.  Instead, the student decided to withdraw from ATP’s program.  During our withdrawal meeting with the student, we agreed to postpone the withdrawal and take some time to search for additional college programs that may meet her needs. Although we still believe either the ASN or BSN programs already outlined for the student are great options, the student has chosen to withdraw and we can finalize her request in accordance with the terms outlined in the enrollment agreement.

This student submitted a withdraw request on March 18th.  We did have a small delay responding which we regret, however this does not alter the terms of the contract. Our records do show that we attempted to contact the student by phone and email before April 29th, which contradicts her claim....

In fact, we made 7 contact attempts to the student through June before we were finally able to connect to discuss her concerns. We explained the contract terms, and when she was not happy with these, we outlined alternative options and compromises.  Our contract cancellation and refund terms are outlined on page 6 of the enrollment agreement, and she initialed next to this policy when she executed the enrollment agreement.  We have reached out to this student to resolve her complaint and hope to resolve this matter amicably.

We are sorry to hear that this student did not get approved by the credit union to which she applied for a loan; however, Achieve Test Prep does have guaranteed financing available that we have offered to the student. We are happy to work with her to make sure we stay within her education budget....

Our contract provides a 72 hour window to receive a complete refund of the deposit (less nominal application fee), but we also have a withdrawal clause that provides all students with a pro-rated financial obligation based on their participation in the program. There is no doubt that testing out of courses saves students time in achieving their degree. The waiting period the student mentioned for clinical testing with Excelsior fluctuates, and there are ways to minimize the wait that we discuss with students when they get to that stage of their degree plan. We agree that an excessive wait time is discouraging to students, but we have no control over Excelsior's policies and procedures. Once the student indicated she was not happy with Excelsior’s policies, at no extra charge we researched and found other RN Bridge programs that she could attend and take advantage of her courses with Achieve Test Prep.  However, this student has requested to withdraw, and we are in the process of resolving her withdrawal in accordance with the terms outlined in her enrollment agreement. We hope that she will reconsider and let us help her get back on track to reaching her goals.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]

[redacted]i enrolled with Achieve Test Prep in April 2013 for a 17 course package.
Students have several payment options with ATP, which are outlined on the
enrollment agreement.  With the payment in full and outside loan options,
students have the option to finance in their estimated exam...

fees. [redacted]
chose a payment method that did not include exam fees. [redacted] took out a loan
to pay for her ATP costs, and those monthly payments are due each month. 
She took her foundations courses (New Student Orientation and Achieve 101) upon
enrolling in April 2013, and also began to take Anatomy and Physiology.
Subsequently, she also took Microbiology and Developmental Psychology with
ATP.  [redacted] contacted ATP in 2014 and told us that she was having
trouble affording her monthly payments and affording the tests due to some
personal issues. We tried our best to help her with this by agreeing to let her
make reduced payments for 4 months. We also gave [redacted] an extension of 3
months on her reduced payment period. We have a policy to encourage students to
test for courses within 30 days of the class end date and to submit their exam
pass results before moving onto the next class.  This is part of our recipe for
success, and students who adhere to our policies enjoy incredible pass rates
averaging 92%! We offer class re-takes to all students for no additional
charge, and [redacted] did take advantage of this with her A&P course. We
are sorry that [redacted] feels she has not been satisfied with our service. We
have offered to modify [redacted]’s contract to allow her to have lower monthly
payments, for her to retake any prior courses for no charge, and to work one on
one with a tutor for the exam that she failed. We believe these are fair
responses to the complaints outlined. Information on how to withdraw is
outlined in the enrollment agreement. [redacted] did request to withdraw on
10/14/2015, and our student services department has since been trying to reach her to
resolve this matter according to the contract terms.

Achieve Test Prep has several flexible payment options available. We do have guaranteed financing and there is an interest rate, but students can also pay up front to avoid paying interest or secure their own financing. We can build packages to meet each student’s budget, and the enrollment...

agreement includes payment options and details.We are still confident we can help this student reach his goals and save him time and money on his degree. However, the student has requested to cancel and our customer service manager has reached out to him directly to address his questions and resolve his cancellation.

Again, we are sorry that [redacted] feels she is not satisfied with her experience at ATP. We have been attempting to resolve this matter and resolve her withdraw; however, [redacted]’s phone is set to go directly to voice mail, so we have not been able to reach her. In response to this complaint, we attempted to reach [redacted] by phone and left voice mail on December 15th, 16th, 17th, 21st, and 24th. Some of these messages were returned by [redacted], but we have not been able to connect and we are currently playing “phone tag.” We have also sent [redacted] emails which include a link for scheduling an appointment to speak with the Customer Service Manager to address her complaints and resolve her withdraw request. Emails were sent with this link upon her initial withdraw request on October 14th and more recently on 12/3, 12/10 and 12/17. [redacted] has finally scheduled an appointment for 1/7/2016 at 3:30 PM; however, we will continue to reach her by phone in efforts to resolve this matter sooner.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:No so called great options were offered to me.I was told to either retake classes I have already passed with them or pay and retake the ones I need at a community college.Even if I did submit transcripts after I enrolled that was over a year ago.At what point does someone say let's make sure our students are on track.No you don't promise that you will get someone into the college of choice you offer classes to help them speed up the process but speeding up the process does not mean overlooking pertinent information before you tell students which classes they will need. What your basically saying is I came in with a 1.5 GPA and no chance of bringing it up to a 2.75 then you will still take my money and give me classes not even knowing if I would succeed or not. Your own rep stated that she does not know why GPA is not checked on enrollment and that is a food idea to bring up to avoid situations such as this one.As a test prep your academic advisors are aupposed to advise me on what classes I would need and what it would take to get into the program of choice.How do you do that if you don't know a students starting point.Also even if I turned in my transcripts after enrollment how would you even know what classes to enroll me in.It basically seems as if you are just giving out any classes to charge people.I have emailed the Vice President twice regarding this issues and got no response,I missed the call from the customer service manager but I have also emailed her and called her back no response.So yes I would really like to know what these other choices are that I have because then that would indicate that the rep I spoke to was misinformed because she only gave 2 choices.
Regards,
Alicia Price

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
While I understand the stipulations for a refund were outlined in the initial contract, I still feel that if you did not receive the services (for whatever reason), I do not feel it is fair or reasonable to withhold over half of the payment made for cancelling the contract. Again, the only "classes" she took was an introductory orientation class therefore she has absolutely nothing useful for her education.  After the minimal refund, we are out $2,600.  We are not satisfied with the outcome and would not recommend Achieve Test Prep to anyone under any circumstance.    
Regards,
[redacted]

This student enrolled on 8/4/2016 and submitted a withdraw request on 8/5/2016. Per our standard procedure, we contacted the student on 8/5/2016 to address her request. The earliest available appointment was on 8/12/2016, which was unacceptable to the student. When we learned that the student was...

upset, our customer service manager immediately reached out to the student to resolve this matter ahead of schedule. After exchanging messages, we have resolved this matter as of 8/11/2016, and the student's contractual refund has been processed. We have confirmed that the student is satisfied and agrees that we have taken all steps to address and resolve her complaint.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]

After this student’s withdrawal was finalized, we promptly notified [redacted] to close the student’s account as it was no longer delinquent.  As a courtesy to this student, we also requested that any negative remarks be removed from any credit bureau reporting.   We regret any confusion the...

student had about the enrollment agreement terms that indicate that the guaranteed financing would be activated when no personal funding is provided.    We believe that this student is satisfied with the processing of her withdrawal request, and we wish her well.

While we are sorry to see this student's frustration, our records show that we did make timely contact attempts with this student throughout her enrollment period and during the withdrawal process. The student made arrangements with an ATP representative on 3/17/2016 to resolve her withdrawal....

In our training we are very clear that timelines to graduation can only be estimated and can vary widely from student to student. ATP has students pursuing a variety of degrees at a variety of colleges throughout the U.S. Each student's unique set of circumstances from courses needed to personal choices makes it impossible to predict how quickly a student can graduate. While we do present scenarios and estimated timelines for completing ATP courses, these are merely a guide. It is ultimately up to the college to determine when a student has met the requirements necessary to graduate. What we do claim is that no matter your goal or where you are at in your journey to your degree, Achieve Test Prep can help you get there faster by preparing you to pass exams for college credit. This student has a goal to become an RN more quickly, and we can absolutely help her with that whether she decides to continue on the path towards the ASN from [redacted] or whether she chooses to attend a local college or university. We offered to have the student try 1 course so that she can experience the ease and speed with which she can earn credit towards her ASN degree. She has rejected this offer, and said she prefers to withdraw.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:We have not yet resolved the issue. The options were explained in a phone conversation yesterday and I indicated that we needed to talk about it further with [redacted] and would notify them as to our choice today.  The options are to get an additional refund of $471.54 or the $2,743.50 that they retained can still be used for four courses, to include study courses or tutoring and the contract would be extended indefinitely.  I responded by email earlier today that we are not interested in the additional study courses and would like the refund but I still feel that a compromise can be made on the amount refunded.  In lieu of a $471.54 refund, I made an offer to accept an additional $800 refund to consider the matter amicably settled.  I have not had a response yet.
Regards,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: I waited a week for that financial depart mentioned to call me after I spoke with the withdrawal team, and I heard nothing.  I just want my money back and I do not want my card charged again.  I obviously made a big mistake. Oh, I should mention that I finally received the denial of my loan application...  the night that I filed the original complaint.  Also, I attached that email along with the last email that I received from "admissions" and my reply as well.  I had no follow up on that, no paperwork sent to me, and I am frustrated.  It took about an hour to get an account set up, but it takes a month to update it to a different program???Things are hard enough in my personal life, and I don't want to worry about this anymore.  They're supposed to have a money back guarantee. If you would like to read over everything that I have ever received from this company, I will gladly send it along.  I truly feel like they would have such a great thing going of communication was better.  I should've known as soon as Ava didn't verbally mention the deposit of over $700 and skipped over that slide VERY quickly.  I feel like I got scammed and I honestry hope that their communication improves and that they don't end up leaving other people, like myself, frustrated and confused. 
Regards,
[redacted]

We are sorry to learn of this student’s complaint. Our Customer Service Manager reached out to this customer to better understand her complaint and address her concerns, and we believe we have come to an amicable resolution. After speaking with the customer, we did a thorough review our files....

During the initial interview, the Director of Admissions explained to the customer that we do have part time options available for teacher assistants and that based on the interview, she would be recommending our Director of Education to hire her as a Teacher Assistant. The Director of Admissions explained to the customer that she can choose to be paid an hourly rate, and that the hours fluctuate each week based on the needs of each instructor. The Director of Admissions also explained that if she is interested in becoming an RN, there is another option for students to instead receive a grant towards their program tuition. The Director of Admissions asked the customer if she had any goals of becoming an RN, and the customer said yes. The Director of Admissions then asked the customer if she would prefer to be paid an hourly rate if hired or if she would prefer to enroll and use a grant towards the cost of tuition. The student said she prefers to enroll and use the grant to offset the cost of tuition. In summary, it is not a requirement to enroll in order to be hired as a Teacher Assistant, and we have employed Teacher Assistants who are not students. This student chose the option of enrolling after both options were presented to her. In regards to the customer’s complaint about the financing, we do regret if the third party credit union did not communicate with her in a timely manner. We are in the process of investigating this issue, as normally our credit union applicants do get a timely response from the credit union directly. We regret any frustration this may have caused the student. However, we do have many financing options including a guaranteed student loan. We cannot promise any applicant will be approved by the credit union, but students do have many options for financing their tuition. This student did request to withdraw on 10/21/2016. Under no legal obligation to do so, we made a decision to compromise on the contractual obligation before we learned of this complaint, and the student agreed to this arrangement on 10/25/2016. Achieve Test Prep is an independent company, and we do not claim to be affiliated with any school. The services which the student purchased are outlined in the enrollment agreement and are available to the student. The student did receive the tuition grant as promised. She has chosen to withdraw instead and has confirmed her withdrawal. This customer is welcome to re-apply for any open position for which she qualifies and choose the hourly pay option in her application rather than a tuition grant.