Self Publishing School

I spoke with someone over the phone selling me a dream. Anthony made it seem like they was going to take my rough draft and format and edit for me. Now after he took 1600 down payment I’m reading over the contract and it says I have to do everything on my own. This is a scam
Fast talk you making you think they publishing the book and email you a million emails with information and your left All alone . I want a refund because I feel this is scam and also ????my family member being sent home to pass due to Covid19 and I’ve tested positive so I would to return at a later time and get my full refund of $ 1600.00 and I haven’t heard
From anyone . He promised they would refund if changed my mind. It’d been less 24 hrs and they won’t refund me . I got
Email saying no refunds granted but I was lied to over the phone.

In the date of 6/13/2020 my kid bought a program with the self publishing school, through one of my bank accounts without me being informed about it. When I found out about the purchase in the next 3 days I immediately opened a support ticket with the Self Publishing school about a refund request. The Self Publishing school hasn't yet contacted me back and I have send them several emails about this accident. I need the money back as soon as possible. My child informed me about it the same day and we requested the refund. There's not even a week that has passed. I have't agreed to any terms and conditions. I wasn't informed about the purchase. I didn't agree to any terms and conditions, and the purchase happened without me being informed. The money belongs to me and so I demand the money back. The credit card also was mine and my legal name is in it. According to the terms and conditions you must be 18 years of age or older to sign the Agreement, which theoritically my child did as an underage, without even being informed. I didn't sign any agreement. I haven't accept the terms and conditions. I want a refund right away.

On March 2, 2020, my boyfriend, ***, verbally contracted with Self Publishing School and authorized them to charge my credit card $3,997 after we verified (and I heard the conversation) that the services he would receive for said money included a finished book, including editing, cover design, and formatted book.

When doubt was raised about the services in a student forum, *** and I both attempted to contact Self Publishing school via phone, email and text. I contacted my credit-card company to dispute the charges, and *** by Self Publishing School to provide supporting documentation, which he did. Three months later, the company has yet to issue a credit, and he was blocked from services more than a month ago.

On 4/10/2020, I agreed to purchase the Self Publishing school course on the condition that I saw results within one-to-two months. As of May 23rd, the only sales I’d garnered came from my own networking and various promotions for which I paid. Between the first gentleman with whom I spoke and my so-called coach, I was told three times that it is virtually impossible to promote a book successfully when an author only has one or two books published; you have to have a minimum of three, so I was told. The people at SPS knew that I had two novels published coming into the program, so why was I not told this up front? Further, not one promise of the course has been delivered on- No SPS members purchased my book, nor did the book receive any new reviews. I was also assured that the promise of the SPS program was to get my book consistently selling 100-250 copies per month.
This program is set up so that any communication with the customer/ client must be initiated by them. Their emails are set up as “No Reply” and phone calls (if you happen to have a number for anyone) are neither answered nor returned. As of May 23rd, I’d reached out to “M,” the person in charge on three different occasions, left voice messages, and was ignored each time, so I locked my credit card to ensure it could not be charged again. Finally, I received a phone call from a lady to whom I explained the situation. I told her that I wanted out of the program and was not authorizing them to charge my card again. She told me that she would have “M” call me. Predictably, he never did. By 6/2, I had to take the lock of my card to allow a legitimate charge. On the morning of 6/3, I received an email receipt from Self Publishing School informing me that they had charged my card another $1,797.00. I called “M” immediately and, of course, continue to be ignored. I have disputed the charge and will take further action if necessary.

I am an Army Veteran and full-time student. I am also in a homeless program and I discussed this with the agent on the phone. Three times this week I have emailed their agency and three times I have not received a reply.

Here is what I need answered:

I was looking over the invoice sent and I am concerned. When I first spoke with the representative, I told him I was on a limited budget (very limited.) In the $4,800 total for the invoice I do not see where any costs go towards actually publishing my book. If I give you the full amount of the invoice, I will have nothing to go towards publishing. Since my book is about homelessness, and I told the representative that I too am in a homeless program, it seems that now I am stuck like chuck... If I pay you my aspirations of publishing this book will not get published before graduation... Please advise...

This is bad business practice of not have good customer service when questions come up.
No one "Especially a Homeless Veteran" should be taken advantage of.
It's just not right...
I really feel taken advantage of and me trying to get myself out of a homeless status makes my situation even more frustrating.

I joined a free webinar in January of 2020 for Self-Publishing School (SPS), though I was reluctant to join as I was going to be out of the country for a few months. I received a recruitment phone call from Brooke who convinced me that this program was perfect for my needs, and assured me that that my time frame would be of no consequence, and they would work with me and make sure my needs were met, and if I paid for it then, I could start the program when I returned from my trip with no time frame penalty (I signed up for the 1 year program). I received a follow up phone call from a man named Brett who broke down what was to be expected of the course and took my payment information. I was given no visual breakdown of the course nor any terms of agreement or refund policy at the time of purchase.
I did not end up having my first coaching call till April 20th. I was sent a booklet of foundational questions for my story to have filled out by my first call, which I tried my best to prepare, but found that the provided writing guides that were the selling point of the program were filled with generic and shallow instruction and marketing gimmick strategies on how to write and self-publish a book. When I had the coaching call, I expressed my confusion and I asked for help where I was then referred back to the lectures.
I had no more luck rewatching the lectures and had to seek out other material outside of SPS to help which were infinitely more helpful- though in a different direction that SPS was pushing me towards. I had expected that the SPS program would have given me more professional help, especially for the cost.
Two weeks later I had my second coaching call, and when I asked for clarification a second time, I was told that my work had a lot of red flags and that I needed to keep rewatching the lectures and join the online workshops. It was clear that we both knew I was not where I should be at this stage in the program. He then encouraged me to have 50% of my novel finished in six weeks and we ended the chat. Following our chat, I received an email from my coach that was of a celebratory nature—that I had made it to the next step of the program. That was when I realized that this program was about overlooking the writing phase of publishing (which was the primary reason of why I signed up) and teaching people how to sell covers of books on Amazon. I am so disappointed in this program; my expectations have been devastated.
As soon as I realized that this program was not for me, I emailed the customer service to seek out a refund. From the time engaging with the program of my first coaching call to my first official complaint and request for a refund was two weeks. I was emailed back by two separate people, the first, Myles outwardly refusing any responsibility—that the terms and conditions stated that they do not give refunds after 30 days. But as I mentioned before at the time of purchase, I was given no agreements or details of purchase, and as for the 30 days, according to the first person I spoke to, I was still eligible to receive a full refund.
The second email which arrived shortly after the first was Michael saying they were opening my refund request for review, but that he wanted to know why I was unhappy and if there was anything they could do to mend it. I sent a lengthy email giving a description of my disappointment in the program and my desire for a refund. He didn’t reply after a week, so I resent the email with an additional explanation. He replied with a short email requesting an appointment over the phone. I made an appointment as soon as I could. After much anticipation, the phone call never came. I even emailed Michael when he was five minutes late to see if he was having trouble getting through. There were no emails or rescheduling of the appointment, before or after. I filed another support ticket for the missed appointment, and I am still waiting to hear back. I have been in the refund request stage for two weeks now but they have been unresponsive to my concerns and request and I would rather not drag it out.

This program did not meet its promise to help me write and self-publish a book. It wasted my time with inadequate resources, further sales gimmicks, and terrible customer service. I have requested a refund within the 30 days of starting, and I should be entitled for a full refund of $4,797.

Purchased an online writers course for $4,000 that was sold as a program that guaranteed becoming an *** best seller.

While there is value in the course, the marketing and promises are shady and unethical. SPS will make claims and guarantees to trick consumers to a purchase, but will not honor that commitment and site any excuse to deny responsibility or fault when trying to resolve.

In trying to work and complete the course with SPS; requests for support to understand the, at times confusing coursework, were over 24 hours. Some inquiries were never responded to at all. Despite this lack of effort on SPS, the book was finished by using additional resources and costs outside the school.

Even as a student, the amount of time being sold on more purchases is time consuming and obnoxious. This is frustrating when support is not given to create a book, but attention is given, through a bombardment of requests, to buy more. Calls and emails and texts and *** messenger and coaching calls and even on the graduation call are the many ways that you will have to experience continued pressure to buy more while trying to write a book.

So, there is time to sell more, but no time to fulfill the commitment to the consumer.

After a deceptive high pressure 45 minutes phone call, I was sold something that not only didn't I need, the representative never offered details or product page so that I could see what I was purchasing. Additionally, no terms and conditions were mentioned. They only send you details of the purchase, after you pay them with credit card over the phone. After trying to get something to benefit from the service and finding it completely useless to me, I requested a refund and they refused, saying that they do not give refunds. I have written them several times laying out my case but they refuse to accept, repeating that they do not give refunds. I find their hard sales practice deceptive and unethical.

I signed up with Self-Publishing School on March 31, 2019. After gaining access to the school I realized this was not for me. Several reasons: 1) It is all online 2) I knew most of their writing tips 3) There are extra charges I didn't know about, 4) I didn't know that I have to pay for editing, formatting, and the book cover above and beyond what I am paying for the school, and could not afford to pay for both the school and those charges. I never signed anything either as it says in the terms and conditions that you must sign in order to move forward with the services.

I asked for my money back 2 times per their 30-Day Money Back Guarantee through a service ticket as instructed on the website.?They made plenty of excuses and claimed that the money was not refundable. When I signed up for the school, I was under the impression that EVERYTHING and all costs pertaining to publishing my book were covered in the cost of the school. And that there was a money back guarantee. I have not used any of their products and was told by Elaine U. not to use the information they sent me anyway.

I told the initial person I set up the initial interview with that I had an author that I was already working with that would help me with everything. I am disabled and living on a fixed income so do not have a lot of money. This person, who I believe was named Michael or Anthony, told me that I could bring in around $5000.00 to $10,000.00 a month and that they would make my book a best seller. I now see how they accomplish that, and it and it is all a game. They have you join a group of people and they all review your book promoting it to the best sellers list. They even tell you what to write on their *** page so you can get to know people who will help promote your book.

Anyway, after the person I initially spoke to looked up the author I would be working with he made me feel as though he could do better for me by joining the school. I asked how I would pay for it and he said you will make it happen if you want this bad enough, you can use your stimulus money. He used a hard sell tactic and asked me if I could afford $1600.00 and I said possibly, and I told him I could not afford the $4800.00, but he convinced me it was a good idea. I agreed to the $1600.00 at the time thinking that was all I would have to pay. When I looked at the receipts in my email, I was shocked to see that I would be charged $1600.00 on the 30th of the next two months and could not afford that. Also, on that email is the first place you can find the help center link which has the terms and conditions in it. So, it is provided for you after you have paid.

When I had my conference with Elaine U., I asked her if we had to pay above and beyond for the editing, formatting and Book cover, and she said yes. I told her that I was unaware of that when I signed up and did not realize it until I was enrolled and started to go through the schooling information by looking at the steps included in the school. I told her that I could not afford the school itself, so how could I afford to pay for the school and all the services I would have to pay for on top of the school? Anyone can write a book by doing enough research on their own and finding someone to edit, format, and help with a book cover, which I already had in place before I signed up with the school.

During the conversation with Elaine we tried to set up a time to meet with the best-selling author they had decided to pair me up with and the only times that were available were 5:30 am and 6:00 am... Too early. Elaine said she would check back with me to see if I connected with or got scheduled for a meeting with her. I never heard anything back from Elaine, via phone, text or email. I never heard anything from my student success rep either except for a couple of generic emails, and an email a couple of days ago reminding me that I have a payment coming up that is due on the 30th.

I feel that I was misled as to what the school offers, and do not feel the school is the right fit for me, especially since I will be doing everything on my own anyway. It is just an unneeded added expense.

I want a refund! I never signed anything either as it says in the terms and conditions that you must sign in order to move forward with the services. The terms and conditions are in the help center which you do not have access to until you pay for the service.

I attended a free webinar by Self-publishing School on April 14, 2020. On April 15, 2020, Chad A of Self-Publishing School called and offered me a course which costs $5,000 but will be discounted to $3,600 if I decide to purchase it then. I told him I don't have the budget for it and I need time to think. He said that I can pay in 3 installments of $1,200 and I can cancel if I change my mind after thinking about it. I made sure that I can cancel, because I was really not sure about the purchase and I just needed time to think. I told Chad that if it is worth the money, I can look for a way to fund it, but if not, I need to be able to cancel. Chad assured me that I can get a refund.

After the call, I did some research and the reviews about the course and the company were not as good as I had expected. I also came across complaints filed against the company with the Revdex.com. I decided right away that I do not want to have anything to do with the company. In less than 24 hours after talking to Chad A, I called and left a voicemail message with him that I want to cancel my purchase right away, while the payment is still on tentative hold on my credit card. I also left a similar message on the phone number attached to the credit card transaction. In addition, I wrote an email to ***.com (email for cancellations and refunds) to ask for a cancellation and refund right away.
The following day, instead of responding to my call or email, I got an email from Chad Al*** saying he is my contact person until the Welcome Call the following week. I responded to his email and asked him to call me ASAP and to cancel my purchase. I also forwarded the email I sent to ***.com to Chad A since he said he is my contact person.

I'm afraid Chad A might have lied about the cancellation and refund just to make a sale. It has been over a week now and nobody has reached out to me regarding the cancellation and refund. I have clearly asked for a purchase cancellation, a 5-minute phone call and confirmation of the cancellation asap.

I have asked for a cancellation and refund in less than 24 hours and have not availed of any of the Self-Publishing Course products or services. Even if Chad A lied about the cancellation/refund, I believe the company should honor what their representative said and give me a full refund. I also wish to be removed from their customer list and email list because I have been getting a lot of useless marketing email from their company.

I purchased a service from Self Publishing School (SPS) via the phone from one of Chandler's service representatives (Anthony) in March 2020. I contacted SPS to cancel my purchase and refund the money two-and-a-half weeks later because I found that many of the promises given over the phone did not correspond with the actual program. I was also told that SPS had a money back guarantee so that there was 'no risk in trying the program'. I tried to cancel, but since then I have been passed around to several people, ignored, given answers via email which I responded to, and then ignored some more. I talked with Michael on the phone on April 16th and he agreed to the refund and told me that he would send in a 'ticket' for the refund and get back with me the next day. No one contacted me. After a week of trying to contact via phone, text, and email, I finally got a return message saying that they are 'unable to grant your refund.' I am very disappointed with this program and very frustrated that they say one thing in order to get customers to sign up and then deny it two-and-a-half weeks later. Self Publishing School should not treat their customers this way. Please choose to be a better company. Please treat your customers with respect. And please provide me with the refund I asked for.

I signed up for the Self-Publishing School a year ago. They told me I could self-publish on *** and become a bestseller or I was guaranteed to make my money back. The way this claim was made was at best, dishonest, and at worst, highly manipulative.

During the sales call, I felt like I was under intense pressure. Due to the pressure, I signed up on the spot, which I regret because I should have asked my professors and ensured the Self-Publishing school is legit.

During this time, I also encountered several hardships that my university helped me navigate but SPS did nothing to mitigate. my apartment flooded, I had to move from the UK to Berlin, and then in Berlin I had a horrible landlord that was threatening me from enforcing my legal rights by telling me he was going to get me deported. SPS hasn’t done anything to help me finish the program despite these personal hardships. If the program could not make reasonable accommodations, they should have offered a partial refund, since the majority of my coaching sessions didn’t help me make progress. In any university program, professors would take extra time out of their day to help students who are not able to complete the courses on time due to extensive personal hardships, which is the minimum the program should have offered. If SPS can’t coach students with significant hardships to help them complete their books, they least they could offer is a refund.

Not only did SPS refuse to grant accommodations, they persistently pushed me to buy additional services, which was highly inappropriate. I was even put on a sales call for *** Live, their conference, despite the fact that I said multiple times there was no way I could afford the conference while living in a flooded apartment.

I still tried to finish the program. However, while working on the marketing plan for my book, I found an article of a guy who became an *** bestseller after uploading a picture of his foot on the platform. All he did was get his friends to buy the book for $2 and write reviews. After finding this out, I realized the program was using false advertising to get students to join. If anyone can become an *** bestseller, there is no prestige to the award that the Self-Publishing School promises. Therefore, they are using false advertising by baiting students with a meaningless award. They advertise themselves as the best self-publishing program, but the company barely delivers on their claims.

I decided to talk to another SPS student about this. They told me that they were able to haggle the sales team down to $50 to attend the *** conference, which other participants paid $500 to attend.

As soon as I finished my first draft, several of my postgraduate professors warned me not to publish this book. Because I hadn’t done enough research, publishing the book now - according to the instructions laid out by SPS - could damage my professional reputation.

Due to these experiences, I don’t trust SPS’s advice to self-publish. I’m currently working as a communications manager at an organization for philanthropic research while being interviewed for adjunct positions at universities and applying to PhD programs. I can’t finish SPS’s program because I can’t risk sacrificing these professional opportunities in some pseudo-legitimate non-accredited program. Considering that the Self-Publishing School has failed to deliver on the claims they originally made when I signed up, I would appreciate a full refund.

SO MANY BOT EMAILS!
I ordered the book which never came, and I've set up three meeting for mentors to which none of them showed up and wasted an hour out of everyday waiting to talk to someone about publishing. The emails I continue to get are from "Chandler" wanting reviews or more money. The company is a joke!

In July 2019, I requested a refund from the Self-publishing School writer's course (VIP) I purchased and was unable to access. I have not heard back from the company. I am requesting a full refund on the course. Here is more background. I purchased the self-publisher's VIP writer's course August 2018 and was guaranteed lifetime access to the course as well as access to their private facebook group for one year. I was told I would receive a $250 gift card and my colleague who referred me would also receive a $250 gift card. Neither of us ever received that despite receiving an email apology December 2018 for their delay and a promise that the gift cards would be mailed right away. When I spoke with one of their customer service success coaches to purchase more sessions with my writing coach, they urged me to enroll in the "Sell More Books (SMB) writer's course and told me I would receive even better coaching and other benefits. I paid for half of the course over the phone by credit card and asked if I could call back with my credit card number and pay for the rest of the course within two weeks. They said I had up to 40 days to complete the payment. I asked if the phone line was secure since I was giving out my credit card number and was told "yes." Two days after enrolling, I developed sudden health concerns and contacted them saying I needed to postpone the course. I never opened the course online because I did not want it to appear that I started the course. I emailed customer service indicating that I needed to finish paying for the course and discuss start date. I did not hear back until I received an automatically generated email saying they tried to charge my credit card and it did not go through. I contacted them explaining that I was not informed that my credit card information was being stored and that I was told I could call back to give my credit card number and complete payment of the course. I felt so uncomfortable with their practices and lack of communication, that I requested a refund from the SMB course. I was told that I was six days past the deadline to request a refund and that they also needed evidence that I opened the course and tried it before requesting a refund. I explained that my health conditions prevented me from being able to work on the course (it was either ocular migraines or symptoms of a mild concussion). I didn't want to open the course until I knew I could start it. I asked for an extension on the refund request because those six days included my health situation followed by the Christmas and New Year holiday where I was visiting family. They denied the request. There were a few more failed attempts to schedule a phone call with someone from customer service. I filed a dispute with my credit card company asking for a refund on the $1200 I paid towards the SMB course (which I never opened). The credit card company awarded the refund. In March 2019, I was still working on publishing my book and I tried to log onto the VIP course ( (with satisfaction and lifetime access guaranteed) so I could receive the help and instruction I needed. I was informed by a customer service coach that I was locked out of the first course because I had not paid the remainder on the second course. I tried in April to access the facebook group hoping I could ask questions and at least receive help from peers in publishing my book. (I still had four months of access to that group that was included in the package I paid for in full when I purchased the VIP course.) On May 1, I received a FB messenger response to my request stating that my membership was not current. On May 17, 2019 I received a phone message from Chandler, B the company president with a noticeable agitated tone saying he just learned of the credit card dispute and how I was awarded my refund for the SMB course. He asked me to "call right back so we can make things right." He also indicated twice in the message how "incredibly damaging this was for their small business" and how a credit card dispute would cost them a few hundred dollars. I called back and left a phone message May 18 since I was traveling on May 17. I did not hear back from them. (I also received an instant facebook message that same day asking me if I wanted to find out more about their multi-million dollar company and how to achieve their success in my own business.) July 17, 2019, I emailed customer service stating that I wanted a refund from the VIP course because I was locked out of it and that I would file a complaint with Revdex.com if I did not receive it. I received an email with a phone number to call. I called and left a message that same day and still have not heard from anyone (except for all the automatically generated FB messenger and emails asking if I want to purchase another course and referring to me as an alumni.)

I signed up to watch a webinar from Chandler B and the host, who was the affiliate on Sept 24, 2019. I purchased the product on Sept 24th via the phone from someone at Chandler's company, Self Publishing School (SPS), I think it was a Taylor. I contacted SPS to cancel my purchase and refund the money on October 12 because I didn't have time to do the program. I have been passed around to several people, ignored, given answers via email which I responded to, and then ignored some more. Most recently, I asked for the affiliate to contact SPS again because they still are not providing me with the refund. On Nov 1, I spoke with Michael on the phone due to me asking for intervention from my affiliate. Michael kept trying to talk me out of a refund after contacting me at the very end of our appointment time. I finally told him I needed to go, that I had another appointment. He agreed to the refund and told me he would forward this to the financial department. He volunteered that he would contact me on Nov 3 to tell me when to expect my refund. I told him I would mark it on my calendar. He said okay. Well, Monday, Nov 3, passed with no contact, nor any time that week. It is now Nov 13. I contacted my affilliate for help again and submitted another customer service ticket, contacted my credit card company, and am submitting this complaint to the company. I am so disappointed and frustrated. It is a shame that Chandler B and Self Publishing School choose to treat their customers in this way. Please choose to be a better company. It has been over a month going back and forth when I'm not being ignored. It's not right. Please provide me with the refund I asked for.

I signed up for Self Publishing School in April of this year. I spoke at length to two different young men. They were charming and enthusiastic, excellent salesmen. Both encouraged me to give them a call if I had any questions. The day before my first coaching session, I lost my job and I panicked. I needed to cancel. I tried to call both salesmen, left messages and neither returned my call. I talked to my coach and she informed me that canceling was not an option, however she scheduled a coaching session saying she had ideas about how to bring in income quickly.

The coaching session was not helpful. She said we could work slowly as I was scrambling for work, then at some point, I found out that coaching was restricted to five (or six, can’t remeber which) months. We scheduled another session for June 12th and she missed it. I had my nose to the grindstone, and realized I hadn't heard from her so I emailed her again on the 30th and got a reply on July 3rd, three weeks after the missed session. At this point, I’m upset. I’ve created my own strategy and decided I did not wish to work with her any longer. I am starting to feel like I’ve been taken.

Mid-August, I was getting email notices for an event, which included entreaties to schedule a call that I knew was a sales call. I did so because it would be a chance to talk to someone. I was extremely unhappy with this program by now. I mentioned my concerns to "T" and received an earful! He let me know in no uncertain that SPS was a superlative company that had helped 5,000 authors and that any complaints I had must be because I was not committed and probably a slacker. He also pointed out that I was wrong about my coaching experience. My coach was one of the best. I let him know that he was out of line because he knew nothing about me and was shockingly rude. He very reluctantly admitted that he didn’t know me and my coach shouldn’t have missed a session. I told him I wanted a new coach and an extension on coaching time. He said he would bring that up at their meeting and get back to me beginning of the next week.

Five days later I receive a happy note from original coach asking how my book was going and she could give me an extension. I haven’t responded to her because I’ve asked specifically for a new coach. There was no acknowledgement of my complaints. I then sent an email to request contact info for the CEO. I was given his assistant’s email. I sent Hunter a letter reiterating my request for a full refund and have never heard back from him.

Not coincidentally, a few days later I was contacted again, twice, from the same coach. The go-to response for this group is to aggressively attempt to draw a complainer back into the fold while upper management stays silent. I do not want to work with this group and am writing to you to help me get my money back.

The lack of professionalism of this group is appalling. This “course” cost $4,000 but provides no customer service, no contract to peruse, no notice, written or spoken, that this was non-refundable. No mention that coaching sessions had a time limit, in fact it was stated clearly that going at your own pace was encourage. Response from three, or four (Taylor may have been the second person I talked to) has been muted or hostile.

This feels like a fly-by-night group and I feel trapped. I sincerely regret having been duped into doing this. They use high-pressure sales tactics on people who are, by nature, often isolated and the program sounds like a lifeline. It is not. I asked for a refund at my first coaching session and was denied. I’ve given them several chances to prove that I am not just a mark and they have steeled my resolve. I will not work with this company and would greatly appreciate any assistance you might be able to offer in helping me obtain a full refund.

I've been an SPS student since late March/early April 2019. Ten days ago, I purchased a $497 ticket to an upcoming event that SPS is hosting in late September in ***, Texas. A couple of days after I purchased the ticket, I contacted my writing coach at the school via email to inform him that my personal plans had changed due to events beyond my control and that there was no way I would be able to attend the conference. I asked him about the school's refund policy information for students who needed a full refund in advance of the event. While waiting for him to respond, I went to the school's event web page and tried to find out who I should talk to about getting a refund. A message on that page said that all questions about the event should be directed to a person on their team named Joey S and provided a phone number to call. Here is the exact message posted on their website: "Our Publishing Strategist Joe S is on standby to answer any questions you have over the phone. Give him a call right now at 864-729-***". The way the message is worded, it leaves students with the impression that they will get to speak to a "live" person who will answer their question. They also provide students with Joey's direct email address at the school. First, I called the phone number provided. I got a voice mail message from Joey, telling me to leave a voice mail message or to text him with my question and he would call me back as soon as possible. I left a voice mail message requesting information on the SPS refund policy for event tickets and provided my contact information. While waiting for a call from him, I sent him an email with my question. I never got a phone call from him. The next day, I received an email response from him telling me that "I have no authority to grant you a refund, so I am connecting you with Michael L with our support team to hopefully get you squared away." I noted that he had NOT cc'd Michael on the email he sent to me and thought that was odd. So, I waited to hear from Michael, whom I was told would reply within one business day. When that day passed with NO email response from Michael, I called and emailed Joey and asked him to provide me with Michael's email address and phone number. Joey gave me the following email address, which turned out to be a non-existing email address: ***. When I tried to send Michael an email, my attempt obviously failed and bounced back as a non-existing email address. After that, I texted Joey and told him that the email address he had given me was not valid and asked him to provide me with the correct contact info for Michael. He did not respond to my text. So, I called his phone and got his voice mail again. I left him a message demanding an answer. He did not call me back. Then, I called the main number for the school and demanded that SOMEONE call me back with Michael's contact info. In the meantime, while waiting on a response, I also sent an email to my SPS writing coach (who lives in Japan) and asked him to provide me with Michael’s email address and phone number. A week later, my coach emailed me apologizing for the delay in his response and said he would “forward this to Michael and Lisa so they can get in touch with you right away.” Finally, I received a call from someone at the school who had listened to the voice mail message I left on the school’s main phone number. I was not home at the time he called, so he left me a message with Michael’s correct email address. When I emailed Michael with my question about the school's policy on refunds, I got no response from him or from Chandler B, CEO of SPS whom (out of total frustration) I had cc: 'd on my note to Michael. I waited three days, and no one responded to my email. So, I sent another email to Joey and Chandler, telling them that Michael had not responded to my emails and demanded that they do something about it. I told them in no uncertain terms how disgusted I was with the run-around I got for ten days in an attempt to get someone there to answer a very simple question: How do I get a refund from SPS if I am unable to attend the event? I then went into the school’s Facebook Mastermind group page for students and posted a message (tagging Chandler and Michael) and asking them to check their email inboxes for a message from me, sent earlier in the day. Neither of them responded to my FB post directly. Yesterday, the school sent out an email about the event encouraging anyone with questions about the event to go to the school’s “SPS Help Center for Author Advantage Live” to look at the FAQ’s there. They stated in that same email the following, “If you have a question that isn’t answered in the Help Center articles, reply to this email with your question and we’ll add a Help Center article ASAP!” I went to the Help Center web page and my question was not there, so I sent an email reply (as they had instructed) and asked them to add my question about their refund policy to the Help Center. I instantly got a response from the school that was a “No Reply” email. It informed me they would no longer be responding to support requests via email and it directed me BACK to the Help Center. I have HAD it with this school! I paid $3000.00 to be treated like this when I have a simple question that deserves a direct and prompt response? I should demand my full tuition to be refunded, but for now, I will settle for a refund of my $495.00 ticket to their conference. I will take appropriate legal action if they don't refund my money promptly.

I feel like I was scammed by these people. They basically qualify you over the phone, tell you that you're going to get one-on-one training with a publishing professional and I got nothing.
The first thing they do is tell you to start downloading all of these documents that they want you to read. Then you have to install software (that I could never get to work and they never offered technical support for). Then, this is the best part, you're told that you have to have a FB account to sign up for their FB "group" and these are the people who are going to help you publish your book: other writers who signed up.
This is the worst experience of my life.

The day after signing on to Self-Publishing School (SPS) and viewed the course content I called to break my contract as the course was inappropriate for me. I was told I could not do so.
During the first call from my SPS coach I was advised I was in the wrong program (sell more books) and needed to move to the VIP Program which I did. During that call as well as the second and last call he advised me to break my contract with my publisher and that he was otherwise frustrated to know how to best help me. We agreed to talk again after Christmas. In January I attempted to contact SPS to find my coach's contact number as he did not contact me.
I later called Michael L at SPS and he said a refund could not be forth coming even though they had, I maintain, broken their contract with me. The reason he cited was that the 90 day time period had lapsed. We had spoken earlier and he said he refer my complaint to the appropriate department but he never followed up with me. He did allow a call to be scheduled in early April. SMB does not give clients phone numbers but will call within a week or two upon request, typically.
I feel I did my very best to fulfill my obligation but neither program was appropriate for me and I was neither able nor willing to break my contract with my publisher.
For $3,000. I received the two aforementioned coaching calls and programs starting with how to write books; my book had already been published.