BarCareers.com is a complete joke. I was looking for a part-time job to supplement my income and decided to get trained as a bartender. BarCareers offers a correspondent training course that leads to certification as a bartender. They claim that once you have completed their training and passed the certification test, they will send you job listings from their affiliates in the area you live. The customer service rep said that the entire process from sign-up to getting the job listings is 3 weeks. Well it has been 7 weeks and I have nothing!
You sign up by phone (which I did on May 31) and for $123 you get the training manual, bartending kit and access to an online account. It took them 2 weeks just to send out my kit. I was required to send back the enrollment agreement forms and then they were supposed to send me the test. Well, I sent back my forms and they never sent out the testing materials. I called and called, they said they were mailed on June 20.2 weeks went by and even though USPS is slow sometimes, they're not THAT slow. I finally emailed customer service because the reps on the phone were so rude and kept giving me different information. They finally re-sent the materials and I received them right before July 4th weekend, 5 weeks after I signed up.
I completed the test, which was basically a couple hours of looking up answers in their training manual, and fedex-ed it that same day so I could get my job postings asap. They received my testing materials July 5th and I never received any kind of job listings or information about their affiliates in South Florida. What I did get was some rinky-dink certificate saying I had graduated from their program. When I called customer service to inquire about my job postings and whether or not I physically needed the certificate in my hand to job hunt on my own, the rep was so obnoxious I was speechless. I asked if I needed the certificate and he asked me if I had lost it. I said that I hadn't received it in the mail yet and started to ask how long it takes to get the certificate once my status on the website was "graduated." He obviously didn't understand what I was asking because as soon as I got the word 'how" out of my mouth, he cut me off and said in a loud voice, "we send it by mail. We put it in the mailbox and that's how you get it." I was blown away by the condescending tone and obnoxious attitude. This was supposed to be someone who is employed to help and here he was being a total jerk. I told him he was being rude and again he cut me off saying "I'm answering your question. You asked a question and I answered it. How is that being rude?" At this point, there was no need to keep talking to this idiot and I asked to speak to another rep. And of course he stuck me on hold so I eventually hung up.
Again I tried the email route since the phone reps were so unhelpful. My email regarding job postings was never answered. They have an 800-number on their website which claims to be an employment hotline where you can get job info. However if you call it, they say you can only get job postings via email and you have to wait for them to send you the info. Obviously, this is a complete scam and there are no job postings.
I decided to try and find a bartending job on my own, and called several establishments in my area. The answer was the same at all 12 locations I called. They did not hire bartenders from the outside and the only way to get a bartending job was to start as a server and eventually get promoted. There are very few cocktails-only establishments in South Florida; in fact just about every bar is also a restaurant, so you have to start as a server. The fact that I had this certificate from Bar Careers made absolutely no difference and the managers I spoke with said the certificate is meaningless and they only promote from within. That way their servers have an incentive to work hard. The bartending jobs are the most lucrative so there is quite a bit of competition. I was holding out for the bartending job postings for nothing! I wasted about 6 weeks thinking I would easily get a bartending job since Bar Careers made it seem like the certificate from their program was my ticket to a great job. I ended up getting a job as a server at the first bar/restaurant I visited. I was hired on the spot. If only I had known that Bar Careers is total garbage I could have spent those 6 weeks earning money as a server.
They do claim they have a refund policy and I can get most of my money back within 60 days. The process seems just as stupid as the testing process. I had to call and request a refund authorization form and once I receive that I can send back their materials and get about $80 back. The rep didn't even ask me why I wanted a refund or why I was cancelling my account. He probably gets tons of those calls all the time. I have a feeling it'll be the same cat and mouse game with getting the refund form so I can return the materials within the 60-day time limit. Basically, stay away from BarCareers.com. They are a complete joke and totally scammed me. I found their listing on Careerbuilder.com and I will definitely contact Careerbuilder to let them know BarCareers is basically stealing from innocent customers who are just looking for a job.
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