At the beginning of April of I wanted to get my highschool diploma and registered with Ashworth in Norcross, Georgia.in good faithI paid the registration fee and the tuition for the first month. After three orfour weeks, I sent a request regarding my books and asked when these willarrive. I was urged to complete the first course since the books will arrivesoon. I disliked the answer, and I refused paying the tuition until receivingthe books. The month of August came, and the only one thing Ashworth sentwas the monthly statements.
Due to my failurein paying the tuition (in this instance - their failure in keeping a promiseof a contract, a promise to send books and to proceed with the course), Ashworth sold my account to a debt collector, to National Account Recoveries. The agency informed me that I owed $1,496 to Ashworth and demanded payment ofthe entire tuition. I answered their letter by asking them to validate theirrequest and to prove I owed what they said I owed.
In the meantime, Igot in touch with the school and informed the school representative that Igenuinely wanted to earn my high school diploma and that I would resumepayments ONLY IF they would communicate how much it would cost, what courseswere required, whether my transcript had been accepted, and they had to sendthe study materials to my address. At that time, I did not have the high schooltranscript because the ten classes were finished abroad, and I asked how much Iwill have to pay if I could not provide the proof of my education. I was toldthat I had to end the first course in order to find HOW MUCH I WILL HAVE TO PAYfor the high school diploma. Ashworth informed me that I had to be in theprogram for four years, but never informed me of the payment amount; however, Iwas told that ANY kind of proof of high school from abroad was to be taken inconsideration.
I contacted a friendfrom abroad, sent a Power of Attorney to act on my behalf in order to obtainthe transcript from the Learning Ministry. I faxed my transcript to Ashworth to (770) 729-8578 on 11/10/10. There was a person from the high school whoconfirmed its receipt and asked me to wait 48 hours to have it loaded into thesystem. Three weeks passed, and I did not hear anything from Ashworth. I waslate with the payment because I was uneasy about how Ashworth had performed tothat date, yet I made it current in the hopes that somebody would talk to me aboutmy problem.
The payments I madewere through their website because I had not received a statement from Ashworthsince August, probably because they sold my account to the collection agency;however, Ashworth did not refuse to take my money without giving anything inreturn. After all, I had no account with them anymore. Apparently, I was soldto the National Account Recoveries back in August. Did this mean that myaccount was "discharged" by them at that time? Why would Ashworthaccept my money if I "voluntarily" made the payments for anonexistent account with them? I contacted theschool on 12/7, and requested information regarding the transcript I hadsent them. I was told that the transcript had no value, and that it proved onlyeight grades of education. A day later I received another message (from anotheremployee of Ashworth) in which I was informed that the transcript could not beevaluated if I did not have the first course completed. I received twocontradictory emails in two consecutive days: one said that the transcript hadno value, and the other one said that I needed to complete the first course inorder to have it evaluated. Each conversation I had with Ashworth had the samepattern: I was reminded over and over again that I HAD TO COMPLETE THEFIRST COURSE, in order for them to disclose information or/and evaluate thetranscript at a later undisclosed date. The contract states that a student is required to pay theentire tuition if he/she quits school after completing the first course. Thehigh school does not evaluate transcripts first, and refused to give me moreinformation about classes. The contract itself is deceptive because it does notdisclose enough information for the student to determine how long the courseswill take, how much money it will cost, whether the transcript will beacceptable, and the contract terms require students to pay off the tuition soonafter they start school because they have completed the first course. Quite reasonably under the circumstances, I sent acancellation request and asked for money reimbursement. The representativeanswered that I will not receive money because I HAVE completed the firstcourse (even though this never happened), and that I was entitled to only $145. I paid more than $400 beginning from April to December and I havenot received anything in return. Ashworth college deceived me from thebeginning to the end. The fact that they did not accept the transcript whenthey said that they will evaluate ANY kind of proof of education is reasonenough for me to get my money back. How could they accept me as a student, andcharge me any money at all, if the transcript was deemed to be inadequate? Ashworth does notwant to reimburse my $400.00 because the agreement shows that 20% of theentire tuition should be paid in case of cancellation. I have not completed 2%out of the first chapter of the first course, I never received a book, nor haveI ever received any information about how to take the classes.in conclusion, under the contract that was never completedby fault of Ashworth, I am entitled to an entire refund, yet Ashworth contendsthey are entitled to money under the terms of the contract, even though theyhave not performed any actions to complete the contract and earn the fee.
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