What they hide in the "fine print":
1. When you buy the pimsleurapproach.com "introductory offer" you are also automatically enrolled in their "Pimsleur Rapid Fluency Purchase Program" at the cost of $256 per course divided into four payments, for a three course program it totals $768. They state you can cancel at anytime or get a refund if sent back during the "30 day trial" peroid, but the return shipping cost is on you. (I don't know how easy it is to get them to actually disenroll you or to get them to promptly refund your money if you send it back). There is no flexibly or options on how to receive and buy them, they will send CDs at their pace and charge you at their pace.
2. What they sell is just the Simon and Schuster program under license, it's exactly the same as the one Simon and Schuster sells on their own website at pimsleur.com.
3. The eight "introductory" unit/lessons that they first sell you will also be included in the first 30 unit/lesson course that they will send you via their "Pimsleur Rapid Fluency Purchase Program" that I mentioned above, so you will pay for those lessons twice, because they do not discount you the $9.95 for having already paid for the first eight unit/lessons.
What they don't want you to know:
1. You can go to the source Simon and Schuster at pimsleur.com (a publisher that is part of the CBS Corporation), so there is no need to buy from them if you are looking for the best deal since the source offers options that are cheaper.
2. If you go to the source at pimsleur.com and down load their FREE first lesson you will also get an email with a discount code for 25% the CDs or 10% off of the download only option.
3. The pimsleur.com offers many different ways to buy the language programs, you can download (very cheap) or get the CDs in the mail. You can buy in parts, as little as 5 unit/lessons at a time or the complete three course program all at once. The more you buy at once the cheaper it is per lesson.
Example of the difference in possible cost:
A complete three course Japanese language program (90 units/lessons) from Pimsleurapproach.com on CD (no download option) will cost you $777.95 period (that includes the initial 9.95 for the their "introductory offer" for eight units/lessons that are already included in the first course that they will be sending you). Therefor it is 265.95 total if you only buy the first course of 30 units/lessons or an average of $259.31 per course if you buy all three course. The same courses from pimleur.com, buying via the cheapest option, that being; using the email discount code, buying all three courses at once and choosing the downloadable only method, will cost you $302.50 total for all three courses, that is an average of $100.83 per course for the same courses. So you could only pay $36.55 more for ALL three course at pimsleur.com, than you would if you only buy the first course from Pimsleurapproach.com.
What I will grant them:
Buying via pimsleurapproach.com using their only option of three complete courses one at a time on CD, IS much cheaper than buying from pimsleur.com using the same method WITHOUT the emailed discount code, which is $345 per course totaling $1,035 to get all three. However with the 25% discount code (which is only good for 30 after receiving it) it is 258.75 per course, though it is cheaper, it is only $0.56 cheaper per course than pimsleurapproach.com (but remember pimsleur.com does have cheaper options where as pimsleurapproach.com does not).
Summary:
Because pimsleur.com has many different option on how to purchase the lessons it can be more, but it can also be much much less and you are the one deciding how much you want to pay and how many units you want to buy at a time. While at pimsleurapproach.com they are not open about the the fact that these are not their own independently produce language programs, they are just selling the Simon and Schuster (pimsleur.com) language programs under license, that they automatic enroll you for more lessons and there is only one option on how you will get the lessons and how much it will cost, also they don't tell you that those "introductory lessons" are already included in the first full program they send you and no they do not discount the $9.95 you already paid for the first lessons. If you want the Simon and Schuster (pimsleur.com) language programs my recommendation is to buy the complete program via the MP3 download option from pimsleur.com, it is the best deal.
Trial or not, scam or not, useful or not, it's still not their language program and they are just a middleman reseller. Sure they ARE legally licensed to sell it, BUT you can get it directly and at a better price from who they licensed it from. That being pimsleur.com of Simon and Schuster. Bottom line, why buy from a questionable second source reseller when you can get it from the source that has more open and honest business practices and at a better price.
0 comments