I was first approached by SmartCertify in July of last year. At that time, I was not very certain about what to do and didn't really have enough information to purchase the course, but I felt pressured into it by Chris, the Smartcertify salesperson.
He called me on several different occasions, offering information on the course and what it offered, and what I could expect. He explicitly said that the course included mentoring, and email assistance, and that it was all set up that I would receive emails from my mentor and that they would check with me to make sure that I was doing okay.
I finally said yes, and was set up on a payment plan (which I am still paying on). I went into the course and started taking the lessons, but the support never appeared. It seemed that after they had received my money, they weren't interested in helping me anymore.
There is, on their site, really no way to contact them by phone that I could find at the time (they have since changed their site, more about this below) so there was nothing I could do to get help. I attempted to get help from Chris several times but never got an email answer back. There was no mentoring link accessible, at least not that I saw, and there was no information on how to contact this company other then the sales phone number on their main site.
I took the courses throughout the months of August, September and October, and in November received a message that the website was going to change and to make sure all of my information was up to date. I did this, and waited for the website to update. Once that happened, I could not get into the website again.
In January of this year, a salesperson named Jack called me. He wanted to know how I was doing, and tried to sell me a new two year course. I explained how unhappy I was with the support, etc, and he became first defensive, and then abusive.
He told me it was my fault that nothing worked the way I was told, and that I wasn't going to finish the course so must purchase the new two year course and that he would give me a break on the price. I explained to him that I didn't feel that the one year course was worth what I had to pay, and that he was not going to get me to sign up for more.
I told him how unhappy I was with the system again, and that Chris, the person who set me up, would not return my emails, and Jack said that Chris had been a new rep and was no longer with the company, but that Jack had been with them for a long time, and wasn't going anyplace, so he would be there to help me. I told him that I wasn't sure of that due to my last issue with them.
He then started telling me that I would amount to nothing and that I wasn't going to finish the course, it was my fault, etc., and that I had to admit I was wrong because they never do anything wrong. I explained again how unhappy I was with the whole setup, but ended up hanging up on him as he would not listen and continued to argue with me about it.
I called Smartcertify (today, I finally found their number on this website) and spoke with a customer service rep named Rhonda.
Rhonda indicated that all was included in the course, and that they couldn't turn anything on, the user was supposed to turn the mentoring, etc., on because Smartcertify didn't know who wanted it and who didn't.
I explained that I was told that I would receive emails from the mentor, etc., and she again indicated that this was not the case. I explained about Jack, and the phone call, and she indicated that Jack was a new rep, and that Chris was still with the company and one of their best reps (now I don't know who to believe..). She also indicated that she would pull the call to hear what Jack had to say, but would not give me access to the call.
All in all, I am paying out every month to this company and basically recieved nothing but a webcourse in return, not the information they promised. It is a course that is difficult to use and unfortunately, worth nothing to me.
SmartCertify rips you off and then uses all sorts of techniques to get you in, never admit fault, and you end up paying. Did I get what I paid for? No. Do I feel I was ripped off? Yes. Have I learned my lesson? Definately. I would never use this company and have urged others to report them or not sign up with them in the first place.
Patricia
Wichita, Kansas
U.S.A.
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