Kevin Krogulski, Academic Counselor & Brad Chatfield, Admissions Counselor were queried several times by me about their "special" free first time student course. During several phone conversations with Brad, I was told the first course was free. The books and registration fees were waived if I completed the course. Brad explained this special was to provide the student an opportunity to find out if "on line" learning was a fit.
I asked several times via e-mails and during phone conversations, what the cost of courses are should I decide to pursue a degree. I was given vague answers such as "It depends on the degree or how many generals you need." Finally, a few days before my "free" course, I was given a cost of $350 per credit. Most classes are 3-4 credits, totaling $1,200 for each course. I told Brad this was far too expensive for me to pay $40K for a Bachelor's Degree and that I would just do the "free" course to avoid paying the books and registration fees. He did not make any remarks about this other than trying to talk me into reconsidering my decision and making points why there was value to paying $40K.
Two days after my "free" class began, my credit card bill arrived with a $1,266.00 charge from the University of Phoenix. I immediately called Alicia Miner, University's Financial Dept. She informed me that the charge of $1,266.00 was for this course I had begun two days earlier! I explained what Brad had told me about this course being free and she transferred me to Brad.
We had a frustrating discussion in that he denied misleading me. He pointed out that I had signed the financial paper that states I would pay cash for the courses. I explained that I had signed it with the belief that this was for future classes, should I decide to take any and not for this first course. His only solution was to suggest I drop the class in order to get a refund for the $1,266.00 charge. I dropped the class an hour later and was only given a partial refund of $927.00. I called to complain about this and spoke to Kristi Bien and also her supervisor, Rebecca. They both insisted that the refund was accurate.
All of this happened in October and November. Now in April I was billed $111.00 from University of Phoenix for the books. I tried to return them in October and they refused to take them back. The books were never used and they claimed the books couldn't be used by anyone else. The books are listed as a "starter pack" and definitely not worth $111.00! I disputed the charge on my credit card so University of Phoenix sent the bill to a collector.
In order to safe guard my credit rating, I had to pay a ransom of this $111.00. This free "course" ended up costing me $350.00! This is a harmful scam run by con artists. This course did not contain any useful knowledge but was merely a general introductory course for on line learning. I strongly advise anyone to stay away from this rip-off University of Phoenix Online.
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