The Duggars and CollegePlus

[Westerner]

Think it might be good if a Moderator locked this thread? To keep the debate from continuing on in circles... hilarious

[mrs.b]

The major difference is that I can no longer find the fee structure. What would be the reason for taking that down?

Because they wanted to? Or because market research may show openly displaying fees before one gets to talk to a potential customer limits potential customer contact? (The last is based on an assumption, not fact. It drives me nuts when companies do not display their fee structure so I tend to move on to some other place that allows me to collect that information myself, but that may be personal preference.) Whatever the reason, I still do not see the big deal. Tons of businesses do that..

University of Phoenix grew to be the largest university in the country, but it doesn't mean that it's a good university even within its niche. Having more options might have something to do with its decreasing enrollment, but so does people wising up to the fact that there are, and have been for a long time, cheaper online programs with better reputations.

Anyway, I did find a couple of forums where a few people said that, if they had to do it again, they would have finished their degrees on their own. They weren't complaining about CP; they just realized that they could have easily done the same thing themselves.

There are a lot of satisfied UoP customers, also, despite any of our interpretations of good sense. While I might personally find them distasteful as an education solution, it does not matter to me if others appreciate the services they received, the price they paid, and so on. It just meant I made a different choice. There are quite a few forum posts on higher education forums out there that badmouth TESC, EC, and COSC because of their ease of testing out of a degree, equating them with degree mills. Does that change your opinion of them, or the usefulness of your degree? Others' opinions are just that.

Another analogy: I drive a Hyundai Tucson. Many people think my vehicle is a Lexus RX 350 by appearances until they see the make label. Having driven a Lexus RX, I personally feel my Tucson performs better and is of far better value. Some die-hard Lexus customers I know (my boss being one of them) disagree. Does that mean Lexus should be driven out of business because they make a product that I personally feel is of equal or inferior value to a less expensive product and their claim of quality is over-inflated and does it mean Lexus customers are naive for making the purchasing choice they do? What Lexus chooses to sell and what they price it at is the supply side of business. My opinion, while important to me, does not determine buying choices for others. The same applies here. I just make the choice that is right for me, and others do the same based on their circumstances. Some people feel cheaper is not always better. So what?

[mrs.b]

Oh hon, it's been circling since page 1. I joined the merry-go-'round for fun when it refused to stop. Logic be durned! On the merry-go-'round, I like the white horse with pink ribbons in its mane because it reminds me of cotton candy, and cotton candy reminds me of clouds, and clouds remind me of that one time at band camp...

Yeah. I have yet to see a thread get mod locked here, though. If wishes had feet...they'd go get me some cotton candy.

[sanantone]

Because they wanted to? Or because market research may show openly displaying fees before one gets to talk to a potential customer limits potential customer contact? (The last is based on an assumption, not fact. It drives me nuts when companies do not display their fee structure so I tend to move on to some other place that allows me to collect that information myself, but that may be personal preference.) Whatever the reason, I still do not see the big deal. Tons of businesses do that..





There are a lot of satisfied UoP customers, also, despite any of our interpretations of good sense. While I might personally find them distasteful as an education solution, it does not matter to me if others appreciate the services they received, the price they paid, and so on. It just meant I made a different choice. There are quite a few forum posts on higher education forums out there that badmouth TESC, EC, and COSC because of their ease of testing out of a degree, equating them with degree mills. Does that change your opinion of them, or the usefulness of your degree? Others' opinions are just that.

Another analogy: I drive a Hyundai Tucson. Many people think my vehicle is a Lexus RX 350 by appearances until they see the make label. Having driven a Lexus RX, I personally feel my Tucson performs better and is of far better value. Some die-hard Lexus customers I know (my boss being one of them) disagree. Does that mean Lexus should be driven out of business because they make a product that I personally feel is of equal or inferior value to a less expensive product and their claim of quality is over-inflated and does it mean Lexus customers are naive for making the purchasing choice they do? What Lexus chooses to sell and what they price it at is the supply side of business. My opinion, while important to me, does not determine buying choices for others. The same applies here. I just make the choice that is right for me, and others do the same based on their circumstances. Some people feel cheaper is not always better. So what?

That is the point. Even though UoP has thousands of satisfied customers, the company is now struggling to keep up enrollment. So, just because a company was doing well at one time, it does not mean they will always keep it up and that they have a good business model. People are more aware of better options, so UoP is now shutting down campuses.

Oh hon, it's been circling since page 1. I joined the merry-go-'round for fun when it refused to stop. Logic be durned! On the merry-go-'round, I like the white horse with pink ribbons in its mane because it reminds me of cotton candy, and cotton candy reminds me of clouds, and clouds remind me of that one time at band camp...

Yeah. I have yet to see a thread get mod locked here, though. If wishes had feet...they'd go get me some cotton candy.

A thread was locked a few months ago in the off-topic subforum.

[Westerner]

That is the point. Even though UoP has thousands of satisfied customers, the company is now struggling to keep up enrollment. So, just because a company was doing well at one time, it does not mean they will always keep it up and that they have a good business model. People are more aware of better options, so UoP is now shutting down campuses.

Obviously, over the course of time, ways of doing business will change and come and go. That's not bad or detrimental. It's the free society we live in. But right now, CP's not losing money or going downhill. As Mrs. B said, CP customers aren't complaining! In fact, it's quite the opposite! Must mean that, at least for now, CP is wanted.

[sanantone]

Obviously, over the course of time, ways of doing business will change and come and go. That's not bad or detrimental. It's the free society we live in. But right now, CP's not losing money or going downhill. As Mrs. B said, CP customers aren't complaining! In fact, it's quite the opposite! Must mean that, at least for now, CP is wanted.

How many customers does CP have? If they can't even find information on their own, then they probably can't even find the complaints boards or BBB website. milelol:

[sanantone]

Everyone company has complaints, even the good ones. Some CP customers did manage to find a place to complain online.

joystars

Reviewed on Thursday, December 6, 2012
Grades Used: hs/dual
Dates used: 2012 fall

oh boy my daughter spent intensive 2 months studying several courses: speed reading, memorization, comparative religions, reasoning, audio CDs, etc. and was exhausted and received no credit at all for college. Dropping out......

HomeSchoolReviews.com College Plus (website) Curriculum Reviews

Hindsfeet

Reviewed on Sunday, July 12, 2009
Grades Used: After high school
Dates used: 2008

3/15/10 Note: there have been further developments in our experience with CollegePlus, so I have added an update at the bottom.

Our coach turned out to be a young woman who seemed to just want chat about life. She e-mailed my daughter lists of books to buy to study from, and that's all the real advice we got.

They neglected to mail us an introductory package that apparently told us our rights.. which included the fact that you have to cancel within a short amount of time to get any amount of refund. It took us about 2-3 months to figure out the counseling we were getting wasn't worth the amount of money we were paying, and that there are PLENTY of more affordable resources out there to help you study for CLEP tests (and you can find CLEP testing locations on your own)... and by the time we had figured it out that it really was something we could *easily* do on our own, we no longer could get our refund and we were out thousands of dollars.

My daughter's counselor would call once every other week. She would e-mail us just a few hours before calling to let us know when she would call and in that e-mail she would give my daughter an assignment that had to be completed before the call. Sometimes we would be gone to a doctor's appointment when she sent the e-mail and we would just be getting in the door when she called and had no knowledge of the e-mail she had sent, yet she would berate us for not being prepared and for not checking our e-mails frequently to know when she was going to call. OR we would not even be home... we would be gone the entire morning or afternoon and miss her e-mail AND her call and she would get upset with us for wasting her time. Every time she did call, my daughter told her what dates and times we would be gone to an appointment, but those dates and times were never convenient for her. If we told her we were going to be gone Friday, it would turn out that Friday was the one day she would call us.


We only had one contact person to call if we had problems, and it was the same guy who had been the "salesman" - we were told beforehand that if our counselor was not a good match, they would work with us to find another one. But after the fact when we told him the problems we were having communicating with the counselor, he told us they had no one else available.

Perhaps the introductory packet would have given us another contact number or person to call, but we never received the introductory packet and did not know to expect one, since they had not told us they would be sending one.

If you do decide to go with CollegePlus, please be sure to get your introductory packet, and make sure you know ahead if time what your window is for a refund if it doesn't work out.

ETA - March 15, 2010 UPDATE to this Review Originally Reviewed on Sunday, July 12, 2009

CollegePlus called us out of the blue today after having no contact with us for over a year. They said they had been reviewing what happened to us, and they said the more they looked into it, the worse it got, that so many things had been handled wrong on their part, and that they wanted to apologize and offer us a full refund. They said a good name was worth far more to them than riches and they wanted me to know that our experience was not the norm for them.

I was really touched by their humility and graciousness. I'm sure it took great effort on the part of the person who called me to admit things had been handled wrong and to offer the apology. I'm touched that they didn't just think so much time has passed, it's water under the bridge and forget about it, but they made the effort to dig into it and make things right. Even though we had just accepted the monetary loss and moved on and no longer expected anything on their part, it means the world to me that they wanted to make things right, and my respect for them has greatly been restored.

HomeSchoolReviews.com College Plus (website) Curriculum Reviews

[Westerner]

How many customers does CP have? If they can't even find information on their own, then they probably can't even find the complaints boards or BBB website. milelol:

Now you're just insulting CP students again...

As for those negative reviews, the ones you quoted are the only ones on that site that are negative, and the second one got resolved well.

[mrs.b]

How many customers does CP have? If they can't even find information on their own, then they probably can't even find the complaints boards or BBB website. milelol:

I hate to point out this minor point, but CP customers would find the fee structure by calling if it is not on the website, else they would not be customers; traditionally, one needs to pay to be considered a customer. You and I will not find it because we are not potential customers and have no interest in calling. This thread went, what, 17 pages before anyone bothered looking for evidence of real complaints? Let's not be unpleasant, silly.

Everyone company has complaints, even the good ones. Some CP customers did manage to find a place to complain online.

Exactly. Every company has complaints, even good ones. No complaints went so far as the BBB, however, implying issues are typically handled before they reach such extreme measures. That's the mark of a good company. I see at least two complaints a week about TESC on this forum alone. Yet, we value their services despite others' opinions and gave them our money. TESC has four BBB complaints in the last three years, whereas CP has none. Using your argument, you are a naive, ignorant buyer. That isn't the case, though, is it? I imagine you took the complaints into account and made an informed buying decision based on your personal circumstances and available resources to seek alternatives.


To sum up, because this is really a circular argument:

One's lack of interest in patronizing a company does not equate to a bad business model. The fact that one does not see the value in a service does not mean the service itself is bad. It merely means that one person is not a target customer, while many others may be. It is simply a fact of the service industry business.

[sanantone]

Now you're just insulting CP students again...

As for those negative reviews, the ones you quoted are the only ones on that site that are negative, and the second one got resolved well.

The second one got resolved one year later, but it's just proof that CP does have complaints like every other organization.

I hate to point out this minor point, but CP customers would find the fee structure by calling if it is not on the website, else they would not be customers; traditionally, one needs to pay to be considered a customer. You and I will not find it because we are not potential customers and have no interest in calling. This thread went, what, 17 pages before anyone bothered looking for evidence of real complaints? Let's not be unpleasant, silly.



Exactly. Every company has complaints, even good ones. No complaints went so far as the BBB, however, implying issues are typically handled before they reach such extreme measures. That's the mark of a good company. I see at least two complaints a week about TESC on this forum alone. Yet, we value their services despite others' opinions and gave them our money. TESC has four BBB complaints in the last three years, whereas CP has none. Using your argument, you are a naive, ignorant buyer. That isn't the case, though, is it? I imagine you took the complaints into account and made an informed buying decision based on your personal circumstances and available resources to seek alternatives.


To sum up, because this is really a circular argument:

One's lack of interest in patronizing a company does not equate to a bad business model. The fact that one does not see the value in a service does not mean the service itself is bad. It merely means that one person is not a target customer, while many others may be. It is simply a fact of the service industry business.

TESC has over 19,000 students. I really don't know how many customers CP has. But when I paid nearly $3,000 to TESC, I got a degree. Yes, TESC has bad customer service, but I got the degree I needed without handing over an extra $3,000 to someone who just offers coaching. CP customers are paying CP and TESC or whatever college they choose.

The fee structure used to be clearly listed on the website. It was on there several months ago when I heard about the company and it was there when I created this thread. The point in hiding the fee is so that you would have to call or email and listen to/read a sales pitch to convince you that the $3,000 is worth it. I would assume that CP didn't have trouble attracting customers when their fee structure was listed on their website. What's the point in taking it down now if CP's services are obviously worth the price and they have a good word of mouth going around?