Bennett College

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 13, 2016/01/07) */
Bennett College closed for the holiday break on Friday, December 18, and reopened on Monday, January 4, We received the complaint, dated December 16, 2015, on Monday, January 4, We will further investigate so that we may
respond
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 20, 2016/01/19) */
At this time, I am waiting for further investigation of and/or response to this matter by Bennett College
Final Business Response /* (4000, 27, 2016/02/23) */
Thank you for the opportunity to respondBennett College is disappointed the Complainant's daughter did not have a good experience on campus or in her dealings with the CollegePlease note that at no time did an agent or employee of Bennett College represent to Complainant that her daughter would receive a "100% fully paid" scholarship from the CollegeInformation concerning tuition and fees is available on the College's website and in the application packageThe Complainant's daughter did enroll at the College, registered, moved into a dormitory, and began taking a full load of courses prior to withdrawingUpon enrolling, Complainant set up a payment plan to pay the requisite tuition and dormitory fees to which she agreedTuition paid through payment plans are non-refundable per Bennett College policyAt no time did anyone at the College promise or otherwise advise the Complainant that she would receive a refund from the CollegeIndeed, the Complainant remains owing to the College in the amount of $for the pro-rata portion of tuition due for the time her daughter was enrolledThe College is offering to waive this amount owed as a compromise of this disputeNo refund or other sums are due the ComplainantThe College did not misrepresent its scholarship program or any other facts to the ComplainantThe College is proud its alumnae speak highly of Bennett nationally and abroad but has no way of policing the numerous positive discussions about the school to address any potential misunderstandings from those meaningful conversationsThere was nothing fraudulent about the statements an alumna may have made concerning Bennett College to the Complainant's daughter and certainly nothing fraudulent about billing the Complainant's credit card for pro-rata tuition for the time her daughter was enrolled at the CollegeBennett College enjoys a long and storied tradition of educating woman of color from across the United States and abroadIt would not risk its stellar reputation in an attempt to take advantage of the Complainant, much less for the amounts at issueAmong other reasons, the College cannot establish a precedent of refunding tuition when the facts do not warrant suchFurther, Bennett students have rich intellectual and campus life experiences; not at all like the experiences described in the Complainant's statementBennett College likewise reserves the right to submit additional information, witnesses, and documentation, if necessary
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 29, 2016/03/03) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
BENNETT STATED:
Thank you for the opportunity to respondBennett College is disappointed the Complainant's daughter did not have a good experience on campus or in her dealings with the CollegePlease note that at no time did an agent or employee of Bennett College represent to Complainant that her daughter would receive a "100% fully paid" scholarship from the College
** ***'s RESPONSE:
I beg your pardon, but how would you have ANY idea what was stated to me, my daughter, and our family in regards to the "100% fully paid scholarship" to attend Bennett College, as represented by MsMarissa? This move to North Carolina created unnecessary debt, as well as a grave hardship for our familyThe only reason why we agreed to pack up my daughter (and niece) to attend this college was SOLELY based on the promise of fully paid scholarship
BENNETT STATED:
The Complainant's daughter did enroll at the College, registered, moved into a dormitory, and began taking a full load of courses prior to withdrawing
** ***'s RESPONSE:
The ONE and ONLY reason why we chose to withdraw our girls from the college was based on *** S***' strong suggestion that we do soAfter several lengthy phone conversations with him, wherein he stated all the costs, fees, and possible penalties that would be assessed if even one monthly payment was missedHe also stated that interest would accrue at the rate 30%, and would damage our girls' credit rating, because they were adultsFurther, the girls would not be allowed back into the dorms or classes, IF, the monthly payment was late or not madeWe live in California, and the thought of our girls being locked out and left on the street while we were halfway across the country was preposterousTherefore, in light of the hardship we were already facing, then learning that WE would have pay all the costs, and there was no fully paid scholarship, we agreed with MrS*** and promptly withdrew both girls immediately, sent airline tickets for them to come back to California, and this, after only days of schoolIf we had any idea that we would be responsible for the costs of attending this college, we would have either been firmly prepared, waited until a later time, or paid for a college in our home cityMy daughter is years old, and waiting one more year, to provide time to get prepared for the expenses of going to Bennett College, would not have made any difference, since she was already NOT attending college at the timeHowever, since we were deceived and blatantly lied to, by MsMarissa, we moved forward believing her every word, instead of checking things out for ourselvesWhat an expensive lesson
BENNETT STATED:
Upon enrolling, Complainant set up a payment plan to pay the requisite tuition and dormitory fees to which she agreed
** ***'s RESPONSE:
What else could we do, other than to at least TRY to make it work? Our family had already made grave sacrifices, and pooled together resources to get the girls set up in North CarolinaWe believe that MsMarissa knew that once we were there, in North Carolina, emotions would take over, and we would do just what any decent parent would do for their child, and that is to make it happen
BENNETT STATED:
Tuition paid through payment plans are non-refundable per Bennett College policy
** ***'s RESPONSE:
Be that as it may, MrS*** PROMISED us a FULL refund, less any bus fares and meals charged to the student card, if we immediately withdrew both girls, and they packed out of the dorm by Sunday, which we did
BENNETT STATED:
At no time did anyone at the College promise or otherwise advise the Complainant that she would receive a refund from the College
** ***'s RESPONSE:
Again, YOU, Sir/Madame, have NO idea what was stated to me and my family, as YOU were not on the phone at the timeThank you
BENNETT STATED:
Indeed, the Complainant remains owing to the College in the amount of $for the pro-rata portion of tuition due for the time her daughter was enrolledThe College is offering to waive this amount owed as a compromise of this disputeNo refund or other sums are due the Complainant
** ***'s RESPONSE:
I will agree to this waived amount of the pro-rata portion of tuition, under the following condition, which I have previously conveyed to MrS***:
Condition: My credit card was fraudulently rebilled in the total amount of $This fraudulent rebilling caused my account to go OVER the credit limit, resulting in irreparable damage to my credit ratingAs such, I will need the FULL amount of $reversed back to the credit card, INCLUDING, a letter of explanation, addressed to *** *** *** that the amount was erroneously chargedI have been informed by *** *** *** that a letter of explanation, on your letterhead, will resolve the issue, and they will reverse the negative mark that now stands on my credit report due to this over the limit charge
Further, as you are aware, and as stated above, my daughter is yrs oldShe is an adultAs such, I am neither obligated, nor responsible for her, nor any other adult's debtTherefore, any amount that was deemed due to Bennett, after the initial reversal of charges, should have been sent to my daughter directly, as the original debtorLegally speaking, the debt is NOT mine, and should NOT have been rebilled to MY credit card
BENNETT STATED:
The College did not misrepresent its scholarship program or any other facts to the ComplainantThe College is proud its alumnae speak highly of Bennett nationally and abroad but has no way of policing the numerous positive discussions about the school to address any potential misunderstandings from those meaningful conversations
** ***'s RESPONSE:
Be that as it may, MsMarissa made it very clear that the girls were accepted at Bennett, "late", after the enrollment period ended, based on "her" name - because she has "connections at Bennett"After the girls returned to California, I had to personally contact MsMarissa, and demand that she STOP harassing my daughter and my nieceShe kept calling and texting them, demanding an explanation for why they left the school, because it was a bad reflection on her reputation because she spoke up for them to get them acceptedAs such, you may want to have a nice little chat with MsMarissa, and suggest to her, that if she intends to represent Bennett, she should do so with integrityIn hindsight, her representation of Bennett to our family was like that of a con artist
BENNETT STATED:
There was nothing fraudulent about the statements an alumna may have made concerning Bennett College to the Complainant's daughter and certainly nothing fraudulent about billing the Complainant's credit card for pro-rata tuition for the time her daughter was enrolled at the College
** ***'s RESPONSE:
The fraud comes into play when MrS*** PROMISED a FULL refund, then after we did as he asked, and packed up the girls, he stopped answering his office and cell phoneHe did not return ANY of my numerous voicemail messagesHe also promised to send me a closing statement of the bus fare and meals, which were to be deducted from the total amount we paid, but of course, I never received itDue to the fact that I received NO response or communication whatsoever from MrS***, or anyone at Bennett, I called my bank to reverse the chargesThen, a few months later, with no communication with me at all, the charges were rebilled, causing yet another debacle, but this time in regards to my credit rating
BENNETT STATED:
Bennett College enjoys a long and storied tradition of educating woman of color from across the United States and abroadIt would not risk its stellar reputation in an attempt to take advantage of the Complainant, much less for the amounts at issueAmong other reasons, the College cannot establish a precedent of refunding tuition when the facts do not warrant such
** ***'s RESPONSE:
The bottom line is, the handling of this situation was extremely unprofessional, unethical, and less than honorableMrS***, being fully aware of the situation, from beginning to end, having had several conversations with our family, and knowing he had intentionally ignored my voicemails, should have stepped up as the liaison between me and the billing department, instead of blindsiding me by rebilling the account and damaging my credit rating
I am hopeful that the above conditions can be met, and we can resolve this matter, once and for all, and we can move on with our lives
Please be advised that the above does not constitute all the facts of this matter, and I reserve my right to provide additional information, evidence and witnesses at a later time
Thank you,
*** ***