Career Step, LLC

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: There were several inaccurate statements in 'their response', including more than one notification of problems in the literature and IT issuesI can provide email documentation if need beAlso, they sent me an ICD-(out of date version) textbook first before I, again via email, requested the most accurate version, the ICD-I also have several emails, with multiple employees, stating that I could make smaller payments due to my job lossNot one employee at both Career Step or the finance company told me that I could not continue to complete the course while making smaller payments. Again, I have email documentation to prove what I am statingWhen I began noticing misspellings and inaccurate information in the literature, I immediately began suspecting that I had invested in a sketchy companyThus, I only corresponded via email so that I would have a paper trailIf they don't accept my emails as proof, I am sure a judge will accept it as evidence in my small claim case.
Sincerely,
*** ***

Career Step processes indicate that this learner should have received their refund after contacting us on the 21st We apologize that she feels that she got the run-around or pressure to stay enrolled in the course We do our best in both Operations and Enrollments to help learners
continue rather than withdraw However, it certainly should have been handled better after the student spoke to both departments The refund will be processed immediately To address the concerns about our marketing efforts, Career Step does market to people who submit information to surveys of various types that they are under employed or unemployed and that they would like to better their employment situation Every student is provided a thorough review of their course pricing and time requirements as well as what career opportunities are available for them to explore with the education they receive Our enrollment and financial agreements are provided and signed by the learner before any payments are requested

We have received the rejection to our response from Mr***We understand that Mr*** notified us of his desire to cancel on April 13th He enrolled on March 28thOur Refund/Return policy is defined in Section of the contract that all of our students must sign during the enrollment process(see below) Section of the Electronic Enrollment Agreement, under the ‘TERMINATION RIGHTS AND REFUND POLICY ‘section states: (a) 3-Day Right to Rescind: You have a right to rescind this Agreement and receive a full refund of any amounts paid to Career Step, which you must exercise (if you so choose) in writing within three (3) business days from the day you submit the online application or sign the written applicationYou must deliver a written rescission of this Agreement to Career Step within such 3-day period, or if the rescission is mailed, it must be postmarked on or before the last day of the 3-day period. Prior to receiving the refund, you must first return all program materials and supplies sent to you, as set forth in subsection (d) below. (b) 14-DAY MONEY BACK POLICY: In addition to the rescission rights set forth in subsection (a) above, you may also withdraw from the program for any reason within days after the date you first receive access to online program materials, which is the date of the email sent to you containing your password and login for the online program In this case, this Agreement shall be rescinded and Career Step will refund your money IN FULL, less a $application fee and any initial shipping and handling fees, provided that you first return all program materials and supplies as set forth in subsection (d) below (c) No Refund after Days: If, for any reason, you withdraw after the initial 14-day review period, you are not released from your obligation to pay the program fees in full and you are not entitled to any refund from Career StepMr*** did not notify us of his desire to cancel until days after he enrolled in the programWe have attempted to work with Mr*** and come to an agreement, but he is declining to accept anything short of a refund, which he will not be grantedAgain, Career Step will offer Mr*** a complimentary month extension as an attempt to make up for any of the lost time that he has experienced during this process Kerry H*** Operations Manager

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because: Unless the Revdex.com actually listens to a representative number of sound files contained in the Career Step program, they are not helping to uncover the real truth of the situationPlease Revdex.com ! Do your job !
Sincerely,
*** ***

",sans-serif>The Career Step independent
competency-based Medical Transcription Training Program has been successfully
training medical transcriptionists for over sixteen years. We are one of seventeen training schools
whose curriculum is approved by the Association for Healthcare Documentation
Integrity.
MsRachel B[redacted], enrolled in
Career Step's Medical Transcription Editor (MTE) Program on August 27, 2013,
which is almost two full years agoCareer Step's MTE is an online course and
the full course materials are available 24-hours per dayIn addition to the
online content we do have a staff of instructors ready and willing to help and
answer any questions our students may have
The claim that this course
"did not hear from a professor the entire time" is incorrectWe have
records that show she was either called or emailed on at least five different occasions
Even with proactive outreach to the students, it is their responsibility to
contact the instructors with any questions or concerns
This request for a refund is past
the day return period and therefore the request for a refund has been
denied
There are other students that had
questions, or have not made the progress they hoped, and this is,
understandably, very frustratingWe encourage our students to succeed by
utilizing the help we can offer with Student Support, and the student forums,
many have gone on to conquer the roadblocks and graduate successfullyI'm
confident MsB[redacted] can overcome any obstacles currently in the way and become
a successful Medical Transcriptionist
As a gesture of goodwill I am
willing to offer a one time, 4-month extension, free of chargeI encourage Ms
B[redacted] to take advantage of this time, and to contact the instructors in Student
Support with any questionsThey are happy and willing to answer questions, and
to clarify content
Thank you for your time,
Nick P[redacted]
Operations Manager

Sincerest apologies for the technical difficulties.  We completely agree with you that the number of issues is a cause for concern for us and also unacceptable for our learners.  As an online education company, the greatest of care and accountability is applied to our learning platform and...

its reliability.  Please accept our apologies and our care for your time and experience.  We will update your account today with an additional 30 days of complimentary enrollment time to assist you in recovering your lost time.

",sans-serif>I have taken this opportunity to look further in to Mr
L[redacted]'s concerns
MrL[redacted] enrolled in our Medical Transcription Editor course
on 06/01/He has made greatprogress in the courseHe has not only
completed the preliminary modules, but also the transcription portion of the
courseHe only needs to complete the editing portion of his course
On 07/20/our records show MrL[redacted] contacted our
Technical Support Department because he was having trouble installing the
editing software for the editing portion of his courseOne of our Technical
Support Specialist, Christy H[redacted], was able to work with himShe confirmed
that MrL[redacted] was using an iMac computerShe explained he would need a
Windows OS to use the editing software, and he could use either a native
windows computer, or he could contact apple support for help setting up Boot
Camp.
In our Electronic Enrollment Agreement (EEA), signed by Mr
L[redacted] prior to enrollment, we include section outlining all system
requirements for our programsThis section is included below:
System Requirements: Since the course is completely online,
your computer will play an important role in your learning experienceYour
computer system should meet the following minimum specifications:
Hardware:
• Active internet connection (High speed/Broadband connection
recommended)
• X minimum resolution (X or higher
recommended)
• Sound card and speakers (Earphones recommended)
• Available USB port
Software:
• Adobe Flash Player (veror higher)
• Windows Media Player (veror higher) or Quicktime Player
(veror higher)
• PDF reader
Browser:
• Internet Explorer 7.x, 8.x, and 9.x
• Firefox *
• Safari 4.x or greater (Mac only)*
• We currently do not support
Google Chrome
• Javascript and cookies must
be enabled
Operating System – One of the
following:
• Microsoft Windows (XP®,
Vista®, with latest service pack)
• Mac OS X (or greater)*
*The Medical Transcription Editor, Medical Transcription Editor
Supplement, and Medical Transcription Editor Refresher include a third party
software tool that makes the training only compatible with Microsoft Windows
and Internet Explorer 7.x, 8.x or 9x
Note: Mobile browsing devices are not currently supported
However, Career Step is investigating the implementation of mobile device
support, and these specifications will be updated once a decision has been
reached.
Please notice the highlighted areas outlining the requirements
for our Medical Transcription Editor course
On 07/21/MrL[redacted] again reached out to our Technical
Support DepartmentHe had download Windows, but was not able to find any
option to access Internet ExplorerChristy H[redacted] worked with him, but it was
concluded that MrL[redacted] would need to contact Apple SupportEither Windows
was downloaded from an alternative source, or Boot Camp was not successfully
installedShe again confirmed with MrL[redacted] Internet Explorer is required
to operate the software
In regards to MrL[redacted]'s claim, no outdated software was
included in his Medical Transcription Editor programAll software in our
Medical Transcription Editor program is current and usable with a Windows OP
and Internet ExplorerMrL[redacted] has opted to use an iMac that does not meet
the system requirements outlined in his EEA.
Unfortunately, after reviewing phone calls and email
correspondence, MrL[redacted]'s request for a refund has been deniedI was
unable to uncover any conversations had with MrL[redacted] where software
concerns were discussedNor was I able to find a commitment for additional
software to be supplied to MrL[redacted] upon enrollment
As a gesture of good will, and to help provide MrL[redacted] with
time while making alternative arrangements to complete his course, we will
provide a complimentary month extension to MrL[redacted]'s courseIn addition, MrL[redacted] will continue to have access to our technical support team and they will offer any assistance that they can to help him in his efforts to update his computer with Apple support
Thank you for this opportunity, and please let me know if you
have additional questions.Nicholas P[redacted]Operations Manager

We have received the refusal from Ms. [redacted] in regards to our offer of a 2 month extension. We understand that Ms. [redacted] is frustrated with the program and claims that there is “no assistance available to guide me to finish the class”. Career Step has a team of full time instructors that are at the ready to assist students with any questions that they may encounter during their course. Our students can contact these instructors at any time during the day Monday through Friday (7 am-5 pm MST). They are also available through our email and chat features, which I show that Ms. [redacted] has used extensively. We understand that the course can be very overwhelming in some areas and all of our students do learn differently. We make every attempt we can to work with students to try to make this a pleasant and fulfilling learning experience. The Professional Medical Coding and Billing course is very intense, as the student is learning a very specialized skill. We will continue to make ourselves as available as we possibly can for Ms. [redacted] as she works to finish her course. We would like to see Ms. [redacted] finish, and in a final attempt to help her do so. We can offer her an additional 4 months complimentary access to her course. This will be our final offer and hope that Ms. [redacted] will choose to accept and complete her program. There are a lot of opportunities in the market now for Certified Medical Coders and Billers, and our hopes is that Ms. [redacted] will be able and willing to seize one of these opportunities and start building a future as a certified coder. Sincerely Kerry H[redacted] Operations Manager Career Step

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

In response to technical issues and student support, I will say that we have struggled a bit lately in that area more than Career Step typically does. I am sorry to hear that the weight of these issues has caused you alot of distress and frustration.  I am happy to provide you a complimentary...

extension of your time in the course so provide you back some of the lost time due to the technical issues.  I also apologize that the instructors and advocates have not been responsive to you.  I would be happy to give you direct access to an instructor if that's still required and we can work around your schedule if you'd like.  As for the time in the course and the books that you need.  The coding books that you need for the course are time sensitive.  They are updated every year.  So we deliver them inside the course for your benefit.  There is a Medical Terminology book that is included in your first shipment is not required to start the program. Students have at least 50 hours of coursework to do before that book is needed so that's why the enrollment start right away.  But if you experienced a delay with the book I can provide you a complimentary extension to cover that time as well.  We do have two separate toll free numbers to reach our team.  I would like to make sure that you have access to the correct numbers first off to make sure that there isn't an issue with that as well.  You can reach our instructors at 888.657.5752 option 1

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:This student has not pretended on any of these issues. I am NOT taking course from Career Steps. My personal issues have gotten in the way and I do not have a time line on when they will be over. On top of asking for refund stating numerous times I will not continue with Career Steps this institution has tried taking more money off of the credit card. I have called my credit card company to stop payment for Career Steps. I am demanding full refund or I will take further action. I am not continuing with Career Steps not just for the fact at this time in my life there are to many issues and financial problems. It also Career Steps are incredibly insensitive about my personal turmoil and they truly do not care if I am on the streets as long as they get paid and do not have to issue a refund. So for the last and final time I will not continue with Career Steps I am demanding a full refund or I will take further action. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

As a final
response to [redacted]. We will go over again what we have already
discussed with her via email correspondence and in the contract that she signed
when she enrolled in the program. Ms. [redacted] experienced some financial
distress and reached out to Career Step and was able to make arrangements to
make smaller payments on a monthly basis until she was able to pay off her full
balance. This was an agreement that she entered into, but this agreement did
not void or nullify the original payment contract that Ms. [redacted] signed.
Ms.
[redacted] paid her monthly payments on time until November 10th. That
was the date of the last payment that we received on her account and as of Dec.
10th her account was set to default status, making the whole sum of
her balance due. In the
Retail Installment Contract it states:
I agree to review the
Final Disclosure upon receiving it and to contact the School if I have any
questions. Should default be made on any payment when due, the whole sum of
principal and interest shall immediately become due and payable at the option
of the holder of this Agreement.
We have
tried to explain this to Ms. [redacted] several times via email and over the
phone. In our last correspondence we made an attempt to offer her the
opportunity to split up her remaining balance into 4 equal monthly payments and
re-activating her course while she made the payments. She rejected that offer.
As a final
concession, we will make the same offer to Ms. [redacted] to break up the
remaining balance into 4 equal monthly payments and will also extend Ms. [redacted]’
s program with an additional 2 months of access to compensate her for the time
that she claims to have lost. This is our final offer and our final correspondence
through the Revdex.com concerning this matter.
Sincerely,
Kerry
H[redacted]
Operations
Manager

As stated in our previous response "Mr. [redacted] is making claims as to our recordings for the program. These are not recordings that were created for this program specifically. These are actual recordings from working doctors that needed to be transcribed. We train our students to learn and understand all different types of doctors and characteristics of speech so that they can be as successful as possible in the real working environment."Our course successfully trains thousands of Medical Transcriptionists each year. Many of our students comment on the difficulty of the recordings but understand that this is a necessary skill to learn. While working as a transcriptionist they will listen to recordings from doctors of varied backgrounds and origins. Mr. [redacted] worked in his program and completed a majority of it before he decided that he did not want to finish. Mr. [redacted] is not entitled to a refund and one will not be granted in this situation because of the contract that was signed and the time that has transpired since his course expired. Career Step considers this matter closed and will not address it further after this response has been received and read by Mr. [redacted].

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

The Career Step independent competency-based Professional Medical Coding and Billing program has been successfully training medical coding and billing professionals since March 2009.  Our training program curriculum has been reviewed and is approved by the American Health Information...

Management Association (AHIMA).  Ms. [redacted] enrolled in our Professional Medical Coding and Billing course on September 24th 2013. The course that she enrolled in is granted 1 year of access from the date of purchase. As per her agreement when she enrolled she understood and agreed to the fact that the course is self-paced and if she needed more time she would need to purchase extensions. The contract that she signed states:             “Extensions beyond the initial enrollment term may be available, subject to Career Step’s current extension policy at the time the extension is purchased.”               Ms. [redacted] was in need of more time and purchased her first extension in September of 2014 after her original term of enrollment was set to expire. She worked diligently in her course but was in need a more extensions, which she has purchased during the time from September 2014 until now.             On July 18 2016, Ms. [redacted] contacted Career Step and was very frustrated with her course. She felt that she did not want to complete her course and was requesting a refund for her last extension. Our records show that she purchased the extension online on February 25 2016 and that the extension is due to expire on August 21. Ms. [redacted] claims that she has not use the extension, but according to our system I show that she has logged in a total of 30 hours during this period. Per the extension agreement that she agreed to when she purchased online it states under article 7:                         “7.       Refund Policy: All extension costs are non-refundable, and all sales are considered final as of the date this Agreement is accepted.”               Unfortunately a refund of her extension will not be granted. We would like all of our students to succeed and finish the course that they start. Ms. [redacted] has invested a considerable amount of time and money into this course and we would hate to see her not complete it.             As a concession in this matter we are willing to offer Ms. [redacted] an additional 2 months access to her course to provide her with the time that she may need to finish and graduate from the program.   Kerry H[redacted] Operations Manager Career Step

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: Career step had done nothing to help me resolve this issue. I have never felt so scammed and taken advantage of by a school. I got nothing but problems, lies, and excuses. I will also be filing a further compliant with MYCAA and MYSECO.I find it sad how the school takes advantage of others as they do, especially because I now am unable to go to a supportive and ethical school for the same program because they took close to all of my grant money promising a good education that I didn't receive.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

The Career Step independent competency-based Medical Transcription Training Program has been successfully training medical transcriptionists for over sixteen years. We are one of seventeen training schools whose curriculum is approved by the Association for Healthcare Documentation...

Integrity.  Mr. [redacted], enrolled in Career Step's Medical Transcription Editor (MTE) Program on August 15 2012. Upon enrollment Mr. [redacted] E-signed the Electronic Enrollment Agreement and the refund policy is as outlined below: Section 21 of the Electronic Enrollment Agreement, under the ‘TERMINATION RIGHTS AND REFUND POLICY ‘section states: (a) 3-Day Right to Rescind: You have a right to rescind this Agreement and receive a full refund of any amounts paid to Career Step, which you must exercise (if you so choose) in writing within three (3) business days from the day you submit the online application or sign the written application. You must deliver a written rescission of this Agreement to Career Step within such 3-day period, or if the rescission is mailed, it must be postmarked on or before the last day of the 3-day period.  Prior to receiving the refund, you must first return all program materials and supplies sent to you, as set forth in subsection (d) below.  (b) 14-DAY MONEY BACK POLICY: In addition to the rescission rights set forth in subsection (a) above, you may also withdraw from the program for any reason within 14 days after the date you first receive access to online program materials, which is the date of the email sent to you containing your password and login for the online program.  In this case, this Agreement shall be rescinded and Career Step will refund your money IN FULL, less a $50 application fee and any initial shipping and handling fees, provided that you first return all program materials and supplies as set forth in subsection (d) below. (c) No Refund After 14 Days: If, for any reason, you withdraw after the initial 14-day review period, you are not released from your obligation to pay the program fees in full and you are not entitled to any refund from Career Step. This course is a very in-depth course and the average time to complete the course work is 640 hours. When Mr. [redacted] was researching this course with our institution he was told the amount of time that the course would take. We have a wide range of students that have taken and completed the course in as little as 4 months, and as much as 3 years. These courses are designed to be completed in 1 year. To complete our Medical Transcription Editor course in 1 year a student would have to study on average 2 hours per day. Per our records Mr. [redacted] studied in his course a total of 464.92 hours in his first year enrolled. For 6 of those 12 months Mr. [redacted] spent less than 10 hours in his course. Our courses are very attractive to working individuals because they provide the flexibility to work when you can, and we provide a year of access to provide plenty of time to complete them. Unfortunately, we cannot force individuals to do work in their courses, but do offer extensions if the course ends up taking longer than the given year to complete. Mr. [redacted] is correct he has purchased several extensions for his program, and has yet to complete it.   At this time, Mr. [redacted]’s program has been disabled and expired for over a year. We allow students a 6-month grace period to extend their course after it has been disabled. Mr. [redacted]’s course was disabled on January 1, 2016. This means that he had until July 1, 2016 to extend his course before it was expired. He did not do so, which means his course is now expired and he would have to re-enroll in the course and complete it to receive his certification in Medical Transcription Editing. Unfortunately, because of the circumstances and the time that has transpired with Mr. [redacted]’s request we cannot honor any type of refund request. Regards Kerry H[redacted] Operations Manager Career Step

The electronic enrollment agreement that the student signed does not allow any cancellation of payments if they cancel after 14 days from enrollment.  Career Step considers that to be superseding any verbal agreement that we cannot confirm.  We do record our calls if the student has the first and last name of the person who told them that.  We never make exceptions to the policy in the agreement the student signed, unless it's for extreme medical issues such as terminal illness or death.  Unless that is the reason the student cancelled then there would be no reason we would have told the student that there would be no future payments.

The Career Step independent competency-based Medical Transcription Training Program has been successfully training medical transcriptionists for over sixteen years.  We are one of seventeen training schools whose curriculum is approved by the Association for Healthcare Documentation...

Integrity.  Ms. [redacted] enrolled in our Medical Transcription course on 5/10/2016. According to the contract that she signed when she enrolled it clearly states: Section 21 of the Electronic Enrollment Agreement, under the ‘TERMINATION RIGHTS AND REFUND POLICY ‘section states: (a) 3-Day Right to Rescind: You have a right to rescind this Agreement and receive a full refund of any amounts paid to Career Step, which you must exercise (if you so choose) in writing within three (3) business days from the day you submit the online application or sign the written application. You must deliver a written rescission of this Agreement to Career Step within such 3-day period, or if the rescission is mailed, it must be postmarked on or before the last day of the 3-day period.  Prior to receiving the refund, you must first return all program materials and supplies sent to you, as set forth in subsection (d) below.   (b) 14-DAY MONEY BACK POLICY: In addition to the rescission rights set forth in subsection (a) above, you may also withdraw from the program for any reason within 14 days after the date you first receive access to online program materials, which is the date of the email sent to you containing your password and login for the online program.  In this case, this Agreement shall be rescinded and Career Step will refund your money IN FULL, less a $50 application fee and any initial shipping and handling fees, provided that you first return all program materials and supplies as set forth in subsection (d) below.  (c) No Refund after 14 Days: If, for any reason, you withdraw after the initial 14-day review period, you are not released from your obligation to pay the program fees in full and you are not entitled to any refund from Career Step.   It is because of the above agreement that Career Step will not refund Ms. [redacted] the tuition that she paid for her course. We strive to accommodate our students and help them to gain the training that is necessary for them to succeed. The Medical Transcription job market is still alive and well and we would like to see Ms. [redacted] finish this course and find employment. We offer Graduate services to her when she finishes. This service is to help graduates to secure employment in the industry that they are trained and certified.   As a concession we will offer to compensate Ms. [redacted] for the time that she has lost with a complimentary 2 month extension. If she has any further questions or concerns she can direct them right to me.   Thank you for your time. Kerry H[redacted] Operations Manager

Career Step is an online education company focused on professional education that advances careers in the healthcare administration industry.  This learner has been enrolled in the Professional Medical Coding and Billing Program since October 2015.  During the first 20 days of the...

learner's enrollment she was contacted four times by our Advocate and Enrollment Advisor departments.  When students do not respond to these advocacy / support calls, our policy is to cease the contact and wait for the learner to request additional and regular contact.  This method allows us to funnel our resources to learners who have a strong desire for Career Step to assist them with every step of the course and furthermore, keeps us from continuing to contact students who have chosen to go through their course on their own without our interruptions to their progress.  This learner also contacted our instructors nine times.  Whether or not there was a delay in the instructors returning her calls, voicemail or emails cannot be determined, however, she did come into contact with their expertise nine times.  Educators that she has been in contact with are still employed with Career Step and have actually advanced in the organization because of their excellent service to our customers and their working knowledge of the coding and billing industry and it's demands.  We apologize that this learner felt that our instructors lacked the information to help her, however, as an education company we often don't simply provide our students with the answers to their questions, but rather take an instructional approach by pointing them to the tools or strategies that they can employ to determine the answer to their question or the resources where they can reference the answer.  We have found that these methods prepare our learners for real-life scenarios and environments that they will encounter in the workforce.  It is sometimes also true that working with an instructor via chat, phone, or email is not the most ideal environment for every person.  However, when embarking in an online educational experience, this must be known ahead of time that there are constraints regarding communication, instruction methods, etc.  Our business thrives on referral and graduation rates.  Because of this fact, we are very interested in the success of our students during and after our course.  We can assure this learner, our current students and future students that just because we have collected revenue from a student, does not mean that we no longer value them, their experience or their success.