Career Step, LLC

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]

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. *Please let me know, via email at [redacted]@yahoo.com, what the four payments will break down to and when I will gain access to complete the course again. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Our apologies again regarding what you feel is a shortage of response.  However, our records do indicate that the student received replies to at least some their calls.  Either way, the time has been given back to the student so that the issue should not cause any additional expense.  The comments about the books being delayed on purpose for some reason isn't accurate in this case due to the nature of the program and this is explained in the Orientation Module in the course.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Please elaborate on the paragraph below. It is too vague to comprehend. I have filed my income taxes and I am waiting on my return. Once I receive it, I can pay the remaining balance in full. Which is what I have stated, via email, over the last five months. However, I now only have 26 days to complete the program in it's entirety. Why did I have to initiate a complaint against this company to get them to follow through with promises made to me by their employees? Why would I waste all of this money and not even be able to complete the program when I wanted to? I was laid off from my job, which I hadn't anticipated. It was at a hospital, of all places, so I thought I had pretty good job security. And my unemployment is not even enough to survive on. If I had student financial aid, I could probably be able to complete this. Unfortunately, this company isn't even a FASFA certified school (that should have been my first clue) so I don't have any other options. And this company will not work with me. And by the time they actually answer this response I will have little to no time to complete the course. This is ridiculous. "As a sign of good faith we would like to extend Ms. [redacted] an opportunity to get her course reactivated and her payments taken care of. Rather than paying have of the remaining balance to reactivate, we are prepared to set her up on an installment payment plan. This would require her to make 4 equal monthly payments. This would allow Career Step to give her access to her program and for her to complete her studies."
Sincerely,
[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]

In response to the rejection
of our first communication with Ms. [redacted]. I will start by stating that when
Ms. [redacted] purchased her extension she agreed to the terms and conditions
that are set forth in the Career Step Enrollment Extension Agreement. In this
agreement it states:
Refund Policy: All extension cost are non-refundable,
and all sales are considered final as of the date of this agreement is accepted.
This
is the reason that was given for why we could not refund, or return, or put the
extension on hold.
Ms.
[redacted] is correct in stating that once her program expires she has 6 months
to re-activate her account. By extending her course the date of her expiration
has moved to 5/30/2016. We understand Ms. [redacted]’s concern and her situation,
unfortunately, our policy is to not defer or put programs on hold.
People
that receive extensions or “Free” Time do so because they have either filled
out a Fee Waiver form and it was approved, or they have proven that they are experiencing
an extenuating circumstance.
We
would like Ms. [redacted] to finish her course and be successful and we tried everything
we could do to accommodate her requests, but what she was asking for was just not
possible. As a sign of good will we would like to offer Ms. [redacted] a
complimentary 4 month extension. This extension will move her expiration date
out to 9/30/2016. If there are any other extensions that are needed for her
course after that time they will be the responsibility of the student.
Sincerely
Kerry H[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]

Thank you for your feedback about the problem with the promotional discounts.  We have researched the issue internally to find that the issue was rectified directly with the student by offering an additional promotional item.  We also carry laptops has a promotional item during certain...

months and certain types of payment qualifications.  The student was very happy with this result in our last contact with her.

Our apologies if you have contacted Career Step to cancel your program and you didn't reach someone.  While both our phone system and our Customer Management System both record calls and transactions with students, neither one documents your calls.  That is not to say that you didn't call,...

but I was hoping to confirm that you did call within the cancellation period.  Career Step does allow student to cancel their course within the first 14 days of enrollment but, I am afraid that you may have something misunderstood or confused with a different school with a 30-day guarantee.  Career Step does not have a 30-day guarantee but we do have a 14 day policy for cancellations.  I am the Operations Manager and I fully support any student who wishes to contact me.  I did not ever receive any messages to contact you or any voicemails personally from you.  However, if you would like to discuss this issue further you can call us at (800) 411-7073 and ask for the Operations Manager.  I am sorry that you did have some complications with your baby and we surely hope that everyone is healthy and thriving at this time.  If you would like we can offer a complimentary extension to cover some of the time that you lost due to this unfortunate circumstance with your health.

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 student does not meet the criteria for a refund.  We are understanding of her situation but we cannot operate as a financially sound company without having criteria for a refund.  At Career Step, those criteria are within 14 days of enrollment OR severe medical conditions, death in the family and severely limiting disabilities.  Understand that we do care about the student's situation but it still does not warrant a refund.  The student chose to have her tuition be funded through a 12-month loan agreement with Monterey Financial Services.  The payments that are being charged to the student would be a result of the agreement the student made with Monterey Financial Services.  Making any kind of stop to those payments which the student is contractually obligated to pay would be breach of her contract with Monterey Financial Services.  We advise that this action could have financial and credit score implications.  Again, we understand that the student is in a personal situation.  However, the situation does not warrant a refund and we still invite the student to consider working in her course or participating in a complimentary extension.

Over 15,000 military spouses and service members have
trained with Career Step, and our programs and enrollment processes have been
thoroughly reviewed and approved by the MyCAA organization as well as relevant
industry associations.
The Health Information Technology Program Ms. [redacted] enrolled
in includes comprehensive curriculum on medical administrative assisting—which
qualifies her to sit for both the Certified Medical Administrative Assistant
(CMAA) and Certified Electronic Health Records Specialist (CEHRS) credentials
offered by the National Healthcareer Association—AS WELL AS curriculum on
computer systems, which prepares students for the CompTIA A+ certification.
Graduates of this program are prepared to work as part of internal health IT
teams, or they can choose to use just a piece of their overall education to
work in a field such as medical administrative assisting.
Ms. [redacted] has communicated her plan to use just a portion of her
education in her future career, and we are happy to support her in this
decision by altering the verbiage on her certificate of graduate to emphasize
this medical administrative assisting training. However, a certificate of
graduate can only be issued AFTER Ms. [redacted] graduates. Without taking the final
exam for the course, she cannot graduate and Career Step cannot issue a
certificate of graduation.
Ms. [redacted] has completed all 580 hours of curriculum,
including the portion on computer systems and technology, and she simply needs
to take the final exam. Her student file shows that she contacted Career Step
instructors a number of times with questions about the curriculum and was
provided help in understanding and learning the content. She has three attempts
to achieve a passing score of 75% on the final exam, and a team of advisors is
available to help her develop a personalized study plan should she not succeed
on her first attempt. As soon as she passes the final we can provide her the
certificate of graduation she has asked for, enabling her to pursue her CMAA
and CEHRS certifications and begin her job search.
Thank you
Kerry H[redacted]
Operations Manager
Career Step

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 May of 2015 in the Career Step Medical Transcription Editor program. This is a self-paced program.  The average time to complete the course is 640 hours. Ms. [redacted] has made excellent progress through her course. She is correct in her claims of having her course disabled. Our records show that her course was disabled approximately 3 times due to non-payment. According to the Enrollment Agreement that Ms. [redacted] signed is states:   8.         Payment, Late Fees and Collection Costs: Subject to the refund exceptions set forth in Section 20, withdrawal from the program or termination of this Agreement does not entitle you to a refund of any kind or release you from any financial obligations you may have to Career Step.   For all full programs, payments are due by the 25th of each month, except those for students who are on an automatic payment plan, unless otherwise agreed by Career Step, payments are due (and will be charged by Career Step) on the same day of the month as the enrollment date; or, if such day of the month does not occur in a particular month, on the last day of that month.  All four-month payment plans will be placed on an automatic payment plan, unless otherwise agreed by Career Step. Late payments will be assessed a fee of $10.00 or 5% of the payment amount, whichever is less per incident, and returned payments (Non-Sufficient Funds) will be assessed a fee of $20.00 per incident. If full payment is not made as specified, you agree to pay all collection costs, including: interest on the outstanding portion of the bill at a rate of 18% per annum, reasonable attorney fees, and a collection agency commission of up to 40%.   At its option, Career Step may also suspend or terminate your access to the program for non-payment or for any other breach of this Agreement.   We are conscious of all of the hard work that goes into completing one of these programs and we appreciate the effort that Ms. [redacted] has put forth in her program. We strive to see all of our students succeed and unfortunately sometime life gets in the way. We know that there will always be financial issues, medical issues and other things that will stand in the way of our students.   According to our most current records we show that Ms. [redacted] is still behind. As a concession and a sign of goodwill, if Ms. [redacted] will make a payment of $84.75 bringing her account to current we will enable her access. Ms. [redacted] is requesting a 1 month extension, but due to the fact that she still has approximately 100 hrs. left to complete her course, and also needs to complete her Final Exam, we would like to offer her an extension of 4 months once she makes the payment that has been specified herein.    There are always two sides to every story, but the whole purpose of Ms. [redacted] enrolling in our course is to succeed and progress in her career. We do not want this to continue to be a poor experience and would like to help her to succeed.   Regards   Kerry H[redacted] Operations Manager Career Step

The Career Step independent competency-based
Professional Medical Billing 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 course February 12, 2016. On April 12th Ms. [redacted]
contacted Career Step to inquire about returning her program. She was informed
at that time that, per the contract that she signed, returns were not
authorized after 14 days.
            Ms.
[redacted] informed us that her family has experienced some recent deaths and it
is due to these that she cannot complete her program. Career Step has a process
for these types of situations. This was discussed with Ms. [redacted] and she is
currently going through that process.
            Career Step
is considering the Revdex.com complaint as being handled and
closed. Ms. [redacted] is being cooperative at this time and we will continue to
work with her to attempt to find a resolution that will be suitable for both
parties.
Kerry H[redacted]
Operations Manager
Career Step

Today the following message was sent to the student to clarify the issue with her reports and their scoring.  There was certainly miscommunication or misunderstanding regarding the reports and why they had been deleted and no scores were available.  We apologize for the misunderstanding....

 Here is the correspondence for confirmationI was asked to reach out to you regarding your practicum reports and proper completion of them. It appears there may have been a misunderstanding. I took a look at your gradebook as well as a special report that shows if you’ve ever submitted a transcription report and you have completed your Clinic Notes Transcription reports; however, it looks like you did not save the score for them. We will not require you to go back and redo those clinic notes reports. Please do not worry about them. A note has been made in your record that will allow you to take the final after you complete the remainder of the practicum and make sure your unit tests and module exams are 85% or above.In the future, however, once you submit a report there are 2 final steps in order to record the score in the gradebook and we encourage you to complete them for ease of gradebook reading:Enter a point deduction total in the Points to Deduct box (e.g. 5) Click Save Score. You’ll know that your score has been saved when that button goes away and the percentage score appears for the report in its place.  We do not require 85% or above on these reports. Any score above 0% is acceptable. After you complete the next 2 reports and score them, please let me know and I can double check your gradebook to make sure they are recording properly.

Our records indicate that the "guarantee" presented to the student was referring to the return policy which is a 14 day policy.  Our return, cancel, refund, and withdrawal period follows the industry standard for education where there is a 10-14 day period where students can drop or withdraw from a class without consequence (financial or academic).

Our account records do not have any record of the student contacting us to process a cancellation of their course.  Even so, students must cancel within 14 days of their enrollment to qualify for a release of any kind from their loan payments or any refund of their payments made.  There...

are two calls entered that are on 11/16/2015 that do not have notes attached.  But even so, there are no notes on the account that indicate a cancellation or a refund will be processed.  Even still, if the student thought that they called or emailed us for a refund why then did they log into their course in June 2016 and request to resume their course in May 2017?  Career Step's records are very detailed regarding customer contact and we have no indication that the student requested that their account be cancelled or that they did so within the time period (14 days) that would allow for release from any financial obligations.  The following is directly from the Electronic Enrollment Agreement that the student signed at the time of enrollment that makes these policies clear.PAYMENT, LATE FEES, AND COLLECTION COSTS: Subject to the refund exceptions set forth in Section 20, withdrawal from the program or termination of this Agreement does not entitle you to a refund of any kind or release you from any financial obligations you may have to Career Step. TERMINATION RIGHTS AND REFUND POLICY: Please review this Section carefully so that you are aware of Career Step's termination and refund policies. You are not entitled to any refund from Career Step except as set forth below. By signing this Agreement you are agreeing to these rights and limitations. (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 (except with respect to the Medical Transcription Editor Refresher program), 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. If, for any reason, you withdraw from the Medical Transcription Editor Refresher program, 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. (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. (d) Materials: Before receiving any refunds under subsections (a) or (b), you must first return any and all program materials and supplies received from Career Step. You must notify Career Step before the last day of the termination period to receive a return code, and returned materials must be sent to Career Step at your expense, insured and tracked through the carrier. Please pack returned materials carefully to prevent damage. After returning program materials to Career Step, you must also destroy all copies of program materials you may have, including all downloaded copies, backup copies, printed or written copies, and derivative works of any kind. (e) Termination: If you withdraw under this Section 20, your enrollment is terminated and you may not transfer your program materials to any other person. Unfortunately, we have no records to support the student's claims.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: When I called in 11/2016 it was to cancel the program and I was told that I would not have to make any more payments. I find it convenient that there are no notes or records of this from Career Step. Again, I am not asking for a refund, I am simply asking for my account to be zeroed out (no balance) like I was told when I made the decision to cancel. When I saw that I was still being held responsible for the payments and could not get a hold of anyone in the financial department, I tried to see if I could still login and I was able to which meant to me that my account was still active. After October of 2016, I was not allowed to log in anymore to complete anything due to the year completion Career Step gives you. The only reason I attempted in May of 2017 to restart the program via emails which I have records of is because of the frustration of not getting anywhere with this company and I was told that I would have to pay off my balance as well as repay the whole fee again. Which I replied was ridiculous. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Career Step has been in close communication with this student and we have a clear understanding of their issues.  Our Pharmacy Technician course has not previously had any issues arise concerning employment or externship.  We have been working on our communication and agreement with our...

externship partner in order be rectify the situation with our student.  At this time, we have received confirmation that our efforts have been to his satisfaction.  Our responses have been timely and helpful.  Likewise, we're working on correcting the relationship with the externship partner to prevent this issue from reoccurring with any other students.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: I don’t believe I am getting he whole truth here.I have an email FROM you saying you got my voice message at the very least. It’s told when I enrolled that there was a 30 day guarantee and then again when I called in early March. If there is not 30 day window to cancel then your staff needs some retraining. When you find one of my recorded calls from March you will actually hear one of your customer service people actually reference it. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]