Course Hero, Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/02/24) */
Course Hero provides an open platform where students and teachers of all ages can share and access high quality learning resources regarding a wide variety of subjects. We are a community where students can connect academically via...

various means one of which is uploading notes originated by them to share with other members. Students become members by uploading their own study materials or purchasing one of our premier packages.
We do not support any and all use of user submitted educational materials or tutoring help for unethical purposes, such as plagiarism or other forms of cheating. The educational materials and homework solutions provided on Course Hero should be used to supplement current study efforts within the defined limits of each student's respective university code of academic integrity.
As stated within our Terms of Service, Course Hero's policy is that we only consider issuing refunds when the user has not viewed/downloaded any Course Hero documents. We do this for a number of reasons not least of which is to treat all of our users equitably. Our weblogs tied to the users account indicate that she had accessed at least 11 documents. We have this refund policy in place since we have no control of what users do with the sensitive information once it is accessed after upgrading an account.
Viewed Documents (File Name Day & Time)
1 [redacted]Nov 24, 2013 // 2:43:08PM
= ==================
1 [redacted] Nov 23, 2013 // 3:43:33PM
2 [redacted] Nov 23, 2013 // 3:36:29PM
3 [redacted] Nov 23, 2013 // 3:35:20PM
4 [redacted] Nov 23, 2013 // 3:34:28PM
5 [redacted] Nov 23, 2013 // 3:13:42PM
6 [redacted] Nov 23, 2013 // 11:49:19AM
7 [redacted] Nov 23, 2013 // 11:48:55AM
8 [redacted] Nov 23, 2013 // 11:48:11AM
9 [redacted] Nov 23, 2013 // 5:26:13AM
10 [redacted] Nov 23, 2013 // 5:10:25AM
Our Terms of Use and refund policy is clearly labeled on our website and easily accessible before and after upgrading a membership. We had informed the user on 02/05/2014 we could not provide a full refund due to the activity. As a courtesy, we offered to downgrade the account to one of our lower plans. Unfortunately the user declined and disconnected the conversation.
We are more than happy to work with the user and adjust the current 1-year membership to our 1-month plan. Due to the activity within the account, we are unable to provide a full refund. Please contact us directly at[redacted] Thank you.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2014/02/26) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I will request a refund and accept the one month term as a resolution.
Thank you,
[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 9, 2015/10/20) */
Our records indicate that a reply was sent on 09/29 which is the same day this case was opened. Given a delay in the reply, I see an issue was resolved as of and an email correspondence was sent directly to the Ms. [redacted].
Please let...

us know if there are any further questions.
Sincerely,
Customer Support

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] Cimino

Hello, 
 
Below, please find a copy of the email we sent yesterday advising we processed a refund:
 
Hi [redacted],
Thank you for contacting Course Hero.
I would be happy to process a full refund for the last transaction because you did not use your Course Hero membership.
A...

refund in the amount of $59.85 USD will be issued to your original payment method and I have also confirmed your membership has been cancelled so you will not be charged again in the future.
Your financial institution will now be able to credit the amount above, which can take up to 2-3 business days for them to process. If you do not receive the refund within 7 business days, please let us know.
Your account will now revert to a [redacted] and you can still [redacted], and [redacted].
If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly by responding to this email.
Course Hero Support

Good Morning,Kindly see the below response we sent to [redacted] on June 13, 2017:Hi [redacted],  We're not clear on where the misunderstanding is if the bank has already cleared that we did refund the money initially and then charge you.  We paid you $59.85 first and then charged you the $59.85 after. So in other words the refund processed before you were actually charged. If you add those two amounts it will zero out the total which means we do not owe you anything further. Typically business charge credit cards first and then issue the refund but in your case it happened on the refunds. We cannot refund you more than what we already refunded. If you need us to explain this further on the phone, please tell us what time we can call you after standard business hours.  Best,

Hi Matthew,Thank you for your patience and understanding while we reviewed your case and responses.We have confirmed activity on your account that’s in violation of at least Section 2 and Section 3 of our Terms of Use [redacted]), and the tutor guidelines and instructions under the Experts Section of our Frequently Asked Questions ([redacted]Therefore, pursuant to Section 2 and Section 4 of our Terms of Use and the tutor guidelines regarding fraudulent activity ([redacted]guidelines-or-[redacted] we have terminated your account and no further payment obligations are required.Please note: Course Hero is also free to terminate (or suspend access to) your use of the Services or your account, for any reason in our discretion, including your breach of these Terms. Course Hero has the sole right to decide whether you are in violation of any of the restrictions set forth in these Terms. Your original account will be closed indefinitely and no further appeals will be considered.Best,

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/07/02) */
Course Hero provides online study resources that supplement college courses and help students study more effectively. Course Hero provides an open platform where students and teachers of all ages can share and access high quality learning...

resources regarding a wide variety of subjects.
Course Hero offers an array of learning resources including customizable Flashcards and quizzes, online access to expert tutors, video lectures and a database of user-submitted study materials.
We make it very clear on the payment registration page that the 1-month, 3-month and 12-month subscriptions are billed in advance.
[redacted] subscribed to 1-year program ($95.40) on 03/08/2014. The user had disputed the charge with their bank on 04/20/2014. Course Hero received the dispute and is working with the user's bank to resolve the issue. We received a call from the user on 06/17/2014 and informed the user of the billing and refund policy. The user disconnected the call and we were unable to find a resolution.
As stated on the sign-up page as well as in our Terms of Service, it is Course Hero's policy that multi-month subscriptions are charged fully in advance. The monthly breakdown cost for the 1-year plan is $7.95 per monthusers receives the discounted rate by selecting the longer plan which is billed in a single upfront installment of $95.40 for the entire year.
As stated within our Terms of Service, Course Hero's policy is that we only consider issuing refunds when the user has not viewed/downloaded any Course Hero documents. We do this for a number of reasons not least of which is to treat all of our users equitably.
Per our refund policy, we do not provide refunds when a user has viewed at least one document.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/07/05) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I never viewed any documents through Course Hero. As I stated before, Course Hero is a scam and $95.40 was not clearly stated on the subscription I agreed to nor was $95.40 stated in the terms and conditions. The response provided by Course Hero is completely false! I NEVER VIEWED ANY DOCUMENTS PROVIDED BY COURSE HERO. I contacted my bank immediately, within a few minutes once my account was charged by Course Hero. In addition, my subscription was cancelled in the same hour Course Hero illegally charged my account.
Course Hero is a scam! What Course Hero did to me is a crime! When I agreed to pay Course Hero $19.99, I was an unemployed full time college student. I could not afford to pay them $95.40 and I never agreed to pay them $95.40.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 13, 2014/07/29) */
Since the user had contacted her bank, we are unable to proceed forward with her any request.
We understand the user may had selected the incorrect membership on Course Hero as stated in the previous response. By selecting a membership and inputting the payment information, our system charged the membership fee at the time of registration. The user had chose to purchase a 1-year plan with us on 03/08/2014.
If she requires more information, she can contact her bank directly for more information regarding her payment.
Thank you,
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2014/07/18) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Course Hero is a scam and they stole my money. There is not a response that will fix the fact Course Hero illegally charged my account. I NEVER SELECTED PROCESS!!!!

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:the business refuses to provide specific proof of "fraudulent activity" and is refusing to pay me.Sincerely,[redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/14) */
Hello,
As stated within our Terms of Service, Course Hero's policy is that we only consider issuing refunds when the user has not viewed/downloaded any Course Hero documents. We do this for a number of reasons not least of which is to...

treat all of our users equitably.
After further reviewing this account, our records show a follow up email was sent after your initial inquiry.
Please let us know if you did not receive this email resolving this request.
Sincerely,
Course Hero Customer Support.

Hello [redacted], 
I apologize for any inconvenience you experienced. We received the email you submitted and responded 12/4/2017.  
The response was sent as stated below: 
Hi [redacted],Thank you for contacting Course Hero!We typically do not honor refunds once unlocks or tutor...

credits have been used, but as a one-time courtesy I would be happy to issue you a full refund for the last transaction.A refund in the amount of $59.85 USD will be issued to your original payment method and I have also confirmed your Quarterly membership has been cancelled so you will not be charged again in the future.Your financial institution will now be able to credit the amount above, which can take up to 3-5 business days for them to process. If you do not receive the refund within 7 business days, please let us know.Your account will now revert to a free Basic membership and you can still upload documents for unlocks, upload documents for money, rate and review your unlocked content, give advice on a school course, and refer your friends.

Hello, 
 
We have spoken with [redacted] on the phone and as a one-time courtesy processed a refund for the Yearly renewal. 
 
It will take 3-4 business days for the funds to reflect in his account and have also made sure the recurring subscription has been...

cancelled. 
 
All the best,

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/09/03) */
Course Hero offers an array of learning resources including customizable Flashcards and quizzes, online access to expert tutors, video lectures and a database of user-submitted study materials.
We make it very clear on the payment...

registration page that the 1-month, 3-month and 12-month subscriptions are billed in advance.
XXXXXX XXXXXXX subscribed to 1-month program ($39.95) on 08/28/14. The user contacted us on 08/29/14 to cancel the membership. Per our terms of use we advised the user that we could not issue a refund due to the activity on the account but on 08/29/14 we cancelled the recurring payment to ensure that the user will not be billed again in the future. Our terms of use state that once there is any activity on the account we do not provide any refunds.
We have user logs (see below) that prove that this individual has downloaded 2 tutor solutions throughout the duration of the membership.
Please view the cardholder's activity below:
Download Documents (File Name/Date & Time):
XXXXXXX - Aug 28, 2014 // 8:35PM - Link to question »
XXXXXXX - Aug 28, 2014 // 7:55PM - Link to question »

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/08/26) */
Course Hero provides online study resources that supplement college courses and help students study more effectively. Course Hero provides an open platform where students and teachers of all ages can share and access high quality learning...

resources regarding a wide variety of subjects.
Course Hero offers an array of learning resources including customizable Flashcards and quizzes, online access to expert tutors, video lectures and a database of user-submitted study materials.
We make it very clear on the payment registration page that the 1-month, 3-month and 12-month subscriptions are billed in advance.
XXXXXX XXXXXXX signed up for a 1-year program ($95.40) on 08/20/14. The user contacted us on 08/20/14 requesting we cancel the subscription for a full refund. We informed the user of the Terms of Service (as stated on the Sign-up page) that we would not be able to provide a full refund due to the activity on the account. On 08/20/14 we downgraded the membership to a 1-month membership at a rate of $39.95 and we issued a partial refund in the amount of $55.45.
As stated on the sign-up page and in the Terms of Service (http://www.coursehero.com/Terms_of_Use.php), the monthly membership and multi-month subscriptions are charged fully in advance. The user had signed up for a 1-year membership the monthly cost of which is $7.95 per month and since multi month subscriptions are charged fully in advance, the cost of a 1-year membership is $95.40 (https://www.coursehero.com/registration.php). The price of $95.40 is shown on coursehero.com sign-up page.
As stated within our Terms of Service, Course Hero?s policy is that we only consider issuing refunds when the user has not viewed/downloaded any Course Hero documents. We do this for a number of reasons not least of which is to treat all of our users equitably. Due to the activity within the account, we were unable to provide the cardholder with a refund. We have user logs (see below) that prove that this individual has viewed and downloaded 2 documents after upgrading to our premier membership.
Downloaded Documents (File Name Day & Time): Title of Document
XXXXXXX - Aug 20, 2014 // 7:25PM : "1. The labor relations manager of a large corporation..."
XXXXXXX - Aug 20, 2014 // 6:33PM "The labor relations manager of a large corporation wished to study"
Per our refund policy (please see our attached Terms of Use), we do not provide refunds when a user has viewed at least one document.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2014/08/27) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I would have no problem paying for the one month subscription had the information that was downloaded be credible and accurate. Upon inspection of the data I downloaded, it was determined that the answers provided were incorrect and therefore, not credible. I proved that to the rep I spoke with on the phone and chatted with online. It is unconscionable that Course Hero expects their customers to abide by terms and conditions that is not clearly posted on their sign up page while providing "homework help" from sources that cannot be trusted and not correct. I cannot depend on Course Hero for help when the information cannot be trusted nor verified.
Furthermore, the site is not user friendly. I was unable to navigate and I clearly indicated that to the rep on the phone. While trying to ask simple questions I was bombarded with unnecessary popups asking to set up a profile and was unable to continue without completing this step. I explained my frustrations with how difficult and frustrating It is to ask a question in search bar but not get a relevant or correct answer or source. This alone was enough reason to refund my 39.00, in my opinion.
Lastly, as previously stated, I do not mind paying for a service that provides honest, credible, accurate, timely and user friendly information, such as CHEGG - the site I should have went to in the first place. It is unfortunate that Course Hero would rather keep 39.99 and argue with its customers while at the same time, provide horrible customer service as opposed to simply refunding my hard earned money and maintaining a positive repor with a dissatisfied customer.
Shame on Course Hero!
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2014/09/03) */
We looked further into our records, and we see on 08/20/14 that the user called us and spoke to a manager. The manager agreed to issue a refund if the user could provide a corrected solution and different than the one obtained from the website. Please note that the services we offer are resources and not just solutions. However, we do understand from time time, there are misunderstandings or confusion.

Please advise the user to contact us directly at XXX-XXX-XXXX so we can further assist with his account.
Final Consumer Response /* (2000, 11, 2014/09/05) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Please read,
I checked my bank account this morning and noticed the 39.95 being posted. Firstly, thank you Revdex.com for providing a voice to the little guys who have no voice against Big Corporations and businesses who feel they can get away with unscrupulous practices. Secondly, thank you Course Hero for refunding the rest of my money. I just hope you can use this as a learning point, that it is often times in your better interest to simply resolve a matter on the first call. Your reputation is was precedes you and I would think that you would want to maintain your high ratings with the public, even if it means bending over backwards to maintain a good name. This is what will drive Course Hero to dominance over the competition, ie Chegg, etc. Fighting with the little guys will not. Thank you for resolving my issue.
Sincerely,
Little guy in [redacted]

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/02/27) */
Hello,
We will be contacting this user directly with the email address that was used to register.
Reference ticket# XXXXX
Should there be any questions we can be reached at XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/01/26) */
Hello Ms. [redacted],
We apologize for the confusion you experienced. All of our membership subscriptions are charged in advanced especially and it appears the subscription you selected provides you with the lowest monthly rate but our purchase...

page indicates a full payment is needed.
We reviewed your account see that this inquiry has already been processed by our Support team within 5 hours of your original inquiry to Course Hero. Our records show that you were offered a downgrade since there were already documents unlocked after the initial purchase was made therefore you were not offered a downgrade to the 1 month membership and a partial refund was processed.
Should you have any further questions, please let us know. Otherwise, we'd greatly appreciate if we could assume this case closed.
Best Regards,
Course Hero Support

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/11/02) */
Course Hero is an educational technology company that provides students with course-specific content, tools and services in order to learn more effectively and succeed.
On the payment registration page we advertise the 1-month, 3-month and...

12-month subscriptions are billed in advance. Upon entering the payment type, we display the total cost at final check out.
[redacted] signed up for a 1-year program ($119.40) on 07/17/15. We have user logs (see below) that prove that this individual has unlocked 5 documents documents after upgrading to our premier membership.
We did also check to see if [redacted] uploaded documents for free access before paying for the membership and our records show the documents for free access were not uploaded until 07/23/15. The processing time for free access takes 2-3 business days. The 20 unlocks granted for documents uploaded for free access have been granted. The other 43 uploaded documents were uploaded to the marketplace.
On 09/05/15, the account holder contacted us advising he wanted to cancel the membership.
We informed the account holder of the Refund Policy and Terms of Service (as stated on the Sign-up page) that we would not be able to provide a full refund due to the activity on the account. The uploaded documents have to be processed in order to unlock documents. We cannot retroactively apply uploaded documents for free access in exchange of a refund.
We have user logs (see below) that prove that this individual has unlocked 5 documents after upgrading to our premier membership.
Unlocked Documents (File Name Day & Time)
XXXXX 2015-11-02 16:39:27 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-20 12:17:54 No
XXXXX 2015-08-20 12:17:10 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 21:19:22 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 21:17:40 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 21:12:58 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 21:00:31 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 21:00:00 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 20:59:41 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 20:59:06 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 20:58:45 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 20:58:24 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 20:58:00 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 20:57:13 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 20:56:40 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 20:53:15 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 20:52:45 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 20:50:31 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 20:47:13 No
XXXXXXX 2015-08-02 20:46:07 No
XXXXXXX 2015-07-26 13:56:20 No
XXXXXXXX 2015-07-26 13:19:26 No
XXXXXXX 2015-07-07 15:07:15 No
XXXXXXXX 2015-07-07 14:54:16 No
XXXXXXX 2015-07-07 14:45:44 No
XXXXXXXX 2015-07-07 14:43:08 No
XXXXXXX 2015-07-07 14:41:14 No
Per our records, given the delay in contact time and our refund policy, we agreed to downgrade the membership for this user to our 3 month membership at $59.95 and a refund for the difference between the 1 year and 1 month membership in the amount of $59.55 was issued on 09/05/15.
Should there be any further questions, please let us know.
Sincerely,
Customer Support
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/11/04) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
holly GOD!!!! I never sad I never unlocked documents the first month!!! I actually said give me a full refund except for the first month. so get your facts straight, now I'm fuming, I'm done talking with you guys. it looks like you are trying SOOOOOO HAAAAARD to keep half of the money, that is sad. your response will be edited it out for easy of reading and I will post a flyer on every bulletin board why they shouldn't join your website. don't worry I will upload a flyer on course hero so everybody can unlock it print it out and put it up in their schools as well. enjoy my money!!
Final Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2015/12/07) */
Dear [redacted],
We have sent you a direct email to your email [redacted]@hotmail.com regarding this case. Should you have any further questions, please reply back directly to the email sent to you.
Sincerely,
Course Hero Customer Support

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/19) */
We have contacted the user directly via email. If there are no further questions, please reply back to the email at [redacted]@coursehero.com.
Sincerely,
Customer Support

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/03/25) */
Course Hero provides online study resources that supplement college courses and help students study more effectively. Course Hero provides an open platform where students and teachers of all ages can share and access high quality learning...

resources regarding a wide variety of subjects.
Course Hero offers an array of learning resources including customizable Flashcards and quizzes, online access to expert tutors, video lectures and a database of user-submitted study materials.
We make it very clear on the payment registration page that the 1-month, 3-month and 12-month subscriptions are billed in advance.
The Cardholder signed up for a 1-year program ($119.40) on 3/23/15. The user contacted us on 03/01/15 requesting we cancel the subscription for a full refund. We informed the user of the Terms of Service (as stated on the Sign-up page) that we would not be able to provide a full refund due to the activity on the account. On 3/23/15 we downgraded the membership to a 1-month membership at a rate of $39.95 and we issued a partial refund in the amount of $79.45.
As stated on the sign-up page and in the Terms of Service (http://www.coursehero.com/Terms_of_Use.php), the monthly membership and multi-month subscriptions are charged fully in advance. The user had signed up for a 1-year membership the monthly cost of which is $9.95 per month and since multi month subscriptions are charged fully in advance, the cost of a 1-year membership is $119.40 (https://www.coursehero.com/registration.php). The price of $119.40 is shown on coursehero.com sign-up page.
As stated within our Terms of Service, Course Hero's policy is that we only consider issuing refunds when the user has not viewed/downloaded any Course Hero documents. We do this for a number of reasons not least of which is to treat all of our users equitably. Due to the activity within the account, we were unable to provide the cardholder with a refund. We have user logs (see below) that prove that this individual has viewed 2 documents and downloaded 1 documents after upgrading to our premier membership.
Viewed Documents (File Name Day & Time):
1 XXXXXXX Mar 23, 2015 // 12:57:36PM
2 XXXXXXX Mar 23, 2015 // 8:20:39AM
Downloaded Documents (File Name Day & Time):
XXXXXXX - Mar 23, 2015 // 12:57PM
As stated within our Terms of Service, Course Hero's policy is that we only consider issuing refunds when the user has not viewed/downloaded any Course Hero documents. We do this for a number of reasons not least of which is to treat all of our users equitably.
Per our refund policy (please see our attached Terms of Use), we do not provide refunds when a user has viewed at least one document.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (2000, 7, 2015/03/26) */
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

Hello, 
Kindly view the response we emailed a short while ago after being contacted confirming the requested refund:
 
Hello,
Thank you for contacting Course Hero. It seems there is some confusion regarding our sign-up page. We offer a monthly rate at $39.95 USD if users wish to pay...

month to month. If users plan to use the service for an extended period of time, they can opt for the annual membership, which does break down to the special price of $9.95 USD per month, but in order to receive this pricing, the payment is billed for the full year upfront at $119.40 USD.We typically do not honor refunds once unlocks or tutor credits have been used, but as a one-time courtesy I would be happy to issue you a full refund for the last transaction.A refund in the amount of $119.40 USD will be issued to your original payment method and I have also confirmed your Annual membership has been cancelled so you will not be charged again in the future.Your financial institution will now be able to credit the amount above, which can take up to 2-3 business days for them to process. If you do not receive the refund within 7 business days, please let us know.Your account will now revert to a free Basic membership and you can still upload documents for unlocks, upload documents for money, rate and review your unlocked content, give advice on a school course, and refer your friends.If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly by responding to this email.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/12/10) */
Hello [redacted],
We apologize for the delay in replying back to your inquiry. Our moderators work very hard to review inquiries as soon as possible. This week we have received a large number of inquiries due to the last week of finals ...

and we are handling requests in the order received. Our records show that our Support Team has reach out to you directly via emali and waiting for some additional information to move forward with your request. Please reply back to the email directly to expedite this correspondence.
Thank you for your patience and we look forward to resolving your request.
Regards,
Course Hero Support