Porter and Chester Institute

If the student sends us a copy of the bank statement documenting the charges in question, we will be happy to reimburse any fees which were caused by PCI actions Please send the copy of the bank statement to: [redacted] , VP, Regulatory Affairs and Compliance, Porter and Chester institute, [redacted] ** ***

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: The information as incomplete from my endThere was no there option but "reject" or "accept" as next steps, but this is really an update ti the initial information sent to open this caseThe student's (my son) is [redacted] He was removed from PCI's [redacted] branch in Sincerely, [redacted]

If the student sends us a copy of the bank statement documenting the charges in question, we will be happy to reimburse any fees which were caused by PCI actions.  Please send the copy of the bank statement to:
[redacted], VP, Regulatory Affairs and Compliance, Porter and...

Chester institute, [redacted]  [redacted]

I was a student at the Watertown, CT location from October of 2012 to July of 2013 in the Administrative Health Specialist program. When I originally toured the school, I was shown all of the options they offered. I decided on this program after being told once I was finished, I would be able to become a certified medical biller & coder. I quit one of my jobs to attend classes Monday through Thursday for almost 7 hours each day, and continued to work part time after classes. I have nothing bad to say about my instructor, she was fabulous and we still keep in contact to this day. I do have a problem with the fact that once I graduated and called the school for information on becoming certified, was told this was impossible due to the program not offering an externship. If I had known this prior to enrolling, I wouldn't have. Not only could I not be certified, but I'm stuck paying $18,000 for a certificate that is basically useless in today's economy. Thanks to my enrollment in this school, I am now deeply in debt with no hope of getting out anytime soon. This school is a scam!!!

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
The information as...

incomplete from my end. There was no there option but "reject" or "accept" as next steps, but this is really an update ti the initial information sent to open this case.
The student's (my son) is [redacted]. He was removed from PCI's [redacted] branch in  2011.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Review: I graduated from Porter and Chester in Stratford CT in April of 2014. While I was in school I had payments automatically taken out of my checking account on the 10th of every month. On Aug. 4th 2014 I called to see for financial reasons if I could change my payment date to the 20th of each month. I was told that as long as I returned the paperwork within a day they could make the change for this month. The paperwork was faxed the next morning, and I received an email to contact [redacted] because he had a question about some info I provided on the form. [redacted] told me that it would be taken care of and my payment would be taken out on the 20th. On Aug 11th the payment was taken out of my account after I was told it wasn't going to be taken out until the 20th. I called [redacted] on the 12th to try to find out what happened and he told me he checked with the financial dept. and it should have been all set to be taken out of my account on the 20th and he didn't know why it was taken out on the wrong date. On Aug.13th I placed 3 calls to [redacted] at various times. He returned the first call, but I could not take the call because I was working, and the two other times I tried calling all I got was his voicemail, which I left a message both times, but I have not received a return phone call.Desired Settlement: Due to Porter and Chester taking the payment earlier than they were supposed to, and to no fault of my own, I have three overdraft charges on my account because they took the payment out too soon, I want to be reimbursed a total of $111.00 for the overcharges.

Business

Response:

If the student sends us a copy of the bank statement documenting the charges in question, we will be happy to reimburse any fees which were caused by PCI actions. Please send the copy of the bank statement to:

[redacted], VP, Regulatory Affairs and Compliance, Porter and Chester institute, [redacted]

Review: I'm an attorney representing a former student at Porter Chester who enrolled in the automotive technician training program in Oct 2009. Porter Chester promised my client training that would give him concrete skills, through hands-on training by [redacted] with years of professional experience and, specifically with the full time career service advisors who would provide career guidance and job placement (See Porter Chester website). My client was so intrigued with what Porter Chester promised that he promised to pay ~$27,000 to Porter Chester to help him achieve his dream of becoming a mechanic. Yet upon attending classes, my client realized immediately that Porter Chester would not fulfill ANY of these promises as the automotive technician training program was in disarray and his class was often left unsupervised, standing around with nothing to do with no instructors or the hands-on training they had promised. The career service department was also in disarray with advisors nowhere to be found and, when the advisors were on school grounds, they could not offer any career training beyond the reformatting of a resume. The skills such as preparing for interviews, tips on the kinds of questions you might be asked-and how best to answer them and ongoing career assistance so promised by Porter Chester did not exist. Despite numerous subsequent complaints made by my client and his father, and a promise that Porter Chester would improve their operation, nothing changed. It became clear to my client that once Porter Chester had his tuition money, they no longer cared about him. Frustrated by the lack of progress, my client registered numerous complaints with Porter Chester's Admissions department and with their CFO, [redacted]. In numerous conversations, [redacted] admitted that Porter Chester had an instructor problem and did not provide my client with the career assistance and training that he had been promised.Desired Settlement: Based on the above, my client is seeking a total refund of the ~$27,000 he paid to enroll in Porter and Chesters automotive technician training program and may seek damages due to Porter Chesters unfair and deceptive business practices.

Business

Response:

Mr. [redacted] attorney has been in discussion with our attorney so I am not able to provide any additional information at this time.

Review: Although this occurred in 2011, I am still paying the cost of this almost $16,000 loan for an investment that did not pay off.

In the wake of recent news articles about many for predatory, for profit specialty training schools that leave its students in huge debt lacking the skilksets needed to succeed in the workforce, I decided Porter and Chester fits the bill. This institution should be held accountable for their deceptive and borderline fraudulent business practices.

When investigating this school's [redacted] program for my son, we were told that students would be PAID for the work they dId on cars. This was a major selling point for us. They fixed cars for non students, charged customers (myself included), but students never saw a dime.

A few months into the program, [redacted] announces a change in policy stating they could no longer pay students for labor. Tuition costs remained the same, only now students no longer had any of the promised income to look forward to, income they could have used to begin paying interest on their loans and provide small necessities while attending school.

Halfway through the program, my son was removed from the program stating he was failing. There was no opportunity for self correction, and appeals for re-entry were denied.

Aside from the deceptive onboarding techniques, the student environment is challenging. Many students are bullied and harassed and have tools stolen from them while the work on cars (unpaid) while instructors do nothing.

Teachers are poor on patience and guidance resulting in students like my son lacking the necessary motivation and focus required to succeed.

Combine this with the program not being what was presented at the time of application/admission (paid mechanic work to offset loan payments) this experience proved not only costly and unrewarding, but not the return on investment as promised.

Now that countrywide, for profit institutions are being held accountable for their disreputable practices, I feel PCI business practices and their education quality needs proper investigation.

The Web is littered with customers complaints and dissatisfied PCI customers so perhaps a class action suit is in the works. Of not, it should be.Desired Settlement: Adjustment of outstanding student loan balance. Other forms of restitution from PCI are welcome to be presented as well.

Business

Response:

Without the name of the student this is in reference to, and the campus the student attended, we cannot research or respond to the allegations.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: