Shaw Academy

Took money from my paypal account even though I cancelled my free trial a week prior over the phone with them.
Transaction taken by Shaw Academy UK 49.99 euro on 18 July 2020 from my account ***@gmail.com Paypal.

Transaction ID
7NXXXXXXXJXXXXXXH

Seller info
Shaw Academy UK
+XXX XXXXXXXXX
***@shawacademy.com

Invoice ID
XXXXXXXX

I saw the ad on Facebook. Signed up for a free 4 week trial. Wanted to cancel it after the 3rd week. I tried to do it via the website but you can't cancel online. I got this message.

''Confirm your cancellation

We're sorry you're thinking of leaving us.

To confirm your cancellation we kindly ask you to call the number below.

We ask our students to call our dedicated Student Guidance Managers for us to understand why you wish to leave your program, to solve any issues which you may have, and to promote some alternative options to help you to achieve your goal.''

I rang the number and the guidance person tried to persuade me to stay with the programme and said that he would send me an email with a link to cancel which would appear in my spam folder. He didn't send it... I went back to the website to cancel and it gave the same message this time it took me to a call with a bot who asked me to press 1 to keep the course or 2 to cancel. I pressed 2 to cancel and it stated that I was now cancelled with my free trial to Shaw Academy. A few days later I was charged 49.00 euro.

I've tried contacting them but Pearson, Solomon, and Varney have been very unhelpful in understanding my isssue. I've tried to contact paypal too but I am getting no response at the moment...

I signed up for a free trial & tried to cancel before the trial ended, but their phone line was down. I want a refund, but their CSR stopped replying.
I signed up for a one-month free trial on June 2nd, 2020. Before my free trial ended on June 29th, 2020, I signed into my account online and tried to cancel my trial and subscription, so that I wouldn't be charged for a product I was not interested in. They don't allow online cancellations and require you to call a specific number on the cancellation page and the language on their cancellation page says something about how Shaw Academy wanted to call to understand why you are cancelling, etc. I thought this was strange and unnecessary, but I called twice. Both times, it rang endlessly with no response until the call dropped, making it impossible for me to cancel my subscription.

Because there was no way to cancel, I was charged $69.99 CAD on June 30th, 2020 for a premium subscription that I didn't want. On July 6th, 2020, I finally got through to their cancellation phone line and it was just a recorded menu option trying to offer you deals so that you wouldn't cancel. I finally got it cancelled and reached out to customer support through email to get a refund, explaining that it was literally impossible for me to cancel before the trial ended because their phone lines didn't work.

A customer support agent named Sebastian responded saying that he can't give me a refund, but he can offer me more deals. I responded saying I wasn't interested in more classes and resources, because I never wanted them in the first place. He responded once more with even more deals, demonstrating they were not understanding my problem. I once more reiterated that I wanted a refund because they made it impossible for me to refund, so I was trapped into paying and they haven't responded since. The last response I received was July 8th, 2020 even after following up with more emails.

I cancelled my membership within the free trial period, which they said meant I did not owe them anything. They have now taken $249.92 ILLEGALLY
4/27 - $39.95
5/22 - $69.99
6/22 - $69.99
7/22 - $69.99

They were not authorized for any of these transactions, and continue to bill me monthly even though I have cancelled my subscription before the free trial period ended. Which in their terms says that means I owe them absolutely nothing. They are stealing my money, and looking and asking around, I'm not the first person with this issue. They are a bunch of crooks, and need to be legally reprimanded. They are literally breaking the law and stealing from multiple people. Shut them down!!

Shaw University offers a 4 week free trial. I canceled after the first week but money was taken from my account, I ordered in error.
Shaw University offers a 4 week free course. I set my class date and missed it. While trying to reschedule I got lost on the website and I ordered something I didn't need. At first I was going to eat that loss but then the classes did not behave as promised. I was supposed to be able to chat with the professor. Also they downloaded all of the classes at once as opposed to one at a time. That means they get to say they gve you everything. That only happened because the website gets you lost. I requested a refund immediately at this pint a second charge even more was taken. Their position is that no one gets refunds. I found there are many others on twitter complaining as well. wish I had found them first.

The worst attempt to cancel
I am highly dissatisfied. I have been trying to cancel my membership for a week prior to my trial ending. First, you are BOMBARDED with emails about class times, and heaven forbid you miss you one (because let be real we are all adults), this was my first attempt to unsubscribe but it does not end the subscription. Secondly, I went to the site and tried to cancel only to be rounded through a trap of 4+ pages in attempts to get me to continue or state that I did not want to cancel while making the continue button almost inaccessible to someone who might be contingently impaired or visually since it is the last thing read on a screen reader! Then you have to wait for THEIR business hours to cancel and by that time you are then sent through an automated call that goes through 5, not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 5 messages trying to convince you to continue, this could be done in a survey and simplified for those looking to just cancel or again someone visually impaired who does not want to agree to anything, like continuing this awful subscription, so spends 10 minutes listening to every message. Not only was this hassle hard for someone visually impaired, I had to wait, I was charged, and refused my money because of terms of service but no where did they state that I would be harassed and bombard for simply not wanting to continue the service. This is not a good business plan and feels every trapping for those who need assistance or just want to cancel without the show, very overwhelming.

I tried to cancel my membership & was charged anyway. They are refusing to refund me.
I signed up for the free trial for Shaw Academy, I tried to cancel twice before and they talked me into staying. One the last day of my membership, Saturday July 18th I checked my membership status that morning which said I had 1 day left. I tried to call Shaw academy and got an automated system that asked me to enter my student ID, I entered it and it told me that it was invalid, I tried over 5 times, called again and the same thing happened. Then I sent an email asking for help through their support team, which was followed up by an email saying they would get back to me within 48 hours. Later that day, my card was charged, so I tried to call again, same experience as before.

I sent Shaw a second email about my issues and asked for a refund. In each email they ignored my comments and request for help and said that they cannot refund me. I replied asking for a phone number to get a hold of someone to help me, since I had spoken to someone on the phone before. They emailed and said that they don't have a number but will help me through email which they still are NOT doing.

They offered free trial and tucked their autrenewal clause in the 4&5 paragraphs of terms and conditions instead of making it obvious. Their dishonest
I signed up for a free 4 week trial in May. I am typically very good about paying attention to auto-renewal policies but didn't see anything that clearly stated I would be charged after the trial. I was then billed $69.99 after 4 weeks. When I contacted customer service I was told that the auto renewal is stated in the 5th paragraph of their terms and conditions and I would not be refunded. This seems dishonest and intentionally misleading. They tuck away their statement of auto renewal several paragraphs in and never make it clear or obvious.

not knowing it was going to automatically bill me $70 4 weeks later. Usually I'm pretty good about catching that when I sign up for a trial, but didn't see any warning of automatic payment. When I emailed customer service they told me to read sections 4&5 of the terms and conditions. Super shady way to do business. They don't make it obvious that you'll be charged and instead tuck it away in the last few paragraphs. Check out Udemy or Edx instead. They offer cheaper courses, more variety, and have better customer service.

I canceled my free 30 day membership over the phone with one of their agents and a few weeks later they charged me $69.99 for a Course I never did.
The first week of May 2020, I subscribed to a 4-week free Graphic Design Course to try the platform while I was out of work during quarantine in my city. When I was able to go back to work before my course ended, I decided to cancel my membership and the rest of my free course because and I wasn't going to be able to continue the course. On May 29th, I spoke with one of their agents named Curt Petersen to canceled.

On July 13th, I realized that on July 10th, they charged me $69.99 for a course I never did, with a membership that I canceled on May. Also, they keep sending me e-mails regarding why am I keep missing the classes. I don't know if the agent didn't do his job or it was a simple mistake, but I want it to be solved as soon as possible. I have proof that we had this conversation over the phone in May, as he sent me a confirmation e-mail.

That same day (July 13th) I sent an e-mail to the Academy's support team and they replied telling that they would be in contact in the next 48 hours to make a refund, but It's July 20th, and I haven't got back a response from them. Not even from the Support team or their agent Curt, that just replied to my first e-mail saying: "When we had the discussion on the phone about upgrading your account nothing was done. Your free trial came to an end before you cancelling your membership automatically your membership went over to a 1 month subscription". He didn't say this over the phone, as I call BEFORE my free trial was over. I never wanted to "upgrade" my account, I wanted to CANCEL, that was the matter we discussed because I didn't want to be charge for a course that I wasn't going to be able to finished.

Over the phone we agreed to this. I made myself very clear on this matter because I know how these things work when they have your bank information. But they still, unauthorized, weeks later, charged this amount of money on my debit card. The agent Curt Petersen is making a mistake. I believe and hope this phone call we had was recorded by the Academy.

Please, I require from the Academy a response and a refund of $69.99 as soon as possible.

My ID case number is #XXXXXXX

I would like my $69.99 refunded. After attempting to cancel prior to the trial period, it didn't cancel and charged me.
I signed up for a trial membership to try out their training classes for project management, but was unsatisfied with the training. I attempted to cancel before the trial period ended, but it didn't let me. I emailed their customer service the same day the trial period ended and was charged in an attempt to have them refund the money since I had not been using their service, but they refused.

Shaw Academy billed me for a one-year subscription even if I have cancelled my membership a few days after I signed up for their supposed free trial.
I have never used Shaw Academy's services. I cancelled my membership a few days after I signed up for their supposed free trial. I have contacted the company, and they refused to refund me even if I submitted proof that I have cancelled my membership a few days after I signed up for their supposed free trial.
Why would they charge me with something that I have never used? This is clearly fraud.

I was charged with an unauthorized purchase. The website uses one click purchasing but it is not approved but the customer Shaw refuses to refund
The Mobil website has large pop ups for purchases that if you intentionally or unintentionally click on it automatically charges your account without and means of approval. There is no option to turn off or on. Thai one click purchase setting. They refuse to refund the money when contacted about this issue. There are many other people who have had this happen and there are two Instagram pages dedicated to this company's scamming ways.

Free class(30 days) Webinars wouldn't play, pop-ups that I couldn't get around,and charged for an add-on I didn't buy.Won't refund.Hard to cancel.
I joined 7/19/20. My first "class" was 7/20/20. I received at least 10 texts and even more e-mails to remind me. The class wouldn't play and there were pop-ups that were hard to get around. Eventually, the page would say that the webinar session had expired and to reschedule. Then I got scolding emails saying that I was marked absent and attendance was required. Then I checked my credit card and found that I was charged $40 for a certificate that would let me take the final exam. I did not purchase this intentionally. I'm not sure if something happened when I tried to get around all of the pop-ups. This seems like they intentionally covered the course material to trick people into inadvertently clicking something that would cause a charge. I contacted them and they said that I bought it and it is now mine. But I can't access anything, let alone a final exam/certificate. They claim there is no way to issue a refund which is untrue. I pointed out that there is always a way even if it means a paper check. I emailed with someone named Paddie and they gave me a ticket number #XXXXXXX They tried to give me additional course materials in exchange. But I can't access anything, so it's a worthless exchange. Cancellation was also an issue. It runs you through multiple "are you sure?" pages, then tries to get you to call to cancel. I was finally able to get through enough pages to cancel. But, since there's no confirmation sent, I'm afraid that they are going to continue to charge me. And now they are not responding to my emails.

I want a refund for the money that was taken from my credit card without any permission or notification.
On July X XXXX I had decided to enroll in the Shaw academy free promo web design course. I wanted to expand my skill set and saw this as a good opportunity. I have every intention of canceling my credit card so as to not get charged for a premium annual fee. I have to cancel by August X XXXX. I was enjoying the program, it was great and easy to follow along. However on Sunday July XX XXXX I was paying bills on my visa online. I had noticed that I was charged 45.99 from Shaw academy on the same card I had originally used to sign up with. I checked my dates and was still in the free trail stages. To this day July XX XXXX I still do not know what the charge is for or why I even have it. I emailed a complaint to Shaw academy on July 19 and have not heard back from them for 2 days. Again I'm not disappointed in their program, I am however disappointed that I was charged for no reason and frankly at this point with their lack of customer service. I just want the money that was TAKEN from me back.

It said free classes but has already taken two different times out of my account in the amount of $39.95
$39.95 out of my account on 7/18/20 and 7/21/20

cahrged my card during my trail period :(
I have registered to the free course with an advertisement popped up from social media. While trying to setup a course time, there have been a pop up asking if I want to see the material which I said ok. Who in this world think that you are registered to a free subscription but you cannot access material. This is just a pure cheating.

Now they come up with 6month free subscription and then 1year free subscription but the look at my reply to them below.

Hello Mathew,
I am still unhappy because I don't have any courses that I require in Shaw Academy. Even Project management was just to give it a leisure read. I work in a technical cloud environment and even if you provide me 5 years free course, its just no use for me. I still request to give my money back. Unfortunately, your mobile app is just a piece of nonsense that drew me to this state while changing my dates of course. I have no interest in course material otherwise. I wish you and your team understand my situation and revert my money back.

I wish I get my money back. This is purely a scam company. Hope I get some help here!

6/30 signed up for 4 weeks "Free trial" They collected my CC info & charged me Premium Membership on 7/01. Emails, twitts, 20 days no response!
On June 30th I signed up for a 4 weeks "Free Trail". To create an account I had to submit my Credit Card number, along with all my other information. It was during July 4th weekend, so I didn't use the website until July 6th.

When I logged in for the first time, I noticed they tried to sell me everything, upgrade here for $$$, Tool Kit for $$$, E-certificate $$$, it's all about selling and I felt it was shady. So I went to review my bank statement and I found they charged my Credit Card for a Premium Membership I didn't buy on July 1st, one day after I created the account!

That moment I contacted them trough their website, and I've got a response on July 9th from "Varney" saying: "I have personally reviewed your account and found... The subscription has been initiated as 4-week free trial.
It was not cancelled during the trial period, so the payment was processed."

Clearly this "person" didn't personally review my account as he would of find out I signed up on June 30th, and that the charge was made the day after I created the account, on July 1st. And that by then (July 10th) I was still within the "Free Trial" (still am).

So I immediately responded with a screenshot of their "Welcome Email" on June 30th. And explained he was wrong. Since then, I've have not heard back.

I emailed them again on July 13th, with all the explanation, screen shots of Varney's previous email, sign up email date, bank statement charge with date, and no response. Again, did all the above mentioned on July 19th, emailed contact, billing, and *** E (the founder) and no response. Sent open and private Twitts to their Twitter account, sent messages trough LinkedIn, all that with no a single response.

Also, I tried to find a phone number. Only found one in U.S. from Delaware, which is obviously for not paying taxes and obviously is out of order. I even called their office in Dublin, and guess what? Phone is out of service.

So here I am, writing a complaint and wasting my time. I am pregnant and unemployed since months due to COVID and it is outrageous to me that a company can get away with stealing money from people like me who are struggling during such unprecedented times.

Normally apps and services you hire through internet let you unsubscribe easily. Their system makes you go through many steps and call at work hours.
I tried to unsubscribe during the weekend, you can't do it because you need to call them at your own work hours. This is made on purpose and you should cancel as easy as you can subscribe. For me this creates lack of good intentions.

I registered for a free trial media manager class. I then called to cancel right away. Then after 2 months or so I was charged $70 for a membership.
I registered for a free trial for a media manager class may 13. I figured then I wouldn't have time to do it so I cancelled it over the phone with Nicole. She said Thank you for your time earlier today. As mentioned on the phone your membership with Shaw Academy has now been cancelled.
We appreciate you came to us with serious goals and we want to do all that we can to help during these challenging times.What we would like to do now is to give you an additional two months totally free of charge. There will be no recurring charges thereafter. There are no strings. Just two months totally free of charge as a thank you to you and to help you achieve your goals. Kind regards,
Nicole K
Student Guidance Manager

Then July 15th I was charged $70 for a membership. I emailed for a refund and Samuel from Shaw replied: I have personally reviewed your account and found the following details:

The subscription has been initiated as 4-week free trial.
It was not cancelled during the trial period, so the payment was processed.
These terms are stated and accepted before account creation.T&C please see section 4 and 5.
We are unable to process subscription refunds unfortunately after the trial expiry, as per the terms and conditions.

However, we can confirm your membership is cancelled thus ensuring no further payments will be processed.

We are also providing you with 6-months access totally free of charge worth of $399, the least we can do is ensure you benefit from our professional certifications, so we can turn this unfortunate event in to a neutral, if not positive immediately. You will be able to complete the courses you initially joined and many other courses.

Ridiculous. I see this company has done it many times and would like my money back. Thank you.

I would to request a refund of $69.97
I signed up for a free trial with Shaw Academy. Since I didn't like the course, I set up a reminder to cancel as I was not up with my 4 weeks of free trial. But something unexpected happened and I was charged 2 days before the trial ends. I would like to request my money back bc I'm very unhappy with happened.

This is a scam company. I signed up for a one month free trial by clicking on a Facebook ad. I canceled 5 days after signing up after going through a tedious cancellation process. Two months later they charge me $69.99 for a canceled service on an account which they said had canceled.
PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!