Shaw Academy

Charged within free trial, even after canceling membership.
March 11 - Sign up for a 30 day free course.
April 2 - Email from company stating to restart free trial and reactivate account.
April 7 - Membership canceled and offer of 2 months free membership.
April 16 - Email from company stating that free trial was approved.
May 18 - Account charged USD59.99
May 20 - File refund request to company
May 20 - No refund given, instead offer to "provide you with 6 months access*** totally free of charge worth $399"

Free month trial but if you cancel before the end of the month they still charge you and they spam your email.
A couple months ago I decided I might want to try online classes. My husband and I were separated and I am living with my parents and elderly grandmother. Her death and divorce papers were hit within the same time. I cancelled my account 2 days after starting the free trial. In the agreement it says you can cancel within a month and won't be charged. I was charged $69.99 earlier last week and I emailed them and said my account had been cancelled, they had no right charging me because I did it within the first couple of days. They said my account has been cancelled but they refuse to refund the $69.99 they are charging to my credit card.
I don't think I have ever dealt with a more rude, unprofessional company as this one. You can't get them on the phone and they constantly spam your email with classes you have missed even if you cancel. I just want this resolved, the money put back on my card and them to leave me alone.

this was from today. I don't want access, I don't want to do the course, I just want my money back and to be left alone. When and IF I decide to take online classes I will do it then.

Hi *** ,

Thank you for reaching out again.

I have reviewed your email and this matter further however, unfortunately there is no way at all a refund can be processed for you. The issue remains that the terms and conditions were made readily available, you have accepted them and actually inserted payment details for a free trial/subscription service which had subsequent payments related to it, hence the contents were made available in your account which cannot be revoked. We cannot offer a refund in these circumstances.

I want to help you. During our last exchange I had taken the action of ensuring your account was cancelled and activated 6-month access worth lot of money free of charge.

I have tried to come up with something further and the very best I can possibly do is to increase that to 12-months access worth $699 totally free of charge plus one complete course toolkit and e-certificates worth $199.

This is very much an exception as I have listened to everything you said and I am doing everything to improve your satisfaction and help you to achieve your goals.

What I now request that you do is go into your account and select the course and schedule when you want to start studying and lets achieve your goals.

I look forward to hearing of your future successes.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Shaw Academy Support Team.

Kind Regards,
Darren
Web: www.shawacademy.com
Delivering great education, accessibly and affordably, to everyone

I cancelled my subscription during my trial and received confirmation from them that it was cancelled but my credit card is getting charged
I signed up on the 22nd of march and cancelled my trial on the 29th of march. I emailed them to completely cancel my subscriptions and received confirmation on April 5th that my account has been cancelled. But on the 19th of April, I see a credit card charge of 69.99 and another one on the 17th or may for the same amount. I reached out to them twice and they didn't even read my request and came back with an automated response.

Shaw Academy are refusing to delete my account and bank details from it. I'm worried they'll charge me for nothing in the future. It's my information.
I was feeling quite low during the lockdown and needed something to do, so I signed up to a supposedly 'free' 4 week introduction to photography course on Shaw Academy which I could cancel and not be charged for after the 4 weeks, which was my plan anyway. However, they made it exceptionally hard for me to cancel my subscription (which I cancelled before the course started, as I found out from many reviews that they were actually a scam. Some of these reviews are attached). I had to phone them up to cancel it and the lady on the phone spoke for ages about how it was a wonderful opportunity and I should chase my dreams and all this rubbish, which I knew was trying to guilt-trip me into sticking with it. But I cut her off when I could finally get a word in and told her to cancel the subscription, which she did. This was one good result.

I have been reading online and anyone can see for themselves, if they type into google Shaw Academy delete account or Shaw Academy cancel subscription that many, many people have written bad reviews about it and how despite having cancelled a subscription, they are charged months later £50 as an example for a course they are not studying on their site. People have had to block their bank cards from them because of this.They do not allow you delete your account which contains bank details on it either, and this is how they charge you months later. They are known for deliberately ignoring emails so they don't have to delete your details when you ask them to. This is hugely worrying for me, as after what I've read about them, I know that they still have my details and are refusing to delete them when I am within my rights to withdraw my information from them. I have been sending them email after email asking them to delete my personal details and account from their system which they are ignoring. They say I need to email them with my registered email address in their 1 reply to me on the issue, which I am doing. They claim they couldn't find it in the system, which is a lie because the lady on the phone found this email address in their system and was able to cancel my subscription that way.

They do not want to delete my account and bank details, because like with many others they've targeted, they want to charge me months later for a 'free' course I never attended in the end anyway. This is unfair that they are keeping MY bank details against my will. They're MY details, not Shaw Academies. I do not want to find that in a month's time I have been charged by them because they've unethically held onto my bank details and not allowed me to withdrawn my information from them. They are well known scammers, you can see it all over the internet that they are. Everyone knows it, they need bringing down as a company.

I contacted Shaw Academy before my free trial was over to tell them I could not access my account, thry didn't reply but charged me

According to Shaw Academy terms and conditions, students can have a free trial period before subscribing to paid membership. Cancelling the free trial before the period is over will mean no charges will be incurred. Accordingly I tried cancel my free trial days before the trial period was over but could not access my account. I was not happy with the initial content trialled, I was appalled at their harassment - by phone, email and whatsapp, and I discovered terrible feedback and similarly troubling experiences with their service from other unsuspecting students. I received an email from Shaw on 14 May, informing me I had THREE days left of the trial period and encouraging me to continue with the membership. I informed them I wanted to cancel but could not access my account. When I finally manahed to change passwords *** access my account, and cancelled (on May 14th 2020), the number they gave to confirm and complete cancellation was not being answered. I was certain I did want to cancel and thus did not expect to be charged. I finally manahed to get the line and received confirmation of the cancellation. Then on the same day 14 May, I received an invoice confirming they had taken payment of £49.99 AFTER all these messages and attempts to cancel via their website, and via calls, AND their own email about my cancellation. Repeated attempts to contact them regarding the issue have proved fruitless. Their phone numbers are either invalid or never working, their responses to emails repeatedly ignore my actual request and consist of automated marketing content to continue with their courses.
Very disappointed as instead of replying to my questions it seems like dealing with an automated response system that just tries to convince me to keep paying for courses I neber used and I am not interested in. They also keep mentioning that I willingly inserted my card details when I subscribed for the trial, but there was no other option to access the free contents, so of course I had to. Did not expect to be charged when my trial was still on, and when they had told me I still had 3 days left.

Refuses to refund a product I did not want to buy.
I accidentally tapped while scrolling on one of the MULTIPLE annoying banner ads littered around their website encouraging me to buy a class resource toolkit that I did not want and had previously actively avoided purchasing.

After tapping the ad, the website IMMEDIATELY billed my credit card. It did NOT bring me to a cart to confirm the purchase.

I then immediately looked for a return/refund option. I immediately emailed customer service and explained what happened and requested a refund.

Customer service emailed back offering credit instead. This is worthless because this "Academy" is unaccredited.

Shaw academy refused to refund 69.99 after they failed to send a reminder email due to irregularites in message data server which prevented cancelling
I saw an adverstisment on instagram displaying a free online course from Shaw Academy. I signed up and was prompted to enter my payment details and was promised that I would not be charged before the free trial and that I would also be reminded three days before the date for charging. I was charged 69.99 on May 15 (without any knowledge of being charged, I was notified through pay pal). I immediately cancelled my subscription and requested a refund. I was told that I could not get a refund on the grounds that I selected the terms and conditions. These conditions also included a prior three day reminder that I would be sent ( im assuming to avoid situations like these). When this was brought up via email with Vadik from Shaw Academy, he said that he is seeing where the message (reminder) was sent but not delivered and this was most likely due to irregularites in the message data server. He then aggressively promoted me to "Please complete the courses that you started and obtain the diploma." and reminded me that I have access to the course until May 21, 2021. I responded telling him that im okay with this access being revoked and I asked if on these ground I could receive a refund and he has not responded to my email. I was being prompted with discounts on courses which I expressed in my intial email that I was not interested in. I have not used the service from the date I was charged. I am not interested in using this service anymore as I feel as though I have been scammed. Vadik also went ahead and "activated 6-month access worth lot of money free of charge.I have tried to come up with something further and the very best I can possibly do is to increase that to 12-months access worth $699 totally free of charge plus one complete course toolkit and e-certificates worth $199." This was expressed to me via email. I did not ask for this, I asked for a refund.

Shaw Academy processed an unauthorized charge on my credit card and refused to refund the money although I did never purchased their services.
Shaw Academy processed an unauthorized charge on my credit card and refused to refund the money although I did never purchased their services. May 11, 2020

Spoke to a guy named Darren over email and he said because I signed up I would not get a refund. I made it clear that I did not sign up at all. My bank would not refund it for me. May 13, 2020.

He offers me 12 months free access to something I made clear that I don't know about or care about.

I am late for rent because this place took my last bit of money & will not return it. don't have a job due to pandemic & can't get unemployment.

Terrible.

Unauthorised payment of £49.99 made to Shaw Academy, despite cancelling my free trial within the trial period. They refuse to give me my money back.
On the 17th April 2020 I signed up to a Shaw Academy course. This course was part of a free 4 week trial, after this period I would begin to get charged £49.99 if I did not cancel my membership with Shaw Academy.

When signing up to Shaw Academy it states numerous times that there were "No commitments", "You won't be charged if you cancel before (insert end of free trial date)." and "If you don't cancel before the trial ends on (insert end of free trial date), you will automatically be charged the subscription fee of £49.99 every 4 weeks until you cancel." It also states in Shaw Academy's Terms and Conditions, "We will bill any Payment Method provided by You for your monthly membership fee at the end of the free trial period unless you cancel your membership prior to the end of the free trial period."

On the 21st April 2020, 09:34am BST, I called Shaw Academy on XXXX XXX XXXX. After speaking with a Shaw Academy employee, who was very reluctant to cancel my membership, he finally confirmed that my membership would be cancelled. Due to cancelling my membership during the free trial period I would not be charged £49.99 the following month. I received a cancellation confirmation email the same day stating "your membership with Shaw Academy has now been cancelled".

On the 15 May 2020, I received a notification from my bank and PayPal account stating that a payment of £49.99 had been made to Shaw Academy. To my surprise my membership status was still active (despite cancelling the membership on the 21st April). An unauthorised payment was made to Shaw Academy, due to a verbal and written agreement, that my membership would be cancelled on the 21st April, being broken. I complied with Shaw Academy's Terms and Conditions and cancelled my membership only 4 days into the free trial period, not using any of the resources provided to me within this free trial as I was not happy with the amount of harassment I was receiving from Shaw Academy (phone calls, emails, etc).

I emailed ***@shawacademy.com on the 15th April 2020, 11:33am BST, with my complaint and a request for a full refund of £49.99. I provided them with evidence of the cancellation (a screenshot of the email and phone call).
Shaw Academy responded to my email and referenced my complaint with the ID number #XXXXXXX. Shaw Academy stated in their reply on the 15th April 2020, 17:05pm BST, that "All aspects of this were made clear at registration, within your member's area and via communications. Since you did not cancel during your trial/billing period, payment was processed as per the terms and conditions associated with your membership." I responded to Shaw Academy the same day at 18:42pm, BST, that I had provided them with sufficient evidence of cancelling within the free trial period and re-read the terms and conditions to find that I had complied fully by cancelling within the free trial period. I requested a full refund of £49.99 again.

On the 18th May 2020, 15:29pm, BST, Shaw Academy responded to my email, "I have personally reviewed all information and found that you had subscribed using your debit/credit card/payment method and availed of a 4-week free trial after which payment would be made unless cancelled. All aspects of this were made clear at registration and on the payment details page. Since you did not cancel during your trial period, payment was processed as per the terms and conditions associated with your membership agreed by you on the registration page." They also went on to reassure me that "The first thing I have confirmed that your membership is cancelled thus ensuring no further payments will be taken." They also went on to state that I now had 6 months access totally free of charge worth $399.
In another response from Shaw Academy on the 19th May, 14:51 BST, they change their reason for charging me as due to "subsequent payments related to it", they then proceed to offer me 12 months access worth $699, "totally free".

the day before my free trial expired, without a warning, they took £49.99 from my account.
I do not intend to continue with their course since I did not benefit from it, it was an Excell course and whatever they go through, I already know it. During this Corona Virus crisis I'm not getting paid and because of the money they took my account is in red. I would like a refund immediately.
the ID # for my complaint has been registered with #XXXXXXX

They provided false information on how to cancel my membership and failed to make amends when I contacted them, pulling money from my bank account.
I started a free trial with Shaw Academy on ~April 19, 2020. My trial was to end on May 19, 2020. I was signed up for a graphic design course where I would attend eight classes. I only attended the first three or four in the first week of my course and then just let classes five and six run on my computer throughout the following week so that I could rewatch those lessons later. I never revisited those. Reason being that the lessons weren't really what I was looking for nor what I needed.

I didn't use the service for the remainder of my trial. On the morning of May 18, 2020, I remembered that I had a trial to cancel. I visited their website and was given the following message:

"Confirm your cancellation
We're sorry you're thinking of leaving us. To confirm your cancellation you are required to call the number for your specific country provided below.
Our business hours are 11am - 8pm Eastern Time Monday to Friday.
Country Number:
US
+XXXXXXXXXXX
Student number:
You will need to reference this number during that call.
XXXXX"

May 18, 2020 was a Tuesday. I went about my day and made time to call them at 3:00pm PST, which is 6:00pm EST. They were not operating. I reached a recording telling me that their business hours ended at 5:00pm EST.

There are no other avenues for cancellation available on their website.

I emailed them and explained the situation. I let them know that I was not interested in continuing my membership and that I expected a refund if they followed through with a charge, given that I followed their instructions for cancellation within the appropriate timeframe. Later that evening (May 18, 2020 at 9:05pm PST), I received a response that doesn't appear to have come from a real person. That, or the entire email was just a macro response from someone who either didn't read my email or didn't understand it. Here's a snippet of what they replied with:

"If you have been charged for the Card Validation*** fee, you do not need to worry, it should be refunded within a few hours on the same day.
Did you know you can reschedule a class*** before or after it is due to occur, you can change all upcoming classes, you can restart an entire course and you can even do multiple courses and if all of that is still not enough you can catch up on recordings too? You can even pause your trial/membership*** if needs be. To do that, just login to your account Here(https://live.shawacademy.com/login) and visit your course or profile page.
If you still feel to cancel, you will need to go into your member area Here(https://live.shawacademy.com/login) and select 'My Profile' and then 'Memberships & Payments' option and follow the process.
... we would ask that if you have raised the issue by email/ticket/or any other form that you do not open a second ticket. Rest assured we will action your request."

My issue was not solved, let alone even addressed.

I attempted to contact them again on May 19, 2020 to receive a cancellation and refund, and I was not successful. Today is day three of trying to contact them and their charge of $34.99 is still pending in my bank account. During the COVID-19 pandemic, every penny counts.

I signed up for a free trial and attempted to cancel. Their emails were not clear that I would be charged. I canceled, but they are refusing refund.
I signed up for a monthly free trial and had made attempts to cancel the trial before the subscription renewed. Toward the end of the 30 days, I received emails saying I would be charged only if I wished to purchase a diploma (which I did not). A few days ago, I saw that I was charged $69.99.

I logged in to cancel my subscription and it says "We can remind you the day before your current subscription is up and if you stay, we might even have a great offer for you!" However, that is fraudulent as I never received a reminder that I would be charged if my subscription would renew; I only received notices that I would be charged if I chose to purchase a diploma.

I contacted Shaw Academy customer service requesting a refund saying that because of the confusion from their marketing emails, my membership extended a day or two past the free trial. They should see in my account that there was no activity as I did not take any of their courses, nor do I plan to going forward. I requested that they please make an exception to their policy and issue me a refund.

However, they refused to refund me and instead offered me additional courses; however, at this point I am not interested as this has already left a bad taste in my mouth. This has been a very frustrating experience so far as this was an unforeseen charge that I did not account for. This is a despicable way to treat customers, especially amid this tumultuous time.

Unauthorized transactions on card on file. Number given is false to cancel services. No refund issued.
Shaw academy has been making unauthorized transactions for different amounts from my card. This program was first advertised as being free, unless purchasing extra course materials, which hasn't been done so. There online learning offers toolkits. I had my first issue with Shaw Academy, and instead of issuing me a refund they offered me a free toolkit, despite me saying I would like my money refunded. This happened from 04/06/-04/07/2020 Never any refund issued. I stoped using the product and canceled my membership, or so I thought. Today on 05/20/2020 I recently was charged a different amount from the initial charge, despite these courses being "free". While trying to cancel the membership again, I was given a number and told to change my number URL, and forcibly kicked off the line. Multiple times at that from different numbers. Ultimately making it so that the membership cannot be canceled.

Credit card charged full subscription amount of $69.99 after signing up for free trial. I have emailed and they have not refunded or responded. Scam.
Signed up for 4 week free trial. Credit card was charged $69.99 automatically with no warning, confirmation or receipt. I emailed them once I saw the charge 2 days later, they responded but only asking for more account details. It has now been over 1 week with no response or refund. I have not used any of the program because I do not want to be charged when I am still in the trial period. I have tried to cancel my subscription but now they are saying I have to call them directly to cancel.

Account email/login: ***@gmail.com
Signed up: May 9th XXXX X week FREE TRIAL
Visa Credit Card charged: May 12th 2020 $69.99
Sent emails requesting assistance and refund: May 12, 14, XX XXXX
Shaw Academy Support ID number #XXXXXXX

Charged one month after cancelling subscription. Did not use services. Was told I didn't cancel even though I have a confirmation email.
Signed up for free trial on April 21st. Was spammed with voicemails and automated calls right away. Read bad reviews online, so I cancelled right away (April 21st). They do not let you cancel online, I had to call a number to confirm my cancellation. The representative tried to convince me to stay by promoting offers. I said no and he sent me a cancellation email.

ONE MONTH after, I was charged $69.99 by Shaw Academy. I couldn't cancel online. They gave me a number to call. When I called, it was an automated voice telling me not to cancel and asking me over 10 times if I was sure. The automated person kept trying to guilt me by saying I'm "throwing my life away" and that I "shouldn't pass *** these great deals". After I got my subscription cancelled AGAIN, I searched the website for a number to call to speak to a real human. I couldn't find a number so I went back to my call logs and called the number I called a month ago to cancel the first time. I called them and the representative told me that "someone" reactivated my account the day before. I assured him that it wasn't me. He told me there is nothing he can do and to email ***@shawacademy.com.

After I emailed them and explained my situation, the representative emailed back saying I never cancelled my subscription (even though the previous representative confirmed that it shows on my account that I cancelled) and that they cannot issue me a refund. They they continued to promote me deals trying to convince me to stay...

I emailed them back attaching the cancellation confirmation email I received a month ago and am now waiting for a response. When I searched reviews online, it was clear that they've done this to people in the past too and quite frequently.

I was charged $59.99 for a service that was supposed to be free under a trial period.
I received an ad on T-Mobile Tuesday application in March 2020. Shaw Academy was offering free classes for a one month trial period. I enrolled in a free trial course. My trial membership was due to be over April 8th, last trial day, so I canceled online and called since the online system does not allow one to cancel solely online. When I reached the automated system, I continued to select the option to cancel. As I proceeded to cancel, there was an offer/promotion on the automated system, which stated if I decided to continue my course I would receive a free Course Toolkit, free eCertificate once completed and a 30 day extended FREE trial. I accepted the promotional offer assuming that the 30 day free extended trial, as stated during the automated call, would be FREE of charge and my credit card would not be charged. When I proceeded to check my Shaw Academy account throughout the day, this information was not updated, nor were the promotions applied. I decided to give it a day. On April 9th, I checked my Shaw Academy account again and there was no update. However, I found out that my credit card was charged $59.99 and none of the promotions stated during the automated call had applied to my account. As such, I proceeded to reach out via email in regards to these promotions and to get a refund but was refused a refund.The information and promotions provided by the company's automated system for cancellation are false and do not hold true. I am highly disappointed because I hoped that they would be different. I would like a full refund of my money.

signed up for free trial and have been trying to cancel for a month. They make you call a number that they keep you on hold forever. If they do answer they offer you all of these add ons and even when you keep saying you want to cancel they charge your card. They have charged my card when it should not have. I will tell anyone and everyone that I know not to sign up for this site!

Great learning program and material! Awesome customer service! It is beyond the regular online learning!

They charged me several times since cancelling and won't refund.
I signed up for a 4 week free trial on March 20th. On March 27th I cancelled the account. On March 29th I received a confirmation email the account has been cancelled.
Since the confirmation email they have charged my account several times.
When I asked for a refund they said I could not get it because I didn't meet the terms and conditions.
I read the terms and conditions and it states if the account is cancelled within the trail there will be no membership charge.
I cancelled 7 days into a 4 week trail and got the confirmation 9 days into the 4 weeks.
They have charged me $70 multiple times since.
I did not agree to be charged.
Since my account was apparently cancelled on March 29 I have no idea how long these unauthorized charges are going to come out of my account.
Please help me.

Took the free 4-week trial on 4/20; Tried to cancel on 5/18. Charged credit card. On 5/20 once again charge for e-certificate that was never bought
After signing up the free trial on 4/20, it was advertised as a 1-month trial. On 5/18 we notice that it charged the premium membership ($69.99) even though when we logged in, it said that there was still 1 day left on the trial. All invoices are attached. We tried calling them but nobody picks up. We email them (Attached) and they claimed that it was a 4-week membership and that's why it was charged (even though the dashboard claimed we had 1 day left). We cancelled it on the 18th and now they said we had until June 15th to access the course material. After cancelling everything on the dashboard disappeared and there was no trace that the course even existed. We once again called them but didn't get a response. Today (5/20) we login and see that they once again charged $39.95 for an e-certificate. This certificate was never purchased and was billed from our credit card (it is pending now) without us doing anything. As we look over all the transactions, we also saw that they billed us $0.50 three times for a "card validation fee" which is another $1.50 that they got. All invoices are attached along with the email conversation. Pictures of the cancellation and empty dashboard pages are attached as well.