TakeLessons.com

Great teacher, poor customer service
Great teacher for my son to learn Saxophone with Teacher Andrew, but they bad faith for the july 4 summer promotion, but even I have all the screen shots for the payment processing, no pop-up message for "valid for new students only". End up either I admin the full charge or I can get full refund, because their website backend mistake.

Most of the singing teachers are very kind except Eric J. He is very impatient and expects perfection from beginner singers. He hung up on while I was making a suggestion. I think you should hire teachers who are kinder and actually listen to their students suggestions. I will no longer be attending his classes.

So I figured why not give it a try for a 30 minute in house lesson. Instructor cruised through an impossible objective on the ukelele for my 7 year old's first lesson ever - charged a $25 travel fee- which I had no idea before hand so it was $95 for nothing! Forgot to cancel 2nd session within 24 hours so had to pay another $95.

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved Regards, [redacted] ***

Hi ***,Sorry to hear you were not able to use all of the lessons you purchased We have a flexible refund policy where our students can receive a refund at any time for any unused lesson credits I see that you originally purchased singing lessons with ***- [redacted] for a total of $ According to the teacher's records of these lesson credits were taken/used (on December 3, 2014, December 16, and January 6, 2015) but lessons were never takenWe'd be happy to issue you a refund for the $worth of unused lessons I'll submit the refund request nowPlease allow 3-business days to appear in your bank/credit cardYou should also receive an email confirming this refundThe email will be sent to the email address on file in your student account.Next time please don't hesitate to reach out to us directly and we'd be happy to address any questions or concerns you have about our services You can reach us Monday- Friday from am - pm PT at 619-858-option #2.Warm Regards, [redacted] SrDirector of Customer ExperienceTakeLessons

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
Please find attached an email from takelessons.com from the morning of Nov 7th A quick review will reveal who the "miscommunicated" person is It was not the teacher, it was not me I had already made it clear once before that I did not want to be reinstated but, as the email will confirm, their own system automatically "re-enrolled" me Their website clearly states, that once recurring lessons are set up, the auto-pay turns on also automatically I caught this in time and thankfully had deleted my debit card info from my previous difficulty with them so they didn't have time to take more money I personally was pleased with the way Anthony handled things He was very honest and considerate and didn't try to displace blame If I had not already filed the complaint I would have dropped it Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for Ms***
*** **
Nov (day ago)
to me
Hi ***,
Thank you for your call today and again we sincerely apologize for the confusion and frustration
After further review, I determined that your teacher added you back to her student roster in order to mark the final lesson as attended so she could be paidThis caused an automated email to be sent that you had reinstated lessonsIt was not our intention to resume or charge you for lessons that you did not request
I would also like to mention that you will not receive any future billing, scheduling or marketing communications at this point
If you have further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us
Again, we apologize for the negative experience and wish you the best going forward
Best regards, *** *Student Support TakeLessons ***
Love your teacher? Leave a review! Go here to learn how: http://support.takelessons.com/hc/en-us/articles/202973533-How-do-I-provide-feed...⇄ /> For email routing purposes: ***
Regards,
*** ***

To Whom it May Concern: Thank you for sharing with us the concerns of Mrs***My name is ***I am the Customer Experience Manager at TakeLessons. I am deeply sorry for any confusion or frustration Mrs*** has experienced as a result of misunderstanding surrounding policy changes which
were implemented over a year ago at the beginning of I have reviewed Mrs***'s account thoroughlyBelow are some details regarding this matter:Prior to January, 2014, TakeLessons offered a lesson package called the Quarterly PlanUnder this payment plan, students had the option to purchase lessons at one time and receive a 13th freeWhen Mrs*** initially booked with TakeLessons, she was enrolled in this planShe was billed under this format a total of times between March and November Her last Quarterly Purchase was billed in November of covered a total of lessonsThese lessons were covered all the way into March of At the end of January 2014, we as a company completely stopped offering the Quarterly Plan to any of our customersThis was a decision that was enforced across the board with all customers, and there were no exceptionsIn other words, when we ceased to offer the Quarterly Plan, no customers were allowed to remain on itWe ceased offering free lessons all together at that timeWe messaged this change out to all customers via email on January 20, Additionally, we called every single customer who was on the Quarterly Plan in order to ensure they were aware of the upcoming changes.Unfortunately I have no notes or record of the conversation Mrs*** has referred to in her complaint, though we record every call and notate all conversations thoroughly on each customer accountI am confident that Mrs*** was not told she would continue to receive a complimentary lesson for every lessons taken as , 1) this change was a firm change enacted for all TakeLessons customers with no exceptions, and 2) when she switched to the monthly plan, she was no longer buying lessons at a time, but rather in much smaller packagesAny discounts offered after January would have still only applied to bulk lesson purchases of or more at a time, however they would not have included free lessonsThe final Quarterly Plan that Mrs*** purchased was paid for prior to January 2014, and covered lessons all the way into March of 2014, as stated aboveThis particular purchase was of course not impacted by the changes implemented in January of 2014, as the purchase was made prior to those changesIf Mrs*** did speak with a representative regarding her lessons and if she was informed that her Quarterly Plan was not impacted by the changes, that representative would have been referring specifically to this particular (final) Quarterly PurchaseAgain, I am truly sorry for any confusion or misunderstanding around the changes made in January and what was discussed, however we have been very thorough in our communication to all students about these changes and their implications, and no breach of agreement has been made on the part of TakeLessonsHaving stated all of the above, we will be reaching out to Mrs*** directly to discuss these matters one more time, in order to avoid future miscommunicationAdditionally, as a good will gesture and a thank you for her continued patronage, we will be offering her free lessonsKind Regards, *** Grimes, Customer Experience ManagerTakeLessons

Hi, [redacted].
 
Thanks
for taking the time to share your feedback and concerns. I apologize
that you did not have a good experience when speaking to our Student
Counselor, Jonathan. Your feedback has been passed along to our Sales
Manager, and we will be following up with him.  As a...

Customer Experience
team we are focused on delighting our customers. Obviously we fell very
short of that goal in your case, and for that we truly are sorry.
I
understand why you would wish to speak to the instructor before
deciding if you want to sign up for lessons. Our approach to booking is
set up in a way that fosters protecting the privacy of our teachers,
whom we also consider to be our partners.  We have agreed that we will
not give out their contact information until someone has purchased and
signed up for lessons.  However we understand a customer's desire to
make sure the teacher is the right fit. That in mind - here are the
options we offer to help make you feel more comfortable before
purchasing:
(1)
If you have specific questions for one of the teachers you see on the
site, we can assist in contacting that instructor for you and getting
answers to all of your questions.
(2)
After you've booked lessons, you will have the opportunity to
communicate with your instructor BEFORE the first lesson. If at that
time, you have any cause for concern, we will work to find you a new
instructor, or honor a full refund.
(3)
We offer a Money Back Guarantee.  With the Money Back Guarantee, after
you've attended your first lesson, if for some reason you don’t feel
like it is a good match, just give us a call within 72 hours of that
first lesson. At that time, we will help you find a new teacher and/or
give you a full refund. 
Again,
I sincerely apologize for the experience you had when contacting us. 
We should have done a better job of helping you pick out an instructor and we should have provided
better, more thorough explanations of our policies and your options. I
understand that based on your first experience with us that TakeLessons
may not be the right fit for you, but if you are still interested in
signing  your child up for piano lessons and there is anything we can do
to help you answer any questions about our instructors, please let us
know.

Hi [redacted],Sorry to hear you were not able to use all of the lessons you purchased.  We have a flexible refund policy where our students can receive a refund at any time for any unused lesson credits.  I see that you originally purchased 5 singing lessons with [redacted] for a total of $150....

According to the teacher's records 3 of these lesson credits were taken/used (on December 3, 2014, December 16, 2014 and January 6, 2015) but 2 lessons were never taken. We'd be happy to issue you a refund for the $60 worth of unused lessons.  I'll submit the refund request now. Please allow 3-5 business days to appear in your bank/credit card. You should also receive an email confirming this refund. The email will be sent to the email address on file in your student account.Next time please don't hesitate to reach out to us directly and we'd be happy to address any questions or concerns you have about our services.  You can reach us Monday- Friday from 8 am - 5 pm PT at 619-858-2200 option #2.Warm Regards,[redacted]Sr. Director of Customer
ExperienceTakeLessons

Hello. My name is [redacted], and I am the customer experience manager at TakeLessons.
 
I want to address [redacted]'s concerns. While every student who books lessons through our website is automatically enrolled in auto-pay, and made aware of that at the time of booking, every student also has full...

control over the auto-pay setting in their online account. They can turn it on or off at any time. 
 
In Ms. [redacted]'s case, we did speak with her about this on October 8, and ensured that the auto-pay setting was turned off at that time. Since October 8, the auto-pay setting on her account has never been reactivated, and she has absolutely not been billed without her consent. There was a recurring schedule that was recently created on her account by her instructor, but again I reiterate that this did not reactivate the auto-pay setting and she was never billed for more lessons after the initial purchase, to which she did consent. All of this was discussed and explained over the phone on November 7. 
 
I do sincerely apologize for Ms. [redacted]'s confusion and frustration, however please let the record show that it has stemmed from a misunderstanding, not from any inappropriate activity on the part of TakeLessons. 
 
Kind Regards, 
[redacted]
Customer Experience Manager
TakeLessons

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID[redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]

To Whom It May Concern: Thank you for sharing Mr. [redacted]’ feedback with us and providing us with the opportunity to publicly address his concerns. Please note that prior to being made aware of Mr. [redacted]’ Revdex.com complaint I
attempted to reach him by phone, and have since followed up several
times...

via email to request that he return my call so that we may seek to
fully understand and resolve his concerns through direct communication. As yet I have not been
afforded the opportunity to speak with him directly, but look forward to
reaching a resolution as soon as he returns my call.Regarding Mr. [redacted]' statement to the Revdex.com: TakeLessons emphatically contests the allegations that we have stolen hundreds of dollars from either Mr. [redacted] or his clients or that we use contrived, confusing billing mechanisms to charge students for lessons they haven't received, as well as to withhold payment from teachers for lessons they have rightfully completed. In order to provide some clarity around the inaccuracy of Mr. [redacted]’ accusations, please see below a thorough outline of several of our company policies and practices which are directly related to Mr. [redacted]’ false interpretation of our methods and motives.TakeLessons Cancellation PolicyStudents are expected to give their teachers at least 24 hours notice of a lesson cancellation to be eligible for a reschedule. If you do not receive proper notice, ultimately it is at your discretion how to mark the lesson. Marking the lesson as Missed pays you for your time and the student forfeits the paid lesson.  Canceling the lesson will allow the student to reschedule the lesson; they will keep their paid lesson credit and you will not get paid for this particular lesson.*Note: It is at a teacher’s discretion to determine whether or not they would like to mark a lesson as missed when a student has provided less than 24 hours notice of a cancellation. If a teacher marks a lesson as missed, per the policy outlined above, the teacher will still be paid for their time, and the student will forfeit that lesson. If a teacher elects to reschedule the lesson and make it up at a later date, the student will not lose the lesson credit. The credit will be rolled over, and the teacher will receive payment for that lesson once it has been taught and marked. If a student later elects to cancel all remaining lessons with an instructor, they may either receive a refund of all remaining unused lesson credits, or they may transfer their remaining lesson credits to a new instructor. Any refund or transfer would include all lessons that a teacher previously chose to roll over if those lessons have not yet been made up. In other words, if a teacher elects not to mark a lesson as missed when less than 24 hours notice of a cancellation was provided, it is at their discretion. However, if that student later cancels all future lessons before the lesson has been made up, the teacher is not owed that money. That money stays with the student.If a student cancels all future lessons and asks for a refund or transfer and their next lesson is scheduled within the following 24 hours, that next lesson is not eligible for a refund, as we would pay the teacher for that lesson. TakeLessons does not ever simply elect to keep money for lessons that have not been used. TakeLessons Refund PolicyIf you're not 100% satisfied, you'll get your money back. We know taking lessons is a big step, and if you need to stop taking lessons for any reason, we will refund any future unused lesson credits, no questions asked. Simply contact TakeLessons at least 24 hours before your next lesson to receive a refund on any remaining future lesson credits. Lessons scheduled to occur in less than 24 hours are not eligible for refund, so please contact us before then to ensure your refund includes all the lessons you are expecting.----------------------------Regarding the following assertion made by Mr. [redacted]:  “simply deleting lessons and keeping the money if the lessons are not marked in a "timely" manner.”  --- This is not a practice of ours. Teachers are responsible for managing their own calendars and marking their lessons in order to get paid. It is a recommended best practice that teachers mark their lessons (or reschedule them) within three days of the scheduled lesson in order to ensure rapid payment and in order to avoid scheduling confusion, however, a teacher may technically wait any amount of time to mark a lesson. The lesson will never be “deleted”, however, failure to mark a lesson in a timely manner may impact the date that a teacher receives payment for that lesson.If a student cancels all future lessons with an instructor and requests a refund or transfer of remaining credits, it is the practice of TakeLessons staff to first contact an instructor regarding any unmarked lessons that are in the past in order to determine whether or not payment for those lessons is owed to an instructor. Any lessons scheduled in the future would return to the student, as long as they are more than 24 hours out from the time of cancellation.In some cases students with a recurring schedule may have lessons on the calendar in the future that they have not yet paid for. If a lesson is as yet unpaid it will be clear on a teacher’s calendar. All TakeLessons instructors have been advised that if a lesson is showing as unpaid, TakeLessons cannot guarantee payment, and that they should not teach an unpaid lesson. In the event that an instructor elects to teach a lesson that has not been paid for by the student, TakeLessons will attempt to reach the student for payment, but if we are unable to collect payment we are not responsible for payment to the teacher as they have been advised not to teach unpaid lessons.*All of the above policies can be found on the TakeLessons website in the Support section. Additionally, they can be reached through student and teacher accounts. Related Links:Cancellations RefundsWhen a student has unpaid lessonsI hope this information is helpful in addressing the feedback provided by Mr. [redacted]. Again, I will be happy to work directly over the phone with Mr. [redacted] to more thoroughly address any specific misunderstandings that he feels have gone unresolved.Kind Regards, [redacted]Customer Experience ManagerTakeLessons[redacted]

Review: I did not know that TakeLessons would automatically decide to set me up for recurring lessons that then allows them to automatically collect from my bank account with no authorization from me. I've already been through this with them and told them no more lessons after the lessons I had been required to pre-pay for. I turned off auto pay (that they turned on) canceled all lessons and told them no more but when my last lesson was finished - they started it all back up again. They (without my authorization) set me up for recurring lessons which automatically turned on auto bill pay.Desired Settlement: This company needs to be shut down. They are crooks.

Business

Response:

Hello. My name is [redacted], and I am the customer experience manager at TakeLessons.

Review: I have taken the singing lessons for about 2 months and now want to cancel my lessons. I had told my instructor the last time I was there (last Friday, Dec. 20) that I no longer want to continue my lessons. I also filled out in my account on their web site that I want to stop the lessons. The company, however, charged my credit card on Dec. 25 for advance payment of $135. I called today (Dec. 26) to ask for a refund and to make sure that the lessons are cancelled. I was told that the refund is not possible and they would just issue me a voucher for future use. I do not want a voucher. I want my money back. I should not have to pay for a service that hasn't been rendered to me and I should have a right to a full refund. What kind of business practices are these? I feel ripped off by this.Desired Settlement: I want a full refund of $135 that was charge to my credit card on Dec. 25, 2013.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

Thank you for making us aware of Ms. [redacted]'s frustration surrounding her most recent experience with TakeLessons. I am always deeply sorry to learn about any of our clients having anything less than a stellar experience with our service. We have followed up with Ms. [redacted] to offer a full refund, and to offer our apologies for her confusion surrounding our refund policies.

Kind Regards,

Customer Experience Manager

TakeLessons

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

This company is slowly failing. I heard they keep cutting their teacher pay by the month, probably because they can't keep their overhead. I can't say anything regarding the teachers on there, because they are all individuals, but the customer service is WAY too pushy. And they all talk so fast you can barely get a word in. They try to book you faster than you can think about it. The site is really buggy, and forces you to do certain things before you can do anything else. The mobile application is really cumbersome and not streamlined. Which I understand I guess, because they probably can't afford to update it. A teacher I worked with said they send him questions from all across America from students that aren't even close to him, i.e. in another state! That doesn't seem very efficient.They also don't let you talk to a potential teacher on the phone at all unless you pay so how are you supposed to know if you get along with them?! And regarding the other reviews on here (Revdex.com) how is TakeLessons responding by looking into peoples accounts if the last name is not displayed? And now they are posting personal account information on a review website with what the customer did? Looks bad on you TakeLessons. Desperate company.

I was looking for a tutor for my daughter and heard about TakeLessons. I highly recommend them! Their staff is very friendly and helpful and was able to assist me in finding a wonderful tutor. Their online website makes it easy to shop and compare various teachers in my area. I still had some questions and their staff was very friendly in answering all my questions prior to signing up for lessons. We also were delayed in starting our lessons and they proactively called me within two weeks after my purchase to check in and see if I needed any help getting started with lessons. I felt very safe and secure working with this company and would use them again!

Review: Paid $150 for lessons. By company policy they refuse any refunds for any reason.

I am seeking a full refund due to my physical inability to take lessons.Desired Settlement: Refund of $150.00

Business

Response:

Hi [redacted],

Review: My wife and I purchased piano lessons for our 5-year-old son. Take Lessons' business model of selling only bundles of lessons in advance -- through a high-pressure sales pitch, I might add -- and then offering a "money back guarantee" limited to 72 hours of ONLY the first lesson might not be illegal but it is flat-out dishonest. So, too, is selling only through autodraft of a credit card. My son is about to start kindergarten and has lost interest in taking further lessons. It's a waste of time and money. When we canceled, we were cheerfully told by Take Lessons' customer service that we could get a $75 voucher for future lessons. We do not want future lessons. We want our money back. We do not want to pay $75 for three lessons that will never, ever be used. We want the $75 refunded to our credit card. Keeping the money and offering a useless voucher is akin to stealing. Bottom line: They took our money from our credit card, we asked them to give it back and they said no. That's theft.Desired Settlement: We want our $75 back. We do not want a voucher for future lessons that will never be used, nor a gift card for lessons, nor lesson credits. We don't want to pay for something for nothing. And we don't want our credit card billed by Take Lessons ever again.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern:

Thank you for making us aware of Mr. [redacted]' complaint. Prior to filing this complaint with the Revdex.com, Mr. [redacted] did leave me a voice message, making me aware of his request for a refund. We followed up with his wife, whose phone number and email address are on file in our system, within an hour of receiving Mr. [redacted]' voice message. We let her know that we would be honoring their request for a refund. We left a voice message and followed up with an email confirming the refund.

These actions were taken yesterday afternoon (8/5/14), prior to us being made aware of Mr. [redacted]' Revdex.com complaint.

I spoke with Mr. [redacted] this morning (8/6/14) to make confirm that his refund had been processed yesterday, and to verify whether any further action was necessary. Mr. [redacted] has assured me that matters have been resolved to his satisfaction.

*Please note that TakeLessons sincerely values honesty and transparency with our customers, and as such, we make every effort to ensure that customers are fully aware of our billing and refund policies. Policies are discussed over the phone upon initially booking lessons. Additionally, policy reminders are included in all billing emails and purchase confirmation emails. During their time as customers with TakeLessons, the [redacted] family received 7 Auto-Payment reminder emails. These are billing reminders that are sent 7 days before a customer has any money auto-deducted from their account. Any customer is able to opt out of auto-payments through their online account. Additionally, the [redacted] family received 7 purchase confirmation emails from us. Within all of those emails is the following reminder of our refund policy:

Lesson Refund Policy: Purchases are non-refundable effective 72 hours

after your first lesson per the terms of the TakeLessons Money Back

Guarantee.

I hope this information has been helpful. Both Mr. [redacted] and the Revdex.com are encouraged to reach out to me directly with any further questions, feedback, or concerns.

Kind Regards,

Customer Experience Manager

TakeLessons

Review: The company website is misleading and the marketing/sales staff are extremely aggressive. The company website states all instructors are certified though they refuse to provide by what agency (the best I could determine was an internal online class provided by the company). They also will not allow any contact with an instructor until after the lessons are booked. Since the company profiles are your only source you are forced to take a chance on the personality of the individual you pay for. Also, the staff all are extremely rude and unprofessional.Desired Settlement: Company is more forthcoming in their marketing and business practices.

Business

Response:

Hi, [redacted].

Thanks

for taking the time to share your feedback and concerns. I apologize

that you did not have a good experience when speaking to our Student

Counselor, Jonathan. Your feedback has been passed along to our Sales

Manager, and we will be following up with him. As a Customer Experience

team we are focused on delighting our customers. Obviously we fell very

short of that goal in your case, and for that we truly are sorry.

I

understand why you would wish to speak to the instructor before

deciding if you want to sign up for lessons. Our approach to booking is

set up in a way that fosters protecting the privacy of our teachers,

whom we also consider to be our partners. We have agreed that we will

not give out their contact information until someone has purchased and

signed up for lessons. However we understand a customer's desire to

make sure the teacher is the right fit. That in mind - here are the

options we offer to help make you feel more comfortable before

purchasing:

(1)

If you have specific questions for one of the teachers you see on the

site, we can assist in contacting that instructor for you and getting

answers to all of your questions.

(2)

After you've booked lessons, you will have the opportunity to

communicate with your instructor BEFORE the first lesson. If at that

time, you have any cause for concern, we will work to find you a new

instructor, or honor a full refund.

(3)

We offer a Money Back Guarantee. With the Money Back Guarantee, after

you've attended your first lesson, if for some reason you don’t feel

like it is a good match, just give us a call within 72 hours of that

first lesson. At that time, we will help you find a new teacher and/or

give you a full refund.

Again,

I sincerely apologize for the experience you had when contacting us.

We should have done a better job of helping you pick out an instructor and we should have provided

better, more thorough explanations of our policies and your options. I

understand that based on your first experience with us that TakeLessons

may not be the right fit for you, but if you are still interested in

signing your child up for piano lessons and there is anything we can do

to help you answer any questions about our instructors, please let us

know.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID[redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

I purchased 20 French lessons using a 30% off promotion they had last week. The tutor I selected who said he was available during that time never contacted me back and after a few days I finally emailed student support TWICE. It took them 2-3 days to get back to me and one of them emailed to tell me that the tutor was unavailable (never heard from him myself) and that they could help me find a new tutor. Finally, student support called me to help me look for another tutor. Here's the thing - I now had a credit of $400 to go towards another tutor BUT I could no longer have the original 20 lessons I purchased with a tutor who was the same price as the one who I initially contacted. Basically, they told me they couldn't honor my 30% off discount and only had the credit left meaning if I went with another tutor I would have to pay the original difference. Tell me how this is fair to me as the customer when it is their fault I was never contacted by my tutor? I told student support [redacted] that I felt entitled to the original 20 lessons and shouldn't pay the difference and he was NOT polite and said there was nothing he could do and curtly transferred me to the refund department What a joke. I got my refund and will never use this website again.