Let me start off by saying my teacher, Don, was amazing. He's personable, knowledgable and made what I did learn fun. I signed up for this course because I'm a single mother and what I'm making now in my other two jobs is not enough, so I thought I could add to the days/nights I have free. I made my first of two payments and started the course. I only signed up to go to the Schaumburg location because the others are too far. About a little less than halfway through the course I was sitting with the teacher and he said, "Hey, I need the other half of your tuition."
ME: Well, I'm taking off work early tomorrow to come and do the classes I haven't been able to get because they don't work with my schedule. Can I just pay you tomorrow?
HIM: Don't you have a credit card? Besides, the owner came in and took all my files. He never does that. At least it'll look like I did something today. (he laughs)
ME: Ok (I pay him the last payment) I'll see you tomorrow around 3pm
The next day I leave work early, grab some lunch, and head to the school. There's a HUGE white truck/van taking up three spots in the lot. I grab my stuff and start walking in. There's a man standing outside on the phone and as I walk past him, he says, "What do you think you're doing?"
ME: I'm going to class. What do you think I'm doing.
But now I'm looking around and the owners of the truck are dumping whatever they can into trash cans and taking them out past me.
MAN: There's no class. They were evicted this morning.
ME: WHAT?!?!
The sound of the hundreds of bottles being emptied into the dumpster outside is distracting
MAN: Yeah, they were thrown out. You can't come in.
So I walk out and sit in my car. They JUST took my money 12 hours before. I called the school's main number and a guy named Nico told me to come to their location and we'd work something out. He said I was only twenty minutes away and he had no idea what had happened.
An HOUR and twenty-five minutes later I pull up in front of this janky looking strip mall with a check cashing place and I think it was a tarot card reader. I was afraid to park my car on this busy road. I walked in and found Nico and another man sitting in what I'm assuming was the office. I told them both there's no way after working a full day that I'm going to drive over an hour to a part of town that I wouldn't want to walk out at night by myself and I would like a refund.
NICO: I'm not authorized to do that. But I'll leave a message for the man who can.
ME: Is it going to be the owner? Because apparently he doesn't know how to pay his bills. I want you to make sure he has all my info.
(He starts to write my name and number) I was on edge, I'll admit. I'm usually not that aggressive.
NICO: I don't know. The owner doesn't know what happened.
ME: I'll tell you what happened. Nobody gets their sh!t thrown out on the lawn for missing one payment. He knew. That's why he came in and took the files yesterday. He KNEW.
(Blank stare from Nico)
ME: So can you write down the name of the guy who's going to call me and where is he?
NICO: Oh, he had to run out. I don't know his name.
ME: You don't know his name? You work with the guy and you don't know his name?
(Now, it's the owner, I know this now. And he ran out because I called my teacher and told him the school was being emptied into a dumpster.)
NICO: Uh, his name is Frank
(There is no Frank. He panicked not knowing if he should tell me the owner's name)
ME: Ok, I'll wait for his call.
No phone call ever came. So I contacted the bank I paid with and they gave me my money back. All of it. But I wasted SO much time and have nothing to show for it. Now I have to start over and find a new school, not located anywhere near me, and pay more because all the Christmas deals are over. They handled it like a$$hats. That's all. Nobody contacted me to try to make anything right. I am positive they couldn't have forgotten I came in. Just a shame for me and the 50-something other students who hadn't taken their test or finished the classes yet. read more
