Stay Away from Kaplan University

Dealing with the salesman who called me saying he was a Sr. Advisor was an experience in cheap pop psychology aimed at duping the consumer. I know I should have read the reviews first but was overwhelmed with Kaplan's fast and hard sell and the fact that I really wanted to go to school to finally get a degree after 22 years of academic inertia. When I told the advisor I wanted to cancel the agreement and wanted my $1000 back, he was rude. Hmmm...3-5 wks for a refund. Scary, Scary! When I called in the early morning trying to cancel, they said I must speak to my advisor who only comes in during the late afternoon. In spite of me emailing him the evening before with a cancellation request when I had my epiphany to check the reviews before the 3 day cancellation window passed, the advisor called me today asking if I was ready to sign up for my classes. I told him I had called that very morning to have a guy named Tim Fritz get my cancellation going and that Tim said he would email him, (the advisor) and the advisor sounded surprised. HMMMM...I was then told I had to talk to Marvin the Associate Manager who needed to know why I wanted to cancel. Instead of Marvin taking it from there, he told me I would have to be transferred back to the advisor to finish the process. Marvin was mad when I asked him to repeat his title for me. The advisor was busy so Marvin said he would have to have the advisor call me back. Yep, you guessed it...no call back. I emailed the advisor and I got a short, abrupt, you no longer are my sales target attitude and was told it would take 3-5 weeks for a refund. Hmmmm....bad business. I hope I get my $1000 back.

Comments (4)

1. Written by Follow Update on Stay Away fro, on 14-11-2008 11:41 To JK and the rest of you who may be considering Kaplan or have been scammed,    If you guys want to start some kind of email forum with suggestions on how to bring Kaplan down through the media and legal system, let me know. I am filing a claim with our Nevada Consumer Affairs Division. I think we should use any kind of extenuating personal circumstance to get the media attention we need. If you are a struggling single mom, widow, laid off person wanting to go back to school, disabled, etc. I have lots of extenuating circumstances so let's do this if anyone is interested.  I established a special email address of for any issues you guys want to discuss. Report

2. Written by JK, on 29-09-2008 17:24 Wow, Dateline NBC! What a great idea! Here's the thing, when someone calls and tells you they are an educational adviser for a university it gives them legitimacy. Kaplan really is using cheap telemarketing techniques with a twist. How is the consumer supposed to know that a 'university' would utilize such low class, deceptive, and probably criminal tactics? You are supposed to be overwhelmed and sign up. The term 'sales target' you used is as painful as it is accurate. I, for one, hate the fact my naivete involving the corporate presence within the educational system was used to make me and others targets of ruthless greed. There are so many complaints against this scam, one is left to wonder why an educational oversight agency hasn't taken notice.I believe I will take a cue from you and contact some of these news agencies as well. Good call and good luck with your quest. Report

3. Written by Stay Away From Kaplan Universi, on 28-09-2008 21:27 Update on my post of 9/24/08 "Stay Away from Kaplan University." I emailed Dateline NBC about Kaplan this evening. Seeing all of these posts and going through my *** with them this week made me so mad. I called my bank to put in a claim that the merchant (Kaplan) was being uncooperative in returning my money. I also called CitiFinancial to cancel my student loan application so Kaplan would not receive funding on my behalf and then take the funds only to "lose my refund." Report

4. Written by JK, on 24-09-2008 14:37 I feel your pain! This is the biggest rip off going. So much for integrity in higher education. Don't walk...Run away from these thieves. Report

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