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Very rude customer service rep REFUSED to give me a return authorization number so I could return my product that came with a full refund guarantee for any reason. She did not give her name, would not let me talk to her supervisor. I called three times and she was the only one that answered the phone. I have never encountered this kind of abuse from a service rep. I will NEVER purchase anything from WordSmart and will tell everyone I can not to either.
Very similar issue as most of the others. The rep just said my kid was interested in the program and was ready to send it out as soon as I gave him a credit card number. When I continued to ask questions and said I wanted to check into the program before making an commitments, he rudely disconnected. Even if the program is legit (which seems a bit shaky at best), any one who employs sales reps that talks fast and push for a credit card number is not a company I want to work with.
BUYER BEWARE! Not even sure how SHE got my personal mobile number. SHE called, sold me this so-called GREAT SAT prep CD software, guaranteed to raise my son's SAT SCORES BY at least 20 points which sounded great to try and if my son didn't like it, just call to get a RAC# no questions asked and I would get a FULL REFUND. Sounds good? SHE charged my credit card $187.80 and upon receiving the item, my son did not want to try it out. He wanted to take a 1 week course at school instead. Called smart prep customer Svc and same lady answered the phone now STATING that in order to return the item, my son or I MUST try the two specified CD SHE mentioned try and give her feedback then SHE will refund my card. WTH! That was NEVER stated in the first place! No written clause in the box either. Hung up the phone w/her, tried to force my son to try but still refused so I tried opening up some of the discs. To my amazement, practice tests were so out dated! Collegeboard.org is much more updated w/sample questions and the website is FREE to use. Called SmartPrep Customer Svc again after a few weeks and w/in the time I was allotted and same lady (ONE LADY OLERATION) said I was passed the evaluation date and that it would take 3 weeks to have her manager review my files to see if I can get my refund! She INSISTED that she was not the person I spoke to the first two times I had to call and refused to give me my RAC#! OUTRAGEOUS & RIDICULOUS CUSTOMER SVC! should've looked at the HIRRIBLE reviews first before along my decision...NEVER AGAIN! I'm now in the process of disputing my charge and they too said they have received many complaints about SMARTPREP! THE CDs ARE DEFINITELY NOT WORTH the price!
As others have already stated, do not trust Wordsmart. They will attempt to trick you into monthly charges for additional editions of their virtually worthless products. The representative who posted above is quite obviously lying, as anyone who has dealt with these frauds already knows.
8 phone calls, on hold for at least 20 min each time and the final time was 42 min. Rude, rude rude. I would never treat another person the way I was treated. I am in sales, we do everything we can to provide the best customer service we can.If I treated my customers like this I would have been fired long ago. Unfortunately this seams to be their business plan. Sell a product that cost nothing to manufacture get it out the door, pocket the money, hide behind the law and forget it. So much for ethics.
We looked over the initial program & it was very elementary. We decided that we would just keep it & cut our losses. It should have cost us $169. It ended up costing us almost $700!
We received additional cd's for a several months & thought it was just part of the program. Then I noticed that we were being debited $57.60 every month for these things we did not ask for and did not even open. This went on for 9 months. I never authorized further debits. My only fault was not catching it sooner.
When I contacted wordsmart they said that I had been told that this would happen in the original sales call. This is not true. I asked for a transcript of the call. They sent me a recording of just the end of the call. Strange how they omitted the beginning of the call when the agent said that this was all that would be charged. The portion of the call that I did receive was very clear and the agent enunciated every word...except for the part about extra charges. This is what he supposedly said according to the wordsmart script, "regarding the advanced levels, if we have not heard from you and only if we have not heard from you by the end of the 30 day evaluation we will assume success and bill and ship your next higher monthly volume at the discounted 49.95." This is not at all what it sounds like in the recording or the call itself. When he reached this part, at the end of a long call, his speech became very rapid & he mumbled so that it was unintelligible in parts. He never said the word "bill" and the words after this were garbled and unintelligible. Then suddenly you could understand every word again as he rapidly changed the subject! This is the way that wordsmart trains their sales people, I'm sure. But, apparently, this is proof to them that I "knew" about the charges. This should be clearly stated at the time of purchase!
The bottom line is that the way this company operates is totally unethical. Their "customer service" department seems to exist only to tell people that they can't have a refund. You cannot speak to a supervisor. They simply say you should have known. "It was in the sales call & on the box." I did not see it on the box. Sales people are trained to be ambiguous & deceptive. If I am signing up for a subscription and automatic payments, shouldn't I have to give authorization? This should be illegal!
If this was truly a good product they would sell it in one package and not scam people with monthly billing. It's ridiculous!
I said that I would like to return all the extra (unopened and unused) CD's & receive a refund. I was told that I could not. "There will be no refund, Ma'am." After my problem came to light, I searched the internet and found literally thousands of similar complaints. DO NOT DEAL WITH WORDSMART! They make their money by scamming people. There are many trustworthy resources that can be used to enrich vocabulary & boost grades. Caveat emptor!
Anyone know of a recourse?
DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY--all of the above comments are true EXCEPT for the one from the WordSmart rep...I wonder if it is Lisa or Faith or perhaps the president David Kay...all of whom are rude and condescending when you need help with an issue. I will never again give out credit card information over the phone--they continue to bill me even though we are not receiving services. I have no problem with the original charge for the cd--we ordered and didn't return it. But they claim we signed up for tutoring for our child but 1) he has never spoken with a tutor and 2) we never agreed to pay for one. They try to intimidate customers on the phone and assume that by talking over you they will make you give up and go away. Alas, not us. We have disputed it with the credit card company, spoken with a family friend who is an attorney and plans to help us with a legal attack and have begun to spread the word throughout the education community to beware of this company--its amazing how fast my teacher friends can spread this information via Facebook. WordSmart is not smart--STAY AWAY!
I also just got off the phone with Wordsmart again. I have tried for several months to return this software because it was sent under false pretenses and I'm not interested in it for my son. The will not give me a full refund unless I use the software and answer their questions. I have a very ill spouse and I don't have time to look at this. My trial period ended yesterday and I called them today to sent it back at my expense for a refund. The rep I spoke with on the phone said that I was stuck with the software and the $184 charge on my credit card even if I sent the software back to them the would in turn send it back to me. DO NOT EVER DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY! What happened to consumer rights to return a product?
Just got off the phone with a representative. Did they tell you about the time commitment required to get a full refund? A minimum of 20 minutes per week - at least that's what I was able to decipher out of the call. Makes me wonder about the other requirements not mentioned. So if you don't fulfill EVERY requirement, I am sure you won't get a refund. He also stated that the individual could not cancel without opening the product - complaints were unfounded because they did not use the trial product. I tried to nail down the refund for the test grade increase but I don't feel he gave me ALL of the requirements. I spent 22 minutes on the phone with every other sentence ending in "Can I get your credit card information?" He only disclosed in the final 5 minutes about the time requirement, it makes me wonder what other requirements were missing out of his sales presentation. BEWARE!
I am an employee of WordSmart and wanted to address some of the issues mentioned in this complaint. First of all I’m sorry to hear that any of you had a negative experience with any representative of our company. WordSmart contacts parents of high school students who have expressed interest in getting help on the SAT or ACT. We have a product that is guaranteed to increase the students score on these tests. If you ever feel a sales representative has treated you rudely please let us know at [protected]. If we are not informed of the issue we can not act it. We will be able to find out who contacted you based on your phone number and then we can fix the problem. Furthermore if you would like to be removed from our calling list you can do so at that same customer service phone number.
In regards to the comments about the product being sent for a 30 day trial and questions as to when that trial starts/ends, our trial period does not start until the WordSmart product is delivered to your home. We know the date delivered through the United States Postal Service tracking system. Our trial period does not start at the order date, we make sure our customers have possession of the product for a full 30 days. We are not a company that is trying to trick anyone. It is absolutely true that if someone contacts us about returning their product after their trial has expired the product is not refundable. Just like you can’t go to a store and return something after the return period, our business is the same. We are always happy to do product exchanges if that helps our customers but we do have a return policy like any other business.
If anyone has any questions about their account or would like to be removed from our calling list our customer service department would be happy to help you. They can be contacted at [protected].
WordSmart Customer Service
Just got off the phone with a "wordsmart rep" who called my house after my daughter apparently completed an online form expressing interest in SAT prep and scholarship info. BEWARE...very professional, authoratative and and helpful sounding...at first...but once I began asking questions and not immediately agreeing to accept their 30 day "money back guarantee" he became defensive. When I said I wanted to talk to my daughter to see if she'd use it he said "Well that's the purpose of the money back guarantee". Then when I asked if there was a website and said I'd like to do some research on it and perhaps call other parents whose children have taken their SATs to see what they used the man said "Well that's fine...call your congressman. Goodbye." and then HE hung up on ME-never had a telesales person do THAT before! Looks like some of us have talked to the same guy! DO NOT FALL FOR THIS.
I just finished answering the phone from the WORDSMART rep calling - similar experience to above comments - I asked him how I could get the discount - he said order right now - I then told him I could not give out my credit card over the phone without me making the call first - Of couse, he was not helpful to say he would send further information. Now, after finding these comments above, it reinforces - Always, Always, Always never buy when the decision has to be made now!
I am in full agreement with the "BEWARE" comments listed above. For the past 2 months I have been looking at my caller ID and wondering who was calling me from a tollfree number, but refused to leave a message. I travel on business and am rarely able to catch my home phone, but always check my messages. None were ever left. I happend to be home this week and answered the call from "Raymond" who said that my daughter requested the software--not true. They get their calling list from various career planning sites (school requires their enrollment), and from standardized tests. When I told "Ray" that I wanted to review the software online and research the company he hung up on me! HUGE red flag! Then, he was gutsy enough to call back today--this is verbatim how the call went, "Hi is (daughter's name)'s mom or dad home? I called you yesterday, are you ready to have me send you the software? [I said, "I am not sure, you hung up on me yesterday before I could get the website information."] He said, "Don't waste my time. Do you want me to send it or not?" [I said, "No possible chance!"] Then he hung up on me again.]
I just got off the phone with this company. They said my son (and of course they knew his name and our address) recently requested help with his college prep tests. When I told them I didn't give out my credit card information over the phone they directed me to their internet website. The rep walked me through to the correct page - silly me I thought I could research their product and then decide. Not the case, they still expect you to commit right then in order to get the "Student Discount" @ $169.00 as opposed to the $329.00 regular sucker price. Well after listening to the rep go on and on I politely stated, "It sounds like you want me to commit without having a chance to speak to my child, or the school counselor so I guess I'll have to decline. You'll either call me again later and offer this same great price or I'll get to pay the full ride should I decide to purchase your product." The conversation ended abruptly which then led me to research WordSmart and thus leaving this comment for others to see. It's a shame we live in such a world but we do have to be savvy consumers and not let others take advantage.
They won't answer the phone when we called back
My mom thought she was doing the right thing to help me study
I can get a way better cheaper one from spark notes
They a boiler room co.
I don't care if it is good software
The service is so bad that you shouldn't get it on principle
My mom was rushed into buying this product and gave out her information without asking me because she thought it was for a school project. Please Hurry what should I do now to reject their service?
Horrible experience. I filed a complaint with American Express and lost..I still have never opened the package. They were misleading and rude over the phone. BEWARE!
Unbelievable. This company refused to allow a return of unopened, unused software that they could easily sell to another customer. Furthermore, they say I'm responsible for a package they sent out but I have not received and do not want. I have filed a complaint with the attorney general of my state. Beware of this company. I have never heard of business practices of this nature.
We continually receive phone calls from this company, they leave no message. I got a call over Thanksgiving break and answered, but no one was on the line! I called the number and requested to be put on their 'Do Not Call' list. We'll see if they abide by it.
TO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE CONTACTED THE COMPANY IN AN ATTEMPT TO RETURN PRODUCT OR DISPUTE UNDISCLOSED CHARGES:
Contact your credit card company immediately! I had this happen once before where the company was uncooperative, rude, and stated that I had missed the return cut-off when I did not (they calculated from the date the order was placed, not the date I received the order - which was an 18 day difference). My credit card company told me if I had made a concerted effort to resolve the issue with the company and not gotten anywhere, they would suspend the charge until it was resolved. The charge was taken off my statement and I was never re-charged. JUST DO IT ASAP AND DON'T WASTE TIME.
My advice is not to accept anything from this company. They claim to offer a money back guarantee but that is bogus. Someone needs to take this group to court. Just might be time for someone to stand up in front of a judge to bring these guys/gals back to Earth. Their customer service department seems like they just beamed out of the 1970s.
This is a billing machine for a user interface that dates back to the early 90s. Objectively speaking their software with every CD (all words) would be priced at $49.99 but they try to get much more than that. Go else where to get your educational software.
Yes, if you are in the market for professional test preparation software, then Test Prep Services, also of San Diego, offers a much better product with superior support and customer service. Test Prep Services includes the Scholarship Service in addition to the preparation tutorial for the SAT and ACT. Wordsmart focuses only on your student's vocabulary score on the tests. Test Prep Services has the full program, English and Math for your student, with the same points increase guarantee. If you get called by Wordsmart and Test Prep Services, go with TPS. They are much better. They claim that 3 out of 4 students using their program end up in the college of choice with scholarships. I believe them, my son was one of them! He got a full boat ride to UCLA after thinking that he couldn't score any better than his previous two SATs. One day we got a call from Test Prep Services and everything changed within a couple of months of trying their program at home. It was the best thing we ever did.
VERY RUDE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPS - VERY SKILLED SCAM ARTISTS! I was convinced to try the software after being told there there would be no problem with returning for a refund after a trial period that could be easily extended. When I called to return it, Debbie gave me her best sales pitch and refused a return but extended the trial period. When I called again I was told by an extremely rude customer service rep (JB) that I was beyond the trial period and there would be no refund or return. He interrupted every sentence and would not allow me to speak to another rep or supervisor. Eventually I did get in touch with a "supervisor" who was nearly as rude and also refused return of the material. BEWARE! Do not order if you intend to "try it out" the material because there is NO FREE TRIAL as promised.
These guys told me it will only cost me $164.80 to purchase the software. They charged me $57.80 more after one month. This is a scam. Never ever give them your credit card information.