Complaint Review: Penn Foster College

I had enrolled in the Penn Foster College paralegal program on February 23, 2007. By the end of March I wanted to cancel as I could see the program was not what it promised.

The "textbooks" were merely floppy booklets with multiple choice questions for exams. I also found out around the 1st or 2nd of April that the school has used several names in the past and had over 200 complaints against it athe Better business Bureau.

When I called back to officially cancel I was told I would owe $399.75 as a cancellation fee. What? All I had done was take 4 lessons out of 25 for the semester.

The whole semester was $960 and they're asking me for close to half to cancel? They then tried to break it down. Like $25 for shipping?

A bit much when they only shipped maybe 4 floppy books. And I understood that $25 to be for the whole semester so how can they charge all of it in the cancellation fee?

Then they told me about a $35 dollar credit app. fee. What credit application? I never gave permission for a credit check and it's not stated that one is done anywhere in the literature.

When I asked if I could return all materials in the condition they were sent, the gentleman remarked that I would be better off keeping them since they would not credit them to the fee.

I have since filed a complaint with the BBB in Pennsylvania and Arizona, where the school's degrees come from (not in PA where they are though) as well as a complaint with the Distance Education and Training Council.

Just want to post this since I did see several Penn Foster complaints. It's my hope that someone will put a stop to it - perhaps the Attorney General or whoever governs these matters.

In the meantime, if I get any bills from that school I'm not sending payment. If they put me in collections, you can be sure the collection company will be getting copies of my complaint letters.

What else can be done?

Chris
North Babylon, New York
U.S.A.