Complaint Review: Universal Accounting Center

If you don't like the soda you drink? Do you have to drink the rest of it in order to get money back?

So if you don't like the material and video? Why would you have to torture yourself to finish the rest? 

Time and time again, the problems people report about UAC is that they can't return the item. Time and time again, UAC tells them to fill out the workbooks and they will provide you with a refund. My husband used to work for UAC. It is not a bad company and they aren't out to screw people over. You can return your stuff at any time, just do the dang work!

With all of the time you have spent on this website complaining and researching and all of the time you spend emailing the company and making phone calls, you could have simply FILLED OUT THE WORKBOOKS! It seems silly, and quite frankly, lazy on your part to not just do the work and then return for a refund. Why is it so difficult!?!

It seems like a pain to have to go through it but you most likely will benefit and learn something new and finally get your money back. You don't get your money back from college courses if you decide you want to change majors and won't use any of the things you learned from the classes you already took...

Look at other places that sell this type at home educational materials. There are ton of them out there that sell via Infomercials. They give you 30 days and make it really difficult to return. If after 30 days, sorry Charlie but you don't get any money back. And forget it if you signed up for the so called personal "coaching". UAC does none of this. They simply want to know you actually did the work and it really wasn't for you. Return it 10 years later, who cares as long as you did what they asked.

Mr. Bostrom's business practices may be legal. Sales "Puffery" is not illegal.

Bostrom is overselling his product. It's clear that quite a few have a made a mistake when purchasing his product - it's not for everyone. Mr. Bostrom stands his legal contractual ground and says "too bad for you!"

Allen has never learned or has forgotten the Rotary Creed: THE FOUR-WAY TEST
of the things we think, say, or do--

1. Is it the truth?

2. Is it fair to all concerned?

3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?

4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

Come on Allen, be fair, do the manly thing. Exact a restocking fee to cover your costs plus a little more. Customers who have limited resources, turn to Universal Accounting for their salvation in a new career, become disappointed, try to salvage what they can by returning their product, are then bitterly disappointed. We all know that this type of business opportunity appeals to single moms, and for big, bad Bostrom to take advantage of these struggling souls is cowardly.

Let's be clear: this isn't about Universal Accounting Center. It's about Allen Bostrom. It's his company and this is the way HE does business. He DOES have something to teach us all: buyer beware. Especially if the seller is in Utah.
.

I've been reading some of the peoples' complaints on this board regarding not getting a refund. I have a question. Did the complainers not do their research before they chose this school? There are other, cheaper ways to find out if accounting is for you or not.

I suggest taking some courses at the community college first to see if accounting is for you because UAC is a very big investment. And, it will only be worthwhile if you know accounting is something you want to do. If you are not sure, then you need to do alot of research on the internet and talk to experienced accountants and bookkeepers about what the world of accounting entails.

So stop your whining and don't blame anything on UAC. When a company puts their policies in big, bold letters over and over again, they want to make sure there will be no issues later. If a person cannot understand a simple refund policy, then there is no way in heck accounting was going to be for you.

Report: #219388 View Similar Reports Report: Universal Accounting
Category: Adult Career & Continuing Education

Universal Accounting 100% Iron Clad Guarantee A Big Scam!! ripoff Salt Lake City Utah
*REBUTTAL Owner of Company ..Putting things in perspective
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Universal Accounting
Phone: 800-9150855
Fax: 801-2653798
5250 S Commerce Drive
Salt Lake City, Utah, 84107
U.S.A.

Submitted: 11/6/2006 9:35:23 PM
Modified: 11/20/2006 7:14:44 PM
Gina
Cliffside Park, New Jersey


On July 26, 2006, I purchased Universal Accounting's Professional Bookkeeping Course online for $1885.00 (financed at $145/month + downpayment of $145) and the Professional Tax Course financed at $79/mo for 12 months plus downpayment of $79, total of $1027. The 2 courses altogether cost $2912. This was after I spoke with a customer service rep who assured me that I can get a full refund of the purchase price if the materials did not meet my expectations.

After watching the accompanying DVDs and checking the course materials, I found that the whole course did not have the structure and foundation that I was looking for to make a successful Accounting career so I called Universal Accounting sometime in August to let them know of my desire to return the materials as they did not meet my expectations. I spoke to Courtney Sellers and she told me that I have to finish the exercises from the Professional Bookkeeping Modules before I can return the materials.

To satisfy this exercise in futility, I did the practice work in Modules 1 to 3. Module 4 was about setting up my own bookkeeping business and marketing my bookkeeping skills and since I have not the skills nor the desire to open one, I feel this imposition is not only ridiculous but downright insane.

Without a bookkeeping or accounting career, the Professional Tax Course is useless so I left the materials for that intact.

On Oct. 17, 2006, I returned both PB and PTP back to Universal Accounting. I emailed Courtney Sellers about the return and she emailed back saying I will have to ask for a Return Authorization Number before I ship the items back. What a drag! I told her I already shipped the materials back and why didn't she inform me about this when I first called her of my desire to return the materials back in August. I also searched their website but there was no link anywhere for returns and how to go about them.

Long story short, I received an email from a certain Bryan approximately 2 weeks after I shipped the modules back telling me that 'during our review we noted that Module 4, the Supplemental Packet, and the entire PTP course were incomplete'. Because of this I do not qualify for a refund and they were returning the materials back to me.

This person who did not have the gall to sign his surname and contact numbers in his email had the audacity to tell me that because I did not acquire a return authorization number, he will charge my credit card further for shipping the products back. He also threatened to burn the materials if it is refused and returned to Universal Accounting BUT that I will still be responsible for the monthly payments and will send me to collection if I defaulted.

I flatly refuse to accept any materials back from Universal Accounting. 'Bryan' can burn it which goes to show the true worth of these modules which they're demanding thousands of dollars from me for.

I have also just received a letter from a certain 'Ken' from Customer Service saying basically the same thing. Again, note that these people sign their messages by just their first names. No contact numbers either except the generic numbers on the letterhead of Universal Accounting.

It is evident from my experience and from reading other people's bad experiences with this company that their 100% Iron-Clad Guarantee is a scam to perk up sales but they never really intend to follow through with it. In his letter, 'Ken' said, 'we structure the guarantee this way because we know that after the person has seen and completed the course in its entirety, he or she will recognize its tremendous value'.

Well, I've seen the course and determined that it is not for me. What part of it can't you understand? Why do you have to push it down my throat? Your products should sell for itself and it may be valuable to some people but you have to respect others like myself who do not see any benefit in them. That was the reason for your guarantee - to get people to try your product, and then maybe make a career out of it.

Stop scamming people. Be honorable for once and honor your guarantee.

Gina
Cliffside Park, New Jersey
U.S.A.

It can be proved beyond reasonable doubt that UNIVERSAL ACCOUNTING has issued misleading guarantee and if they agree to mediation, that will solve the problem otherwise it will be a competent forum of justice. Patience is key to the success

What is the one common thread among each and every person complaining about UAC?

They did not finish the course.

It was explained in detail to me when I bought my course. I abided by the rules and finished the course and made my payments. I have no doubt that if I contacted them tomorrow they would refund my money. I will not be contacting them because the course gave me all the tools I need to start my own business. I am opening my storefront office this week. None of this would be happening if I had not taken the courses offered at UAC.

Just finish the course.

What is the one common thread among each and every person complaining about UAC?

They did not finish the course.

It was explained in detail to me when I bought my course. I abided by the rules and finished the course and made my payments. I have no doubt that if I contacted them tomorrow they would refund my money. I will not be contacting them because the course gave me all the tools I need to start my own business. I am opening my storefront office this week. None of this would be happening if I had not taken the courses offered at UAC.

Just finish the course.

What is the one common thread among each and every person complaining about UAC?

They did not finish the course.

It was explained in detail to me when I bought my course. I abided by the rules and finished the course and made my payments. I have no doubt that if I contacted them tomorrow they would refund my money. I will not be contacting them because the course gave me all the tools I need to start my own business. I am opening my storefront office this week. None of this would be happening if I had not taken the courses offered at UAC.

Just finish the course.

What is the one common thread among each and every person complaining about UAC?

They did not finish the course.

It was explained in detail to me when I bought my course. I abided by the rules and finished the course and made my payments. I have no doubt that if I contacted them tomorrow they would refund my money. I will not be contacting them because the course gave me all the tools I need to start my own business. I am opening my storefront office this week. None of this would be happening if I had not taken the courses offered at UAC.

Just finish the course.

If a class action is filed, I will be to willing to provide evidence in this case.

I am going to seek justice at all forums and seeking court remedy will be last a resort.

If Universal Accounting believes that issued a bad guarantee, then it should accept mediation of the rif-off reproting team or any other consumer rights organzation of North America.

The purpose of reporting of this issue at this forums is to send a clear message to all, we consumers stand united against ripoffs and if legal action is taken then evidence from consumers is available.

Mr. Siddik,

As I have previously explained to you, you have entered into a legally binding contract with us for products that you wanted. You voluntarily signed the contract and received the products. If you will look at the bottom of the contract, right above the line with YOUR SIGNATURE, it states: Buyer authorizes Universal Accounting Center to charge the Buyer's credit card or bank account & agrees to UAC's TERMS OF USE AGREEMENT found on back page and attached exchange rate agreement.

The terms and conditions of your contract were clearly explained on the back. When you voluntarily signed it, you agreed to the contract's policies in full. You cannot pick and choose which ones you want to abide by, and which ones you will ignore. It clearly states what will happen if you do not pay your bill. It also clearly states that the course work must be completed before you become eligible for a refund for it.

I would encourage you to consult with any attorney in your local area. They can explain to you the CONCEPT of legally binding contracts.

We do not cower from the forum of public opinion with regard to Ripoffreport.com readers. We trust that they will read and understand what you so plainly cannot seem to grasp. I am confident that these readers can understand our guarantee, which AGAIN states:

If, AFTER COMPLETING THE COURSE, you feel it didn't live up to your expectation, simply return the products to us for a 100% refund of any monies paid."

Our guarantee is plain and clear. Hundreds of students hear and see the guarantee every day and do not misinterpret it as erroneously as you have. None of them consider such plain talk as wrongful or deceitful. As I have previously explained, you can find our guarantee written in several places.

Also, the readers of this forum will understand and agree that, if a person takes a product from a business, then fails to finish paying for it, the consumer has forfeited certain privileges by his own actions. You have failed to finish paying for your products, and have forfeited your right to a full refund, as it is clearly outlined on the back of your contract. Have you read it yet?

Also, your contract clearly states that you MUST seek any desired form of legal redress here in the State of Utah. You must abide by the contract you signed. You may TRY to seek justice anywhere you choose, but we are not required to answer, unless you have done so in the State of Utah.

I believe that I have explained our position plainly and clearly. Anything more that you use as an argument will not change the fact that you just don't qualify for a refund under the policies on YOUR binding contract.

Thank you.

Ragen B.
Universal Accounting Center

Here is an update

Ragen,



Since your guarantee is based on wrongful and deceitful information, all the legal forums are available to me for seeking for justice and that includes forums of justice of the Province of Ontario. I will be seeking of justice from all the forums of justice whether in the United States or Canada. I will request the Rip-off Readers for help in this matter also as well as others. Your email proves my point and that is you have provided a guarantee that is based on misleading information and that is the sole reason that you have not accepted a mediation offer.






----------------------------

From: Ragen Bostrom [mailto:ragen@universalaccounting.com]
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 9:00 PM
To: 'Siddik'
Subject: Ripoffreport response and Mediation Offer

Hi Siddik.

I have spent some of my time today officially responding to your complaint on ripoffreport.com. It will be posted later this evening and can be seen by you then.

I wanted to send you an email to let you know that your request for mediation has been heard and we have considered and discussed it.

We have decided to decline the offer for mediation at this time.

You have a full copy of your contract, and it states the TERMS AND CONDITIONS of the contract on the back. It explains our policy with regard to the Collections process and late payments. It also clearly explains the Return policy and the requirements to receive a refund.

You will notice on the back of your signed contract, under the heading of Legal Jurisdiction, it states that: This agreement shall be construed and enforced according to the laws of the State of Utah, and buyers submit themselves to the jurisdiction of courts located in the County of Salt Lake, State of Utah. This means that, if you wish to pursue a legal course of action, you may do so, but only in the State of Utah, here in the United States.

Ragen B.

Universal Accounting Center

As it has already been clearly stated, our Iron-Clad Guarantee reads:

If, AFTER COMPLETING THE COURSE, you feel it didn't live up to your expectation, simply return the materials for a 100% refund of any monies paid.

We guarantee that every student will be satisfied with the course materials AFTER THEY FINISH the materials.

Our Guarantee is read verbatim to each and every potential student. It is posted on the screen during sales presentations. It is read to them during appointments on the phone. The guarantee is also written in full on the front of the sales and finance contracts, in BIG, BOLD letters, directly above the spot where customers sign these contract. It is clearly defined in our TERMS AND CONDITIONS on the back of each and every contract as well. It is posted in several places on our internet sites. It is printed on every student invoice which arrives with their course materials. We have made no effort to disguise or hide it from Mr. Mohammad or anyone else.

As with any other company, if a student fails to pay their bills, they forfeit privileges. If you fail to pay the electric company, they turn off your power. If you fail to pay the credit card company, they suspend your right to use your card. If you fail to pay for your house, they evict you. All of these situations can become part of your personal credit history. This is not cruel or unusual. Mr. Mohammad's account has been in default for several months for HIS failure to pay his debt to us. We have given him several opportunities to bring his payments current before taking action. He has failed to do so. As is also stated on the back of his signed contract with us, since he stopped paying on his account, it has been sent to an outside collections agency.

Our TERMS AND CONDITIONS for all student contracts are printed in their entirety on the back side of each contract, and students at the seminars are told to read it thoroughly before signing up to purchase our products. It clearly states that the course must be complete AND payments must be kept current to qualify the student for a full refund. If Mr. Mohammad had completed the course and kept his word to us with regard to the payment schedule that he agreed to and signed, he would have been given a full refund.

As far as the other student cases expressed here, our policies are fair and equitable to all students and are applied equally to each individual. If any student becomes dissatisfied with the course materials that they have purchased from us, they can receive a full refund if they have COMPLETED the learning activities and MET their payment deadlines on time.

I am confronting the identical situation. What was the final out come. The material does not help at all. and of poor quality videos..waste of time and resources

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I ordered the accounting program at a price tag of $1400. I was told that if I was unhappy for any reason I could get my money back. When the material came I worked through the program and decided that the whole idea was not for me.

The material was childish and incomplete. The videotapes were of poor quality. And I felt that the program really didn't tell me how to run an accounting business. The accounting information was sketchy at best. I knew that they had a money back guarantee so I sent the material back. A week later, I was told that they could not see where I had done anything with the material so they would not send me back my money.

They wanted me to take the material back. Write all my notes in the books, do the work sheets and then they would return my money.

I do not feel like I need to prove anything to them. I am unhappy and I do not care for the product I was sold. I should get my money back. I had several e-mailed conversations with them and was told to 'pay or else."

Now they are taking me to collections over this. I feel cheated. I am a single mother trying to find a way to make the most out of what I can learn to give my children the things they need.

This company never intended to give me my money back. They are fraud artists.

Lisa
West Des Moines, Iowa
U.S.A.

I have asked Ragen Bostrom [mailto:ragen@universalaccounting.com] to accept facts, if they consider that their guarantee is true and does not deceive the consumer like me, then they should accept mediation. I will accept the decision of Consumer Rights Mediator and am sure that the mediator will find the guarantee of Univeral Accounting groslsy misleading. I hope that Ripoff Report Management will support me in this issue of consumer rights.

Please find a similar situation that was reported on this website. A person has the good on similar ground and I am not allowed to do this. I have decided to return the goods in September 2007 because mis-representation was made in the seminar. We were told that we can return the goods if not satisfied. I went to website annd was directed to another site for getting a return number and information. We had no knowledge about such hiddem conditions and strange rules about completing the course. If the gaurantee shown to us during the seminar is evaluated by the Consumer Rights Experts, they will conclude that we can return the goods any time when we cancluded that this is not for us. But Universal Accounting will not accept the goods and will force us to make the payments by spoiling our credit history. The following case proves that their policies are inconsistent and are deceiving. If this forum after examining the gaurantee of the Universal Accounting Concludes that they are right and I am wrong, I will continue the payments of installemts. Is there any one here to resolve this issue as per law.


Salt Lake City, Utah, 84107-7926
U.S.A.

Submitted: 3/9/2004 3:32:50 PM

Modified: 9/24/2004 9:46:01 PM



Tina

Anchorage, Alaska



A friend of mine ordered an accounting course through the internet from Universal Accounting in November of 2003. After receiving the course he found it was not for him so he sent the material back to the company requesting his money back. The company refunded him only $30.00 of his money. I called numerous times on his behalf to request for the remainder of his money and Mr. Allen Bostrom the owner told me that he was being nice in refunding Mr. Jones the $30.00 back and that he did not have to refund him the remainder.

When I keep calling to request for the remainder of Mr. Jones money from Mr. Bostrom he and his coworkers at the company changed the story and said the reason he would not be refunded is because one disk was scratched. I told him that was not possible and that it must have gotten scratched on their side since Mr. Jones took great care of the material.

The last I talked to Mr. Bostrom or anyone who worked for him, the story changed again and they said they they would not refund Mr. Jones his money because two disks were destroyed. I feel that Mr. Jones has been defrauded and ripped off by this company. We would like your assistance in helping Mr. Jones get his total amount of money back. Mr. Jones did not destroy the material. The total owing to his is $237.00

Tina
Anchorage, Alaska

First off there are 2 problems that I can see. Since you stated the two requirements for a return I am assuming, that your website states these two requirements. If not then (as I understand it) You cannot require him to make any further payments if he has requested to return the items. Your return policy would therefore be considered misleading.

Mr. Siddik Mohammad purchased products from us in August of 2007 on behalf of his son. We agreed to finance his purchase, allowing him to make monthly payments to us to pay for the products in full over the next twelve months. He agreed to the payment schedule and signed a finance contract at the time of purchase. He authorized us to charge all of his monthly payments to his credit card for the length of his contract.

Our product guarantee states: If, after completing the course, you feel it didn't live up to your expectation, simply return it for a 100% refund of any monies paid. This guarantee is posted on our website, and it is printed on every student invoice. It is also included with the student materials as a certificate with the returns website listed right below the guarantee statement. We honor this guarantee and stand by our products. We offer the most lenient and most fair guarantee and refund offer in the higher learning industry.

Our guarantee has two requirements that must be met in order for a student to receive a full refund of the money they have paid to us for their materials:
1) They must complete all learning activities within the materials. There is no time limit for this qualification.
2) They must meet their payment deadlines on their contract with us.

Several weeks after receiving his course work, Siddik requested to return the course to us for a refund. The materials had not yet been finished. We told him how to find the returns website, and we also explained that the course materials must be completely done before he could receive a refund. He then stopped paying for his materials.

He has not yet completed the course, and has missed his payments for October, November, and December. In December, we notified him that he was in danger of being processed for third party collections. He offered to send us one payment immediately, and then requested that we allow him to return the materials. He then sent us one payment in what he called his effort to show good will, expecting us to ignore the fact that he was behind by three months. We applied the payment to the missed October deadline, and requested that he try to bring his other monthly payments current as well.

He claims that our customer service representatives told him that he could break our policies. All of our associates are very knowledgeable in the policies of student contracts and would not give out false information to any student. This is evident in reviewing the dialogue provided in the emails Mr. Siddik has provided with this report.

We have consistently treated Mr. Siddik Mohammad with the utmost respect. We only ask that he live up to his agreement. Simply put, he refuses to accept his responsibility for his portion of his contract.