Virginia College Online Sonja Hubbard, Tim Saylor And Entire Staff Of Fincial Aid Department This school is a complete waste of time, money and effort. Fincial Aid is a joke and is a scam in the purest and simplest terms. The teachers have an attitude and even their own director will not return your calls! Birmingham Alabama
I attended VCO for a little over a year. In that time it became very apparent to me that the school has absolutely no idea what it is doing! Financial Aid and it's so called staff is a joke. They will promise you the sun and moon but will not deliver and then act like you are nuts for expecting them to do what they say. I worked with several employees in financial aid and my account kept getting sent to different people because their turn over is so high. The director of financial Aid Tim Saylor was supposedly handling my account and left or got fired, I have no idea...then my account got turned over to MRS. HUBBARD-the DIRECTOR over the online school. She refused to return my calls and after weeks of leaving dozens of voice mails I got an e-mail from her that didn't even answer my original questions!!! I went threw TWO terms without receiving any financial aid at all (still to this date have not received my refund!)
The staff will not return phone calls, make ludicrous statements like when Mrs. Hubbard and Mr. SAYLOR promised they would put a rush on my account and then I was told they "did not do that"...like I somehow made it up. Then I was told I would have my check overnight ed to me....of course they do not do that either.
Financial Aid aside, the vast majority of teachers are incompetent. They dont return e-mails, or phone calls.
Oh, and dont think you can drop a class if something comes up. On drop/add day they will be in a meeting (THE ENTIRE OFFICE) and you cannot get anyone on the phone to drop a class and are there for forced to continue to take classes.
Run, dont walk away from this school unless you just feel like wasting endless hours of your life trying to get your OWN money back and love getting attitude and not having phone calls returned. A TRUE SCAM.
Brandy
Helena, Alabama
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
BhamGirl
United States of AmericaSimilar experience
#5Consumer Comment
Wed, July 13, 2011
I too had a similar experience with VCO. I started the MBA courses and found that the courses were not providing what I felt to be a sufficient education. Though I did not agree with all of the teachings I did however try to muddle through . It was a struggle . My grades were falling , however no one ever bothered to contact me about this . I was instead allowed to continue taking courses when I should have been prevented from doing so . I was allowed to proceed with failing grades well into and complete another semester of courses . I received an email stating that I would not be able to continue with courses . I confirmed receipt of the email advising that it would have been nice to know that sooner and who were they expecting to pay the fees considering it was their mistake . I was told that I would not be responsible for the fees. Months later I received a phone call saying that I owed the school 11,000 and that they had sent me to collections. I refuted this and filed a BBB complaint and the situation was resolved . I do still owe for the loans that I took out , I regret making this choice to go to this school however I still have to pay for it . I think that VCO is a mill, I think that they are scum and scam people. I think that they do not prepare students for the real world and that the courses are overall not sufficient to helping one achieve once they graduate . File A BBB report against them maybe they will be shut down.
Tina Edwards
Montgomery,Alabama,
United States of America
Are you Kidding me?
#5REBUTTAL Individual responds
Fri, January 14, 2011
I attend this college and the same thingshappening to the person you are having a rebuttal with, is happening to me. I have tried numerous times to get my financial records from thisschool to find out what I'm being charged for, but has yet to get it. I'vetalked to a lawyer, and he said I have a good chance of winning a lawsuitwith the help of other fellow students. I think we should all get together and file lawsuits against this deceiving school. I think the government should step in and do something about schools taking advantage of thegovernment funds, and leaving the personscamed responsible for their crimes.Deceiving schools are popping up all across the United States, and nothing is being done by the government to stop it. I written our president a letter asking him to step into this situation. Something has to be done, and can't take this lying down. If onyone out there want to get together andfile a law suit, please contact me at tedwards10@yahoo.com.
Joe
Austin,Texas,
U.S.A.
I WISH I HAD READ YOUR REPORT BEFORE I EVER CONTACTED THESE PEOPLE
#5Consumer Comment
Fri, July 02, 2010
I WAS LURED IN BY AN AD I SAW ON TV WHERE THIS VERY CREDIBLE, SYMPATHETIC, DISTINGUISHED-LOOKING AFRICAN AMERICAN GENTLEMAN CLAIMED TO BE FROM CAREER SERVICES AT VIRGINIA COLLEGE AND HE CLAIMED HE HAD HELPED A STUDENT GET A PART-TIME JOB SO HE COULD ENROLL IN SCHOOL AND HELP PAY HIS TUITION. THE GUY SAID HE WAS "THE IRON" AND THAT HELPING STUDENTS SUCCEED WAS HIS JOB.
FINANCIAL AID WAS A JOKE, JUST LIKE YOU SAID, ONLY MUCH WORSE.
THESE PEOPLE WERE GOING TO TAKE MY ENTIRE PELL GRANT, MAKE ME TAKE AN UNSUBSIDIZED STAFFORD LOAN AND A SUBSIDIZED STAFFORD LOAN. AND IF I GOT ANY SCHOLARSHIPS ( WHICH THEY PROMISED ME THEY WOULD HELP ME GET --- THEY LIED, OF COURSE) THEY SAID THEY WOULD APPLY THEM TO MY STUDENT LOANS. THEY WOULD APPLY FOR WORK-STUDY FOR ME TOO BUT I DIDN'T THINK THAT I WOULD GET A JOB AND THEY WOULD PROBABLY HAVE KEPT THE MONEY. I AM NOT ACCUSING THEM OF MALFEASANCE BUT IT WOULD NOT HAVE SURPRISED ME AFTER THE MORALLY- AND HONOR-CHALLENGED BRATS THAT I MET WOULD HAVE DONE EXACTLY THAT,
THE TAB WAS UNBELIEVABLE. AT MY AGE, I WOULD NEVER LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO PAY THEM BACK AND THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OR WHOEVER THE LENDER WAS WOULD HAVE TAKEN EVERYTHING I HAD OR EVER WOULD HAVE EVEN MY ESTATE IF I DIED.
SOUNDS LIKE ALABAMA WAS NOT TOO DIFFERENT FROM TEXAS.
BACK IN THE 1980S WHEN TRADE SCHOOL FRAUD WAS RUNNING WIDE OPEN, I ENROLLED IN A TRUCK DRIVING SCHOOL AND OVERHEAD THE INSTRUCTOR TELL ANOTHER STUDENT THAT I WAS NOT GOING TO GET A JOB. HE DID NOT KNOW I WAS LISTENING BUT I PROMPTLY CALLED THE LENDER AND CANCELED THAT LOAN. I THINK THE TRUCK DRIVING SCHOOL IN THE DALLAS-FORT WORTH METROPLEX IS STILL FINDING FOOLS TO RIP OFF BUT I WAS NOT ONE OF THEM. I OWED NOTHING!
SO I GOTTA ASK:IS THERE ANY SUCH THING AS AN HONEST VOCATIONAL SCHOOL THAT WILL ACTUALLY TRAIN YOU FOR A JOB THAT REALLY BE IN DEMAND THAT YOU CAN GET??????
Junedills
Ellenboro,North Carolina,
U.S.A.
Virginia college online not so bad
#5Consumer Comment
Sat, June 27, 2009
I am a Student at virginia college online and I have had a very good expierence so far. My teachers have all emailed me back and answered my questions. My financial aid is not an issue as my fianancial aid advisor has been very helpful to the point of even giving me extra information monthly on scholarships that I qualify for. The girl that signed me up still calls to check on how things are going. I am very pleased with my choice of colleges. I do not understand how this person is having such issues, maybe it is in the way you are trying to handle the problems you are having.