- Report: #628877
Complaint Review: JER Online - Internet
Reported By:
sjscher -
Owings Mills, Maryland, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
JER Online
6625 Hwy 53 East Suite 410-246 30534 Internet, United States of America
Phone:
866-537-5376
Web:
http://coursecatalog.com/online
Categories:
Business Rating:
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JER Online Did not provide education contracted for Internet
I signed up for a course called Beyond Grant Writing and Approaching Viable Funding Sources With Success." Bottom line:
1) The course premise is that, as a person who has learned only the basics of grant writing, I was to write a successful proposal in 4 weeks with no instructor feedback, which is an absolutely absurd premise. (The course catalog had given a 12-week window for the course.)
2) No instructor feedback is given and no one would tell me what it was I was paying for, then.
3) The second assignment given in direct opposition to what the course text said AND to what their own previous course had said.
4) Though sometimes responses were given, no question I asked was ever answered.
More details:
It took several months for the course to even be made accessible to me, and even then, I could not access the course online, I corresponded with the instructor Richard Petit directly. I was finally given the title of a text to buy, which, as it happens, is a very good resource. Only at that point was I told I had to have a grant proposal to work on, no sample or help was provided on that count.
I found a grant proposal, and assignment 1 of 4 was to look through the book. Assignment 2 was to write the abstract for the proposal. The text, as well as their previous "Grant Writing Basics" course, had said the abstract is the last thing you write. I questioned this, but was given no response. This, by the way, left 2 weeks and 2 assignments to complete a proposal, which generally takes even an experienced grant writer several weeks.
I asked for feedback on the abstract and was told none was provided, that this course provided no instructor interaction.
Second, I asked why I was paying for an instructor if no feedback was provided. After much back and forth, I was put in touch with Dr. John, who explained this course did not provide instructor feedback, there were others that did (that cost more), I could be switched to one of those, did that answer my question? I said no, it completely avoided my question, which was, "What am I paying for if not instructor feedback?"
Several more times Dr. John responded with virtually the same response. I kept saying he was not making any attempt to answer my question, he hadn't even touched it, and his only response was to stop responding. I asked for my money back and of course it was not refunded. I said okay fine, just give me a certificate of completion, and was told certainly. Just send them $35 (maybe $30) and they'd send one right out.
To be fair, when I went back and looked at the course description, it does say in the proverbial small print that no instructor interaction is provided. Since feedback had been provided in their "Grant Writing Basics" course, I had assumed this more advanced course would also provide feedback. And then there's all the other stuff I've discussed.
