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  • Report:  #1224156

Complaint Review: Online Trading Academy TRUSTED Business | Ripoff Report Verified Safe™ …businesses consumers can trust. Online Trading Academy's roots can be traced back to 1997 as one of the largest trading floors in the U.S. with 180 traders averaging half a billion dollars in daily transactions. To improve results managers and the top traders offered daily coaching sessions in how to trade more consistently and profitably. -

Reported By:
FastEddie - St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Submitted:
Updated:

Online Trading Academy TRUSTED Business | Ripoff Report Verified Safe™ …businesses consumers can trust. Online Trading Academy's roots can be traced back to 1997 as one of the largest trading floors in the U.S. with 180 traders averaging half a billion dollars in daily transactions. To improve results managers and the top traders offered daily coaching sessions in how to trade more consistently and profitably.
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Ripoff Report Verified™ REVIEW

EDitor's UPDATE: Positive rating and recognition has been given to Online Trading Academy for its full commitment to quality customer service.

Ripoff Report's discussions with Online Trading Academy have uncovered an ongoing dedication by the company to total client satisfaction. This means that clients can expect that the company will work towards finding a mutually satisfactory resolution to any concerns. Online Trading Academy listens carefully to client concerns and sees them as an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and become more efficient as a company in the services offered and the support for those services.

Positive rating and recognition has been given to Online Trading Academy for its commitment to excellence in customer service.

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Ripoff Report Verified™ .. part of Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program.A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business..

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The information provided in this report below is based on comments made by Eyal Shahar & Jeremy Nosek during an onsite inspection held by a third-party verification company with no biases towards Online Trading Academy.

Online Trading Academy teaches financial education, long-term investments, trading, in addition to several other financially based courses. Mr. Eyal Shahar stated the following about his company, "we’ve developed a really unique educational model that provides lifelong education. So, from our perspective, we see really great results for our students. Of course, we cannot have a specific schedule that ends because we want to support them for however long it takes for them to be successful. And that’s kind of the environment that we created. So we’ve got the physical courses in the physical centers with virtual help literally every day in kind of virtual rooms, that’s there to help them with no time expiration. It’s a lifelong relationship - that’s kind of what we do."

Leads for Online Trading Academy primary come through online advertising. Online Trading Academy ensures that all interested students are able to fully explore the courses available to them, "so usually we schedule with them several meetings and 3 days of orientation that allows them to kind of map out where they are and where they want to go. And through the process, it is also explained the types of courses that are available. And if you choose to join the academy - they select the path together with an educational counselor of which specific courses to take to achieve their financial goals. The initial courses are always physical, and every single course has a virtual environment that is a continuation of the physical course, which allows them the ability to go retake the classes physically or virtually in any combination they want for the rest of their lives. So there’s no time limitation or support limitation in any way."

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CUSTOMER CARE & COMPLAINT RESOLUTION – ONLINE TRADING ACADEMY

During the on-site interview, Mr. Shahar was asked to describe a situation where a client was not satisfied with the level of service they received. Mr. Shahar expressed that they rarely will receive complaints from actual students in their program. However, "if you look at Ripoff Report most of the people that have written any comments are people that went to a half day free class, and decided not to buy." He additionally stated, "we have 97% satisfaction from all of our students. You can actually look at our website. I believe in transparency and all of our classroom surveys are automatically uploaded to our website and accessible from the home page from any center in the World, real time."

When asked to comment on complaints posted on Ripoff Report's website Mr. Jeremy Nosek stated the following, "I think the surprising thing that we’ve seen is that there are no comments on there that are actually from students. What we’ve seen is that people will come in and they had an expectation of a workshop that was different than what was delivered to them. That’s primarily been the postings that we’ve seen on Ripoff Report. They are really coming from folks that have decided to come into the free half-day class and explore Online Trading Academy and then deciding that maybe we are not a good fit for them." While there are no accreditations for their field Online Trading Academy recently obtained BCorp Certification which shows to the public that they can adhere to strict and professional criteria in order to provide students with the highest quality of educational materials.

When asked what type of changes they have made to honor their commitment to making things right with the consumer per the request of Ripoff Report, Mr. Nosek stated, "I think one of the things that we’ve really focused in on is the difference in training and investing education, between knowledge seeking and skill building. We really believe that investing and trading is a skill that you acquire more than it is a subject to be studied...so we at the academy really believe that for folks that decide that this is really something they want to do, not that this is a hobby for them to dabble in - but something they want to commit to that can give them a better lifestyle or better prepare for retirement; we like to go in and make sure that we set really clear expectations that this is not an overnight success - this is a process that they really need to commit themselves to. It takes a lot of time and energy to learn to master these skills. I think one of the things we’ve done over the past couple years is that we shifted our model of how students evaluate the education to it used to be that they would come in and take a free half-day class then make a decision on whether or not they wanted to move forward with the academy. And what we found was that for a lot of people, that was a lot of information really fast. They were in a situation where they were finding themselves making a pretty big decision on changing a part of their lifetime, money and commitment. And what we’ve done in the last couple of years is we’ve really slowed that process down for students."

Online Trading Academy is proud to be a part of Ripoff Reports Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program, "I’m really looking forward to this opportunity to partner together to make sure that people that go through Ripoff Report will have the right image for the academy. We work so hard for students to be successful in what they do and really benefiting from the education that we have. So, I’m really excited about the opportunity in partnering up with you and creating the image."

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ONLINE TRADING ACADEMY – STATEMENT FROM THE COMPANY

" As a certified B Corporation, Online Trading Academy is committed to making a positive difference in the world. Certified B Corps aspire to use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems, meeting performance standards that measure a company’s impact on all of its stakeholders (e.g., workers, suppliers, community, customers and the environment). “The financial education we provide has the power to dynamically transform lives,” states Gene Longobardi, Online Trading Academy’s Chief Operating Officer. “Most people pursue our education in order to positively impact others, whether it’s a family member, another individual, a community or a worthy cause. Our entire organization is proud to be part of this global movement of using business as a force for good.”

Student satisfaction rises as students go deeper into the Online Trading Academy curriculum through education in trading and investing multiple asset classes. Unedited reviews on the Online Trading Academy website demonstrate this, with an average 4.76 rating out of 5 from over 165,000 reviewers.

One of the ways Online Trading Academy demonstrates its commitment to student success is allowing enrolled students lifetime class retakes at no additional charge. Ongoing support is also available from instructors and fellow students, because Online Trading Academy is a community of success-minded individuals dedicated to helping one another.

The U.S. stock markets were up nearly 20% in 2017, giving Online Trading Academy students the potential for exceptional gains. However, Online Trading Academy teaches investors how they can make money whether the market is up down or sideways. These skills are designed to help them secure a better future for their families. Online Trading Academy takes employee satisfaction seriously as well. Employee feedback and surveys reveal comments such as this, "From our beginnings in 1997, Online Trading Academy has sought to create success by teaching trading and investing skills. Originally, we provided training for individuals on our dedicated trading floor (then the second largest in the U.S.). Our instructors include former brokers, a Wall Street Market Maker, financial advisors and successful students. Every single person on our team is dedicated to helping students build the knowledge, skills and confidence to succeed in realizing their financial dreams. While we do our best to describe our program in the free preview class, it is not the same as taking education at Online Trading Academy. Talk to our students, or read the reviews on our website, to understand how deeply committed we are to their success. "

Ripoff Report was pleased to learn that Online Trading Academy's past and current approach to business is focused on its pledge to total commitment towards client and employee satisfaction.

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STATED IMPROVEMENTS FROM ONLINE TRADING ACADEMY

Online Trading Academy recognizes that complaints posted on Ripoff Report (whether true or not) are issues that need to be addressed, not ignored. If handled correctly, complaints can be valuable learning opportunities. With the feedback generated by Ripoff Report's review, Online Trading Academy has made organizational changes allowing its clients and employees a more streamlined approach to problem resolution and a commitment to a great client experience.

In summary, after our review, which included discussions with Eyal Shahar, Ripoff Report is convinced that Online Trading Academy is committed to quality delivery of services resulting in total client satisfaction.

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How does a business get Ripoff Report Verified™

The member business allows Ripoff report to email everyone from the past. Those who respond to Ripoff report with a valid complaint must be take care of. They have made a commitment that if anyone contacts Ripoff Report in the future, they will make things right within 14 days. The member business must err on the side of their customers. Otherwise the member business is off the program.

Ripoff Report has determined that Online Trading Academy meets Ripoff Report Verified™ standards which include a commitment to make a good faith effort to resolve any consumer complaints. Members of the Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction program do pay a fee for our on-site review, 24-hour monitoring and for support with customers to resolve any disagreements.

Ripoff Report sends a 3rd party service to do an onsite inspection of the new member business. The on-site inspection / review does not mean that the products or services offered by the business have been evaluated or endorsed by Ripoff Report, and has not made a determination as to the business' product quality or competency in performing services. We can verify, that Ripoff Report went to the business, verified their business or “work from home business”, there for, if a customer in the future does not get treated correctly, Ripoff Report can get the problem resolved. If not, and the customers is right, the member business will be taken off the Corporate Advocacy Program. Remember, Ripoff Report emailed every customer from the past that filed a complaint to make sure the member business made things right with customers from the past. Again, to err on the side of their customer, those from the past and those in the future.

Read more about why consumers should feel confident when doing business with a member of Ripoff Report's Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program. Yes, it’s a long name for a program that does a lot for both consumers and businesses alike.

Read about Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program, a program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business. This program works.

As a matter of policy, when a business becomes a member of the Corporate Advocacy Program they agree to allow Ripoff Report to contact every client who filed a complaint, so they can make things right with them. In order to confirm that the complaints were resolved, Ripoff Report is copied on all responses, so we can insure that the member business did right by their customer.

NOW TO THE ORIGINAL REPORT THAT WAS FILED

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OTA or Online Trading Academy Minneapolis MN

Wow was I shocked. I had gone to a free seminar at Online Trading Academy in Minneapolis (near the airport in Bloomington), after calling in on a radio show where they promised me some free investing DVDs just for showing up to a free seminar (you have to watch out for this, as it is just a bait and switch).

At that free seminar, they than sold me a $299 3 day class (they really wanted me to sign up on the spot, and not wait, but it seemed like a good deal at the time so I did). They shared all kinds of information that they would be teaching us during this 3 day class which I was really looking forward to. Than I attended this 3 day class, what they called a market timing course. They led us to believe they were going to teach us market timing (and why else would you title the class market timing, right?).

Boy was I surprised to find out it was basically nothing more than a 3 day informercial to sell me their ‘real classes’ that cost between $21,000 and $50,000. This 3 day class covered good, general, feel good information (they did get our blood pressure going real good about how the markets and Jim Kraemer are ripping us off) but there was nothing specific that taught us how to manage our own money, which is what I thought we were going to get. When I told my sales rep I might be interested to start with a 7 day class for $7000 which they had, instead of their $21,000 class (to try out and check out their program (which is still a TON of money for just a 7 day course), I was told by my sales rep the $7000 class didn’t include their continuos education program and without that I likely wouldn’t learn enough in the $7000 7 day course to really make money on my own. When I asked how much than for the continuos education program, I was told $14,000 but then I was told I would need at least $25,000 in my investment account to truly make any money. When I asked what about all their hype during their free seminar where they said a person could make good money off of an account with just $2000 in it, my sales rep said I would need at least their $21,000 education package to be able to make money with just a $2000 account. What? You tell me during your free seminar people can realistically make money on accounts as small as $2000 only to tell me after I sign up and pay you $299 for a class, that I can only do that if I spend at least ANOTHER $21,000 with you to learn this? This is almost fraud, a scam, a ripoff, a bait and switch.

My sales rep seemed inexperienced, confusing and wet behind the ears. It was confusing why we were meeting so much, but then I figured it out, as he wanted to sell me expensive classes and was just trying to butter me up.  (I should have known better and seen this coming.) I got the feeling the workers there, except the out of town teacher (which they flew in special for this 3 day informercial), were all sales reps and not actually investing how they were telling us to do, but just trying to sell us these classes. Everyone that worked there would ‘tell us’ how well they were doing investing their own money with what they learned from the classes but no one there would prove it, and it sounded like they were just saying it (making it up). If it’s so good, why don’t you just make money in the stock market like you try to tell us how we should do it, instead of work there?

I should have read all the online reviews I found now, after I attended the class, before I had signed up for their class, because it would have saved me a bunch of time and money, and I never would have signed up. Here’s some of the ones I found but there seems to be more and I ran out of time looking:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/online-trading-academy-irvine-irvine-3

http://www.bbb.org/minnesota/business-reviews/schools-online-trading-and-investment/online-trading-academy-minnesota-in-bloomington-mn-96088746/customer-reviews?cacheit=y

http://www.bbb.org/charlotte/business-reviews/training-programs/online-trading-academy-in-cornelius-nc-201420/complaints

http://www.forexpeacearmy.com/public/review/www.onlinetradingacademy.com

http://www.complaintboard.com/online-trading-academy-l199.html

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/directory/online-trading-academy

http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Online-Trading-Academy/Orlando-FL-Florida-32822/Online-Trading-Academy-Online-Trading-Academy-of-Orlando-Very-deceptive-and-unprofessi-695810

I have now reread all the above complaints and it got my blood boiling (I feel so stupid now that I signed up for their $299 class) so I felt I had also to write my own complaint here.

And than when I was looking at what others wrote about this company, I found the below online job posting where they say they pay their sales reps $150,000 a year to sell us their high priced classes (they call them “Education Counselor” but that’s their name for their sales reps who talk to people):

https://onlinetradingacademy.secure.force.com/TRGTFCMS__JobDetailPage1?jobIds=a0BE000000SqKxNMAV&page=JobDetailPage&sessionId=&jobSite=default&p=Candidate

I was shocked there was nothing in that job description that made them have investing experience, but just sales experience (again, it proves their just sales reps).

I don’t mind spending money on classes but was thinking it’d be maybe $3000 to $5000 which is still a lot of money but I’d be okay with. But to be told I wouldn’t really learn enough to invest my own money if I spent $7000 with them, and I really needed to spend at least $21,000 or more with them is crazy.

If you don’t want to spend $21,000 to $50,000 on their education, and don’t want to be high pressured by sales reps when you do attend their $299 3 day informercial, I would recommend you not even waste time on their free seminar or their 3 day $299 class as it is nothing more than bait and switch and a high pressured sales pitch.



1 Updates & Rebuttals

Stanley

Snellville,
Georgia,
United States of America
OTA Online Trading Academy

#2Consumer Comment

Sat, April 15, 2017

I am not sure of the treatment that your OTA you reported is ture for all OTA campus.  I am a student of the Atlanta OTA and have found nothing of the sort of the offences that you are describing at the ATLANTA campus. I have been an OTA Atlant student for more than 8 years. Mabey things have changed. I do wish that you would call or visit Atlanta OTA for a time and see how the #1 camous does their job. I would like for you to call steven King (not the author) and ask lots of questions. Their number is (((REDACTED))) ask for Steven King. I will get no "finders Fee" or anything as compensation for this. I just thought you might have a better experance in Atlanta.

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