Complaint Review: Skip Barber Racing School - Braselton Georgia

Where do I begin..:. Should I start by letting you all know that this is the most unprofessional business that I’ve ever dealt with, or warn you that Skip Barber Racing School is on the verge of bankruptcy???

Lets just start from the beginning". I signed up and stupidly agreed to pay these jack-holes in advance, over $5,600 for 2 racing programs - their 3 day racing school, and a 2 day advanced racing school:. I completed the 3 day school and had a lot of fun, apart from the crappy stale lunch they served us, the instructors were skilled and entertaining". Plus they taught me a lot about racing and car control - this complaint is not about the instructors or experience itself, but rather the staff and “management” at their headquarters based in Georgia;. 

After the 3 day racing school, I was in a lot of back and neck pain for a couple of weeks.. I decided it would be best to cancel the 2 day school and request a refund/. Since I had not scheduled a date yet for next class, it was basically a floating credit'. As stated on their website at the time, I had the right to a full refund (which they have since changed. They now offer NO refund to anyone. PERIOD). Peyton Reeves, my “advisor”, said no problem, and submitted the refund request to their accounting department, which I can only assume is some guy sitting at a desk eating Cheetos and watching *** all day. The reason I assume that is because he told me it could take up to 60 days for me to get my refund... 60 DAYS?!?! Never have I heard of a company that takes 2 months to reverse a credit card charge. Nevertheless, I said “ok” and waited patiently for my refund. 

Fast forward 60 days and what do you know? Still no refund. I call Peyton, he says he will check on it and call me back. Guess what? No call back. I call again. No Answer. I leave a message. No call back. I call again. No answer.... I think you get the idea. After a Google search, I finally found the guy I needed to get ahold of - Shane Miller. I call him, and he DOES call me back, right while I’m sitting in my bank manager’s office, about to submit a charge back for the $2,425 that they owed me. I told him I needed my refund immediately, as Peyton told me it would take UP TO 60 days to get it and has since been over 60 days. He told me it was impossible, because they simply DID NOT HAVE the $2,425 that they owed me!!! Seriously?! I don’t know why he would tell me that, saying something like that is a BIG no no in business. Yet, he proceeded to tell me that the company was recently brought under new management and money has been very tight. However, he PROMISED me that I would have the money in my hands in another 30 days if I didn’t do the charge back. At this point I don’t know whether to feel sorry for Skip Barber or be scared sh*tless for my own sake! But silly me, I empathized with him, because I have had businesses of my own and know first hand how things can get financially tight at times. I accepted his promise and walked out of my bank managers office, even though they were going to charge back the money RIGHT THEN. 

26 days later, still no refund. So I give Shane a call to remind him that the 30 days is almost up. No answer. No call back. Emailed him. No reply. Facebooked him. No reply. Needless to say, it was apparent I was not to getting my refund back. So, on day 30, I walked into my bank and the manager gladly put the charge back through and even said she couldn’t believe that I actually believed his bogus promise to refund me, as she heard everything he told me, too! 3 hours after they did the charge back, I had my money back! BIG thank you to my bank and my awesome branch manager, who will remain nameless! If it wasn’t for you, I would still be eating the *** sandwich Skip Barber made me!

Oh, you think this story’s over now? Not quite. A couple of weeks later, I emailed Peyton requesting my Certificate of Compliance from completing the 3 day racing school, which is what I need in order to get a racing license from the SCCA (which by the way is the only reason they can charge so much money for their schools). He replies back within a couple of hours (WOW!), and said this:

“Hi Christian,

The Certificate of Compliance cost $225 and I can send it to you via email in PDF Format. The Visa that I have on file expired in February. Is there another card you would like to use?

Thanks”

I swear when I read this I almost lost my sh*t! The nerve these people have to expect me to pay them MORE money for a lousy PDF file, which is something that SHOULD be included in the $3,200 that I already paid them! Especially after all of the *** I went through to get my money back for the class I didn’t take. Not to mention, they NEVER said there was an additional cost to get this Certificate, even after I discussed it with them over the phone before I signed up.

I really did not want to have to write this review, as I know it will be extremely harmful to their business, but after everything I’ve gone through with them, it’s only fair for other consumers to be aware of Skip Barber’s practices.