ComplaintsforCheeky Scientist, LLC

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Initial Complaint
06/06/2024
Complaint Type:
Order Issues
Status:
Answered
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
The services provided by Cheeky Scientist have been utterly unsatisfactory and misleading. When I engaged with the company, I was assured a refund if I did not secure a job within a few months. Despite following all provided guidance and remaining patient as advised, I have not obtained any employment. Instead, I was repeatedly told to be patient due to the "bad job market." After the end of my postdoctoral contract, I contacted Cheeky Scientist multiple times under significant pressure, requesting a refund to seek alternative job placement assistance. Each time, my request was denied, with the excuse that the refund guarantee was applicable only after a year. They accept to a half an hour meeting with one of their mentors, which she said just network, this doesn't work for you, change your strategy. But still denied a refund. I complied with this stipulation, waiting an entire year full of stress. Upon fulfilling the requirement of submitting a signed, notarized letter confirming my lack of employment, I was informed it would take a couple of months to process the refund. It has now been an additional two months, and not only have I not received the refund, but my emails are also being ignored or with unsatisfactory responses. This is unacceptable. The service provided has not only failed to assist me in securing employment but has also contributed to significant financial and mental strain. I have consulted with recruiters from the University of California, Santa Barbara, who have indicated that the advice given by Cheeky Scientist is highly unethical and detrimental to my job search. Furthermore, an online search reveals that others have experienced similar issues, with some even initiating lawsuits against the company. I have attached several reviews corroborating these findings. I insist on an immediate full refund. This situation has caused undue stress and financial hardship, and I am no longer able to tolerate this unprofessional behavior.
Business response
06/19/2024
6/16/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 21808772

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the complaint of Sanaz *********. We take the responsibility to respond seriously and have responded in detail below.

Ms. *********has received extensive mentorship through her program including weekly mentorship meetings that are every Friday and beyond this, additional one-on-one meetings with a PhD mentor on 3/17/23, 3/24/23 and 3/28/23, 4/11/23 and 4/12/23, 4/18/23. 10/17/23, 12/4/23, 12/27/24. She has had custom resumes written for her and been given individual feedback on her LinkedIn profile as well as receiving consistent coaching from our team on her job search across a variety of membership channels. Please see exhibit 1 of Ms. ********* on mentorship meetings.
Ms. ********* requested the call with Cheeky Scientist team members and filled out an application to make her request. Please see Exhibit 2 of Ms. *********’s application to get on a call. Please also see Exhibit 3 of the contract Ms. ********* signed which gave her the option to cancel within 3 days, an option which she did not choose to activate. Ms. ********* also opted into our Terms & Conditions prior to purchasing her membership. Our Terms and Conditions of the program are also clearly displayed on our website and Exhibit 4 shows them below.

Finally please see Exhibit 5 of Ms. ********* receiving private help on live video calls from our mentorship team and participating in these calls, as well as accessing the program materials and dashboard using her computer’s IP address. Please also see exhibit 6 of Ms. *********'s resume that she turned in for review and one of the resumes written for her.

We have been very responsive to Ms. *********. Our program is appropriate for any one with an advanced degree and you can see our success stories for many people with diverse backgrounds here:

***************************************************

Cheeky Scientist is proud of the services that it provides and is here to support Ms. ********* through her job search.

Respectfully,

Rayanne Hoopes
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Initial Complaint
06/03/2024
Complaint Type:
Order Issues
Status:
Answered
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
They sold a service to help find employment opportunities, and apply for positions for PhD students. This is a total scam. I sent them 3 different job postings that I wanted to apply for and they were supposed to carve out a draft AI resume to assist in the process. They committed to assisting in updating resumes to fit the job applications, but they did not do this. They committed to teaching us how to use their AI software - I was sent one invite in 3 months' time, and NOT one of the participants on the call had access besides the cheeky presenter who sold this line of bull and crap. They committed to assisting with interviews, and prepping for convos with potential employers, no resumes were provided, no interviews were offered. They committed to assisting with cover letters etc, for busy professionals. All this is a site with an AI tool - of which ChatGPT does the exact same thing for free! This cheeky scientist is a scam! 100% They provided a few references to other cheeky scientists. Although all of these seemed to be more online social media influencers. Not every one wants a job being a professional actor. They have a return policy and I have asked for my money back, instead they want me to continue to waste my time meeting with someone that has done nothing for 3 months. If I did nothing at work for 3 months I would be fired! They want me to continue in the program for another 9 months or until I find a job, and at that time when I do find a position on my own I will then be obligated to pay them another $1248.00 for absolutely nothing - they offer nothing!!! There is no program, no process, no procedure. Dr. Kari L. *******
Business response
06/17/2024
6/15/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 21787597

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the complaint of Kari *******.

Ms. ******* requested a call with us, requested our services, purchased our product on her own computer, and used our product. Further details are articulated below.

Please see below of Ms. ******* has attended numerous private meetings with our team over a 3 month period including 5 1-on-1 meetings, including meetings on 2/23/24, 2/29/24, 3/7/24, 3/21/24, 3/28/24, 4/4/24, 4/12/24, 4/23/24, 4/29/24. She had resumes and cover letters provided to her as well as access to software to create resumes and cover letters.
Ms ******* was provided with the Terms and Conditions prior to purchase and provided with her contract with the same terms and conditions at purchase. She agreed to all of these policies and confirmed that she understood them. Please see Exhibit 1 of the Terms and Conditions that Ms. ******* agreed to prior to her purchase outlining the refund policy. And exhibit 2 of the contract Ms. ****** signed with those same terms and conditions outlined.

Further please see Exhibit 3 of Ms. ******* receiving help from our mentorship team, as well as accessing her program materials and dashboard using her computer’s IP address and receiving further support via Voxer.

Please see the resume Ms. ******* submitted and received feedback on in Exhibit 4 as well as the resume written for her.
Importantly Ms. ******* was in the program for over 3 months prior to expressing any concerns about the program. When she did express concerns, we responded to them promptly and Ms. ******* proceeded to ignore all attempts to continue working together.

Cheeky Scientist has provided and continues to provide all the services that Ms. ******* purchased. There is no fine print in the agreement or terms and conditions. They are stated in plain language in the contract at standard font sizes. As mentioned, this information is also publicly available on our website and was agreed to prior to purchase.

Cheeky Scientist is proud of the services that it provides and is here to support Ms. ******* through her job search. We would be happy to hear from him were she to reach out for any resolution.
Finally, for clarity, Ms. ******* retains all access to her program, she is able to utilize all materials and receive mentorship at any time.

Respectfully,

Rayanne Hoopes
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Initial Complaint
05/13/2024
Complaint Type:
Product Issues
Status:
Answered
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Transaction date: 05/12/2024 Transaction amount: $3498 They contacted with my LinkedIn and also posted in linked about an advertisement on career mentoring seminar. The advertisement simply asked to file a form with contact details. One person from their company (name is not given) and Issaiah ****** reached me over phone text and they want to set up a meeting with no payment process required. The meeting was on 05/12/2024, 5pm EST. They showed me their ads, some message lines of other people who took their services (not sure they are their employee) and said they will help me job search process. Then suddenly they asked for 4k USD that I need to pay within a very short span of time. They sent a particular link to give my credit info and gave me no chance to think about it. They never said at first that I can't get the refund once after payment. I asked them money back in 10mins after the credit information is processed, as it looked fishy. When I changed my mind, and asked them I need a refund and they denied to give my money back where I haven't even taken their service yet. They even forced me to sign some papers online where I may only get refund after 1 year if I don't get hired for job (did not sign the paper yet, as I was already denying to take their service).
Business response
05/27/2024
5/26/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 21701346

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the complaint of Anika ********. We take the responsibility to respond seriously and have responded in detail below.

Ms. ******** has been refunded. Please see exhibit 1 of the proof of refund within 72 hours.
Ms. ******** made her purchase knowingly with full disclosures. Prior to purchasing, Ms. ******** agreed to the Product's terms and conditions. Section 9 & 10 of the terms & conditions explain that there are no cancellations or refunds prior to 12 months. Please see Exhibit 2 of the terms and conditions that Ms. ******** opted into prior t purchasing, which are also publicly available on the Cheeky Scientist website.

Ms. ******** requested the call with Cheeky Scientist team members. She filled out an application requesting a call and specifically consented to our team reaching out to her to help her book the call she requested. Please see her consent below and please see exhibit 3 of Ms. ********’ application requesting to get on a call.

Ms.******** freely joined the call remotely from her computer and was under no obligation to purchase.

Cheeky Scientist is proud of the services they offer and wishes Ms. ******** the best in her future career endeavors.

Respectfully,
Rayanne Hoopes
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Initial Complaint
05/06/2024
Complaint Type:
Customer Service Issues
Status:
Answered
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Receiving harassing phone calls and emails from Cheeky Scientist employees. Last year I submitted an information request from Cheeky Scientist, when I had a video chat meeting with them, the business gave me bad vibes with their extreme high pressure sales tactics, and after doing some digging, I basically told them I wanted nothing more to do with them. They just called me trying to solicit me again, and when I told them I don't want anything more to do with them and hung up, they have since texted me harassing text messages.
Business response
05/21/2024
5/20/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 21671917

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the complaint of Steven *****.
Mr. ***** reached out to Cheeky Scientist with no solicitation on Cheeky Scientist’s part. He provided all his contact details and requested a call with us. Please see exhibit 1 of Mr. *****’ application requesting a call where he provided his email, phone number and LinkedIn profile. He also emailed our support specialist personally, providing recent copies of his resume to be reviewed by our team. Please see exhibit 2 of Mr. ***** emailing in his resume and his provided resume.
He had a call with our team in October of 2023 and our team during which he specifically asked for follow up information to be sent to him by the Cheeky Scientist team. At no time did he ask to opt out of our mailing list or follow up. He subsequently filed a complaint without ever expressing to Cheeky Scientist his desire to not receive follow up. At no point was Mr. ***** harassed.
Cheeky Scientist would be happy to remove Mr. ***** from the mailing list he opted into and to not contact him in the future now that he has expressed the desire to be removed. This has been done.

Respectfully,

Rayanne Hoopes
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Customer response
05/21/2024

Complaint: 21671917

I am rejecting this response because: on May 5, 2024 I received a call from a Cheeky Scientist employee after I had already submitted one BBB review about the company expressing my concerns for their unethical high-pressure sales tactics. I have attached the screenshot of the phone number from my phone that day. During that call I told them that I was not interested and felt it was a scam, then hung up while the employee had started to make comments.
Following this, I got a text message from that same employee harassing me. At this point I had clearly demonstrated no interest in them or their products. Admittedly I responded crudely, but I want to be clear. If this EVER happens again from someone claiming to be a Cheeky Scientist employee I will press charges for harassment. I have also included that text message conversation as further evidence.
Sincerely,

Steven *****
Business response
06/24/2024
6/16/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 21671917

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond further to the complaint of Steven *****. However, Mr. ***** has provided no new information. He contacted us initially to reach out to him and we have no documentation that he requested us to not reach out to him until the BBB complaint was submitted to Cheeky Scientist on May 6th. No reach out has been made to Mr. ***** since this and he has provided no documentation showing that we reached out since May 6th, which was the first date he requested that we stop reaching out.
For clarity - we have no documentation of him requesting us to not reach out to him until May 6th when he filed his initial BBB complaint and we have not reached out to him since to our knowledge. Please let us know if any further reach out has been recorded.

Respectfully,

Rayanne Hoopes
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Customer response
06/25/2024

Complaint: 21671917

I am rejecting this response because: I would like the BBB representative to determine the course of action at this time. I have proven that I was contacted this year after submitting a negative review last year through the BBB, sending negative messages to both the representative and the owner of Cheeky Scientist. I have also proven that I was texted harassing comments. I will no longer respond to this BBB complaint as I have submitted all of the evidence through the system. I will once again reiterate that if I am contacted again by Cheeky Scientist I will turn to police assistance in the matter, and I will have this, long list, of messages to refer to, in order to see it through.

Sincerely,

Steven *****
Initial Complaint
04/04/2024
Complaint Type:
Order Issues
Status:
Answered
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Yesterday afternoon, I was coerced to sign up for a job placement program for recent PhD graduates at a predatory firm called Cheeky Scientist. They recorded the call without my consent and demanded that I sign up immediately or lose my "spot" in the program, and told me I wouldn't be able to get a job without them. This cost me $2998, and they requested that I pay with a credit card while sharing my screen. After ending the call, I googled them and realized they were predatory, if not an outright scam. They only send advertising materials and do not help with job placement. I want to cancel, but I see that other people have had a lot of trouble doing so and recommend involving legal counsel. This morning I sent an email requesting a cancellation and full/partial refund, but I anticipate they will not cooperate. I believe a letter of rescission has worked for other people to get their money back from this firm. Would you be able to help me get this resolved?
Business response
04/17/2024
4/17/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 21529171

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the complaint of Jialu ***.
Ms. *** was under no obligation to buy our program at all. She requested a call with us, requested our services, purchased our product on her own computer, and used our product. These are the main reasons we have denied her a refund. Further details are articulated below.
Please see below of Ms. ao accessing our members only emails below. You’ll also see she has logged in to our training dashboard from her IP address of 134.174.140.171. We also have the IP address she signed her contract from of 134.174.140.171, which is further below.

Ms. *** requested the call with our team, including filling out an application for a call prior to the call. In her request, she indicated she was willing to invest in our program. This is presented below in Exhibit 1. She was provided with our full Terms and Conditions prior to purchase. She also signed a full contract of those same Terms and Conditions. Both are presented below in Exhibit 2 and Exhibit 3, respectively.
Ms. *** continues to receive support via Voxer and email. Please see the resume Ms. *** submitted and received feedback on in Exhibit 4. She has continually been offered more support in the program as shown in our emails to her offering her one-on-one mentorship times in Exhibit 5 and we are here to support her now.
Finally, Ms. *** asserts she was recorded without her consent. It is not possible to join a recorded Zoom meeting without consenting to being recorded.
Cheeky Scientist has provided and continues to provide all the services that Ms. *** purchased. There is no fine print in the agreement or terms and conditions. They are stated in plain language in the contract at standard font sizes. As mentioned, this information is also publicly available on our website.

Cheeky Scientist is proud of the services that it provides and is here to support Ms. *** through her job search. We have many success stories as shown here: ***************************************************

We would be happy to hear from her and support her in any way in her job search.

Respectfully,

Rayanne ******
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Customer response
04/18/2024

Complaint: 21529171

I am rejecting this response because: I have submitted a Letter of Recision within 3 business days of signing up for their "services."
The business used high-pressure sales tactics to coerce me into purchasing a diamond membership, including unauthorized screen recordings and demanding I pay $3000 on the spot. I glanced at the forums and "support" from this business, finding that most of the content is not job search training but additional marketing materials, and promptly logged out of everything and did not access these materials again. At this point I submitted the Letter of Recision and the business is not entitled to money.

Sincerely,

Business response
04/29/2024
4/29/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 21529171

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond further to the complaint of Jialu ***.

Ms. *** has not submitted any new evidence or brought up any new concerns. Ms. *** opted into the terms and conditions and signed a contract stating that there are no refunds. Ms. *** signed her name directly below the particular clause stating that there are no refunds. There is no 3 day clause in Ms. ***’s contract.

Ms. *** was under no obligation to buy our program at all. She requested a call with us, requested our services, purchased our product on her own computer, and used our product. These are the main reasons we have denied her a refund. Further details are articulated below.
Please see below of Ms. *** accessing our members only emails below. You’ll also see she has logged in to our training dashboard from her IP address of 134.174.140.171. We also have the IP address she signed her contract from of 134.174.140.171, which is further below.

Ms. *** requested the call with our team, including filling out an application for a call prior to the call. In her request, she indicated she was willing to invest in our program. This is presented below in Exhibit 1. She was provided with our full Terms and Conditions prior to purchase. She also signed a full contract of those same Terms and Conditions. Both are presented below in Exhibit 2 and Exhibit 3, respectively.

Ms. *** continues to receive support via Voxer and email. Please see the resume Ms. *** submitted and received feedback on in Exhibit 4. She has continually been offered more support in the program as shown in our emails to her offering her one-on-one mentorship times in Exhibit 5 and we are here to support her now.

We would be happy to hear from her and support her in any way in her job search.

Respectfully,
Rayanne ******
COO
Initial Complaint
03/25/2024
Complaint Type:
Order Issues
Status:
Answered
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
I wish to end my contract/ account with the company and be released of any further financial obligations. I sent an email stating such on 3/17/24 and also gave reasons why I was dissatisfied with the company’s services. I sent the email to their associate, Mishra **********, who I was working with and to the CEO Isaiah ******* Due to no response to that email. I sent email requests for a zoom meeting to discuss my situation with Mishra on 3/20/24 & 3/23/2024. I VOX messaged Mishra to check her email that I was requesting a meeting and to send a zoom link on 3/23/24. I sent a meeting request to Francesca Gerard a person who once set up a meeting for Mishra on 3/22/24 And sent a request to support @cheeky scientist (Amanda) to find out how to cancel my account 3/23/24. I have not received any replies to any of my emails. I feel that I was a victim of their high pressure tactics to sign up with them but being desperate to find a higher paying job I signed up and agreed to payments that I no longer can afford and being 61 yrs old I feel that they misrepresented their ability to get me a job. Several occasions I mentioned difficulties with using their technology for communications and record keeping. The associate told me not to worry. So now since they have been sited for pressure sales tactics they have revised their requirements for getting further help or to cancel the contract and I so I don’t have the proof they want in the forms that they wish. I now don’t want to pursue finding a new job at all anymore and don’t wish to be working with them. They are not equipped to handle the discrimination of ageism and they have not developed their service to provide support for those such as I to navigate their systems and to help me land a job. Originally, I asked for a partial reimbursement, however I will be happy with just being released from any further financial obligations ($1178.82 remaining to pay) and to close my account. Sincerely, Dolores ***********
Business response
04/08/2024
4/6/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID:21478753

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the complaint of Dolores ***********.
Importantly, Ms. *********** has used the program for over a year and had a meeting with our mentorship team as recently as 4/2/24, which is after she made her complaint here.
As Ms. *********** has stated, she availed herself of all the program’s products and services including meetings with our PhD mentors on 5/25/24, 6/2/23, 6/20/23, 10/16/23, 10/23/23, 11/13/23, 4/2/24, as well as receiving weekly mentorship invites to our live mentorship meetings. Please see below of Ms. *********** receiving mentorship from one of our mentors, including her having her LinkedIn profile updated in real time per our methods.
You will also find evidence of Ms. *********** below accessing our members only emails. You’ll see she opened these emails, including the “Association Diamond Meeting” emails as recently as 4/5/24, again, after this complaint was made. You’ll also see she has logged in to our training dashboard multiple times from her IP address of 73.165.210.189, which matches the IP address she signed her contract with, which is further below as well.

As mentioned, Ms. *********** used these services for an entire year without expressing any concerns or dissatisfaction and has in fact, since her email on 3/17/24 continued to meet with our mentorship team to available herself of services as recently as 4/2/24.
Ms. *********** requested the call with our team, including filling out an application for a call prior to the call. She was provided with our full Terms and Conditions prior to purchase. She also signed a full contract of those same Terms and Conditions. Both are presented below in Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2, respectively.
Please also see the resume Ms. *********** submitted and received feedback on in Exhibit 3 and a second resume below this that was written for her by our team. Finally, please see Ms. *********** continuing to receive support via Voxer and email. She has continually been offered more support in the program and all of her emails have been answered promptly despite her claims otherwise. Please see Exhibit 4.
Cheeky Scientist has provided and continues to provide all the services that Ms. *********** purchased. There is no fine print in the agreement or terms and conditions. They are stated in plain language in the contract at standard font sizes. As mentioned, this information is also publicly available on our website.

Cheeky Scientist is proud of the services that it provides and is here to support Ms. *********** through her job search.

Respectfully,

Rayanne Hoopes
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Customer response
04/16/2024

Complaint: 21478753

I am rejecting this response because:
The COO did not meet with me as agreed via a zoom meeting. Instead I was given the bate and switch and was met by the associate who I had been working with, of which when I received the invitation to meet with the COO by zoom it said that the associate was organizing it but that the meeting was to be with the COO. The meeting was scheduled for 4/2/24 and it was not my intention to use the service as the COO declares that I did on that day, I was at the meeting to meet with the COO to discuss ending my contract. I asked the associate where the COO was and the associate acted like she was checking on whether the COO was going to be attending but then didn't explain any further why the COO wasn't there. Since the associate was meeting me then I asked why she didn't reply to my original email requesting ending my contract. And she replied cause she has to give that to someone of higher rank. Well, I had also sent that very email to both the associate and the CEO of the company so a higher ranked person was on that email and thus the lack of response initially is not adequately explained and that I had to go to the BBB to get any response.
The associate then proceeded with discussing the job search and I explained the lack of attention that was given to specific issues in my case and the fact that the service was not appropriate for me. And then basically, the bate and switch proceeded of the COO not speaking with me and instead of having the the associate proceed with a meeting that the COO thus calls as me using their service because the associate showed me their newest programs to help people get a job and that it would work better for me and encouraged me to upload my resume. Of which I had not asked for. I did not use their service on that day intentionally I was on the zoom on 4/2 to speak with the COO. I was there to have my contract with the company ended and to not pay any more money to them. I feel I have paid enough and that their service is not helpful in my case and that they are being unrealistically optimistic and giving false promises and unproven reasons for lack of success.
Additionally, the COO keeps talking about me getting a refund at the end of one year instead of providing me with my request of ending my contract immediately and ending any further payments. Since, that now my year is up as of May 23rd 2024 and if the COO refuses to end my contract now and end any further financial obligations then instead I will thus request that I am instead guaranteed a full refund of the full amount of $1309.80 that I paid to the company through my affirm loan up to May 23rd 2024 without the need to meet any qualifications or requirements for that refund and that I am paid that refund no later than June 1st 2024.

Sincerely,

Dolores ***********
Customer response
05/10/2024

Complaint: 21478753

I am rejecting this response because:
The COO promised to meet with me and instead I was met with the mentor I have been having and the COO now claims I used their service on 4/2/24. I did not intend on using the service I was there to speak with the COO. I consider the meeting as a bait and switch tactic and they are not acting in a manner to support the hardships I am facing financially and am unable to utilize their services in a manner that is getting me a job. I wish to end the relationship now and not have to pay the remaining fee that they are charging. I do not understand why then are unable to end the relationship and to relinquish me from having to pay any more money. And I am hoping that the BBB can see that they are being unreasonable in my case. Further the fact that they claim that I opened an email is using their service is ridiculous. The email that I opened just announces that a meeting is going to take place about their job talks. I don’t think that is a service until I go to the meeting which I didn’t go to. The COO lied about meeting me and being unreasonable in not ending the service and relinquishing me from owning any more money.

Sincerely,
Dolores ***********
Business response
05/24/2024
5/23/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID:21478753

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the complaint of Dolores *********** further.
Ms *********** has made no new claims nor brought forth any new concerns. These have been addressed already.
Ms *********** states that she was promised a meeting with the COO. This is untrue. Ms *********** was offered meeting times with a PhD mentor which she agreed to. Please see Exhibit 1 emails wherein Mr. *********** is offered mentorship times to work specifically on her job search. Please also see further times during the same period both last month and this month where Ms. *********** asks for more mentorship and continues to use the program.
Ms *********** states in her emails that she is not asking for a refund.
These have been provided and there is no communication where Ms. *********** was offered a meeting with the COO at any point nor has Ms. *********** provided any.
Please also see evidence already provided that Ms. *********** has used this program extensively over months with dates of the most important meetings noted. Access to live, weekly mentorship meetings beyond this were also provided:
Importantly, Ms. *********** has used the program for almost a year and had a meeting with our mentorship team as recently as 4/2/24, which is after she made her complaint here. As Ms. *********** has stated, she availed herself of all the program’s products and services including meetings with our PhD mentors on 5/25/24, 6/2/23, 6/20/23, 10/16/23, 10/23/23, 11/13/23, 4/2/24, as well as receiving weekly mentorship invites to our live mentorship meetings. Please see below of Ms. *********** receiving mentorship from one of our mentors, including her having her LinkedIn profile updated in real time per our methods.
You will also find evidence of Ms. *********** below accessing our members only emails. You’ll see she opened these emails, including the “Association Diamond Meeting” emails as recently as 4/5/24 - after this complaint was made.
You’ll also see she has logged in to our training dashboard multiple times from her IP address of *************** which matches the IP address she signed her contract with, which is further below as well.

As mentioned, Ms. *********** used these services for a year without expressing any concerns or dissatisfaction and has in fact, since her email on 3/17/24 continued to meet with our mentorship team to available herself of services as recently as 4/2/24.
Ms. *********** requested the call with our team, including filling out an application for a call prior to the call. She agreed to our Terms and Conditions prior to purchase. She also signed a contract. Both are presented below in Exhibit 2 and Exhibit 3, respectively.
Please also see the resume Ms. *********** submitted and received feedback on in Exhibit 4 and a second resume below this that was written for her by our team. Finally, please see Ms. *********** continuing to receive support via Voxer and email. She has continually been offered more support in the program and all of her emails have been answered promptly despite her claims otherwise. Please see Exhibit 5.
Cheeky Scientist has provided and continues to provide all the services that Ms. *********** purchased. There is no fine print in the agreement or terms and conditions. They are stated in plain language in the contract at standard font sizes. As mentioned, this information is also publicly available on our website.

Cheeky Scientist is proud of the services that it provides and is here to support Ms. *********** through her job search.

Respectfully,

Rayanne Hoopes
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Initial Complaint
03/25/2024
Complaint Type:
Order Issues
Status:
Answered
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Date of transaction: June 8, 2023 Amount of money: 6503.26 USD (total loan amount) Commitment: Cheeky Scientist said they would help me find a job with career coaching and direct industry connections, but as I showed in the attachments, I requested help with an application and a Cheeky Scientist employee missed the deadline and acted like she didn't understand, but further more they lied to me about the so called membership. Most importantly, I got extremely sick and quickly realized I would not be able to use the so-called "program in full" because of my illness. I am only now starting to recover and I also, of course, do not have a job. I quote from Rayanne Hoopes, the supposed membership person with Cheeky scientist (which is also in the email attached): "We did provide and will honor a 12-month refund guarantee in the agreement. For confirmation, the guarantee that you signed is that if you use the program in full and you do not have a job offer within 12 months of starting the program, you will receive a full refund." If I am literally disabled with multiple illnesses and cannot use the program, how is this ethical? On top of that, if I get a job before June 8, 2024, which I will probably because I need a job, BUT without their help, I technically also don't qualify for a refund!!! I tried to get a refund through Affirm, but they lost my case the first time and provided no confirmations for my record, then conveniently didn't get back to me during my second case with them until after their 60 day window that I supposedly needed to meet in order to get a refund. Additionally, Affirm ran me around for weeks saying they were escalating my case, only to tell me that I didn't meet the deadline. To this point, Affirm actually has terminated their relationship with Cheeky Scientist because all of this (find news article attached). Cheeky has not contacted me at all or tried to resolve this. Why would they?
Business response
04/08/2024
4/6/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 21475119

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the complaint of Alterra *******.
Ms. ******* was given 3 days to cancel her membership, which she declined to do. Evidence of this is below. Ms. ******* also used the program extensively. These are the two main reasons we have denied her a refund. Further details are articulated below.
As Ms. ******* has stated, she availed herself of all the program’s products and services including meeting with our PhD mentors on 6/8/23 and 6/9/23, as well as receiving weekly mentorship invites to our live mentorship meetings. Please see below of Ms. ******* received mentorship from one of our PhD mentors and her accessing our members only emails below. You’ll see she opened and clicked on these emails, including the “Association Diamond Meeting” emails. You’ll also see she has logged in to our training dashboard multiple times from her IP address of 64.64.116.136. We also have the IP address she signed her contract from of 73.170.16.217, which is further below.

Ms. ******* requested the call with our team, including filling out an application for a call prior to the call. In her request, she indicated she was willing to invest in our program. This is presented below in Exhibit 1. She was provided with our full Terms and Conditions prior to purchase. She also signed a full contract of those same Terms and Conditions. Both are presented below in Exhibit 2 and Exhibit 3, respectively.
Importantly, as mentioned, Ms. ******* was given a three day cancellation option in her contract which she chose not to use.
Finally, Ms. ******* continues to receive support via Voxer and email. Please see the resume Ms. ******* submitted and received feedback on in Exhibit 4. She has continually been offered more support in the program as shown in Exhibit 5 and we are here to support her now.
Cheeky Scientist has provided and continues to provide all the services that Ms. ******* purchased. There is no fine print in the agreement or terms and conditions. They are stated in plain language in the contract at standard font sizes. As mentioned, this information is also publicly available on our website.

Cheeky Scientist is proud of the services that it provides and is here to support Ms. ******* through her job search. We would be happy to hear from her and support her in any way in her job search.

Respectfully,

Rayanne Hoopes
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Customer response
04/08/2024

Complaint: 21475119

I am rejecting this response because: I have not been using their services, that is an absolute lie. The last contact I had with them was last June, and the one time I tried to use their services my "mentor" messed up the application deadline and I couldn't even apply!!! have been fighting for my life due to multiple illnesses ever since, not even thinking about a career. This is shameful!!!

Sincerely,

Alterra *******
Business response
04/21/2024
4/20/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 21475119

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond further to the complaint of Alterra *******.
Ms. ******* was given 3 days to cancel her membership, which she declined to do. Evidence of this is below in Exhibit 1. Ms. ******* also used the program extensively. These are the two main reasons we have denied her a refund. Further details are articulated below.
Ms. ******* herself said both to Cheeky Scientist and to the BBB that she will need to continue to work and to get a job. Please see both instances below:

Cheeky Scientist has provided and continues to provide all the services that Ms. ******* purchased. There is no fine print in the agreement or terms and conditions. They are stated in plain language in the contract at standard font sizes. As mentioned, this information is also publicly available on our website* *************************************************

Cheeky Scientist is proud of the services that it provides and is here to support Ms. ******* through her job search. We would be happy to hear from her and support her in any way in her job search.

Respectfully,

Rayanne Hoopes
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Customer response
04/22/2024

Complaint: 21475119

I am rejecting this response because: I have not used their services at all. I have been extremely ill. This is unethical.

Sincerely,

Alterra *******
Initial Complaint
03/20/2024
Complaint Type:
Order Issues
Status:
Answered
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Cheeky Scientist (CS) advertises free calls to discuss career paths. On 3/05, I requested a free job strategy call with CS via a website form, with no intention of initiating services. Later that day, I received a text message from Destiny Amour with CS, and Amour scheduled a Zoom meeting for 3/07 at 5:00pm with Isaiah ******, the CEO. After I accepted the invitation, Amour called and messaged several times to confirm, last received 3/07 at 1:30pm. At 5:10pm, I reached out to Amour to ask whether they would be joining the meeting, and Amour called to reschedule, stating ****** had forgotten. The Zoom was rescheduled for 3/10 at 5:00pm. During the call, ****** used predatory business practices to pressure me into signing a contract. In discussing my career goals, Isaiah repeatedly steered the conversation to personal issues he would later exploit. ****** guaranteed job offers within 5-10 weeks of initiating the program. ****** urged me to “put it on a credit card and pay it off with my signing bonus,” referring to the fees as an investment. At 5:37 pm, I paid $3,998 to Cheeky Scientist using a credit card, and I signed the contract at 5:38 pm. The meeting was recorded in its entirety but not furnished to me. On 3/11, I had my first meeting with CS. I felt unsettled by the preceding events and joined the call from 9:30am to 9:45am. Soon after, I discovered information about CS's misleading and predatory business practices and other victims. On 3/12, I called Capital One to dispute the transaction and emailed ****** and Rayanne ****** (COO) to request an immediate refund. On 3/13, ****** stated via email they are unable to process a refund until 12 months of program participation. CS provided misleading information about their services, changed the initial meeting time to create a sense of urgency, and used several communication methods (such as email, phone calls, and Vox voice messages) with different individuals to create confusion and avoid documentation.
Business response
04/03/2024
4/3/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 21461617

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the complaint of Morgan *********. We take the responsibility to respond seriously and have responded in detail below.
As Ms. Fransowrth has stated, she availed himself of all the program’s products and services including meeting with our PhD mentors on 3/10/24, as well as receiving weekly mentorship invites to our live mentorship meetings that occur weekly. Please see below of Ms. ********* receiving mentorship from 4 of our mentors, including in the second image having her resume worked on collaboratively with her in real time reviewing our transferable skill list to choose skills to add to her resume (the resume is presented further below).

Ms. ********* has continued to access our members-only emails, including our weekly member-check-ins, Diamond Daily member-only emails, and our live weekly mentorship meetings on Zoom, as recently as 4/3/24 as shown below.

Ms. ********* requested the call with our team, including filling out an application for a call prior to the call. In her request, she indicated she was willing to invest in our program. This is presented below in Exhibit 1.

Ms. ********* signed her name directly next to our provision that we do not provide refunds. Please see below.

She was provided with our full Terms and Conditions prior to purchase. She also signed a full contract of those same Terms and Conditions. Both are presented below in Exhibit 2 and Exhibit 3, respectively.
Finally, please see the resume Ms. ********* submitted and received feedback on in Exhibit 4, as well as the resume we wrote with her following it. We are ready to continue meeting with her to finalize the new resume as well.
Cheeky Scientist has provided and continues to provide all the services that Ms. ********* purchased. There is no fine print in the agreement or terms and conditions. They are stated in plain language in the contract at standard font sizes. As mentioned, this information is also publicly available on our website.

Cheeky Scientist is proud of the services that it provides and is here to support Ms. ********* through her job search. We would be happy to hear from her were she to reach out for any resolution.

Respectfully,

Rayanne ******
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Customer response
04/07/2024

Complaint: 21461617

I am rejecting this response because the contract is inconsistent with what ****** promised orally. It is also vague about services provided, and a 12-month waiting period offers no remedy if services/oral promises fall short, as other BBB complaints indicate.
During the 3/10 meeting, ****** stated “around 80% of jobs are not visible to the public” and implied the company worked with recruiters to access those jobs. ****** also stated I would receive job offers in 5-10 weeks, the job of my dreams guaranteed or my money back. ****** called the program fees an investment and urged me to put it on a credit card and pay it off with a signing bonus. Only after the transaction cleared at 5:37pm, ****** informed me I needed to sign a “Welcome Letter and Service Agreement.” This was not previously disclosed, and I felt pressured to sign having already paid. ****** emailed a Dropbox Sign link at 5:38pm, which I viewed at 5:40pm. ****** prompted me to type my name at the top of the document. I did not scroll down, having presumed I understood what was in the contract based on ******’s statements.
On 3/11, I joined a meeting from 9:30-9:45am. Attendees were ******, ******, and Suneeva ******* and Meerambika ******, PhD Mentors. The meeting was recorded. ****** described upcoming meeting topics and directed ******* and ****** to compile information on companies. After the 3/11 meeting, I found consumer complaints and articles in which others had similar experiences. On 3/12, I disputed the credit card transaction. I also emailed CS support, ******, and ****** to immediately discontinue all services, process a refund, and obtain the 3/10 video. On 3/13, ****** declined the refund until after 12 months. On 3/14 at 9:53am, despite my earlier email, ******* emailed me to join the meeting. I did not attend. On 3/15, ****** emailed me a link to access the Mar 11 meeting (16 min, 51 sec). On 3/20, I again emailed CS support, ******, and ****** to request a refund. On 3/21, ****** emailed me a link from the 3/14 meeting (43 mins, 6 sec). Attendees were ******, *******, ******, and six other unknown people. On 3/22, ****** again declined the refund. I have not accessed any of the company's materials since 3/12, including emails, except to compile them as evidence.
Cheeky Scientist's response is unacceptable.

Sincerely,

Morgan *********
Business response
04/21/2024
4/20/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 21461617

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond further to the complaint of Morgan *********. We take the responsibility to respond seriously and have responded in detail below.
Ms. ********* has provided no new information in response. She does use the word “vague” however her contract and the terms and conditions are shown below and are very clear outlining exactly her participation in the program as well as services provided.

Services Provided. Company will provide Customer with an online mentoring program for the life of the program. The program includes weekly live meetings, or review of live meeting recordings, in Company’s virtual Mentorship Dashboard. Complete access to live meeting workbooks, forms and other documents are delivered immediately upon execution of this Agreement in the Mentorship Dashboard, including job search templates in Google Drive. Access to help from PhD mentors is immediately available in the private PhD Accountability Forum or one-on-one in Voxer, as well as in a series of private, live small group Zoom meetings focused on the Customer’s job search needs. Company’s mentors will strive to get back to any questions the Customer posts in the Forum or Voxer about the job search process within one to two business days and likely much sooner. Questions unrelated to the job search process may take longer. Company will help the Customer create a custom plan for their job search through additional programs, meetings and mentorship with the goal of helping the Customer update their resume, update their LinkedIn profile, get interviews and get job offers. Company will provide immediate access to a Member Directory with thousands of members, many working in industry so that Customer can actively network and work to get referrals. Company may introduce Customer to past members once the Customer’s resume, LinkedIn, networking and interviewing expertise, and overall professionalism meet the Company’s standards of excellence. Company does not procure, offer, or promise employment or engagements to Customer. Company does not contract with employers, match customers with employment opportunities, provide customers lists of employers or employment opportunities, and does not distribute lists of customers to employers. Company never provides direct referrals because Company does not contract with employers.
Participation of Customer. Company will work around the Customer’s schedule and at the Customer’s chosen pace, within reason, to help the Customer get into the industry job of their dreams and has provided a flexible process to ensure that this happens. The Customer’s engagement in the program is an important part of this process, including the Customer showing up to mentorship meetings and engaging with the material because, as examples, the Company cannot submit applications on behalf of the Customer or show up to interviews for the Customer. Company will work flexibly around the Customer’s schedule to help get their resume updated, to guide them on how to submit their application, perform well on interviews, and to get the job offer(s) they want. Customer can attend all live meetings or they can review the live meeting recordings within the same month of the meeting. Customer will complete the workbooks, forms and other documents reviewed during the live or recorded meetings and upload them in the form of files, images, PDFs, videos and other file types to the Customer’s Google Drive folder within the same month they are presented. Customer will work with their mentor to complete their job search strategy sheet with a targeted list of companies they would like to get hired at, as well as identifying networking contacts at each company. Customer will work with their mentor to get their resume updated to an industry format, will learn how to target each resume to each position and will apply consistently to job openings, storing the targeted resumes they submit and the job opening they apply to in the Customer’s Google Drive folder. Customer will participate regularly in the Accountability Forum on the Discourse platform with regular participation simply meaning posting questions or comments on a monthly basis. Mentorship advice given to the Customer through any of the Company’s communication channels should be responded to by Customer within a reasonable and timely manner to achieve full results..
As Ms. ********* has stated, she availed herself of all the program’s products and services including meeting with our PhD mentors on 3/10/24, as well as receiving weekly mentorship invites to our live mentorship meetings that occur weekly. Please see below of Ms. ********* receiving mentorship from 4 of our mentors, including in the second image having her resume worked on collaboratively with her in real time reviewing our transferable skill list to choose skills to add to her resume (the resume is presented further below).

Ms. ********* has continued to access our members-only emails and mentorship meetings, including our weekly member-check-ins, Diamond Daily member-only emails, and our live weekly mentorship meetings on Zoom, as recently as 4/3/24 as shown below. Importantly, she has continued to access these membership materials after her dispute here to the BBB.

Ms. ********* requested the call with our team, including filling out an application for a call prior to the call. In her request, she indicated she was willing to invest in our program. This is presented below in Exhibit 1.

Ms. ********* signed her name directly next to our provision that we do not provide refunds. Please see below.

She was provided with our full Terms and Conditions prior to purchase, which she opted in to. She also signed a full contract of those same Terms and Conditions. Both are presented below in Exhibit 2 and Exhibit 3, respectively.
Finally, please see the resume Ms. ********* submitted and received feedback on in Exhibit 4, as well as the resume we wrote with her following it. We are ready to continue meeting with her to finalize the new resume as well.
Cheeky Scientist has provided and continues to provide all the services that Ms. ********* purchased. There is no fine print in the agreement or terms and conditions. They are stated in plain language in the contract at standard font sizes. As mentioned, this information is also publicly available on our website.

Cheeky Scientist is proud of the services that it provides and is here to support Ms. ********* through her job search. We would be happy to hear from her were she to reach out for any resolution.

Respectfully,

Rayanne ******
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Initial Complaint
03/07/2024
Complaint Type:
Product Issues
Status:
Answered
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
Cheeky Scientists has a history of using predatory (overly aggressive and pestering) and deceptive business practices, as referenced by the following articles from the premier scientific publication, Science: *************************************************************************************************** ** ************************************************************************************************ ** ********************************************************************* The articles are true. I was promised a job in industry in 3 months so left grad school early. They did not help me as they said they would. Isaiah refused connections bc he doesn't really know anyone. They owe me a refund over breach of contract, inferior product, and disrespectful service. I bought a lifetime subscription to the Diamond programs worth $5k and I want a refund because they canceled my account for no reason and tried to cover it up by deleting my existence in the program. I sent many ignored emails asking for a refund and threatening complaints to regulatory consumer agencies. They denied the refund for breaking the contract, sending me an email filled with gaslighting drivel. They accused me of disparaging posts (in groups I didn't know existed) and said I was kicked out because I was allegedly calling and texting them at all hours of the night. Please refer to the attachments. After the very interesting email, I magically had access to the platform's materials back, but I did not buy that product. I bought the Diamond Program, and there is proof below that I did so. They created a new profile for me after my complaint, as it's blank. Then how do I have Google Docs on my drive that are gone from my profile? Additionally, these people use my name without permission to advertise my "success story" in their program. I didn't know I worked at Beach Body as a food chemist, but they say I do. My name links to a fake LinkedIn. This behavior makes no sense. I'm in contact with Science as well.
Business response
03/20/2024
Dear BBB,
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to Ms. *****’s complaint. Importantly, in terms of the major points of her complaint:
Ms. ***** joined the program on 3/29/22 and used it extensively, including adding our training badges to her LinkedIn profile for Medical Writing. She then got hired into a Medical Writing role in 2023 and announced it on LinkedIn. She did not ask for a refund until 2/6/24. Images of this are below.
Ms. ***** was never promised a job within 3 months. Her contract was clear that she had a 12 month guarantee.
Ms. ***** claims she left grad school early because of a promise of a job. This is not true. We have a recording of her explaining that she quit because of a conflict with her advisor. The transcript of this recording is below.
Ms. ***** claims there is no value in our network but she also claims to have received help getting interviews from referrals in another recording we have. The transcript for this is below.
Ms. ***** has full access to the program and mentorship. She has 12 recent logins for her from her IP address as shown below, with the most recent being on 2/24/24.
Ms. ***** has been removed from the forum for being disruptive, including contacting members to disparage us. This is not allowed under the group rules and our terms & conditions for our website, which are below, state that we may remove members disrupting the learning environment of other members.
Ms. ***** has repeatedly contacted our team members by text and phone calls, including early morning calls and late evening calls. She has contacted our team members under fake emails and fake names, such as “Pickles”, and she has referred to other members in her emails as “terrorist sympathizers” and more. Images of this are below as well.
Please see longer answers to the complaint below:
Ms. ***** shares unfavorable articles published against us by our direct competitors. We do have favorable articles published for us as well such as this one in Nature: ************************************************** Importantly, Ms. ***** did not use Affirm to pay for our program, nor did her contract have a non-disparagement clause, the two main issues of the articles she shared. As mentioned above, Ms. ***** was never promised a job within 3 months. Her contract was clear that she had a 12 month guarantee.
Ms. ***** claims that we are imagining that she got a job offer. However, you can see below her celebrating a Medical Writing role in 2023 on Linkedin after joining our program on 3/29/22 and using it extensively, including adding our training badges to her LinkedIn profile for Medical Writing. Both are shown below.

Ms. ***** claims she left grad school early because of a promise of a job. This is not true. We have a recording of her explaining that she quit because of a conflict with her advisor. The transcript of this recording is here:
Speaker 1:
“Hey, my advisor just sent me three really nasty emails. One of them saying that he thinks I'm incapable and shouldn't even bother going to this conference that I was going to. Oh, this isn't true of me being incapable. I've done a lot of work in his lab, in my previous PI's lab, and I actually kick ass.
Hey, I got an MD, must say something, but I quit because I'm not letting somebody talk to me that way. So, yeah, I need to find an interim job now, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know.”
Ms. ***** has access to our full training program; she just needs to click on the Member Dashboard and/or Member Home tabs as shown below. If she has trouble accessing this material via these tabs, we can further assist. Ms. ***** also claims she hasn’t been able to login but we have 12 recent logins for her from her IP address as shown below, with the most recent being on 2/24/24. Ms. ***** also claims we do not have her billing address on file, perhaps indicating she didn’t purchase the program, but it is recorded below.

Prior to her removal from the forum, she had the ability to control what is on her profile at any time. If she entered a typo in her LinkedIn URL, this may have resulted in errors. However, we can and have helped Ms. ***** address any issues and will continue to do so.
Ms. ***** claims that we don’t have an extensive job referral network. However, below shows we have a network of over 17,000 members. The recording transcript above also shows her using referrals to get an interview and as she mentioned in her own emails, she’s made friends with our members. All shown below.

Speaker 1:
Totally forgot today was Friday. I was like, "Crap, there is class." But I'm glad I caught the last end of it. So I've had one interview so far at Genentech ***** and it was a little weird. I don't know. It was my first interview in four years, so it is what it is. But I got a referral from somebody and next I'm interviewing at Teva, so we shall see. The guy who's giving me the referral has talked to all of the superiors about me, so there is hopefully a very high chance that I will get this job, which is crazy, but awesome. So that's where things are going with me. But in the meantime, I'm still looking at things and applying for things just in case, because you never know. But I do hope this pulls through.

Ms. ***** has contacted our team members under fake emails and fake names, such as “Pickles” shown above, and she has referred to other members in her emails as “terrorist sympathizers”, also shown above. Ms. ***** has also repeatedly contacted our members by both early morning and late night text messages and phone calls, which we’ve asked her to stop.
Ms. ***** has been removed from the Cheeky Scientist forum for being disruptive, including contacting members to disparage us. This is not allowed under the group rules. Additionally, per Cheeky Scientist’s Terms of Use of its Website, Cheeky Scientist reserves the right to block access to its website, at its discretion. We are aware on multiple occasions that Ms. ***** has used our forums to disparage Cheeky Scientist. This is not the intended use of these member communities and resulted in the removal of her access. She is, of course, free to express her opinions and exercise your rights in a public forum, but use of Cheeky Scientist’s forum for this behavior is contrary to its purpose and we may exercise its discretion to block access. Our Terms of Use are available here: *****************************************
However, we are here to continue supporting Ms. ***** in any future job search through private mentorship and remain available to her by email for questions, and she maintains access to the training dashboard. We have fulfilled our obligation to get her hired as shown above and she does maintain access to the program and mentorship.

Customer response
03/23/2024

Complaint: 21397525

I am rejecting this response because:
Ms, Hoopes,
in a professoinal communicatio by prooer of Thank you for permitting my response. I would like to direct you once again to examine carefully the files I attached on my initial complaint form as they illustrate what I have seen from my end. It is true that if I so chose I could change items in my profile. Then the converse is true, I see it is now filled out and I did not do it. One anomaly is the welcome email accompanying the sudden re-access to my account after my email complaint was finally acknowledged. I was blocked from their system and I have a "junk" email I use to put into articles that ask for mt personal info and i was the only way I got a response: picklesantimony/ as well as the need to reset my login information which ha never changed. Most of all, and I not get in. This sequence of events lead me conclude that there was breach of contract on the part of this company as they promised lifetime access to all Diamond Materials and I was locked out of the regular materials and only returned to regular, not diamond status .It was obvious my account was fetie and I did not have This message is in regard to your complaint submitted on 3/7/2024 against Cheeky Scientist, LLC. Your complaint was assigned ID 21397525.

BBB has received a formal response from Cheeky Scientist, LLC. We ask that you review the response and understand that BBB is here to assist both parties in reaching a fair and reasonable resolution.
Please review their response to your complaint and advise us of your position in the matter within 10 calendar days. If we do not hear back from you, BBB will assume you are satisfied and will close your complaint as answered.
Please be sure to indicate whether the business' response is satisfactory or not and how you would like to proceed in this matter.
Sincerely,
******* ********
********************

I am so tired as I have been working long hours, I am not articulating well and will email later, II still stand by my orihinal I It is asininve that hey over someghin
Sincerely,

Jacqueline *****
Customer response
03/25/2024
My official response is at the bottom, I added comments in reviewer mode. Now in addition to breach of contract, using my name without permission for advertising and giving me a fake identity, I have libel or defamation, as well as whatever crime it is when someone goes into my private profile on the website and changes things without my knowledge, and has gone through a LOT of work to cover up the fact that they deleted my lifetime membership because they do not want to refund me. The answer to one offense is to commit more crimes? I am shocked. I don't see the point of this. Why? If this goes to court, what is their plan? They can't corroborate any of these false allegations towards me and their dire situation worsens. Over $5,000? Prison is worth $5k? I don't know what to say. After all of this, how can they possibly say at the end that I am welcome in their organization for mentoring and career help? Are they insane? The lifetime membership was supposed to be for career assistance during my lifetime. This is what I paid for. And, now, I absolutely want a refund because after this ordeal, they have destroyed all sense of trust or credibility, I apologize that I throw professionalism out the window, it is inappropriate, but it gets to the point where I am unsure if this business is serious or if they are joking. It isn't very clear. So, I do realize that I am throwing caution to the wind. It is not customary for me to sling mud and crack jokes around a professional bureau, but I have never been in a situation where this is normal. I don't know how to respond. If political debates are now soap operas, and presidents send mean tweets and pretend they don't understand how the government works, all bets are off. This is me rationalizing, as I know better and should do better. Try reading this article by the owner. I guess it makes sense. ***************************************************************************************************
Business response
04/08/2024
4/6/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 21397525

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond further to the complaint of Jacqueline *****.

Ms. ***** has brought no new information with her latest response. Ms. ***** claims we “deleted my lifetime membership”. However, as shown below, Ms. *****’s accounts are accessible by her and she has logged into them as recently as 2/16/2024 and 2/24/2024. Overall, as shown in our previous response, she has 12 recent logins from her IP address of 76.184.96.104, with the most recent being on 2/24/24.

From here, please allow us to reiterate a few key points important to her complaint. Ms. ***** joined the program on 3/29/22 and used it extensively, including adding our training badges to her LinkedIn profile for Medical Writing. We provided evidence of this in our last response. She then got hired into a Medical Writing role in 2023 and announced it on LinkedIn. We provided evidence of this. She did not ask for a refund until 2/6/24. We provided evidence for all of this in our past complaint response. Ms. ***** was hired after joining the program, which means we fulfilled our contractual obligation to her.
Ms. ***** had full control over her forum profile and had the ability to update her LinkedIn profile URL or work information at any time. A typo in a LinkedIn profile URL would lead to the wrong information. As soon as Ms. ***** reached out about a correction needed to her profile, the correction was made. Currently, Ms. ***** does not have access to the forum and her profile does not show as she was being disruptive in the forum, including contacting members to disparage us. This is not allowed under the group rules and our terms & conditions for our website, which was provided in our previous complaint response and states that we may remove members disrupting the learning environment of other members.
Ms. ***** claims we are using her success story for gain. We are not and we will not in the future. If there is anything else Ms. ***** would like us to remove in terms of personal information at any time, we are happy to do so per the terms on our FAQ page and have always accommodated member’s requests in this way.
It has been 2 years since Ms. ***** joined our program and over this time, despite her using our program and getting hired, she has made many false accusations against us. She has contacted our team members by making early and late phone calls to them, at times making 3 phone calls in a row, she has emailed our team under fake names such as “Pickles”, which we provided evidence for in our last response, and she has disparaged other members, which we also provided evidence for in our last response where she called one of our members a “terrorist sympathizer”. We are unable to support this behavior.
Further, Ms. ***** continues to fabricate accusations then ignore the evidence we provide showing that what was claimed is a fabrication. For example, in her previous complaint, Ms. ***** claimed she left grad school early because of a promise of a job from us. This is not true. We provided a recording of her explaining that she quit grad school because of a conflict with her advisor. The transcript of this recording was provided as well. We have other recordings of Ms. ***** discussing such conflicts and her intent to do to others what she is doing to us here - continue to make accusations and make extreme comparisons until she gets what she wants.
For example, Ms. ***** has now written the following in her most recent BBB complaint: “If political debates are now soap operas, and presidents send mean tweets and pretend they don't understand how the government works, all bets are off.” We do not know what this means, nor do we know how to respond to this as a formal complaint through the BBB’s website. Ms. ***** has also written in her most recent BBB complaint that she is prepared to “sling mud and crack jokes around a professional bureau”. We do not know how to respond to this either.
We have been very responsive to Ms. ***** and we have responded in detail to her complaints here. The facts remain the same: Ms. ***** joined the program 2 years ago and received a job in the program. She maintains access to the training materials. We ask that this matter be closed and both parties move on. Thank you.

Respectfully,

Rayanne Hoopes
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Customer response
04/10/2024

Complaint: 21397525
Thank you for allowing me to respond to Ms. Hoopes.

I am rejecting this response because:
I am sensing a great deal of anger in this reply. It is curious to me that the same items continue to be brought up as distractors and ad hominem fallacies seem to hold up the majority of this argument. I appreciate the use of my quotes, which I believe are already accessible to readers, and the threat of using recorded conversations (Did I know I was being recorded at the time? And what could I possibly say that would incriminate myself in whatever I am being accused of? Were you planning on revealing more details of my traumatic experiences that I told you in confidence? Also, if you are going to use these recordings as "evidence" against me, the entirety of the recordings should be revealed.).
I am not sure that my other response was received, but I can attach it for posterity. I am not sure how many times I must repeat that my issue is not with the continuously parroted replies. I believe that I have already discussed that my argument has nothing to do with getting a job, using the resources, and that it was my own naivety that I fell for an oral promise of a dream job in industry in three months. That is a rather cruel thing to tell someone in a vulnerable place, with $500k in student debt. But it was a silly thing for me to believe. I did not trust nor believe most of what this man spewed at me with such aggressive, frenetic, and peculiar energy. But the Gell- Mann effect is alive and well, as are crackpot fantasies. I fell for it. I was the sucker and that I have taken responsibility for. I am a much savvier consumer now. I was vulnerable, traumatized, and broken back then. Not anymore.
My issue circles back to breach of contract. I have presented enough evidence to show that I was deleted until I messaged Rayanne, and then I was reinstated with a brand-new account. Lifetime access means lifetime access, and there was a clear period where I did not have access. Furthermore, I was promised lifetime access to the diamond program which I do not have. I am not sure what my recent log-ins have to do with anything, as these are the times I went in to take screenshots of my empty new account. What would be more convincing is for you to produce clear evidence that I was logging in over the entire time period that you claim I was belligerent on the forums. I do appreciate that you have now added to your libel. You state that I have been saying these things as well. And yet, again, you fail to provide any evidence.
As I stated before, this product is entirely useless to me now because of the way you have responded. What rational human being would return to receive "mentorship" from a place that would lie and seek to hurt me in such a way? Reveal private conversations that only my therapist and my graduate school advisors know, as they were concerned for my well-being during this time? You have discussed things in a public forum related to traumatic events that occurred and are well-documented by the Dean of Students, where I was referred to talk about what I wanted to do about the continuation of grad school and receiving proper treatment for PTSD. I can procure these documents as they exist. I also think it is unprofessional and inappropriate to use my name without my permission when I was not in the program, and connect it to a fake person and a fake profile. I firmly stand by my original argument and I find you in breach of contract. A court of law would find you guilty of several more crimes.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline *****, MD MS
Business response
04/22/2024
4/22/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 21397525

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond further to the complaint of Jacqueline *****.

Ms. ***** has brought no new information with her latest response. Ms. *****’s accounts are accessible by her and she has logged into them many times, not once to take screenshots, and has logged in as recently as 2/16/2024 and 2/24/2024. Overall, as shown in our previous response, she has 12 recent logins from her IP address of 76.184.96.104. Ms. ***** had access to the Diamond program upon signing up 2 years ago and she has access now.

Ms. ***** made false claims in her previous disputes, including in terms of why she quit her academic program. Her claim was that we were at fault for this. We have proven this claim to be false. We have a responsibility to dispute false claims against our organization and have done so.
We have been very responsive to Ms. ***** and we have responded in detail to her complaints here. The facts remain the same: Ms. ***** joined the program 2 years ago, received a job in the program, which fulfills our obligation to her, and she maintains access to the training materials. Thank you.

Respectfully,

Rayanne Hoopes
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258
Customer response
04/23/2024

Complaint: 21397525
Dear Better Business Bureau,
Thank you for yet another opportunity to respond to this business and its evolving narrative.

I am rejecting this response because: I am an American citizen, and I refuse to put up with this kind of treatment because I have the liberty and freedom to say that I won't. A corporation's hubris must get the better of them if they believe they can get away with breach of contract. We can explore contract law further at this point. This is a contract I have not seen, but it states in their terms and conditions LIFETIME ACCESS which I was denied completely. No, not the terms Mr./Mrs./Ms. Hoopes keeps bringing up. I checked the source code on that, and it's sometime in January 2024. When a company changes anything in their terms, and by the way, you are supposed to have EITHER terms of use OR terms and conditions, not both, and all of your disclosures must be consistent through all versions, ALL users must be notified whenever you make a change. I see on the source code that they were all created in 2020 and the others were modified in 2023, but I don't think anyone who was actually able to access the platform (as I was not, I have not received any of the emails that members have been receiving, etc.) was sent the obligatory emails that anything had changed. This is poor practice and the type of thing that gets one in trouble for deceptive and unfair business practices.
Mr./Mrs./Ms. Hoopes continues to reference a contract they cannot produce and they continue to blatantly lie about what they say I have done (with no proof) and what they have done (I think "user deleted" means what it says). hey will not even produce this contract they say I have signed for us to examine, but in the terms and conditions it seems to say lifetime access, and I am still alive.
I despise liars and charlatans. I despise manipulation of the truth for personal gain. I do not stand for those who seek to take advantage of those they view as weak because they are the real cowards. I still believe in truth and justice for all, and that includes myself, and I believe that this Constitution will uphold my rights as the founding fathers intended. This company does not get to make that choice, they don't deserve the honor as they have betrayed my trust as well as the trust of the American people, as you can see again and again on this website, Reddit, LinkedIn, and Science. (Catherine has a rebuttal to the single article in Nature, so we do not need to hear that again, I will simply repost her article and this will go on forever.) My father was a brilliant neurosurgeon, scientist, and World War II veteran in the Pacific. My mother's side? Most of them lie in a mass grave created by the same Axis force my father fought that was one unplanned naval exercise and three air craft carriers away from demolishing the liberty we all enjoy today. We are facing the possibility that this liberty is threatened not only by foreign forces, but by corporations like your own. It is a free country, but we still have rules to follow. It is your choice to do what you will with your rights, and whether or not you follow the rules, but remember that when they impinge on the basic rights of another human citizen, we have a problem. My family already bled and so will I as I will continue to fight for We, the People.
Also, there is a bit of an issue with the "transcripts". These "transcripts" were not recorded during one of the many days of transition calls, were they? I think you know the answer to that. The legalities of whether or not you have the ability to share these recordings taken before I gave you money (after several days of haranguing) is debatable. Were we under any obligation or contract then, where you could lawfully use whatever it is now you are babbling about to distract from the point? (You broke our agreement that you eventually made and you lied about it. Refund. End of story.) The majority of "evidential statements" and pieces of "substantiative" evidence the company continues to reiterate and embellish are false or inconsequential. (I also remain confused as to why you would respond to an entity named Pickles Antimony, but ignore and block Dr. Jacqueline *****.)
I am not in the habit of making NOR taking false allegations. So I don't, and I won't. Tom Petty said it, and he's spot-on. You can stand me up at the gates of hell but I won't back down. I will stand my ground. Refund, please. Additionally, I now request a full and public apology for your attempts to smear my reputation and share personal and traumatic information that was not yours to share, and more importantly, to the rest of the American people you have swindled and hurt. Stop lying. It doesn't suit. The truth hurts, but a courageous man or woman can take it. I come from a long line of them. We do not appreciate your words or actions and continue to condemn your business (on this platform only) for its harmful and illegal activities, words, and behavior.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline ***** MD MS
Initial Complaint
02/12/2024
Complaint Type:
Order Issues
Status:
Answered
The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
In June of 2023 I signed up to be a member of the cheeky scientist diamond program. The sales tactics used included high pressure selling, unauthorized video recording, and misleading information. I was told I would be introduced to high profile industry connections, this never happened. Articles were used to further sell the "benefits" of the program. Once joined I barely used the material before learning how poor the quality of material was. "Mentorship" meetings were performed with members of the association who were outside my time zone completely, this was never mentioned in the calls. I have reached out multiple times to cheeky scientist to request a refund, most of which has been met with further upselling tactics. Importantly I and many others have experienced the same issues, lack of communication, and misleading see: *************************************************************************************************** *** ************************************************************************************************ . I have asked politely and kindly for a refund for a service that was missold and I no longer need. If cheeky scientist were so great, why is this refund such a big issue? Note, I signed up using affirm and in total this is now costing me $3,796.67. Notably, affirm have now stopped dealing with Cheeky Scientist.
Business response
02/26/2024
2/25/2024

RE: The Cheeky Scientist, LLC
ID: 221281825

Dear Better Business Bureau,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the complaint of Ben ** ******. We take the responsibility to respond seriously and have responded in detail below.
As Mr. ******** has stated, he availed himself of all the program’s products and services including meetings with our PhD mentors on 7/11/23, 7/12/23, 7/23/23, and 8/17/23, as well as weekly mentorship meetings that were recurring. Please see Exhibit 1 of Mr. ******** receiving mentorship. Mr. Ben ** ****** used the program’s products and services 2 full months prior to expressing any concerns about the program. When he did express his concerns, we responded to them promptly. Mr. ** ****** has also repeatedly been offered mentorship times with a different mentor per his request.

Mr. ** ****** requested the call with our team, including filling out an application for a call prior to the call. Please see Exhibit 2.

Mr. ** ****** was provided with the terms and conditions prior to purchase and provided with his contract during purchase. He agreed to all of these policies and confirmed that he understood them. Please see Exhibit 3 of the Terms and Conditions that Mr. ** ****** agreed to prior to his purchase outlining the refund policy.
Our representative was also very clear with Mr. ** ****** about the nature of the agreement, the loan, and that there are no refunds prior to 12 months. Exhibit 4 shows the transcript between the representative and Mr. ** ****** where he is told about the agreement and refund and he agrees to each point.
Please also see Exhibit 5 of Section 4 specifically with a Lender disclosure in plain language.

Finally please see Exhibit 6 of Mr. ** ****** receiving help from our mentorship team, as well as accessing his program materials and dashboard using his computer’s IP address, and engaging with 78 mentorship posts during this time. And submitting his resume and receiving feedback from the team.

Importantly Mr. ** ****** was in the program for over two months prior to expressing any concerns about the program. When he did express concerns, we responded to them promptly and Mr. ** ****** proceeded to ignore all reach out attempts to schedule further mentorship meetings for months until placing this complaint.

Cheeky Scientist has provided and continues to provide all the services that Mr. ** ****** purchased. There is no fine print in the agreement or terms and conditions. They are stated in plain language in the contract at standard font sizes. As mentioned, this information is also publicly available on our website.

Cheeky Scientist is proud of the services that it provides and is here to support Mr. ** ****** through his job search. We would be happy to hear from him were he to reach out for any resolution.

Finally, for clarity, Mr. ** ****** retains all access to his program, he is able to utilize all materials and receive mentorship at any time.

Respectfully,

Rayanne Hoopes
COO
Cheeky Scientist
5097200258

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