Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/21/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  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.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 11/12/2024 I made a $61.35 purchase for self-paced online continued education courses with OnlineEd, LLC. Two days later on 11/14/2024 I contacted Online Ed, LLC and informed them I would not be needing the courses and requested a refund. I was told the refund would need to be approved. I contacted Online Ed, LLC again on 11/15/2024 and was told accounting was still reviewing the refund request. I contacted Online Ed, LLC again on 11/20/2024 and was told the refund had been declined. I explained the decline was unacceptable. I was placed on hold, when Online Ed, LLC came back I was told I was now approved for a partial refund of $41.36 to which I refused to accept. Online Ed, LLC then said it was now after 5pm and after business hours and needed to disconnect. I was disconnected with no resolve. Now when I log into my Online Ed web account the courses I paid for are removed from my account and I no longer have access to them. I emailed Online Ed, LLC yesterday after I was disconnected and I have received no response. I no longer have access to all the chat history, its been disabled on my web account.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/02/2024

  ***** purchased courses with us on Nov 12th for $61.35. ***** then contacted our customer service and inquired about a refund on the 15th. Our enrollment agreement found publicly available, covers this. The relevant information is pasted below and a link to the package ***** enrolled in. In accordance with the policy outlined below the refund was denied. We left the course open to ***** at this time.

   

  ***** then proceeded to email and call multiple times an hour and expanded their story to include that they would not be using the course.  We decided to grant an exception and on November 20th we refunded $49.35 of the $61.35 originally charged and withdrew ***** from courses. Per the agreement, the refund amount should have been $31.35, however, we realize that if this course enrollment was in fact made in error, we'd like to be accommodating and only cover our cost. 

  ***** continued to call on November 20th. He stated that it was unfair we withdrew courses without a full refund. We offered to re-instate courses and charge the $49.35 refunded, but ***** was not in favor of this. We'd be happy to re-instate the course if ***** would like to pay the refunded amount.  We have not removed any chat history or closed ***** off from access to anything, outside of the courses we refunded under his direction. 

   

  Refunds:

  All tuition and fees paid for the course are refundable when: (a) the course of instruction is discontinued by OnlineEd and such discontinuation has prevented a student from completing the course; or (b) the enrollment of the student was procured as a result of any misrepresentation in promotion materials of the school, or representation made by an owner or employee of the school. All refunds will be completed within 30 days after the effective date of enrollment termination. Refunds will not be given to any student after the student has successfully registered in a course or courses, as once registered, student has access to the registered courses. In hardship cases, OnlineEd may issue a refund at its sole discretion. If this happens a $30 administrative fee will be applied. OnlineEd does not issue retroactive partial refunds for courses that are subsequently discounted or put on sale after a student makes a purchase.

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

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/02/2024

   
  Complaint: 22588818
  
  Im rejecting OnlineEds response because Im still requesting a full refund. While I do appreciate a partial refund of $41.53 from OnlineEd, they arent doing me any favors by still charging me $20 for nothing. I didnt use the online courses and, as I explained to them, I didnt need the online courses after all. In my over 20 years of taking continuing education for my various licenses I have never once been treated the way OnlineEd is treating me. For OnlineEd to offer a partial refund of only $41.53 instead of the full $61.53 is absolutely absurd. OnlineEd should be ashamed of their business ethics and refund me the additional $20 theyre trying to keep. 

   

  $20 and giving a 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/05/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  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.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I recently enrolled in an online course that advertised a renewal option without sharing all the details. I purchased an 8-hour course on December 29, 2023, at 10:41 pm, only to find it expired on December 31, 2023, without any notice. This led to the loss of all my coursework. When I contacted their representative, I was told the course I bought wasn't valid and that I needed to purchase a more expensive one. Despite my multiple attempts to reach out to customer service for help, I haven't received any resolution to this problem. These issues have caused significant delays in my learning process and have been extremely frustrating.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/30/2024

  Good Afternoon,

  I apologize in the delay on our response. I think there has been a fundamental misunderstanding of how **** timelines work. The **** requires all **** CE course work be completed by December 31st. This is not a OnlineEd deadline. If the course work is not completed by then, normal CE course work will not count towards the intended year and your **** license will be suspended. Because of this, we have courses expire. This avoids additional unnecessary work and confusion for students. If we allow course work to continue, students will continue to take the course work and then be unhappy that the course doesn't count any longer. After December 31st this course work won't help to allow you to renew your license.  This is a requirement enforced by the **** and outlined in the SAFE ACT.

  We do try to notify students of this as much as possible. Attached is a picture of where this deadline showed up on the course description before enrollment. I have also attached a screenshot of the student home page that clearly displays course expiration dates along with a warning notice that we have up the entire month of December.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/06/2024

  Dear Online ED,

  I appreciate your response, but I must express my profound dissatisfaction and concern with the explanations provided. There appears to be a significant disconnect between the information communicated to me upon enrollment and the realities of the course expiration and credit policies as now explained.

  First and foremost, the claim that the **** timelines and requirements were clearly communicated is, in my case, fundamentally flawed. Despite the screenshots provided showing deadlines, the email solicitations I received encouraged enrollment without adequately disclosing the imminent expiration of the coursework. These emails were sent past the date noted in the screenshots, leading to a misleading representation of the course's value and timeline. This oversight or, more accurately, this miscommunication has directly resulted in both time and money lost on my part.

  Furthermore, direct outreach to your sales representatives did not yield the transparency or the support one would expect. Instead of being advised on the impending course expiration or being offered a viable solution such as licensing renewal options upfront, I was encouraged to proceed with the purchase. It was only after the fact, and upon my insistence, that a licensing renewal option was mentioned, by which time I had been double charged, and the coursework I had completedor rather, invested inwas rendered inapplicable for my licensing needs.

  The assertion that expiring courses prevent "unnecessary work and confusion" fails to acknowledge that the true confusion arises from inadequate communication and misaligned sales practices. It's one thing to adhere to **** requirements; it's another to leverage these requirements in a manner that feels opportunistic and lacks transparency.

  Your response overlooks these critical issues. It does not address the fact that I was sold a course under pretenses that the coursework would be applicable and beneficial toward my licensing requirements. Nor does it reconcile the fact that none of the coursework I was heavily advertised and sold would count towards my CE requirements due to the expiration policy not being clearly communicated or understood at the point of sale.
  In light of these circumstances, I request a full refund for the course and any associated charges. Additionally, I would appreciate a more detailed explanation of how [Business Name] plans to improve its communication strategies to ensure that future students do not find themselves in similar situations.
  I look forward to your prompt and constructive response.
  

  Sincerely, 

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

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/16/2024

  Thank you for reaching out and expressing your concerns.
  
  The email in question was designed to highlight the urgency of completing the coursework by indicating its relevance for continuing operations in January. The title 2023 Originator Essentials and the mention of the **** Guaranteed to miss renewal deadline of December 29th were intended as cues for the annual CE requirement. However, we recognize that the explicit expiration date of December 31st for the course may not have been highlighted in our marketing email and will strive to do so in future years.
  
  
  This will supplement our existing practice of disclosing this information across multiple pages, including course description pages, our general catalog, our blog, the student homepage, and the course pages. Because
  we already diligently disclose this on a multitude of pages both prior to and after enrollment we will not refund the course.
  
  
  We understand the frustration that arises from regulatory requirements and want to assure you that our policies are aligned with **** regulations, not opportunism. Our aim is always to support our students in maintaining their licensure without undue stress or inconvenience. Some of the most difficult conversations in my career revolve around missed deadlines and lapsed licenses.  Theyre never fun conversations and we dont seek to profit from missing a deadline. This is why we often shut off sales for these courses on December 31st as it becomes less and less likely students can finish in time. However, on December 28th there is still time to finish and doing so would have helped avoid additional **** fees or a lapse in licensed status.  While we can offer access to the course for your personal development, we recognize it does not meet the **** renewal requirements past the deadline.
  
  
  We value transparency and are taking steps to ensure our students have all necessary information to avoid any licensing issues.