Smart Certify Direct ripoff LIES, CHEATS AND STEALS!!Someone has to STOP THEM!!! Clearwater Florida

I cannot help but wonder if Mr. Shields is not behind these advocates of Smart Certify. The advocate writes just like Mr. Shields.

Mr. Shields firsts need to relize that according to the 2005 March Report of Skillsoft that Smart Certify is about to be either closed down or sold. I assume because of the lawsuits or from being sued. I guess Skillsoft no longer wants to hold on to a company that is bringing them more trouble than money.

SkillSoft had approximately $64.9 million in cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, long-term investments and restricted cash as of January 31, 2005 compared to $86.7 million as of January 31, 2004. The decrease was primarily due to the payments of litigation settlements of approximately $6.0 million for the final installment of the 1998 class action lawsuit, approximately $22.0 million for the final installment of the NETg lawsuit, and approximately $15.25 million for the first installment of the 2002 class action lawsuit. These decreases in cash were partially offset by cash receipts from employee stock option and stock purchase plan activity of approximately $21.0 million.

It seems this company has had quit a bit of legal trouble in the past. Another reason we should not be afraid to trample them, they have no solid legal ground to stand on. The judges would just refer back the 1998 and 2002 class actions lawsuits.

SmartCertify Subsidiary Pending Sale Transaction

The Company, as previously stated in its March 14, 2005 press release, has entered into a non-binding letter of intent with respect to the sale of its retail IT certification business, SmartCertify. In the event the transaction is not consummated as anticipated, the Company will shut down its SmartCertify operations. The Company continues to work on finalizing sale terms with the potential purchaser. The Company is currently evaluating whether an impairment exists at January 31, 2005 relating to the SmartCertify business. If the Company concludes an impairment exists at that date, the related charge will be reflected in the Company's fiscal 2005 results when reported in form 10-K. The impact on the 2006 earnings of the sale or shutdown of the operations will be announced when the transaction is finalized or the alternative course of action is determined.

This looks pretty devasting to Smart Certify. I wonder what will happen to the their millions of clients that they don't have.

If you read between the lines of these reports by Skillsoft you can easily see that Smart Certify is a thorn in their side and causing them tons of trouble.

I would not believe anything Mr. Shields says or anyone else from Smart Certify.

This world will be a better place if Skillsoft does dissolve Smart Certify. However the sad part is the lairs that work their will still exsist.

Is it possible that due to the fact that your grammer is so poor that you mis-read or mis-understood your contract. Not to be rude but being able to know and understand the language is critical in being successful. Best of luck

The company records their calls digitally and they have used them to prove these allegations false.

They are aware that these calls can be obtained as part of any discovery process ordered by a court of law. If the company determines that a sales representative lied to make the sale, the customer gets a refund.

By law, the company must comply with, and can terminate any employee who violates the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rules (TSR) and/or the Truth in Lending act.

The person who claimed to have worked at the company was supposedly involved with "lying every day". This speaks more of that person than of the company.

Most complaints here are simply related to people who want to cancel their contract without compliance of the company refund policy.
I know when you buy from them, you have to sign for their refund policy and fax it back to them or do it over the internet with your mouse. You also have to click an "I Agree" button to the same policy at a refund policy agreement screen.

Their refund policy lets you use their training and if you fail the exam, you get your money back. They give you 90-days to take the exam (most take 30-60 days of study time like A+ core or MCP) It says right on their refund policy form that there are "no other refunds or cancellations".

So If you are serious about your training and don't lose sight of your commitment, this is a good means of protection. If their training didn't work, they would be at risk to offer a refund if you failed the exams. [They have over 2 million students training in thier community).

On the other hand, If you are the type of consumer that starts things and rarely finishes, don't expect to be exempt from what it was that you agreed to when you signed and started your commitment to get certified (refund agreement).

Interesting...there are no complaints here in regard to people who failed their exam and could not get their money back per the company refund policy. If this were happening, it would substantiate many of the claims that this is a..."ripoff".

I worked there as a sales rep for couple of months. I didn't know what I was selling and had no clue what I was talking about. I don't know anything about computers. Everyday, I lied to the customers and I started to hate it. I didn't even see the products we were selling. None of the people at the office used it.

Not very many people stay there for more than a month. No wonder why they hired new group of people (about 20 to 30) every 2 weeks. It's a scam! Don't let the sales rep on the phone ruin your life!!!

The company makes it very clear to each user. By accessing their training, you agree to attempt the official certification exam. If you fail that exam on two attempts within 90-days, you get your money back. They also post a notice that reads "There are no other refunds or cancellations".

By the way, you don't have to fail "all the exams" as Art wrote. You only have to fail one exam like the A+ core for example. It only takes 30-40 days to prep for it and they allow you 90 days to do it.

Of course there are exam fee's. This is standard with any profession involving licensure or certification. SmartCertify is a training provider and not a testing center.

As far as exam costs go, it is about $140.00 or so but there are sites out there where you can get up to half off like at exam vouchers dot com.

So the question remains...why would you agree to the refund policy only to request a refund outside of of those terms?

As with all consumer purchases, READ what it is that you are agreeing to. If you don't see yourself staying committed to those terms, then don't agree to it.

Call the company and see if they will offer you alternatives like an exchange or free upgrade. Assuming you wanted to get certified, this should help in some way or another. After all, I doubt they would offer a refund for failed exams if their stuff did not have some sort of value.

You lost money only if you decided not to use the program to get the bet possible return on your investment...certification.

Hey Artur,

I just want to thank you for helping me realized what Smartcertified actually is and to save my frined's money before it was too late. As it happened to you , my friend who is desperatly tring to find a job received a call from those people, and they start to manipulate him with all things that he dream of , telling him that they all will be true if he sign up . He is a good programmer and he don't need those certif., just a little experience. Anyway , they spoke with him for 2 hours, and then he like a "zombi" start to sign up in internet, without consulting with me. I 've never make him problems with his purchases , but it happened ( I guess a lucky coincidense) that his credit cards were full, so I offer him mine , even if i did't know what it is about and the $2500 were seperate in 9 paiments for 280$ .

So we first pay only 280$ . But then later in the night, having a bad feeling, I start to reasearch about this company and saw your review , and I was SHOCKED. My friend read it also and he was also SHOCKED :) The next day he called the salesman and told him that he is not prepared , and even told the person on the phone to look in this site :) may be they should hire someone to response to the messages. Any way , he put a canceletion form , and we got a call that it is approved and we 've got my 280$ back. I think what save us , was the fact that I sign up ( thinking that I'm signing just for this one payment ), but my friend spoke with him and it wasn't his signature and then that we immediatly realized that they are skam, and never download anything, Thanks to your message.

I just have no words how to thank you!!!!!You made one good thing and it will be returned to you one day !

Sincerely: