Universal Accounting RIPOFF!! BUYERS BEWARE!!! Salt Lake City Utah

Like many I was impressed with the Universal  Accounting website, offering an enticing opportunity to start a new career in accounting and related areas.  I'd reached out for more information and a nice sales rep got back to me, showing me the various packages of courses offered.  I was interested in registering for the three basic courses, Professional Bookkeeper, Professional Tax Professional and Quickbooks for the package price of $3,375.95, reduced by a promotional discount of 25%.  The sales rep confidently reminded me that "it's a no brainer because it's a RISK-FREE investment; over a two-year period you can move as quickly or as slowly through the materials as you please; if for any reason the course does not meet your expectations, you get a full refund." 

My sales rep then went one step further by suggesting that I "might as well take advantage of also registering for the Universal Practice Builder, an advanced marketing course that would accelerate income flow.  He persuaded me that "it would be a bargain" adding the UPB course to my package; purchased alone it would cost $1,700 but by adding it to the package it would be offered at 50% off, or $875, and then I'd still get another 25% off with the promotional coupon.  And of course, he again added that "it's a risk-free investment because there's a full refund guaranty".  I was sold and added the UPB course to my package and paid a total of $3,188 at the 25% discounted full package price.

BUYER BEWARE!  .....there was no "full refund guaranty" and there was NO RISK-FREE INVESTMENT.  I paid $3,188 for courses that did not meet expectations and received a credit back of $1,913.04, or 60% of my investment, not the 100% refund that their marketing policy so persuasively professed to offer.

Here are the facts.....I offer them with the hope that others will not be conned by the same misrepresentation that I was conned by:

1.  I completed the three basic courses and without going into all the reasons, suffice it to say that they did not meet my expectations.  I was not equipped with sufficient knowledge to start a new accounting career and never took the UPB course since I had no career to advance my marketing skills.

2.  I requested a refund for the full amount of $3,188, but realized that the refund terms of the UPB course required 12 months of following the steps in the course as a condition to receiving the refund.  Even though taking the UPB course without the other three courses seemed absurd, I reluctantly accepted the fact that my refund request needed to be reduced by $656 (25% of the $875 cost of the UPB add-on).  The adjusted amount of my refund should have been $2,532.

3.  Over a month passed after I'd returned the materials for the three core courses, and I still had not received any communication from Universal Accounting my refund.  I emailed them to find out when I could expect my refund and was told that a refund was credited in the amount of $1,913.04, without further explanation of how that number was arrived at.

4.  I emailed back the breakdown of what I'd paid for the three core courses, as follows:

5.  The amount credited was short $618.96, or 24% less than what I'd paid for the three core courses ($2,532).  When advised of this error, Universal Accounting responded by email as follows:

"The tuition for 1 program is $1,699.95 25% off is $1,274.96.  That is what you paid for the Universal Practice Builder and we refunded you the difference.  Nothing further will be refunded."

6.  So, notwithstanding that the UPB program was of no use to me and could not be refunded, Universal Accounting had the gall to additionally claim that I paid (before promo discount) the sum  of $1,700 for the UPB course, when in fact I only paid $875.  According to Universal Accounting the discounted 25% of $1,700, or $1,274.96, would not be refunded to me.

7.  In short the so-called RISK-FREE, FULL GUARANTY policy of Universal Accounting was duplicitous and deceitful.  I paid $3,188 for courses that did not meet expectations and received a credit back of $1,913.04, or 60% of my investment, not the 100% refund that their marketing policy so persuasively professed to offer.