The College Prep Center Sarcastic liars who take your money and give no refunds ripoff La Mesa California

I was contacted by The College Prep Center (8130 La Mesa Blvd. La Mesa, CA. Ph 619.668.2233) and told that I could get a 30 day free trial of a college prep disk that guaranteed my daughter to score high on ACT, SAT and another college entrance exam.

I was asked for my credit card info to secure that the disk would be returned within the 30 day trial period and that the 30 days would not start until I received the disk and called them to say that I had received it. Before I gave my credit card info, I asked the salesman, Mike, if the money would come out of my account before the trial period ended as to make sure the money was in my account.

The only thing he would tell me was that they card would be secured as a Motel would. I asked him this simple question 3-4 times and got the same analogy. I have never booked a Motel room that my card was charged before I stayed or even if I paid cash for the room, never was there a charge on my card that had to be refunded. With that said, I gave my card information.

Almost 2 weeks later (3-23-07) I got my bank statement and there was a charge for $119.99 for the disk. I called the prep center to say that there was a charge to my account and that by this time I still had not received the prep disk. They said that they were not going to refund the money because I gave my card info and therefore I agreed to the terms.

I then told them that I had not received the disk yet and wanted a full refund because by this time, I did not have the extra money to put into the account to cover the charges that were not suppose to come out. Needless to say, they would not refund the money and I got very upset. I got hung up on so I called back and got hung up on again. The next time I called back they told me that if I did not receive the disk by Tuesday (3-27-07) give them a call back.

Tuesday came and I did not receive the disk so I called back. They still would not refund the money. They then told me that the address was wrong and that I would get it. I then tried to explain to them that I asked for the disk sent to my place of employment (1268 Savannah Hwy.) and that the state had bought these houses in front of me to widen the road and that there is now NO 1368 Savannah Hwy. (the address they claim they sent it to) because the houses are gone, where could the post office deliver it to?

Again, I got very upset, and got hung up on several times that evening. I then searched their business on the BBB and found out that I am not the only one that they have done this to. According to the BBB, they have an unsatisfactory record with 52 complaints in the last 36 mo.

With this information, I called the college prep center back and asked to speak to the Vice Pres. David Cantero, once they found out who I was, I was told that if I did not already have his number, I could not speak with him. I then told them about what I had found out from the BBB and I GOT LAUGHED AT and told to wait until Friday (3-30-07) about receiving the disk.

I asked her if I do not receive the disk by Friday, do I then get a refund? she told me that she could not guarantee a refund at that time but give them a call on Friday if I do not receive the disk. I went to the post office to see if by chance the disk was there for failure to deliver. They told me that my postal man would know about the address being wrong and would deliver it to me because of the name not the address. Here it is Friady---Im waiting for the mail.

Patricia
Waynesboro, Tennessee
U.S.A.

STOP! ..before you think about using the Better Business Bureau (BBB)... CLICK HERE to see how other consumers were victimized by the BBB's false or misleading information. Don't be fooled! It has been reported, when there are thousands of complaints and other investigations underway by authorities, the BBB has no choice but to finally give an UNsatisfactory rating to a BBB member business that is paying the BBB big membership fees every year. When a business is reported that is NOT a BBB member, BBB files WILL more likely show an UNsatisfactory rating, then reportedly shake down that company to become a member of the BBB. One positive thing about the BBB is, either way, if a business has an unsatisfactory rating with the BBB, you can be sure, the business is bad. But what about all those BBB member businesses that had complaints filed against them? Consumers never get to hear about them. What about the BBB advertising to the public? Is this a false and misleading perception they are giving about consumer confidence when dealing with a business? Click here to understand more of what consumers and business alike are saying about the BBB. You decide. ..Remember. The BBB membership is not earned, it's paid for!