Universal Accounting 100% Iron Clad Guarantee A Big Scam!! ripoff Salt Lake City Utah

After reading through this report, I think that I'm going to have to side with Allen and the company on this one. Let me explain my reasoning.

First of all, I checked out their return policy. It is clearly stated, multiple times, before the initial purchase. This is the buyer's responsibility to read and understand. Just because this company may not offer your typical 30-day return guarantee doesn't mean that these guys are scamming people. What it does mean is that they are making the business decision to offer a policy that, in their minds, is better for the customer. That is completely their decision; by buying the product, you made an agreement that you understand it and will comply with it.

Lastly, if you claim that your lack education is the reason you couldn't finish the program, you really should have thought about it twice before getting into accounting. It's very obvious that accounting will involve a significant amount of math and working with numbers; if you're not good with those things, then you should have had the sense to not buy it in the first place. Heck, I'm well educated and I still have trouble with accounting. Don't make the company pay or compensate you for your lack of common sense.

I hope that these comments were enlightening. This does not seem like a scam, but simply a lack of understanding and lack of trying to understand. This company is simply exercising its right to uphold its return policy- it is not a ripoff.

Gina,

I am so sorry that you are having financial problems. Most people have trouble from time to time making ends meet, and it's obvious from your most recent letter, that you're having a particularly bad time right now.

Nevertheless, It is unfair and inequitable to single out just one of your many creditors and ask them to make an exception to an agreement. Our relatively small payment is a fraction of your monthly rent. It's also small compared to car payments, insurance payments, and utilities. It may be a mere pittance when compared to your student loans. In fact, many people pay more for their phone and cable bills than the payments you're making to us.

I trust the reason that you are chasing us is because you perceive these other payments as being necessary to sustain life (well, maybe not the cable bill), while your debt to us is discretionary. I understand. Nonetheless, if you're in such a desperate position that you're worried about putting food on the table, there are a number of legal protection mechanisms that you can put in place that will give you the relief from all your creditors while you get your financial feet back on the ground.

I could leave it at that, but then I fear you may think that I'm trying to duck some of your accusations. So here goes . . .

I don't understand the problem you stated with the phone system. I get calls all day, every day, from sales people that ask simply for the owner. I am out of my office traveling, or in meetings a lot, so I may have been away from my office at the time you called.

If the receptionist understands that it is a student calling, she will do whatever is in her power to get the call to someone that can help. If a person tells her it is urgent, she has even been known to break into meetings to make it known or transfer the call to my cell phone. Most people are amazed at how accessible I make myself. For what it's worth, I apologize. Obviously, someone in our shop dropped the ball here.

Just to clarify for the readers of this post, I don't think you are referring to getting technical or academic support. For that, you received a separate toll-free number that would have linked you to your Coach directly. Our records indicate that we never received a call from you to that number. I assume that you are referring only to calls to the general switchboard. We get a large amount of traffic through that number. Nonetheless, if you called the general number you should have been routed correctly. That was our mistake if we didn't do so.

In a spirit of cooperation, we offered to refund you for the PB Course if you simply completed Module 4 which we explained shouldn't take more than an hour. This would provide you with relief from a major share of the investment. Then, you could take your time to complete the Tax course. I felt that was a very fair exception. Later I'll mention the irony of this whole thing.

The Professional Tax Preparer Program (PTP) is constantly changing. At least once a month we update something in the program based on new changes in the tax law. Although these changes are small and, for the most part inconsequential, they still render previous printings as being virtually obsolete. Even though we send out a list of all changes at the end of the year, it still seems unethical to send someone an old set of books. Regardless, our policy is to destroy books, and not sale previously sold materials as new.

On every order page there is a link to our Terms and Conditions (www.universalaccounting.com/products/
terms-and-conditions.html). For instance in our catalog (www.universal-accounting-center.com/catalog/) you'll see a link for Shipping and Returns that then links to the returns website. Another way to find them is to google something like Universal Accounting return procedures and you'll have several pages of links. By the way, the links above may not work depending your browser. If you want to take a look at them you may have to copy and paste them to get your browser to see them.

Also, with every course a student receives a glossy 8.5X11 certificate displaying the Company's guarantee, and prominently centered in 14 font large print on the front of the certificate are the words To return your course materials, go to www.universalaccounting.com/return_procedures. You would have received one with your PB course and one with your PTP course. We're certainly not trying to hide it.

Just to wrap up this rather lengthy reply, let's remember that you originally purchased our program in July to get out of financial hard times. On August 15th you wrote Courtney, The program is great. I actually read up and answer all the exercises first before I start viewing the video. It's just a recap of what's already discussed in the modules and one time I fell asleep with Allen Bostrom's voice droning in the background. No pun, he's very good, it's just that I sleep very little and watch the video in bed on my laptop. I should be able to finish on time, at the most 8 wks. I don't know what happened since then, but I trust your decision to return the course was driven primarily by financial hardships that have made the bad situation worse.

The ironic part is that the fourth module, the module that you refused to complete, is the module that could have shown you how to develop and market your practice. Just one client would have earned you, on average, $300 per month much more than your payments to us. A second client would be all gravy for just 2-4 hours each week. You would be on the road to financial recovery and we would not be having this public discussion. It's unfortunate and a loss for both of us.

Sincerely,
Allen Bostrom, CPA
President

Gina,

I am so sorry that you are having financial problems. Most people have trouble from time to time making ends meet, and it's obvious from your most recent letter, that you're having a particularly bad time right now.

Nevertheless, It is unfair and inequitable to single out just one of your many creditors and ask them to make an exception to an agreement. Our relatively small payment is a fraction of your monthly rent. It's also small compared to car payments, insurance payments, and utilities. It may be a mere pittance when compared to your student loans. In fact, many people pay more for their phone and cable bills than the payments you're making to us.

I trust the reason that you are chasing us is because you perceive these other payments as being necessary to sustain life (well, maybe not the cable bill), while your debt to us is discretionary. I understand. Nonetheless, if you're in such a desperate position that you're worried about putting food on the table, there are a number of legal protection mechanisms that you can put in place that will give you the relief from all your creditors while you get your financial feet back on the ground.

I could leave it at that, but then I fear you may think that I'm trying to duck some of your accusations. So here goes . . .

I don't understand the problem you stated with the phone system. I get calls all day, every day, from sales people that ask simply for the owner. I am out of my office traveling, or in meetings a lot, so I may have been away from my office at the time you called.

If the receptionist understands that it is a student calling, she will do whatever is in her power to get the call to someone that can help. If a person tells her it is urgent, she has even been known to break into meetings to make it known or transfer the call to my cell phone. Most people are amazed at how accessible I make myself. For what it's worth, I apologize. Obviously, someone in our shop dropped the ball here.

Just to clarify for the readers of this post, I don't think you are referring to getting technical or academic support. For that, you received a separate toll-free number that would have linked you to your Coach directly. Our records indicate that we never received a call from you to that number. I assume that you are referring only to calls to the general switchboard. We get a large amount of traffic through that number. Nonetheless, if you called the general number you should have been routed correctly. That was our mistake if we didn't do so.

In a spirit of cooperation, we offered to refund you for the PB Course if you simply completed Module 4 which we explained shouldn't take more than an hour. This would provide you with relief from a major share of the investment. Then, you could take your time to complete the Tax course. I felt that was a very fair exception. Later I'll mention the irony of this whole thing.

The Professional Tax Preparer Program (PTP) is constantly changing. At least once a month we update something in the program based on new changes in the tax law. Although these changes are small and, for the most part inconsequential, they still render previous printings as being virtually obsolete. Even though we send out a list of all changes at the end of the year, it still seems unethical to send someone an old set of books. Regardless, our policy is to destroy books, and not sale previously sold materials as new.

On every order page there is a link to our Terms and Conditions (www.universalaccounting.com/products/
terms-and-conditions.html). For instance in our catalog (www.universal-accounting-center.com/catalog/) you'll see a link for Shipping and Returns that then links to the returns website. Another way to find them is to google something like Universal Accounting return procedures and you'll have several pages of links. By the way, the links above may not work depending your browser. If you want to take a look at them you may have to copy and paste them to get your browser to see them.

Also, with every course a student receives a glossy 8.5X11 certificate displaying the Company's guarantee, and prominently centered in 14 font large print on the front of the certificate are the words To return your course materials, go to www.universalaccounting.com/return_procedures. You would have received one with your PB course and one with your PTP course. We're certainly not trying to hide it.

Just to wrap up this rather lengthy reply, let's remember that you originally purchased our program in July to get out of financial hard times. On August 15th you wrote Courtney, The program is great. I actually read up and answer all the exercises first before I start viewing the video. It's just a recap of what's already discussed in the modules and one time I fell asleep with Allen Bostrom's voice droning in the background. No pun, he's very good, it's just that I sleep very little and watch the video in bed on my laptop. I should be able to finish on time, at the most 8 wks. I don't know what happened since then, but I trust your decision to return the course was driven primarily by financial hardships that have made the bad situation worse.

The ironic part is that the fourth module, the module that you refused to complete, is the module that could have shown you how to develop and market your practice. Just one client would have earned you, on average, $300 per month much more than your payments to us. A second client would be all gravy for just 2-4 hours each week. You would be on the road to financial recovery and we would not be having this public discussion. It's unfortunate and a loss for both of us.

Sincerely,
Allen Bostrom, CPA
President

Thanks John, appreciate your concern...

Seems the reason that they want you to "complete the course" is so that they will never have to refund any money. This way they can say that you took all their knowledge and are going to benefit by it.

The alleged excuse that you need to see "if it is for you" is the biggest bunch of crap out there. You already know it's not for you and they won't make good. It's a shame.

It is ironic that I have tried to contact Mr. Bostrom by phone 4 times shortly before I returned the modules but each time I dialed Universal Accounting's number, a receptionist would answer, put me on hold and route me over to different CPA representatives voicemails instead of routing my call over to the school owner as I have requested. Except for the receptionist, there was never a time I recalled that I was able to get a live person who could provide some answers to my questions nor did I get any support from anybody during the entire time I was working on these modules. It is sad and rather late that I now hear from him when there is no other recourse for me but to demand for my refund because without the benefit that I hoped the course provide, I just cannot afford to make the monthly payments.

I take exception to what Mr. Bostrom said about the return policy. The emails and letter I got from his people hardly spoke of cooperation. To reverse what he said, it is their way or the highway. According to Bryan, I have to finish Module 4, the Supplemental Packet, and the entire PTP course if not, they will destroy the materials and I will have to be responsible for the entire cost of the programs.

PTP means the Professional Tax Program which is twice as lengthy and complicated as the PB program. This was returned sealed and intact and for Mr. Bostrom to say that he will have to destroy all returned materials because he fears they were opened and re-shrink wrapped demonstrates to me that I will never win an argument with these people. The PTP was sent brand new, never opened, in the original box where it originally came from. I expressed my desire to return these materials immediately (about a month after I received them) after realizing I will not be able to make this a second career unless I go to a traditional school and learn the basics. Additionally, all materials for the PB Course were well taken care of and were free from creases, cigarette smoke, tears, etc. All disks for the PB course were returned in mint condition without any marks or scratches.

I would also like to reiterate my frustration in finding the link for the return process where one requests for the return authorization number. I ask Mr. Bostrom to show me where in www.universalaccounting.com their return process link is located. Courtney sent me a separate website www.universalaccounting.com/returns that at the time of this writing is not accessible from the main universal accounting website.

I realize I am in a lot more trouble than I thought. I refused a second delivery of the materials and is being threatened of collection at this point. The monthly charges Mr. Bostrom makes to my card every month are still current but like I said, I cannot afford to make the payments anymore. I work 2 jobs and subscribed to this hoping I could eventually make it a second career where I can be home with my boys. I was even entertaining the idea of abandoning my main job and concentrate on this business. Alas, some people are more mathematically adept than others and I just did not have what it takes to pull this thing off and turn it into a successful business.

Mr. Bostrom has the products and demands for the entire cost of $2,912.00 as well. I will pay him off just to make this nightmare go away if I have the money, but I don't. Right now, these 2 programs are being funded on 2 credit cards. I am an average American who takes pride in my hard work and does not take anything from anybody. I made a costly mistake that could spell food on the table for my children and a roof over their heads. I am therefore appealing to Mr. Bostrom's humanity and good conscience to reverse the charges and issue my refund.

I regret that Gina is unhappy with her alternatives. We have offered a compromise, and invited her to work with us rather than close the door, but she has unfairly demanded that it's either her way or the highway. I recommend that she reconsider and finish the small amount of work in Module 4 to get a refund for the Professional Bookkeeper Program (I estimate it's about one hour of work).

Gina made several accusations in her rather lengthy dispute that I feel need to be dealt with individually.

Her greatest contention is around the return policy. We go to great lengths to explain the policy and ensure that it's clear prior to the person purchasing the course. When Gina purchased the course, the return policy was clearly stated throughout the Internet sites and a detailed explanation of how to return the course and specifically what is required to return the coursework was required reading before she purchased the course.

Additionally, throughout the purchasing process Gina went through, the return policy was mentioned twice, and there was a link to our returns website on every page providing a clear definition of what is required. On the invoice that Gina received, the return policy was again restated.

The return policy specifically stated that the student must complete the work to qualify, and it does not give a deadline. We wrote the policy this way to make it the most lenient policy in the educational arena. If a person does the work, they will be in the best position to decide it's value.

If we were to copy other educational providers, including universities and colleges, there would be a short viewing period such as ten days, where the student would have to decide on it's value prematurely. Imagine how the university experience would change if they permitted students to decide whether a class was worth the tuition after they completed it?

We do not restock materials that we receive back from students. They are destroyed (not burned, but destroyed). This is done for a number of reasons: we do not feel it's appropriate to resell something as new that was already sold and potentially used by someone else. In the event that someone has inadvertently put something personal in the materials, we do not want it to be shared. We have had students re-shrinkwrap materials before in the hope that it would disguise their use and improve the likelihood of us accepting the return. It would be embarrassing if a student would open a volume that they paid for just to find someone else's printing in it. It's a management decision we have made and in no way reflects a lack of esteem we hold for our products.

Gina accuses us as being a scam because our customer service professionals use their first name only. This is by policy and is for the same reason that Gina chose to use only her first name in the dispute. Most companies suggest that their customer service reps use a fictional telephone name to avoid the possibility that customers will locate their personal contact information and bother them at home. It's even a safety feature to ensure employees are not stalked by admiring customers. However, I feel it's inappropriate to work under an assumed name, so I suggest that they only give out their first or middle name. It's worked out well for us in the past and this is the first time I've seen it called into question.

Finally, Gina made some demeaning remarks about the quality of our training. I can only reply by saying with 26 years in business, and tens of thousands of satisfied students, she is in a very small minority indeed.

In summary, we do and will continue to honor our guarantee. We suggest to Gina that she does the same.

Allen Bostrom, CPA
President