This School has not fulfilled its obligation to me in regards to the contract that I signed where I would receive my books and needed help in a good timely fashion. I am currently waiting for books that I should have had 4 weeks ago. I have not received a response to any of the last 4 emails that I have sent to 3 ladies that are at the school.

TechSkills also was unable to fulfill their obligation to a vocational Externship that I was to complete. I signed a contract for the vocational portion in October. I started going to school 12 hours a week and once I completed my medical terminology course I was to complete an externship where I was to work in a medical facility for 120 hours. In order to complete this I was to take time off from my then employer Wachovia Bank. It turned out that I was out on Short term disability from having surgery. I instructed the vocational director around December 2nd to let her know when I would be able to complete this externship. My former instructor let me know that she did not make any phone calls until Dec 23rd when I came in for my 2 certifications. I waited for several weeks and I finally had to let the vocational director know that I was going to be returning to work Jan 26th and would not be able to take any more time off from work. I had to take an incomplete for this course since TechSkills could not line up an externship during the timeframe of Dec. 19th thru Jan 26th

Also this past October the management staff made a decision where they felt that they did not need the instructors to be full time. TechSkills placed all but one instructor on part time status and took away their benefits. Most of the instructors that were there when I first started are no longer there which includes my former Instructor who had to leave, since she needed to work full time and needed health benefits. My former instructor really cared about her students but after she left us, the medical students were left with no one that we could really call on for any help or guidance. They finally gave us contact information from someone at the Charlotte campus but they were not at school on the nights that I attended that often.

I would not recommend TechSkills so long as things stay as they are. When you pay or go into debt thousands and commit months of your life to something, you expect to get more than a stack of books and written worksheets and tests.

I have to say that if anyone is going to take a coding course do it in a "real" class setting. Not one where worksheets and over priced books are your teachers. This was definitely something I could of done online and a lot cheaper.

I took on the course and was sold a $8000. package this was a career change opportunity i took on. i was sold the oracle 9i program and was not told that the 10g is due for release I was misdirected and spent not just $8000.00 but for the exams as well. i put in as much time as i could but had similar issues as far at the teachers were concerned because they were too busy getting them selves certified and had very little time for students. phone of the teachers had very poor people skills and unless you were a female would talk to you in a very demeaning manner and was a very big hindrance.

so not only did I get put onto a course that was being replaced by 10g, upon asking i was never offered the current course, I was expected to put more and more time, to complete the full 9i course which was redundant.

I had bills to pay and out of a job putting into the course all I can. I was given same misleading information as far as the job pay grade.

I put time into the program. I had a family situation for which I had to leave town, I gave notice and let the teacher know, I was given the cold shoulder on many occasions even by the director as far as my progress and my career and training to excel to the next level as my membership was not extended and I left with certifications for an out dated 9i application. he never returned my call.

in the end I took on a job that can pay the bills but i am very upset because I paid for a product and was taken advantage of and steered in the wrong direction

Now that I have got myself sorted out I would like to get back to this unfinished business and take back what is rightfully mine.

i would appreciate some assistance in regards to this matter my email is [email protected].

1 what are my options how should i persue this matter
2 where do i stand from a legal stand point of view.
3 have others been succesful in retreiving money from this school.

I was given a one-time opportunity by the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance (TBWA) to re-train for an in-demand career after being laid off from my job of over 6 years. I selected database administration as the course of study, and TechSkills as the institution to learn based on their persuasive on-line information

The promotional information doesn't describe the actual learning environment. They advertise classes, of which there are none. They offer one-on-one instruction from certified pros which I took to mean a lot of personal one-on-one interaction during the learning process and available to me at all times (which I knew I would need), but which turns out to happen only when a student has a question and is fortunate enough to find an instructor who knows the answer and who isn't busy with another student with a million questions. As this is a very technical, involved course, I also had many questions.

Since there was only one instructor who specializes in the program I was studying, Oracle9i, and he is only there on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 5pm to 8pm and every other Saturday, he was in great demand and I felt very bad about bothering him, as I know he also has administrative duties he must attend to. They have since added another person who knows a bit about the Oracle 9i database, which is a good thing, but it was too late for me.

I wasn't able to keep up on my own, which I virtually was, not having the resources promised. I felt like I went through the one-hour orientation, was handed the books, and pretty much set free to sink or swim. I was told I could ask questions whenever I wanted, but as mentioned above, finding someone who knew the answer was another story. They also said I could e-mail the particular instructor with a question, but I found an answer would not be forthcoming in a timely manner. This is an intense, condensed, accelerated course, and when a question needs to be answered before moving on, the question needs to be answered. It can't wait until the instructor gets to the school to open his e-mail, especially when he is only there 3 hours in the evening twice a week, and every other Saturday.

When I asked about the intense small group sessions, I was told they used to try to hold them, but not a lot of people showed up so they stopped. I would have shown up if they'd been made available to me, which they should have been.

The Oracle textbooks issued to me were supposed to come with a CD containing computer-based practice files which could be installed on my home computer, but there were no CDs.

One of the labs for Oracle9i was supposed to cover the use of the Oracle Universal Installer to install Oracle9i. This requires 3 CDs to complete, but disk No. 2 is missing from the school. I went as far as I could, through disk No. 1, and had to stop there. I guess the school considered my attempt at this lab complete, but I didn't.

When I went to the school to see what we could do about canceling the rest of my contract with them (the contract is for a total of 360 days) and getting a refund for the rest so I could cut my losses and try to salvage some of the money to attend a school that actually teaches what it says it teaches, I was told the Cancellation and Refund Policy issued to me doesn't apply, as TechSkills contract is with the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance and not me, and that none of the money is refundable.

The Alliance gave TechSkills $3, 000 to teach me Oracle9i in the manner they advertised they would teach me. If I had been aware a different set of Cancellation and Refund policy rules was actually in effect, not the one I was issued, I would have cancelled sooner as I gradually came to realize they weren't going to provide what they said they were going to provide. I certainly wouldn't have jeopardized TBWA's money so cavalierly, nor my own one-time offer of the much appreciated and much needed scholarship money.

This is not a sore loser letter. If I had gone into this association aware of what was actually going to be (or not going to be) provided, and failed.then, too bad for me. I've failed before, and will surely fail again before my life is over. I honestly felt I was lucky to find this institution that would provide the intense, comprehensive, accelerated, course of study I desired and required to prepare myself for the new career I've been forced to seek. I just wish they'd held up their end of the bargain and given me the actual Cancellation and Refund Policy to which I would be bound.

When I asked the director of the Tampa campus, Mike Smith, if all of TechSkills campuses were managed in the same manner as the Tampa campus, he said they were. I wonder if Mr. Jeff Miller, a Regional Manager for TechSkills, and any of his superiors, will collaborate that answer.

I don't think any of these things were done (or not done) with malice; it may simply be a matter of management becoming complacent and gradually letting their standards slip until they lost sight of how these oversights and omissions were affecting their students, but the consequence for me is still the same. I didn't get the education I contracted for, and now I, and the TBWA, are out a very precious $3, 000 of educational money now safely in TechSkills coffers and no longer available to me.

I certainly would like to hear from The Commission for Independent Education and from Mr. Jeff Miller and any of the officers of TechSkills. I understand for any business, the bottom line is making money, but making money at the expense of trusting students not given the facts up front is at best reprehensible, at worst, criminal.

If anyone thinks I'm alone in my dissatisfaction and disillusionment with the method of TechSkills bait-and-switch operation, simply type in TechSkills complaints in your Google address bar and take your pick from the many sad stories of trusting, then bilked, consumers

In my first initial meeting with the one of the schools "sales" people, he told me that medical coding was the "hot thing". That if I took their course I would be working and making lots of "money" before long. I was showed paper clippings, him trying to convince me that I would be in high demand when this was seen on my resume. That Techskills was a school held in high regard when it came to coding courses. That they had a job counselor on staff that would help me find a job.

Well I bit, hook line and sinker. $7000 later, 6 months out of school and I can't even get an interview. No one is impressed. Matter of fact, I have been advised that a CCA certification is nothing. If I want to work in the coding field I need at least 2 more certifications. I tried to get help with the so called "Career Forge" they offer and got a big fat nothing. I e-mailed, called and ask for her to send me job postings which she said she would do and I NEVER heard a word from her, well only for her to ask for my resume every time I contacted her. After 3x of that bologny I said to heck with it. I don't know if my resume was being trashed or what was going on but I never, not one time received help from this school after I finished.

I have to say that if anyone is going to take a coding course do it in a "real" class setting. Not one where worksheets and over priced books are your teachers. This was definitely something I could of done online and alot cheaper.

So here I am still unemployed with no chance of working to retrieve the $7000 I blew on this school, well not in the field I had hoped to be in at this point. I understand the mall is hiring, nothing like a couple of minimum paying jobs to pay off the ole' student loan.

My advice to you, when searching for a school that really cares about you and your future. Don't listen to high pressure sales tactics so that guy can get his bonus for signing you up. Really know what you want to do when interring these schools and last but certainly not least, make sure when they tell you they have people that will work for you to help you find a job, make them back it up with proof, I should have, this has been a very expensive and not very funny joke.

Techskils is a cram course that is not setup well at all. They use many different computer based training tools and text books to teach you your subject of interest. The problem is the way it all jumps around between the text books, CBT and if you are lucky you can get the attention of one of the instructors at the campus and he/she will tell you to hurry through the subject matter fast and don't worry about trying to pick up everything.

One thing to make sure of before you even start after going through one of the sales people (they call them counselors) is you understand that this company is in the business of selling you your dream of learning your subject of interest as they will tell you what you what to hear.

Should you change your mind after enrollment and after paying in full for another course that cost less, it will be very difficult to get them to honor their policy of a 60 refund. Plus their whole attitude toward you will change and get nasty as they vilify you for changing your mind!

I had a not so good looking cigarette smoking woman who is very repulsive try and use her sexuality, barf!

So be careful when dealing with this company, lucky for me I did use Sallie Mae and they are going to help me retrieve my refund after more than 100 days! This is a step I should not have to go through if this company was honest and interested in you!