Actually, they
ARE on your website. (Here's the
link if you need help).
Examkrackers maintains the following refund policy on enrollments in our courses.
Refund Policy: $300 of the course price is immediately nonrefundable under any circumstances. A prorated portion of the remaining balance will be refunded based upon the day written notification is received by Examkrackers at the main office at 2143 Wilderness Court Lexington, KY 40509. The amount of refund shall be based upon the course price less $300. This amount shall be prorated daily over a 28 consecutive day period beginning with the date of the first simulated exam as scheduled by Examkrackers. No refund shall be given beyond 28 days after the first day of the course. This policy shall be adhered to whether or not student attends class or takes an exam.
Judging by a
calendar on your site, if I were to attend the first class, decide I was unhappy and want a refund, I would already be out about $700.
$2000-$300=$1700
$1700/28=$60ish
Day 1: Take practice exam (-$300 + $60)
Day 2: Nothing (-$60)
Day 3: Nothing (-$60)
Day 4: Nothing (-$60)
Day 5: Take FIRST class (-$60)
Day 6: Send letter OVERNIGHT to Lexington, KY (-$60)
Day 7: Receive a maximum refund of $1340
hmmm.
hackintosh (nice handle, btw),
I've been teaching for EK since 2003, after taking the MCAT twice and scoring in the 30s both times, just by using the materials (I don't know if we had courses where I went to school back then) and I liked the materials and method so much that I called EK up and asked if they had classes and if I could teach for them, and I've been teaching for them ever since.
EK is fundamentally different from the other courses, and while we try to learn from our experiences and from other companies' experiences, we're not trying to be those other courses. That includes giving a money-back guarantee (which might seem counter-intuitive to you). As another commenter pointed out (less tactfully than I would as an employee of EK), you're free to go with another company should you feel that that guarantee is better than anything we offer. If you're convinced you're better off with them, well, you don't work for us and have no obligation to improve our company, so look out for yourself and go with their programs. But I have to tell you that a money back guarantee is a gimmick.
I've tutored a lot of people and even in one-on-one tutoring, I can only know so much about what's going on in my student's head and what he/she does at home to practice. I try my best to teach my students exactly how I studied, exactly how I think when taking a test, exactly what my attitude is toward the test, and I tell them that if they do the same and have the same standards and work ethic, they can expect to get the same scores - and even so, I point out that if their undergrad grades weren't as good as mine, if they didn't understand concepts back then (rather than just memorizing), then they can expect to take longer to get to that point.
When students say to me, "I'm studying hard but my scores aren't going up," I don't know what to say to them. How can I know if they're actually studying hard, if they're distracted by other things as they study, how many hours they put in, how much they work to develop the right attitude, whether they challenge themselves to change their understanding/approach/etc. rather than repeating the same mistakes? I can just explain things as well as I can and remember that the real work has to be done by you. I work my butt off as an instructor and have gotten better and better every year that I've taught and challenge my students to work harder than me in studying. If a student of mine says he didn't improve and wants his money back, that's like saying I failed him, that if he didn't improve, I did something wrong. Granted, I can always improve in my ability to convey information, but the fact is that I've proven myself on the MCAT multiple times, I've helped hundreds of students score well, and our books are excellent (just read the Amazon reviews or ask people who've successfully taken the MCAT and gotten into med school). All the resources we provide are excellent and any student who fails to succeed while using them must analyze his/her methods.
That may sound well, however to you, but that's just how much confidence I have in our methods. I never even took the course, never studied more than 5 weeks for the test, never took diagnostic exams, and scored 37 on the test. The materials can't be beat and the course is provided just to help students with examples, perspectives and structure. Our course and materials have proven themselves many times over and we don't need a guarantee to prove them. There are claims and gimmicks we are not going to make. We're not big enough to say we've helped more people on their MCAT than any other company. But, then again, no one can claim to have fed as many people as McDonald's. That speaks only to quantity, not quality. We don't have stats either on how much people improve. Everything depends on the student and how willing he/she is to work. I went up from a 33 to a 37 in five weeks of study using just EK materials, so such improvement is possible, but it's not guaranteed.
Sorry to have written so much. I just wonder why students so consistently focus on guarantees instead of results. A money back guarantee would be little comfort in the event of a poor score (also, you should check on the details. My understanding in the past was that so much was required of the student to qualify for that guarantee that burnout was a more likely result than success). I've talked to and taught enough students to know first hand what our reputation is amongst test prep companies, and have taught enough former Kaplan/TPR students to know where we stand in terms of quality. Ask around. And if you hear from others that you're better off with Kaplan/TPR, then I won't fault you for doing what you feel is best for you. We stake our success on our reputation, and it's pretty stellar. I have confidence that your doing what's in your best interest and in ours are one and the same.
Take care and best of luck!
