My husband and I signed up to take a real estate salesperson's course over a weekend in February. We specifically selected that date because the course was being held in Plymouth, MA, just 20 minutes and an easy ride from our house. We showed up 15 minutes prior to course start time on Saturday morning, went into the hotel where it was supposed to be held, and asked at the front desk where to go, since there were no signs in the lobby indicating where the room was. They said they had no event for the Lee Institute scheduled at the hotel, and that someone had come in a few minutes earlier looking for the same class. We went back to the car and I called Rich, the guy in charge, on my cell phone. He picked up and said that the course was about to start--in Brookline. He said that due to low registration the Plymouth course had been moved to Brookline. The person we talked to said that we were welcome to drive to Brookline and join the class in progress....well, the state mandates 24 hours, and there was no way we were making it to Brookline from Plymouth in less than an hour and a half...then once we got there we'd have to try to figure out what was going on after missing the entire first 90 minutes? So we declined the offer. He said that we could call Monday about rescheduling or getting a refund.
Monday morning I called. My husband and I decided to get a refund and take the course somewhere else--not wanting to chance a cancelled class again. When I requested that he refund us the $540 we'd spent for both of us to go, Rich asked if we had received any textbooks in the mail, and I said no, we'd only signed up for the class online on Thursday and nothing had been mailed to us. Again, I said I would like the money refunded to my credit card. He chose his words carefully as he said "I will look into putting the money back on your card." I had an inkling that we were in for a fight. We gave him 2 weeks and still, no refund. We contested the charge on our credit card and received confirmation from our card a few months later that the charges had been reversed.
Now, over 3 months later, Rich leaves a voice mail on our phone saying he received a charge from our credit card company and he has no idea why we are trying to reverse the charges on a real estate course that we ALREADY COMPLETED!!! Now, I have to imagine if one completes a real estate course, something must be filed with the state from the school indicating that the individual is eligible to take the licensing exam...so obviously since we never even took the course, that never happened....so either Rich is pulling a fast one or Lee Institute has some sketchy record keeping and is compromising the legitimacy of the real estate licensing process. Either way, stay away from Lee Institute and find a legitimate business to deal with for your class!
update: We disputed the charge on our credit card, and now Rich has supplied them with FORGED documents, including registration forms that somehow we filled out and signed, even though we NEVER went to the school or had any in person contact with ANYONE from Lee Institute. Absolutely unbelievable! Stay away from these criminals!
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