Jefferson Prep Reviews
Jefferson Prep would be less than 1 star if I could rate it.. The founder steals money from people! Do not AT ALL COSTS do business with this company. Heed my warning. If you are a tutorer or a student that needs help, do not work with this company.
My tutor was ok but nothing special.
She was a bit older than I expected. I wanted to work with someone a bit younger; she was a retired professor.
Nice lady, but I didn't want to work with a 60 year old.
We worked through the GRE exam verbal questions.
I wouldn't repeat though.
Chi-Pei
We hired Jefferson Prep tutors to provide SAT tutoring for our daughter and we were quite pleased'
with her improvement on the October SAT. We shall recommend to friends and family. We would
have appreciated more materials, however. They mailed us the SAT guide and some practice exams,
but having more materials would've been nice.
A fine experience overall, however.
John
The owner is Richard Bahar formerly Reza Bahar and lives in Falls Church. He can be found online with a little searching. This company is a scam ripping students off based on the notion that students can ask Mommy and Daddy for money. It is a shame he has resorted these tactics yet again after his run in with the law. Online I read he got caught stealing books from students while in law school and got kicked out. Now stealing money from students again. Just leave us alone !!
I had registered for the English TOEFL course with a Jefferson tutor named Carl and he was helping me for prepare for the writing and speaking portion.
He was a nice man. He teaches at a high school English for many years. We meet
at the public library in Williamsburg area of Brooklyn.
My TOEFL score went up by 7 point which was good.
But i paid $900 for this private course, and my friend paid $800 for her course at
other company, so I say you should not be registering for this course.
So this is what I say: go check prices for someplace for less money.
Maria
We hired Jefferson Prep tutors to provide SAT tutoring for our daughter and we were quite pleased
with her improvement on the October SAT. We shall recommend to friends and family. We would
have appreciated more materials, however. They mailed us the SAT guide and some practice exams,
but having more materials would've been nice. A fine experience overall, however.
After reviewing the comments here, I decided to look at the BBB website about this company, and here is what I found.
Based on the information on the BBB wbsite, it seems that they originally operated in NY probably only in late 2010, with business address as Merry Lane, Jericho, NY 11753, Phone: (888) 533-3773, Website: http://www.jeffersonprep.com. Within a short period of time, three complaints were filed against them (closed in 12/2010, 1/2011, and 5/2011). One was resolved with BBB assistance. Two were NOT resolved because BBB was unable to locate business to process complaint. There is an alert on the BBB website:
Mail sent to the business on 05/19/2011 was
returned by the U.S. Postal Service as
Attempted - Not Known
It seems that in the summer of 2011, they changed their business address to P.O. Box 32361, Arlington, VA 22230 but keep the same phone number and website address. Another complaint was filed against them shortly which was closed in 9/2011. The complaint was resolved but customer not satisfied.
On the BBB website, they are listed under two names "Jefferson Prep" and "Jefferson Prep LLC". "Jefferson Prep" is put under the "Scholastic Prep Courses, Books & Materials" business category. But for whatever the reason, "Jefferson Prep LLC" is put under the "Tax Return Preparation" business category. Why? Who knows. Maybe they try to make it hard for people to search them on BBB.
There should be a lot more people out there who have problems with this company but didn't file a complaint against them with BBB. My conclusion is: this is NOT a company with which you should have any business. Stay away from them. For those who are having problems with them, talk to your bank to get your money back, file a complaint with BBB or even call for help from the media, like 20-20, 7 On Your Side, etc. Let's fight together to put companies like this to the end.
I didn't like my first tutor - but they sent me another one so that was ok.
I would ask for a discount when you sign up however. When I first signed up they said the price was $1100 for the full package, but when i asked for a lower price they said ok.
They advertise the lowest price -- wait for it -- because they're worth it! (the lowest price)
I used to tutor for this company but was so annoyed by their payment policy.
They would make me wait a week before sending me my check.
The old company I used to work for in Boise used to pay me cash after each class I taught, so I thought this company's policy was totally lame. Being a teacher is an important job; I should not have to wait a week for someone to mail me a check after I've tutored.
nice tutor - but waaaaay too expensive. i signed up for some LSAT tutoring and i paid 1,200 for the private course. I later found out my friend found a tutor on the web who charged only 30 per hour. i should have looked around. my tutor was great but i could've saved some money
nice tutor for the english TOEFL iBT. i had registered for the 20 hour package
with a tutor named michael but he couldn't meet at bethesda so they send me someone else who was good.
i liked my GRE tutor (mike) but i did NOT like the price tag. $1000 for 15 hours of tutoring? ouch. come on guys. i was a in a pinch and needed someone to begin asap. but if you have time, shop arround. you can get a tutor for less on craigslist for only like $25 per hour.
They're just a silly group of kids pretending to be a company. They only advertise on Craigslist. I mean, seriously! And they offered a friend of mine a job without checking his qualifications or even seeing his resume.... Lame-O!
Brian, you are absolutely correct. I got their information from the Craigslist. I totally regretted signing up to their class. The kids they sent to teach me don't even know what I know. Absolutely wasting time and money! And they don't want to give me a refund!
Go to your bank and explain service was not as described. You will get a refund.
They hired to tutor a student in French. they agreed to pay me 35 per hour for 30 hour. they never paid the full amount and still owe me 150.00. They never answer the telephone and I think they are a company of 1 or 2 people. I have sent multiple emails and made numerous phone calls and they dont reply.
I know that they charged the student 3000.00 for 30 hours of French lessons and they found me on craigslist and paid me 980.00 and refused to acknowledge that they still owe me 2 hours. I find them completely unprofessional and they have terrible customer service.
I had registered with this company for private tutoring for the MCAT exam. I met with a tutor named Diane over the course of 4 months, and she helped me both with the review of concepts as well as the test taking strategies.
I was pleased with the experience.
My only complaint was with the location. I wanted sessions at my house but I had to drive 4 miles to a library; with traffic that often came to 10+ minutes.
I signed up with Jefferson Prep thinking I would be getting a good deal.
Before started tutoring I had an unexpected expense come up and needed money.
I contacted JP within there 30 day refund window, and was told I would have to send complaint in writing which I did. After not hearing back from them I was told it was too late to recieve my refund.
DO NOT EVEN THINK OF GIVING THEM YOUR MONEY!!!!!
THIS IS A SCAM!!!!!
Update...
I received an email from Jefferson Prep saying they were going to file a lawsuit for defamation!
Complete BS everything I have stated is true, they STOLE money from me, and wont even return my emails or phone calls!
Matt,
I'm also a tutor and your case is very similar to that of mine. I only did get my money back after I came upon a realization that they didn't want to pick up my calls or pay me back. I decided to create a review about the company and my experience and did this by creating the first review here. I emailed them back stating I would do this and they paid me immediately. They later threatned me with defamation but I wasn't worried because the truth is powerful. Evidently theres a lot more of people getting scammed here.
The 5 star Reviews made here are for the most part fakes by Jefferson Prep. Heres their email they sent me. It was meant to scare me from reporting the truth. They never did sue btw because of course they would lose.
By the way, notice the author's name "Gaurav" at the end of this email. He posted a 5 star review here. Completly fake to make the company look better.
----------------------------------------------------------------
December 19, 2011
It is clear that your intransigence in this matter is a calculated, concerted attempt to permanently damage the corporate reputation of Jefferson Prep LLC.
We will contact our local counsel in Miami and authorize him to immediately file a suit for
defamation against you. Our goal will be to recover damages not to exceed $5,000 for
compensatory damages, a presently unknown sum for punitive damages, and a firm judicial injunction against future defamation- all of which we intend to post on our website and on other websites to prove that we have been the victim of a serial defamer.
Send us the name of your legal counsel so that we can contact them directly henceforth.
Sincerely,
Gaurav
Jefferson Prep
Tel: 1.888.Jeff.Prep | 1.888.533.3773
Email: info@jeffersonprep.com
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I replied I hope I see you in court because I can't reach you by phone. Hope I helped you a bit and hopefully you recieve the money you earned.
Does JP have a 30 day refund window? Where did they specify it? I start to feel something is wrong with them too. So I want to cancel it and get my money back. But when I looked at their website, they have this"
"Jefferson Prep LLC does not offer refunds under any circumstances whatsoever. Jefferson Prep LLC does offer tutoring credits for unused hours, and these credit hours can be used for any educational service which Jefferson Prep provides, and in any city in which Jefferson Prep LLC provides instructors. The tutoring credit shall expire six (6) months after the time of registration."
Can someone suggest what I can do to get my money back?
If you paid via paypal, chargeback. If you paid via credit card/debit card, go to your bank and tell them you made a mistake, have not used their service.
Too expensive - paid $50 an hour for LSAT Tutor. Wouldn't do again. I could have worked with someone else for less.
I used this company for private GRE tutoring and my score improved considerably. It was a bit expensive; but worth it. I didn't like my first tutor and they assigned me a replacement tutor; that was appreciated.
Steven
I had private tutoring with Kit minden, who is a Jefferson Prep tutor. She was fantastic. She helped me improve significantly, and I was admitted to the MBA program at Dartmouth business school. I couldn't have done it without Kit!
Thank you.
The poster above works and is owner of Jefferson Prep. Look the name "Gaurav" up. What a scam. He just made this comment to improve the ratings here...
By far the worst customer service I've ever received. Its a scam. They have nice people picking up the phone and luring you into signing up, but the tutors are simply "study-buddies". They are not familiar with the updated versions of the exam and try to teach you things that are outdated.
On top of that, their "corporate office", if you can call the three guys that work in their office that answer the phones, are complete jerks. When they want your money, they are great. As soon as they get the money, and you need some sort of assistance, they refuse to speak with you, and ask you to email them all the complaints.
I have contacted Better Business Bureau to suspend the scam.
