Sylvan Learning Centers

Cathy of Sergeant Bluff , IA March 1, 2010

I signed my daughter up for Sylvan Learning Center in Sioux City Iowa on 7/28/09. My mother took out a loan to pay her tuition with thier loan company Your Tuition Solution-Springstone Financial in Southborough MA 1-800-920-9777. Frank Brown the Center Director from Omaha was who tested my daughter Bailey and said she would need 144-168 hours of tutoring. He said if we paid for 100-143 hours up front we would get a discount to only pay 40.50 per hr. He also stated if she doesn't pass the Sylvan Skills assesment after 36 hours of instruction they would guarantee me 12 free hours. Bailey did not pass so he said he would give her 12 hours. bailey was to be working on Reading and math which she has only worked on word analysis, vocabulary and comprehension but not math skills. My mother Donna Wetrosky had taken the loan out for 5000.00 acct # 5003116044 which I make the payments on. Bailey has gone to Sylvan for a total of 59 1/2 hours @ 40.50 for 2409.75 he owed us 12 hours 486.00 2409.75-486 so our total we owe would be 1,923.75

Sylvan closed in Sioux City without anyone telling us until 1 weeks after it closed but of course we seen it on the news first. I have made 7 payments of 157.17 to the bank on this loan so far for a total of 1100.19. We owe 823.56 which I don't think we should have to pay because of what happened but am willing to. But no more then that. I received a letter from the owner of Sylvan Dianna Rich her phone # is 402-334-9449 on Jan 27th stating that they did indeed close and that we could drive to Omaha,Sioux Falls, Spencer or Norfolk or do Sylvan online. We wouldn't be able to drive to any of those places after my daughter was out of school for they day because it would be over 1 hour drive one way to get to them and we will not do Sylvan on-line since she is in need of instruction by a one on one setting with a teacher.

I contacted Dianna Rich on 1/29/10 and left a message to have her contact the bank to cancel the remander of the loan. She did not contact me back. I contacted Frank on 02/01/10 and he said he would call the bank and take care of it and call me back but never did. I contacted Dianna Rich today 2/2/10 and she said they would have to go through all the account to see what they owed and it will take some time. I need your help to resolve this matter. I don't feel it is our responsibilty to continue to pay on this when they closed up and the services are no longer there for her to attend.

Lisa of Bellevue, WA February 25, 2010

I trained to work at Sylvan for a part-time job. I am an experienced teacher with an M.Ed. After a few weeks there, I decided that their program does not provide a quality experience for the students and parents could spend less money and get better results simply by hiring a 1-to-1 tutor for their child. Because Sylvan makes money by enrolling as many students as possible (and underpaying teachers), their set-up is usually about 3 students per 1 teacher at a table. Since all of the students are at different levels, it is virtually impossible to deliver good instruction.

Sylvan tries to promote the 3:1 ratio as optimal (for a combination of independent and guided practice, supposedly leading to a better transition to whole class experiences), but this is simply not true. To accomodate everyone, I was jumping from student to student, all of whom needed more intervention than I was giving. A lot of the assignments were too easy or very boring, which is why Sylvan has us recycle the work rather than share it with parents. A lot of it is just worksheet,book practice, and simple strategies you can get at any educational materials store or from a classroom teacher.

The curriculum is not updated and they have virtually no technology experiences available for the students. I would advise any parent considering Sylvan to find a good personal tutor for your child who makes no promises but shows you exactly what they are doing with your child. Also, invest in educational software or suscriptions to websites that will provide an interesting game format to reinforce skills (rather than the dull worksheets they'll do at Sylvan). Your child deserves better and you definitely don't get what you pay for by bringing your child to Sylvan. As a caring educator, I was really dismayed to realize that the Sylvan bottom line is, quite simply, profit.

Sandra of SC, SC February 24, 2010

Didn't have that experience. I am sorry for expereinces, but I thank eachand everyone of you for sharing so that families like mine will not deal with this company and get our children caught up in the hassles of Sylvan. I am looking for someone to help my son with his reading and comprehension skills. I guess at the end of the day with time, dedication, and patience we parents can only rely on ourselves to help our children. Again, thanks to each of you and I am sorry for the problems you faced, but you all saved me money and the headache of dealing with a company that will leave my son in shambles.

MARIA of Slidell, LA February 23, 2010

After we paid our account in full, we continued to receive statements from Sylvan. We would have to call and wait for Beth, the director, to call us back because they NEVER answer their phones. We were advised on numerous occasions that their record reflected our bill was paid in full and that they would take care of the mistake.

Today we received a COLLECTION letter. Now we are going to have to hire an attorney so that our credit is not affected by Sylvan's inefficiency. We would NEVER recommend this organization to anyone. We will need to hire an attorney.

Prathy of Houston, TX February 13, 2010

I consulted them about tutoring for my daughter who is in fifth grade. When I had asked for references for the services, they said they could not provide references. She was assessed. They estimated that she would need about 100 hours of tutoring in math to get to grade level. They have given a no risk policy of 12 hours or within 4 weeks. I have this document.

During the 4 weeks, I asked my daughter about the work that was being done. She said she was doing a lot of work that she had already mastered. I notified them in email that I was removing my daughter within the 4 weeks she began with them. They would not offer the no risk policy. They said the policy was only effective within the first 12 hours. This contradicts the letter which I received with the contract.

Additionally, when I tried to speak with the owner about my concern, I did not get any response. Sylvan also had not contacted my daughter's teacher during those 4 weeks about where they could focus they tutoring. I lost 750 in tutoring fees and 200 in assesment and registration fees.

Gina of Hinton, IA February 1, 2010

I gave the Sioux City Sylvan facility 2500 to start my child in December 2009. I received a letter stating they are closing immediately. No one will return my phone calls - I'm just out my money? What happened to the Sylvan Guarantee -- there is none. I am ashamed of myself for allowing them to talk me into helping my son. I want my money back -- I believe my son only received 12 hours of instruction. I have tried to reach everyone/every sylvan facility looking for help. I am receiving nothing / no answers.

Kelly of Saint Joseph, MO January 4, 2010

We had our grandson evaluated in Math Dec 2009 with a promise Sylvan would help to get his skills upto where they needed to be. Jack (owner) gave us the long sales speech about how long they had been in Saint Joseph and what they could do for us. We decided to committ. Then after 4 weeks of weekly visits we received a notice in the mail telling us they had closed. No one bothered to sit down with us to discuss his progress and options to go forward. I have sent emails asking to discuss over the phone and received emails telling me that only emails will be answered. Is this how SYLVAN does buisness???

virginia of chiloquin, OR September 3, 2009

i signed my son Jacob up with sylvan in medford, oregon in 2006. i'm sorry i cannot be more specific at this point because i lost over half my household contents when family moved me to a smaller house, and my sylvan info. was probably thrown out; i was in the hospital at the time and knew nothing of the move. I took out an "education" loan, low interest, i thought. It turned out to be sally may, the interest was VARIABLE, and their loan officers very difficult to work with.

i drove 2x week from chiloquin to medford, oregon at great hardship to Jake and i. When there was no noticable improvement for jake, we had to quit the sylvan learning for my dysgraphic son. rather than help his problem, they only reviewed subjects that he had done two years before. they still have the 400.00 refund. it was to be paid us in further class time hours. at one point they talked about putting the money in the loan at sallie mae, but that never happened.

i cannot describe the emotional side--anger, frustration, heartache for my son jake. Driving 200 miles round trip for nothing, fighting to find enough gas, fix flat tires, eat at the 1.00 menu. Economical--a rolling disaster. I have a 4,000 loan which since 05-06 has grown to 6700+ with usurious interest. i still can't remedy a late fee of 20 for the last 10 months because nothing gets done when i talk to the Sallie Mae representatives.

i thought i was getting a 2% fixed educational loan and instead got a 15% variable loan, over 2600 added to my loan, 200 in late fees--AND NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT! I ONLY WANTED SOME HELP FOR MY DISGRAPHIC SON. we both feel cheated. shell-shock continues, as a disabled widow i don't know how to pay off a loan that swells with interest. is there no help?

Harkins of Flushing, NY July 17, 2009

Promised Individual 1:1 Writing LESSONS for my 6th Grade Son going into 7th Grade and Phonics/Reading for my son Kindergarten going into 1st grade/!st session only was only 1 on one and then the next 11 sessions different teacher each time/3-4 children in each group all enrolled for different subjects ranging from pre k to 6th grade/My children were only receiving 10-15 minutes of fragmented lessons with total noise and commotion during the lessons/Each session was another excuse/shortage of staff etc..../they even matched my 6yr old and 11yr old in the same group with children with ADHD etc../I paid by check initially for 40 yr program for each of my children at the rate of 68.00/per session x 2 children = 136.00 3xweek/ Jassica told me that if I wanted better to give her 90.00 /per child/I have been asking for a transfer to the Sylvan Learning Center in Mineola which appears to be functioning better and appears to meet our expectations but was told by Jassica that she would have to fill out paper work that would take 8-10 weeks which would cause my children to miss Summer Enhancement Classes/Jassica lee the Director in Flushing stated she could make a deal with me and pay the 50.00per hour x 2 for the remaining 29 hrs each child and she would keep the rest/when I refused and told her that She cashd my check in full and that I wanted to contact her Corporate Office she could not remember the number or names of her Superiors/I told her that if I did not receive a satisfactory response that I would contact the Queens District Attorney Office/Better Business Office unless I received the money to register my Children in Mineola /2 slots are open but I do not have 5000.00 available to give again/Please help as soon as possible so that my children are not penalized any further

Melissa of Pikeville, NC June 8, 2009

I visited Sylvan Learning Center on June 04,2009 and spoke with Ms. Alves about enrolling my 11 year old son into the summer program to help him with his Math and testing skills. She went through the program with me, letting me know how they work with children, the assesment, testing, and so on. She then told me the fee for the assesment testing of 95.00, for which I would have to give 50.00 deposit that day. We set up a testing time of Thursday, June 11th at 9:30 am for my son to start his testing, and the balance of the deposit for 45.00 would be due on that day. I did not sign any contracts, no paperwork was given to me advising of payment schedules, non-refundable fees, she did not speak of no refunds, she only stated the hourly fee of 48.00 per hour.

I presented her with a check for 50.00 as a deposit and left. After speaking with my husband and we figured out the monthly fee for tutoring of 48.00 per hour at 10 hours per week, just to start, the hours can be as many as 12 hours per week, the monthly fee is 1,920.00. This is more than what we make in a month in our household. We absolutely can not afford this! I called Ms. Alves this afternoon, June 08th at 1:41 pm and explained the situation to her and asked for a refund of the 50.00 deposit. She advised me that it was a non-refundable fee and we could not receive it back, that we could still bring our son in to be tested and then let it go at that.

I told her she never advised me that the deposit was non-refundable, and that I also never signed any contracts or paperwork stating or agreeing to this. She stated that they do not have contracts nor are they obligated to advise customers that the deposit is non-refundable. She stated that the spot was held for our son when they could have used it for someone else. I told her they would not have had a problem filling that spot, since the calendar was not even full at the time of our meeting, and she had mentioned at the same time that the summer session was receiving a lot of attention. She simply stated that we would not receive our deposit back and she hung up.

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