Molly Catchpole

Hello everyone, I am having some issues with the eCareers Web Design course bought through Groupon for £99 a couple of weeks ago, (September 2012). I just happened to notice your forum on Google. I signed up to it specifically to add my findings to your discussion and for no other reason than to be of information to those interested in reading it, as follows: I signed up for the course because I thought it would be good grounding for a change of career direction. I’m a complete novice at this stuff but on reading their course description and web page I felt confident that I would be taught all I need to know from the beginning. So it seemed too good to miss a £99 Groupon offer. All seemed to go smoothly until a technical hitch signing in with the password they sent me. After some messing about, this was corrected by them. Their links didn't work properly. When I got there, I was confronted with a pile of course material in no specific order and with no introduction. So, believing this to be a 'from scratch' course, I started with the topic at the top of the list, 'Action Script 2.0'. I discovered that this was instructional material for those familiar with Action Script 1.0. No use to me whatsoever - didn't have a clue what it was going on about. I looked for some course guidance material. There was none. Barring one or two, the course titles were alien to me and I didn't have a clue where I was supposed to start, so I went to their ‘support line’ for some assistance. The person at the other end was actually of precious little help at all. I asked about course guidance material. The operator seemed to have no idea what I was asking and there was no direct response to the question. I gathered from this that there actually wasn’t any course guidance material. All I got was "Start with Photoshop and Dreamweaver and then go on to CIW foundation. You can do whatever courses you like". Then, apparently, when I have completed 70% of the entire course, they would send me my certificate. There it ended, that was it . . . their level of tutorage, guidance and support! Would this be the ACA certificate, as indicated on their web page, I asked? Apparently not, it seems it’s just one they give you that tells you that you’ve done 70% of the course. I would have to book a further ACA exam myself with the appropriate authority and pay the required fee, (about £100). I asked several times for the actual point of their certificate and why their web page suggests that there’s an ACA cert at the end of the course. They failed to answer. They then terminated the conversation. I’m getting pretty miffed by this stage. Still, I ploughed on and selected my Photoshop course as suggested. Pretty simple with their interactive programming I thought. By way of practical exercise, I was tasked with performing the actions learned in the previous lesson. At the same time, I was told that I would need the appropriate software to enable me to do this. I looked for it and couldn’t find any. Eh? What's the point in not even providing sufficient material to perform the required tasks properly? I went to the online helper. I was told that if I needed to rehearse, I would need to download the necessary software from Adobe and sent me the URL. Rehearse? You mean revise and study don't you? So, off I went to Adobe. How am I supposed to complete a course as big as this on 30-day trial software? What happens at the end when I need to revise for the indicated ACA Certificate? The answer is of course, that I would have to buy the software at vast expense from Adobe. eCareers should surely provide all course material that lasts the duration of the course to enable you to complete it as required . . . . Shouldn’t they? THEN go out and buy if you need to. I asked the on-line helper for more help. I was now REALLY stumbling around in the dark trying to make head or tail of what was going on. I was still awaiting answers to some of my questions. I asked about Student ID for reduced cost software through Adobe. Bizarrely, the operator told me that I was to use my e-mail address. I explained, (though I couldn’t see why I should have to), that Adobe would not of course accept my e-mail address as proof of studentship. After a good period of silence, I was advised to e-mail those at info@ecareers.com. My email to them was returned because this address didn't exist. So went to their support link instead and indicated my issues together with questions about student ID. They sent me an automated ticket numbered email in response. As they did with the three other e-mails I subsequently sent them. It’s been nine days now and they still have not responded with any answers. Bad manners at best! In summary as I see it: No course introduction or guidance material Poor help and assistance Insufficient course material/software provided to complete assigned tasks. No ability to revise and study for the course duration without potentially vast software costs. No apparent access to student discounts on the required software anyway. No ACA certificate. A meaningless course certificate. Potential additional exam fees. I have lost confidence in this course and that it will fulfil its promised objectives. I’m about to try and get a refund but, judging by some other contributors to this forum, that may not be an easy task. These are my own personal experiences with eCareers and their Web Design Mega Pack course. I do not speak for anyone else and write this here only for the information of this forum’s readers and contributors. Make of it what you will.