TestMasters

SOOO unhappy that I chose to throw away $ 1500 for a full LSAT course with TestMasters! Note to self: NEVER sign a contract that is a page and a half long that restates over and over that once you give them their money, it is ALL theirs for any reason. I will never do that again. They are super customer unfriendly and all their employees give lawyers a bad reputation. Not all their instructors are good (as was mine) and they only give you an option to try another course for the same test quarter. If you have schedule conflicts that prevent you from doing this, they do not care. Just so you know, all you do during class time is take turns reading from the texts that they give you. Either save your money and research smart ways to prepare for the LSAT or find companies who offer customer satisfaction. I know there are several out there that let you retake the course for free and/​or are just more concerned about their customers. Bottom line: I think they are a very crooked company.

I am currently taking Testmasters Spring Berkeley course for the GREs. I was extremely excited to take the course after positive reviews from a close friend but am now finding myself in a situation where the company, Testmasters, has not been willing to address a few of my concerns that have come up.
My concerns are as follows: The math portion of the course is taught by a current third year undergrad who is new to GREs. I am sure he is competent and intelligent as any instructor would be, however, he does not have the level of experience I was hoping a GRE instructor to have. It wasn’t very reassuring that he joked of having his first encounter with the GRE’s the Wednesday prior to our course. When asked about an overview of the course/​course trajectory, he was unable to give any idea as to what we should be doing in the next 8 weeks because he himself was unsure and had not been fully informed.
I’m not difficult to please and have always been happy with the instructors provided by other test prep companies I have gone through (Princeton Review). Now that I feel less than comfortable with the Testmaster’s math instructor, I was hoping to work something out– taking the math section in the summer or at least having the option of dropping in on a few summer math sessions; nothing crazy that wouldn’t be easily granted with other test prep companies. I was surprised to find out that Testmasters is not only unwilling to listen and address my concerns, they were actually combative and aggressive! Unfortunately, I did not think to record the lengthy phone conversation I had with Lauren (?) and her supervisor, Irena. Had I recorded the conversation, her hostile tone and borderline verbal abuse would have been documented. All they advised me at the end was to «put my personal issues aside so I can focus on preparing for the GREs.» When I asked what would qualify an instructor as incompetent (after various irrelevant excuses made for a less than desirable instructor), she told me «if they don’t show up to a class.» I’m glad they have high standards for the competency of their prep course instructors as well as a concern for the quality of their courses.
Regardless of what my concerns are, they should have been listened to. Had I been with Kaplan or Princeton Review, this would be a NON ISSUE; They would have been happy to offer refresher courses, money back (which i was in no way inquiring about with TestBastards), and at the very least, the option for me to DROP BY other courses offered by other instructors. Bottom line, if there was any sense of student dissatisfaction, the other test prep companies make it their business to do all that they can, be it in the form of extra courses, offering a completely new course, private one on one tutoring, and possibly money back. This is their guarantee– they will at least TRY to PRETEND they are highly concerned about your best interests.
There seems to be quite a few complaints about this company/​shady business practices that seem to fall under the radar. There is NO REASON to take Testmasters when there are other great options such as Kaplan or Princeton Review. Blatant disregard for customer care and questionable business practices aside, they don’t even provide their students with practice exams (CAT GREs) which I would think is a fundamental expected element to any preparatory course. So why bother with the inadequate preparatory material when other companies are available that provide the bare essentials PLUS gladly try to address whatever concerns you may have?
PLEASE DON’T MAKE THE MISTAKE I MADE: DO NOT TAKE TESTMASTERS.