“This whole thing is a scam. They charge you on the day you sign up, even though they say it's a free trial. Their website doesn't work and you can't access any materials. They refuse to refund your money. Their customer service reps are pushy and aggressive.”
“Trust me when I say don’t use this company. I took a free course 7 months ago and almost immediately cancelled because I could find better content on YouTube. I just got notice a few days ago that they illegally charged my card $70 and they are refusing to give it back. Instead they deactivated my account and said the $70 is payment. PLEASE, read their reviews on the internet. This is a scam. I wish someone warned me.”
“Do NOT try the free trial!!! I signed up and they ask for your credit card. The only thing I have done since then is download what appeared to be a powerpoint for an upcoming class. The next morning my card was charged 2x for $42.86. There was not any disclaimer that you are purchasing something at the time of download. There is not a confirmation of purchase before you download. Now trying to get a refund and they are trying to offer me 3mos free and saying a refund is not possible. DO NOT USE!!!”
“SCAM!!!
DO NOT PUT YOUR BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS! WE HAD THE "FREE TRIAL" WHICH THEY CHARGED US FOR 2 MONTHS AGO. CANCELLING IMMEDIATELY, AND NOW AFTER 3 MONTHS IT STILL CHARGES US EVEN IF WE NEVER USED IT! STUPID SCAMMERS! CALLING THE BANK TO BLOCK THEIR ACCOUNT TO NOT BE ABLE TO CHARGE ME. PROOF WITH THEIR STUPID SCAMMERS EXPLANATION email!”
“I signed up for a month's free trial and around two weeks ago I received a call informing me I was one of 300 people randomly selected for a free upgrade to a 12 month premium subscription trial. I double checked that the upgrade was indeed free and would not cost me anything since I did not want to pay for a premium membership and the individual from Shaw Academy confirmed this with me and asked if I was interested. I said yes and asked them to send me an email explaining everything.
Later that day I logged into my account and saw I had been upgraded to the premium membership without having the offer explained to me in writing. I had some confusion with an invoice that indicated that I owed no money to Shaw Academy but my bank statement showed no charge so I forgot about it. Today I discovered that I have been charged £199.95 for an annual membership, despite my account status listing me as premium "in trial". Shaw Academy have taken nearly £200 from me based on an incredibly misleading informal conversation, without explaining the details of the offer in writing and despite me asking for written communication of the offer, and with my account still in trial mode.
The subscription service is designed to be confusing. Invoices are unclear, billing information and history is a nightmare to find and it is impossible to reach them over the phone to talk about anything. They will call, email and text you incessantly throughout the day while you are working. Telling Shaw Academy you're not interested does not deter them from disturbing you while you're trying to get on with your day to day life in peace. The calls only stopped once the money was taken from my account for my "free upgrade".
And the course content doesn't always work. I haven't been able to progress on my course because the videos don't play properly. None of the tests I've had are functional. They'll give you multiple choice quizzes that only progress once you've selected all of the answers, rather than just the correct one. The app doesn't work except for to send you frequent promotional notifications. They'll try to sneakily charge you for course materials. They send non stop emails trying to sell you diplomas and materials and subscriptions.
I don't normally write reviews but this is an unethical, dishonest company that is sneakily and greedily making money from people who are trying to take positive steps to get them through an incredibly difficult time when everything is uncertain and we're all just trying to either improve our mental health with some new skills and hobbies or learn new things for the new normal, and the post-COVID working world.
Shaw Academy is a dishonest, unethical organisation taking advantage of peoples' desire to better themselves.”
“SCAM!!!
It seems people read the reviews after they have gotten scammed, rather than before. Unfortunately, I was not an exception.
Yesterday I was charged by SA straight after I had signed up for 4 week trial, both for the allegedly 'free trial' and the course material which I did not buy.
Due to SA refused to refund the funds, I have no choice but to report them as a fraudulent company.
It would be best for these scammers to start their own courses as they might come in handy when looking for a new job.”
“I signed up for a free four week trial with them and later on discovered that they are a complete fraud! Upon registration, they already requested the credit card information though they promise no charge will be made if cancelled within 4 weeks, which is what I'm intended to do. But on the night of registering for the trial, I was charged $40 to a tool kit that I was never agreed to. So I emailed them for a refund, but only to get a response saying the tool kit is activated right away to it's not available for refund. However up till this day, I still have not received all the information that they claimed to provide in this tool kit nor any refund. Secondly, during the middle of the second trial week, my account was charged another $99 for a three month membership without my consent or knowledge at all. All I got that day was only a call from them saying they are providing some free materials for the course. No one mentioned anything about membership and I did not agree to any of the charges. So I contacted the customer services again and everything else I got was auto replies with only one that says they are unable to process a refund, but they could provide another period of free course. I directly and clearly informed them that I do not wish to use your website at all and just give me the refunds for both charges and cancel my account. They have not contacted me back ever since.
FRAUD COMPANY!!!”
“I signed up for a free four week trial with them and later on discovered that they are a complete fraud! Upon registration, they already requested the credit card information though they promise no charge will be made if cancelled within 4 weeks, which is what I'm intended to do. But on the night of registering for the trial, I was charged $40 to a tool kit that I was never agreed to. So I emailed them for a refund, but only to get a response saying the tool kit is activated right away to it's not available for refund. However up till this day, I still have not received all the information that they claimed to provide in this tool kit nor any refund. Secondly, during the middle of the second trial week, my account was charged another $99 for a three month membership without my consent or knowledge at all. All I got that day was only a call from them saying they are providing some free materials for the course. No one mentioned anything about membership and I did not agree to any of the charges. So I contacted the customer services again and everything else I got was auto replies with only one that says they are unable to process a refund, but they could provide another period of free course. I directly and clearly informed them that I do not wish to use your website at all and just give me the refunds for both charges and cancel my account. They have not contacted me back ever since.
HUGE FRAUD, STAY AWAY AS FAR AS YOU CAN!!!”
“SCAM! Trying to cancel this membership is a nightmare. I canceled it before the end of my free trial and did not notice until September that I was still being charged. First customer rep I talked to was nice and offered all the free access (stuff I did not care about having anymore - I just wanted the refund) and canceled my account (again). I had to speak with a different department about a refund, was told they "do not encourage refunds," and because I had accessed the account in the months following my cancellation, my account was reactivated and payment charged. First of all, this is false, as I did not access the account between my initial cancellation and when I finally realize I was somehow still being charged - however, I had no way to disprove this. Again they offered access to oodles of whatever for the next three years - couldn't care less and I won't be accessing my account again. I can't trust that this offer is truly free, and the course I did start was weird anyway. TOTALLY NOT WORTH IT! I'm out $300 for nothing.”
“Finely tuned predatory marketing funnel leads you to click a button that actually charges you. The money is gone before you even realize what happened. Then you go to cancel your account and they require you get on the phone with them. All this within 5 minutes of seeing the advertisement. They refuse a refund. This company should be banned. LOOK AT ALL THE FAKE GOOD REVIEWS! This "company" has a full team on 24/7 damage control. It's disgusting!”
“SCAM! was charged and waiting for my refund which now they are refusing to give me. instead, they are offering me a complimentary 3 months membership which is not what I want. Also trying to cancel the membership is a nightmare. DO NOT SUBSCRIBE”
“I started with a free trail with Shaw Academy and paid through PayPal. Therefore all of my bank details were already put in. The first mistake I noticed was when I clicked on a discounted deal. It took me to another page and then froze on me, so I clicked back as many times but then just had to delete the page. I advised them about the incident and they said that it was a three step process, however that wasn’t the case for me. They didn’t grant my refund even though I advised them that I wouldn’t be continuing with the course.
Later then with no notification (not counting the millions of emails and calls about discounts and classes) later they charge my account. Even though I advised I no longer wanted to continue.
I didn’t get my first refund and not my second so I will have to take it upon my bank to see what action is required.
Definitely would not recommend Shaw Academy. I wish I would have read more reviews to start with even before clicking on their link...”
“They took 279 CAD from my credit card.Im still on free trial(just attended once and didnt want it) .A guy called,I did not say,they can take money from my account.They said I gave consent on the phone.Right after knowning that they charged me,Ive sent a cancellation email.Then called their number the nxt day.They said they will investigate blah,blah.They paused my account,then cancelled,then lifetime membership.I emailed them again and again and told them I will file a dispute or will ask help to get my money back.Someone called and offering a 100 CAD refund only.I didnt agree.They sent an email for me to confirm the 100 CaD refund.”
“Earlier in the year, I signed up for the free trial and booked in to do a course. Before I could even attend the first class, I was put off by the EXCESSIVE emails that I could not unsubscribe from. It got to the point where I cancelled the free trial just to escape the incessant spamming.
Now, I'm receiving phone calls from the company wanting to "give me another free trial" and even when I tell them that I cancelled because of the invasive continuous contact THEY WILL NOT STOP CONTACTING ME!
Anyway, if you're into obsessive one-sided relationships, you should definitely give Shaw Academy a shot. Otherwise, run away now.”
“Shaw academy is a fraud company, charged even I requested on cancellation of my subscription. I have written multiple emails , they didn't respond. Even in The website they are not providing cancelling subscription option. They gave a number to call on cancellation. But when I call the number, it says please try later. I AM PLANNING TO CONTACT MY BANK TO STOP FROM BEING CHARGED BY THIS FRAUDULENT COMPANY..DON'T GO FOR SHAW ACADEMY.”
“On the surface, Shaw Academy seems like an awesome way to develop a hobby or enhance your professional acumen. But be wary. Once you pay, you can sign up for classes, I did and now I feel stupid. But unless you purchase the additional certification and toolkit, you don't get access to everything when you want it. You have to schedule each and every class, instead of working at a pace which should be unlocked once you pay for the lifetime subscription. If you get online even a minute late, you're locked out of your scheduled class and cannot get into it until the video access pops up 24 HOURS later. For those of us who work fulltime and have a life, this is contraindicative of flexible. And not only that, you cannot navigate to access the toolkit you (I) paid for, there is no live chat, not even an AI bot to get you into your class immediately or help you navigate. What should happen is a test run during which you are shown how to navigate their clumsy, clunky site. Picture a circus elephant in a horse stall, this is what navigating the SHAW ACADEMY site is like. It is NOT GUI, intuitive nor helpful. And you cannot even access help when you need it - as in ASAP. there is no phone number, love chat nada, zip, zero. AND MAC user, let me just say, with all short-sightedness, this company fails to recognize in their training (ex EXCEL class) that the quick commands and keystrokes are different for MAC users vs. PC users. PLATFORM matters here folks. And if all of this wasn't enough to make you run, forget about a refund.”
“Do not, I repeat DO NOT try this company. This company charged me 84,98€. I tried to contacted them, but "support team" was unhelpful. Tried to contact PayPal - they could not do anything. Contacted my bank, hope they will help me.
Also, they block people on facebook, who shares their stories, and deletes their comments. Nothing else but a fraud scam...”
“Biggest mistake of my life. I paid several month’s subscription and unfortunately lost my job. I cancelled everything and was asked to make a call to confirm. The man convinced me to stay, offering everything for free, that was a lie. Their website is setup intentionally without proper payment authentication so I thought I was accessing the free materials promised, instead I had money taken from my account without permission. DO NOT BELIEVE THEIR LIES. Join a local college and heed trust pilots warning before you end up with no job and being unable to put food on the table. I was sold the Shaw Academy extension on the basis they understood people were going through hard times and they wanted to help by making everything free for a month. They will lie to get you to stay, do not be fooled, their promises are empty. I am now having to take the legal route to get my money back.”
“Luckily, I checked the reviews before signing up with my credit card information. However, I somehow managed to sign myself up for texts with them (although I don't recall how). I have sent the STOP reply to opt out of their messages no less than 10 times now. It hasn't even slowed them down. I get no less than 3 messages a week from them. Blocking them is pointless, as they just message from a different number next time. If that's how they behave before they have my credit card information, I can't imagine they behave better with it.”
