Complaints

This profile includes complaints for American Safety Council, Inc.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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• 

  American Safety Council, Inc.

  225 E Robinson St STE 570 Orlando, FL 32801-4339

  
• 

  American Safety Council, Inc.

  3428-1 Beach Blvd Jacksonville, FL 32207-3880

• 

  American Safety Council, Inc.

  815 B Camarillo Springs Road Camarillo, CA 93012

• 

  American Safety Council, Inc.

  216-03 46th Ave, New York, NY 11361

• 

  New York Safety Council

  218 West Main Street Malone, NY 12953

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/13/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have enrolled in a 60-hour pre-requisite program from the Florida Insurance License page ******************************************, and I noticed that some of the information in my course wasn't up to date. I have attempted calling the contact number on the page several times, and even waited over 2 hours, but have not received any responses. I want to make sure that this paid course is still valid for obtaining my insurance license. The business associated with this site is the American Safety Council, Inc.
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/14/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2022/11/07) */
  Hello **************,
  
  We apologize for the delay in response, at this time we are experiencing unusually high contact volume so our response time has been affected. We are taking actions to respond as quickly as possible, and we thank you for your patience and understanding.
  
  While this course is still approved by the state, it does appear that we responded to your email on 10/18/2022 regarding updating the material. Unfortunately, the process on the update with the state does take an amount of time that varies and we are unable to give a definitive time range, but you are always welcome to verify the validity with the approving entity: State of Florida **********************************************
  
  I will also forward your feedback over to our Content Development for corrections and amendments where necessary. We appreciate all the feedback as this helps provide a better and more updated course for everyone! Please understand the update process may take time, as our content does need to be re-evaluated and approved by officials in order to be published. However, we will work to review your concerns and make amendments as quickly as feasibly possible. We greatly appreciate your feedback and thank you for your time.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/07/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purcahsed a New York State Defensive Driving Course through this website on 8/26/2022. I completed the course within a few days (well before the course expiration date of 9/25,/2022) and waited for my certificate to be sent to me. It said it would be sent by mail with 7-10 business days. I wasn't sure if that was 7-10 business days after course completion or course expiration, so I waited extra long just in case. I received nothing. When I log in to the course, it says it expired on 9/25/2022. On the webpage for the company, the Live Chat doesn't connect to anyone. The phone number never connects to a representative-- I have been on hold for several hours with each attempt. I need to to obtain the certificate for completion of the course.
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/27/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/11) */
  Emailed the customer at **********************
  to resolve issue
  
  Email transcript: 10/11/2022 @ 11:48AM
  
  Hello*************,
  
  My name is Heather from the escalations team here at American Safety Council. I am following up on your BBB review complaint left on 10/7/2022 regarding your NY defensive driving course. I am so sorry for any inconveniences and frustrations this has caused. I would be more than happy to assist you.
  
  
  
  First, I would like to sincerely apologize for the delay in response. I understand this can be very frustrating when you cannot contact a representative via live chat, phone or email in a timely manner.
  
  
  After reviewing your account, I do see that you have completed the course materials, however the course did not finalize which did not generate a completion certificate to go out. I am so sorry for this inconvenience! I have requested this certificate to be sent out expedited with ground shipping as a courtesy. This will arrive within 3-5 business days and will come with a tracking number once sent.
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/10/15) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
  I received an email response from the American Safety Council's escalation team via the BBB system. They mailed the certificate of completion and I received it within a few days.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/30/2022

  Type:Delivery Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I paid for and completed a course through the American Safety Council. After completing the course, I was told that my certificate would be ready in 7 days, so I logged back in after the 7 days and once again given 7 more days to wait for my certificate. I have now waited 28 days for the completion certificate and, was just advised by customer service that I will have to wait an additional 7 days to receive my certificate. Now, I do have to option to pay to get the certificate early if I spend $4.95, but isn't that predatory. Why should I have to pay to get a certificate that I've already pay a class fee for. This place used predatory tactics and should be banned from doing such.
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/28/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/04) */
  Emailed the customer directly to follow up on the issue. Seems that the course was missing required information for reporting purposes and is what caused the course to not finalize and produce a certificate of completion. The issue has since been resolved.
  
  Email transcript on10/4/2022 @ 4:30PM:
  
  Hello ******************,
  
  My name is Heather from the escalations team here at American Safety Council. I am following up on your BBB review complaint left on 9/30/2022 regarding your Texas Online Defensive Driving Course. I am so sorry for any inconveniences and frustrations this has caused. I would be more than happy to assist you.
  
  
  
  After reviewing your account, it appears that the issue has been resolved. It seems that your driver's license number was missing from the account which caused the course to not process, which in all caused the certificate to not be generated. We were able to get that driver's license updated and course completed/finalized. The completion is available 7 days from the date of completion, so that is why you do not have access of the certificate as of yet. I will, however, go ahead and provide it here as an attachment for easier and expedited service due to the inconvenience this has caused.
  
  
  Please let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with!
  
  Thanks!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/27/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Business does not answer the phone on weekdays nor weekends. Unable to complete courses paid for.
  
  Demand full refund.
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/28/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/28) */
  Emailed the customer directly at *********************** to resolve issue
  
  Email transcription on 9/28/2022 at 11:54AM
  
  Hello************,
  
  My name is Heather from the escalations team here at American Safety Council. I am following up on your BBB review complaint left on 9/27/2022 regarding your Missouri Online Driver Improvementcourse. I am so sorry for any inconveniences and frustrations this has caused. I would be more than happy to assist you.
  
  First, I would like to sincerely apologize for the delay in response. I understand this can be very frustrating when you cannot contact a representative via live chat, phone or email in a timely manner, especially when it results to you not being able to finish a course you paid for. For this, we are very sorry.
  
  After reviewing your account, it does appear that the course was locked out for SQ, I have gone ahead and unlocked your account so you may continue the course. Please feel free to contact me directly if you are locked out again for faster/direct assistance.
  
  If you would still prefer a refund, please provide the last 4 of the card used so I can start that process.
  
  Thanks!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/27/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This company is total fraud. They are listed on state DMV website as a defensive driver course online providers. After the signup process it is impossible to complete the online course. The site uses a voice verification system that requires the student to call every 10 minutes in order to verify it is the same person at all parts of the course. The problem is that the system is not working, when trying to follow instructions and enter a voice sample, the page freeze up and the verification phone call statement is "we are unable to complete your request". When trying to get a refund I was told by chat that they will charge me a $5 processing fee. I found out that 99% of the students are attempting to cancel the enrolment within hours of signing up but unable to obtain a full refund due to site policy. This is a fraudulent way to gain revenue, simply stealing money from students with the approval of the DMV who is linking this website within it's own official page. After reading 1000's of complaint from other students, it looks like the only way to to get a response from American Safety Council is a Class Action Lawsuit. If you are a victim of this company you should file a complaint with your local District Attorney office and your DMV complaint dept, ask to remove this company from DMV approved course provider list. Just do the math, if 1000 students a day are signing up for this course, paying around $25.00 each, that's $25,000 a day in revenue, stolen money without providing any service. This company is refusing to make a full refund and its pointing to its "refund policy" which state they can charge "admin fee". This point to intentional fraud, as if they know they service they provide is not working, they anticipate the student attempting to cancel for a refund so they decided to profit from it.
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/13/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/28) */
  Good Afternoon *****,
  
  I am sorry to hear about your difficulties. Reviewing your previous contact history, I see that you chatted with our customer care team late last night/early morning regarding difficulty advancing in your course due to a voice authentication error. It appears that the customer care team member advised you to try your access again in an hour, considering the possibility that the validation system was experiencing a temporary issue. Being that it was overnight support and that the issue was likely temporary, the agent did not offer to escalate support further as they felt that would provide ample time for the matter to become resolved. I apologize if you did not feel that support was adequate, and I will ensure that other options and troubleshooting steps are made available in the event someone contacts with a similar request.
  
  That aside, I will research to verify whether or not there was a system that was temporarily unavailable affecting other students (regarding course access or authentication access), or if the issue was localized to your experience. Beyond your report of the issue, as of this time, we've not been made aware that any other students experienced an issue with their validation last night/early this morning, but we'll continue to look into the matter.
  
  Also reviewing your contact history from yesterday, I see that you requested a refund. The representative you were speaking with advised that we would be able to refund in full, less a $5.00 Administrative Fee, which is expressed in our Refund Policy which is available at **************************************************** I regret that you did not feel that the response or service was sufficient, but our team member was complying with our stated policy considering the course access you had up until your point of contact. As an exception for you, I will waive the Admin Fee and process a complete refund for you, and terminate your course access. The refund will be processed today, although it may take a few days to post back to your account, depending on your financial institution.
  While it is unfortunate when a student may face difficulties accessing their course, our support team does offer advice and solutions to help get the student back on track. While I understand being advised to wait one hour to resume your course was upsetting and delayed your course progress, we feel that offering the potential for a one-hour solution to a reported issue was not unreasonable. We have thousands of students taking their course online with us daily, and only a fraction ever need to contact support for assistance. As well, we follow regulatory guidelines set forth by the State of NY per any approved provider, and additionally, our programs are routinely audited for compliance and effectiveness by regulatory officials. We stand by that while we wish for every student to have an enriching experience, and one that is free of technical obstacles, every users technical environment is different and unfortunately sometimes minor issues arise which may require troubleshooting. Despite the possibility of some students encountering difficulty, we're pleased to advise we are typically able to resolve any minor issues quickly.
  
  The contact details for our business, such as the address, can be found at the "About Us" area at ***************************************
  We are sorry that we were not able to resolve this matter through another means but hope that you consider this matter as resolved at this time, nonetheless.
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/10/03) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  Time is money. My time spent on this course was over 4 hours without being able to complete it.
  The company need to compensate me for my time including the time to deal with resolving this complaint. My actual cost is over $300 per hour, not counting any legal cost in the event that I would need to litigate this. Please let me know if you are willing to pay me back for my time,$5 dollar is an insult.
  
  
  Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2022/10/28) */
  Hello Mr.*********,
  
  In the previous correspondence, I advised that we agreed to issue a full refund at $19.95, as an exception to the policy, and a greater refund than the original representative was able to offer. The refund was issued on 9/27/2022 to your original method of payment.
  
  We are not able to provide you with a refund greater than the amount of what you paid for the course; that would be outside of our refund policy as well as our terms and conditions. More information regarding the Terms and Conditions which you agreed to are available here: **********************************************************
  
  To excerpt from those terms, "By using this website you agree that neither the American Safety Council nor its affiliated companies, their officers, directors, employees, agents, information providers, or suppliers shall have any liability to you under any theory of liability or indemnity in connection with your use of this website or the services of the American Safety Council.
  
  Notwithstanding the foregoing paragraph, the total liability of the American Safety Council, if any, for losses or damages shall not exceed the fees paid by the user for the particular information or service provided. In no event shall the American Safety Council be liable to you for any losses or damages other than the amount referred to above."
  
  To reiterate, we have already provided all that we can as a resolution (as clearly expressed within our policies and terms) in order to attempt to resolve this matter for you by processing a full refund. Please let us know if you have any further questions.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/19/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 9/12/22, I was going to take a Defensive Driver Course, paid the amt of $23.40 $12.5o for the course $7.95 for a Guide, and $2.95 to insure and have contact with them in case of any problems for a total of $23.40,
  However after login in and paying I notice a glitch and started having problems did what was suggested which was clearing the cookies, etc, to no avail so I logged out and call them tocancel the course and for them to reimburse me, I contacted them on 9/15 at night and poke with Ben, explaining to him what had happened and why I had to cancel the course , I thought that he was going to request in my behalf for the reimbursement of $23.40 but to no avail, now it's been very hard for me to contact them again nobody is answering the phones, nor answers on the chat, nor nothing so I decided to put a complaint thru BBB to recover my money,
  My order ID# was*********
  Amount paid **** Card was $23.40
  Date was: 9/12//22
  
  I am requesting for this company to reimburse me fully to my credit card or to send me a check for the full amount of $23.40 immediately.
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/24/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/21) */
  Hello******** ****,
  
  We apologize for the delay in response, at this time we are experiencing unusually high contact volume so our response time has been affected. We are taking actions to respond as quickly as possible, and we thank you for your patience and understanding.
  
  In any case, one of our biggest priorities is customer satisfaction, and I'm so sorry we could not provide that to you at that time.
  
  After reviewing your account further, it does appear a refund was approved and processed on your behalf. You should have received this refund by now, in the event that you did not, we do suggest contacting your bank institute for further assistance.
  
  If you do have any further questions or complaints, please feel free to contact us directly at [email protected] and we can provide assistance directly!
  
  Thank you so much and again, we apologize for the inconveniences this has caused.
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/09/22) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  They still owe me $2.95, what is the problem with this company crediting me the full amount? Not fair people.
  
  
  Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/09/28) */
  Hello******** ****,
  
  I understand your concern and frustration, however the $2.95 charge is a non refundable fee for the premier pass because you get emailed with the pass benefits so you will always have them if needed. It does look like we refunded you for the study guide as well which we typically do not refund if downloaded since this is also a service that is accessible from your downloads folder once downloaded from the course account. We did make an exception to refund that service due to the inconveniences you experienced. I apologize if this was not satisfactory.
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/10/03) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  Not acceptable, and as far as your Guide, I didn't even opened it nor did I get a chance to take a look due to the trouble logging into the stupid to use course. Never again will I pick this company and will tell others as well.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/16/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I paid for and took an online course with the American Safety Council to renew my facial specialist contact hours to stay in compliance with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The American Safety Council promises to have the contact hours reported within 30 days. After 16 email correspondence with no contact hours reported I have requested my monies back. I am also now in jeopardy of having to pay penalties for not having updated my contact hours in a timely manner. The responses received from the American Safety Council are pat with empty promises of reporting. I am attaching my certificate they provided on August 2, 2022. As of today the contact hours are still not reported to the FDBPR. Please help me to get my money back plus any penalties I may incur because of their negligence. Thank you.
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/24/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/18) */
  Emailed the customer directly to resolve issue. Email used ***************** on9/18/2022 at 9:05 AM
  
  Email Transcript:
  
  "Hello *************,
  
  My name is Heather from the escalations team here at American Safety Council. I am following up on your BBB review complaint left on 9/16/2022 regarding your 10hr Cosmetology course reporting. I am so sorry for any inconveniences and frustrations this has caused. I would be more than happy to assist you.
  
  
  After reviewing your account, it appears that we did report the completion initially after completion on 8/3/2022 with the license number "*********". It can take the board up to 30 days or longer to update their records depending on how backed up they are. I see that a re-reporting was requested on 9/13/2022 at 8:17 PM with the same license number *********and was successfully completed on 9/14/2022 successfully. Unfortunately, we cannot control the time period of how long the DBPR takes to update their records. We do recommend contacting them and uploading your completion certificate as a self-reporting option if you need the reporting done in a specific time frame, since they do take 30 days or longer to update their records.
  
  
  I have attached your completion certificate to this email just in case you need it.
  
  Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you!
  
  Thanks! "
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/09/23) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  As of 9/23/2022 the contact hours have NOT been reported to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. I have called to verify that nothing has been reported by the American Safety Council organization. See below for the snapshot of my online account with the FDBP:
  View requirements for a different renewal period:
  Courses
  Course Name Provider Course Date Hours Requirements
  No Courses Found For The Selected Period.
  NO courses have been found and NONE have been reported. I have attached the certificate the American Safety Council provided that they are BY LAW REQUIRED to report to the FDBP, and have NOT!
  
  
  
  Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/09/28) */
  Hello *************,
  
  While we understand your concerns and frustrations, we have re-reported your completion successfully 2 times now. I have spoken to our compliance team who deals with the reporting and have gotten confirmation that the course was reported successfully with the license number "*********". After checking the DBPR reporting website myself at: https://www.myfloridalicense.com/wl11.asp?mode=1&SID=&brd=&typ= it does shows " current/active 10/31/2024 under the license ********* ( Face Specialist ) for ****** Jane*******. I have attached a screenshot of the portal as it shows that your license is active/current.
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/10/04) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  The only reason my CEUs were reported was because I sent a copy of the certificate via snail mail!
  The Florida Business and Professional Regulation confirmed that they only received my mailed in copy of the completed certificate and no faxes from the American Safety Council were received.
  The unresponsiveness of the American Safety Council is appalling, (aside from the responsiveness once the BBB got involved). I have spent hours of my time trying to get through to the company via telephone (literally an hour and a half! They NEVER picked up! I have also emailed multiple times and got pat answers days later.
  The hassle this company caused me was NOT worth my time and efforts. I would caution anyone in my field to be aware of this. Thank you to the BBB for getting involved!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/09/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am taking a BDIC course and the Online Traffic School Registration through American Safety Council (ASC) has the course I need. I signed up, registered, paid my $34.95. However I clicked a wrong answer for a profile security check and was locked out of my account. I am directed to call ASC or use their online chat program for assistance to get back into my account. I have been on hold for over 3 hours on the phone and 4 hours via the online chat and no success at reaching a single person for assistance. I see other reviews stating the same issue and stating the ASC customer service is very unhelpful and the overall program is a scam. The incorrect grammar in the auto replies for the online chat window make me think the ASC program for the Online Traffic School is a scam.
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/08/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/13) */
  Emailed customer directly on 9/13/2022 at 11:15 AM at the email address ********@gmail.com to further assist.
  
  Email transcript :
  
  Hello **** ******,
  
  My name is Heather from the escalations team here at American Safety Council. I am following up on your BBB review complaint left on 9/9/2022 regarding your course. I am so sorry for any inconveniences and frustrations this has caused. I would be more than happy to assist you.
  
  
  
  Unfortunately, I was unable to locate your account based on the information provided in the BBB complaint. Can you please provide your order ID number, username and registered email address so I can locate your account and further assist with your issue!
  
  
  Thanks!

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/03/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I signed up thru first time driver for my son to do online 24 hour course. They swiped my bank account of $100+ dollars in a matter of seconds without caring if I am who I claim to be using my card but then claim they need to verify my identity to start the course. Neither question applies to me but the second one was close to a street I lived on 25 years ago...selected correct zip code for it but immediately got locked out for at least 24 hours!! Unacceptable time when again, took money from this "unidentified" persons bank account. Been on hold now for 23 mins with no wait time provided or response. Calling bank to dispute this charge. Do not give your bank info to this SCAM!
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/06/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/07) */
  Emailed the customer directly at ********************* on 9/7/2022 at 3:12pm. I was unable to locate the customers account with the information provided here in BBB.
  
  Email Transcript:
  
  Hello ***********,
  
  My name is Heather from the escalations team here at American Safety Council. I am following up on your BBB review complaint left on 9/3/2022 regarding your son's course. I am so sorry for any inconveniences and frustrations this has caused. I would be more than happy to assist you.
  
  
  
  Unfortunately, I was unable to locate your son's account with the information provided in the BBB complaint. Can you please provide your son's first and last name along with his registered email address and username/order ID number so I can take a look at the billing issue!
  
  Thanks!
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/09/08) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  My son's last name is *******. i have uploaded the payment confirmation page for order #********. I am trying to avoid too much personal info to protect from identity hacking so if this is still not enough info please call me. I contacted the bank same day and was told I could not dispute until payment was posted which just happened yesterday. After reading similar issues from others experience on the BBB site I realize this is an ongoing issue with your company. If you are a legitimate service you should work hard to correct the issue that the only way to communicate with your company is filing a BBB complaint. Please confirm payment will be refunded or if I need to continue with bank dispute.
  
  
  Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/09/11) */
  Responded back to the customer via email to get issue resolved, waiting for parents information to bypass the EVS security alert so the customer can continue to the course.
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2022/09/12) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  This business antics is outrageous and needs to only be resolved by issuing me a full refund. I am hoping to have the option to attach the business latest email as further documented proof of my initial claim of fraud. Business states they are following "OK DMV" rules of verifying parent. I am a lifelong resident of Ohio and therefore the data should be associated with OH BMV. Further I believe that this business is pulling data from a poor third party source as the 2 security questions asked which county I've lived- none of the 4 do I recognize as Ohio counties, the 2nd question had a horrible misspelling of a street address and Ohio BMV would have accurate spellings. There is proof in business responses that I have NEVER got logged into the site at all hence FULL refund is applicable. The business is aware they are pulling erroneous data from their source which is why they are now emailing me requesting my full name , full address, dob and last 4 of social to "bypass" the state "required" identity verification??!! I believe BBB has handled this as accurately and fairly that is within their authority. I plan to continue with my dispute thru my bank tomorrow as well as lodge a complaint with the Ohio Atty General office because it is clear to me that this (among others probably) has found a way to scam parents with taking advantage of the Covid pandemic forcing online testing. I have now found OHIO driving schools offering in class education again and will be going that legitimate route instead.
  
  
  Business Response /* (4000, 14, 2022/09/14) */
  Hello ***********,
  
  While we respect and understand your concerns, we are confident and stand by our verification process as this is a regulatory requirement put in place by the state of Ohio. This course is approved by the Ohio Department of Public Safety (*********). We can be found on the Ohio DPS website's list for approved online driver ed courses under the name American Safety Council:
  
  https://services.dps.ohio.gov/DETS/Public/Schools?SchoolType=6
  
  The 3rd party verification portal is directly recommended by the state of Ohio, and we are confident that it working properly. The misspelled street address is a way to challenge users to make sure they are paying close attention to the names of the address. Unfortunately we do not have any way to change this as this is not our program.
  
  We are sorry to hear that you would like a refund instead of moving forward with the approved online course. I would be happy to provide a full refund. Please allow 3-5 business days to receive these funds back to the card used to purchase the course. I will also send out a refund receipt showing the refund was placed and processed today. Please let us know if there is anything else we can be assistance with!
  
  
  Consumer Response /* (2000, 16, 2022/09/15) */
  (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
  Full refund is acceptable resolution. Thank You.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/02/2022

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased the 5 Hr Pre-License course on the New York Safety Council website on 8/31 for $49.99. I immediately started the class. I was able to get through 65% of the class before it locked me out after rejecting my biometric security response. I have attempted to call the phone numbers and to chat as instructed but no one ever responds. This has been going on for the last 2 days. I feel scammed out of my money. I was attempting to purchase my first car and was trying to hurry up and do the class so I can schedule my road test, get my license and purchase my car. Everything is now in jeopardy because they won't respond. My order *********
  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/20/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/07) */
  Emailed the customer directly at ******************** on 9/7/2022 at 3:00PM. Course has been completed and the customer was able to get assistance.
  
  Email Transcript :
  
  Hello ***** ****,
  
  My name is Heather from the escalations team here at American Safety Council. I am following up on your BBB review complaint left on 9/2/2022 regarding your New York 5-Hour Online Prelicensing Course. I am so sorry for any inconveniences and frustrations this has caused. I would be more than happy to assist you.
  
  
  
  First, I would like to sincerely apologize for the delay in response. I understand this can be very frustrating when you cannot contact a representative via live chat, phone or email in a timely manner. I apologize for this delay in response, at this time we are experiencing unusually high contact volume, so our response time has been affected. We are taking actions to respond as quickly as possible and thank you for your patience and understanding.
  
  In any case, one of our biggest priorities is customer satisfaction, and I'm so sorry we fell short.
  
  
  
  After reviewing your account, it does appear you were able to reach customer care and get your course completed on 9/3/2022. At this time, your notification of completion email was sent out on 9/3/22, 1:16 AM to the email address ********************.
  
  
  
  Please feel free to contact me here directly for any additional questions or concerns!