Complaints

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:01/11/2024

  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.

  After using the service for 6 months I decided to cancel. I canceled from inside the site and lost the ability to log in. Power Score continued to bill me for another 6 months. After contacting them, Stephanie Oswald a manager said that I needed proof of cancel for a refund. But their system only removes your login and doesn't send you any notification. So this is a trick proposition. I am only seeking a refund for the amount of time I was not able to use the service.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/11/2024

  The father of the customer on record called us on 1/9/24 after noticing a charge on a credit card that is associated with the customers’ ongoing subscription to our course. We never received any request from the customer in which to cancel their subscription, which auto-renews every 30 days, prior to this date.
  
  I’ll provide more detail below, but I’ll summarize main points:
  
  Customer could not log in because their account required an account/password reset, not because we deactivated access due to subscription being cancelled at any point.
  Even if customer could have logged in on 1/9/24 or six months, there is no subscription management area within the customers’ account that could have been used in which to submit a cancellation request. 
  The customer agreed to our Terms and Conditions upon enrollment online.
  PowerScore does not cancel anyone’s subscription until a request is received, which we did not until father of customer called on 1/9/24. 
  
  During the call on 1/9/24, the father indicated that they canceled the subscription 6 months ago, but also stated that they only purchased access for a 6 month period. There is no option upon purchase to designate a specific future date in which to cancel the subscription.
  
  The customer on record emailed on 1/9/24 asking for login assistance to our site. Their login for their account just required a simple password reset so they could successfully sign in. We do not deactivate customer’s login access upon cancellation request of a subscription service. Our customers’ online account access is not associated with any one particular purchase or subscription access service. Our customers’ accounts behave just like ******’s, for instance. You can have an ****** login, which will not be deactivated by ****** if one cancels their Prime access.
  
  Additionally, there is no subscription management system within customers’ accounts, so logging in to the account at any point, past or present, would not have granted them access to manage their subscription access online. During the call yesterday, our manager Stephanie explained that we could only do a retroactive refund if the customer can provide something like an email sent previously to request cancellation. We have no correspondence from the customer or father prior to 1/9/24.
  
  I’ve attached the Enrollment Agreement (Terms and Conditions) that the customer agreed to upon enrolling, which states:
  
  E.   Tuition Payment Policy:
  To enroll, Student must make initial payment in full. The initial subscription enrollment payment is $350 USD, which includes course materials to be shipped to Student and 30 day’s access to online content of the course. Thereafter, Student’s credit card will be automatically charged $195 USD once every 30 days until PowerScore receives notification that Student cancels subscription.
  F.   LSAT On Demand Course Cancellation Policy
  Student must notify PowerScore to cancel monthly subscription payment. If a payment is not successfully settled, PowerScore may cancel your enrollment and your subscription.
  G.   LSAT On Demand Course Refund Policy:
  The LSAT On Demand Course is completely non-refundable and non-returnable upon purchase.
  Funds paid for the LSAT On Demand Course will not be refunded or applied to a different PowerScore service under any circumstance.
  If Student cancels subscription before the end of a subscription period, there will be no prorated refund provided.
  There is no additional refund if the PowerScore Materials are returned.
  
  Per the terms of this agreement, the customer agreed that they would be charged $195 every 30 days, no refunds would be issued, and cancellation would only occur when PowerScore is notified, which first occurred on 1/9/24.
  
  We have refunded the last payment of $195 that was charged earlier this week.
  
  Although it is not possible to cancel their subscription via their personal online account due to lack of a mechanism to do so, we would be happy to grant an additional refund of some amount if the customer can show that they previously contacted us directly to cancel their subscription. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/11/2024

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  In the response to the BBB PowerScore admits:

  - The subscription is a passive subscription that is separate from the course that was purchased.

  - That the they have built their online service in a way that is not possible to cancel, purposely making canceling the service difficult 

  - That I did not have access to the online system, and was unable to use the service.

  They also said that my password needed reset, with no explanation as to why.  

  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *******

  Business Response

  Date: 01/11/2024

  
  I’m happy to provide further clarification!  
  
  The subscription is not separate from the course. There is no access to the course without a subscription. The subscription is the method of paying for said course for a time period which ends when the customer notifies us to cancel their course subscription. The customer did access the "service" to study for the LSAT after enrolling. 
  
  It’s unclear which of the following the customer is stating:
  
  1.  They canceled online 6 months ago and we did not process their request or stop charging their credit card:
  

  We have no record of this nor have they provided any confirmation or copy of a request indicating they had done so.
  There is no subscription management area in the student’s online account, thereby making it impossible to cancel via their online account.
  
  2.  They couldn’t cancel any time in the past 6 months because they encountered login issues yesterday.
  
  I do not believe anyone has determined when the technical issue first arose, whether it was six months ago or yesterday. We apologize for any technical login issue the customer had difficulty accessing their account. If they believed logging into their online account was necessary to cancel their course subscription, we would have provided assistance immediately if they contacted us to do so prior to yesterday.
  
  There are many easy ways to contact us to cancel a subscription, ask for technical assistance, etc. Upon enrolling in the course, the student receives the following email:
  
  "Dear {Student}, 
  
  Thank you for enrolling in the PowerScore LSAT On Demand Course. Your course book is on the way, and soon you'll be totally immersed in LSAT prep. What now?
  
  Visit our Welcome page to learn:
  How to navigate your Student Portal and Online Student Center (your home base for all of your LSAT prep)
  The answers to frequently asked questions, and much more
  Terms and Conditions:  Please click here to view our full Enrollment Agreement containing important information about your PowerScore services.
  
  *Please note that the LSAT On Demand Course is a subscription-based course. The payment method you originally used for your purchase will automatically be charged $195 every 30 days after purchase to maintain access to this course and its resources.    
  
  Just give us a call at (###-###-####) or complete this form, **************** let us know when to cancel your subscription."
  
  
  We do provide the ability to cancel online via a form, but access to it is not restricted by any login wall. We are available by phone 8am-8pm EST Monday-Friday, through email, live chat, and we are always prompt with our replies. Our phone number and contact information is prominently displayed on our website. 
  
  Respectfully, we can only assist a customer when we’re contacted by them. The customer was able to find our email address yesterday to inquire about their login access, which we replied to within hours, and the father of the customer of record was able to locate our phone number and speak to someone right away regarding charges on his credit card.
  
  For these reasons, we cannot provide a refund for the last several months. As mentioned before, I did refund the most recent $195 charge since it was charged shortly before the father of the customer of record contacted us. Additionally, if they can provide anything showing they’d previously made the cancellation request, we will be happy to review it and determine whether an additional refund is warranted.