Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Penn Foster's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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  Penn Foster

  200 Hickory St Scranton, PA 18505-1135

  
• 

  Penn Foster College

  14300 N Northsight Blvd Ste 125 Scottsdale, AZ 85260-3674

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:12/25/2022

  Type:Billing 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 enrolled at Penn foster to help myself get a education but the country shut down because of political flu and lost my job and it was hard to pay anything and this company has no companion and they gave me less then a year before they sent me into collections but the country was closed for almost two years and now I'm hurting g even more for a service or product I never received, how do you owe money when you never received anything at all well anyways I finally got back on my feet and called them to catch up and I got a recording saying I've been sent to collections and now I owe then and collections and I would like to continue but I'm not paying a collection agency no matter what.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/30/2022

  BBB Case Number: ********
  Student Name: *********************************
  Student Number: ********
  To Whom It May Concern:
  
  I  welcome the opportunity to address **************** concerns. ************** enrolled into the High School Diploma program on July 5, 2022, by submitting a signed enrollment agreement and down payment.
  All of **************** attempted payments have come back as declined as of December 30, 2022. ************** has been provided with ample notification regarding delinquent payments. On October 24, 2022, ************** stated he would call on October 28,2022 to pay his past due and when his credit card came in he would pay for his program in full with an offered discount. ************** did not make a payment attempt on October 28, 2022.
  Due to defaulted payments the account was sent to a third-party collection agency on December 1, 2022. ************** will need to speak to the agency to resolve his financial obligations.
  Penn Foster is devoted to the educational advancement and satisfaction of all our students. If you have any further questions, please contact me at *************.
  
  Sincerely.
  *****************************
  Sr. Escalation Specialist

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/20/2022

  Type:Order 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.

  In December 2019 I applied and paid first payment at Penn foster university online. I started studying and I got a bill after paying off school for vet assistant and called for suspension he told me he would give me 3 month suspension but I had to pay *****. Come to find out you get 3 suspensions and not have to pay. Like an extension. So I was cut 3 months of extension. March I called asking why Im not coming up as done when I finished. She said I had 8 week externship must be done by dec 2 2022. I was never told I had a date I was told it was a study on own time no graduation date. The lady gave me until July to find a vet. Gave me a www.vettechpractorium. Com to find an externship but it is just another online school asking for money. I called and email asking what I do. I was email the whole externship part and excepted email and user name. Im sending in the exception paper I called all clinics in this area. After being told they find place and set up internship. No they give website. You must call everyone in area to see when and if work with Penn foster. Not one I found even knew about program. All I wanted was to get my Veterinary Assistant Certification. I called for help on December 10 and they said its past December 2nd I should be completed. I told them I couldnt find anyone on the website that knew what I was talking about. I paid the whole amount plus extra ****** to simply study do internship but will not assist. I email teacher she sent a letter saying to email or call that vettechpractorium. I have a latter saying I graduated and I said Ill use showing I have book work being done and graduated like email said. Sent email that said I graduated the book part. The guy I spoke too said they would deny I graduated cause No externship but no where to do externship they wont help me get. No degree I just want refund go to another place where I can get a job with.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/27/2022

  BBB Case Number: 18607223
  Student Name: *******************
  Student Number: 23084474
  To Whom It May ***************** welcome the opportunity to address ************** concerns.************ enrolled herself online into the Veterinary Assistant Career Diploma on November 12, 2019 , by submitting a signed enrollment agreement and down payment.
  ************ completed 29 out of ************************ the student handbook, It is important to note that all students are required to perform all skills in the Clinical Externship in order to graduate from the program. Once ************ successfully completes the externship, she will be academically completed with the Veterinary Assistant program. Additional information regarding the externship and graduation requirements can be found at: ******************************************************** .
  As per the enrollment agreement, you will have 18 months to complete the Program but may request up to two six-month extensions; the fee for each such extension is $95.00. I will include a copy of ************** signed enrollment agreement. On December 27, 2022, I reached out to ************ directly to advise I would apply a courtesy 6-month extension out of good faith.
  Penn Foster is devoted to the educational advancement and satisfaction of all our students. If you have any further questions, please contact me at **************.
  
  Sincerely.
  *********************
  Escalation Specialist

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/19/2022

  Type:Billing 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 a student at Penn Foster Medical Billing Coding Course. Penn Foster has sent me to collections for an account that is not mine and have locked my account which is paid in full. I am not able to get this resolved with them. I have sent several emails and had phone call with them. This was supposed to be taken care with in a couple days and it has not been over two weeks that I can not continue my studies. I want to be able to finish my studies or a refund of all money paid. I have filed a dispute with the school and the credit bureaus for an account that is not mine. I would like to have this settled and I see no other way since they no longer answer my emails than to file a complaint. Again I would like to continue my studies or a full refund of all money paid.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/23/2022

  BBB Case Number: ********
  Student Name: *******************
  Student Number: ******** ********
  To Whom It May Concern:
  
  I  welcome the opportunity to address **. ****** concerns. ************** enrolled into the Medical Billing and Coding diploma program on August 12, 2020, by submitting a signed enrollment agreement and down payment.
  Under this account ************** has completed 12 exams. Due to defaulted payments, the account was referred to an outside collection agency. The account was closed on December 8, 2022 due to receiving a cancellation request from *************. If ************** feels this account is not hers, she can have her police report of fraud/stolen identity emailed to *******************************************
  ************** enrolled again into the Medical Billing and Coding program on May 3, 2021 by submitting a signed enrollment agreement and down payment. A hold was placed on this account on December 7, 2022 due to the system locating ************'s past due account.
  On December 22, 2022 I emailed ************** to advise that I removed the hold on her 2021 account and that she can continue. ************** will need to dispute her 2020 account by providing me a police report or she can settle the account with the collection agency directly.
   Penn Foster is devoted to the educational advancement and satisfaction of all our students. If you have any further questions, please contact me at **************.
  Sincerely.
  *****************************
  Sr. Escalation Specialist

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/14/2022

  Type:Billing 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 having a problem with Penn Foster, I started attending the school in November 2021 and attended until January 2022. I had personal issues come along and became a single father raising a child on my own. I decided to cancel my enrollment with the program and the program failed to follow through. Follow up a few months later and they filed to a collection agency. I spoke with the agency and Penn Foster and finally received a cancellation email listing I owed $563.20 to the school for my time attended. I agreed to pay and even paid $50 to the collection agency. The derogatory mark was taken off my credit and everything was fine. Finally, just this past month they have filed another collection to me through the agency and have now raised the amount owed to $1,100 which is way more than what was agreed on. I need to have this problem fixed fast as I am starting up a mobile car detailing business soon and need this mark off of my credit. I can pay the $513.20 owed in full but the $1,100 would be too much for me to do that fast.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/16/2022

  BBB Case Number: ********
  Student Name: *************************
  Student Number: ********
  To Whom It May Concern:
  
  I welcome the opportunity to address **. *******’s concerns. ****************** enrolled into the ******************* Associate degree on November 21, 2021, by submitting a signed enrollment agreement and down payment.
  Reviewing **. *******’s account, the first and only request to withdraw from the program came on October 14, 2022. This is the attachment that ****************** has provided the BBB. Per the enrollment agreement, the request must be submitted in writing. The request could be mail or email.  Prior to this, **. *******’s account was sent to an outside collection agency due to defaulted payments. The agency reported the full price of the semester as the account was still in an open status.
  ****************** was advised in his email reply on October 18, 2022, that his account was now closed and that he would be responsible for the cancellation terms according to his enrollment agreement. The collection agency would have been notified that ****************** withdrew from the program and would have updated the defaulted amount due. ****************** will be responsible for remaining liability of $563.20.
   Penn Foster is devoted to the educational advancement and satisfaction of all our students. If you have any further questions, please contact me at **************.
  Sincerely.
  Andrew K**********
  Sr. Escalation Specialist