New Horizons Student's Stories - Page 1

You know its funny, in an ironic sort of way how I find myself coming back to your website again today. I can remember 3 years ago after I had completed some of the most ridiculous training courses in my life, that I had known then, that I had been (for lack of a better term) *screwed* by New Horizons of Parsippany and Iselin (New Jersey). It was a mere three years ago that I, as well as my sister's boyfriend, had attended New Horizons--( A+ Cert, Net+ Cert, CIW~Certified Internet Webmaster, as well as other software programs, eg Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, etc).

This is the first time I've actually looked into your website--I can't believe that all that I had experienced at the centers in New Jersey is predominant in the New Horizon facilities across the country! It was my sister's boyfriend who had first mentioned of your website's existence. I can remember pulling it up during class and chuckling about it with him, agreeing with the domain name alone.

Now years later I still reflect with the deepest regret and dissatisfaction--a quiet storm that has lived inside of me that has finally come to a head. My instructors, as you had simply stated in your wife's experience, simply read from the mediocre manuals as if reading a child a bedtime story. Instructors who were learning foundation courses with me during the Fall were miraculously teaching level 2 and advanced courses the next semester--I couldn't believe it! They had no knowledge of the course material nor any personal experience to relate to. If I knew at the time that that is all they were doing in class I would have saved an enormous amount of money and bought manuals (better ones at that!) and taught myself. In many of the software courses, I knew more about the program than the instructor! I can remember on numerous occasions of students asking if *this* or *that* could be implemented through use of a particular software. The instructor would reply with a "No" when in reality they were some of the basic functions. I mean don't we all know that "bullets" can be inserted through Dreamweaver or any editor for that matter?

As if the instructors capabablity or lack thereof wasn't enough, my Account Exective, who's name fails me at this time was also very unhelpful and misleading to say the least. (Forgive me for I am at work, all of my papers and contracts are at home so specific names and dates aren't accessible to me at the moment!) Regardless, my account executive was also highly guilty of false promises, as far as internships, gaining positions with Fortune 500 companies and job placement. To further this, he also lied to me about the loan in which he had so *generously* arranged for me to pay for my classes. He had mentioned that it was much like my school loan and that I could defer the loan in times of hardship, claim forebearance, etc. just like my loan through the government for my college education. It seems that this has lead me to the final straw for me and has brought me writing this email.

I had relocated to Florida about a year ago, and unfortunately I am going through some severe hardship and cannot afford to keep making payments on my 11,000 dollar loan. There is no deferment available or forebearance option for me--despite what my account executive had mentioned, and I had perused my contract and to my dismay it was not listed there. I was 21 at the time of signing it, an adult yes, ignorant yes--and now I am truly paying for it, through the harassing phone calls and the mar that is now on my perfect credit. This entire time I have winced everytime making a payment for this loan, every time, I can't stress that enough. My interest is so incredibly high that despite my payments for the past 2 years or so, I still owe the amount I had initially taken out. I don't know what to do, or if I can even do anything at this point in time, considering my experience with New Horizons was so long ago. Any advice you may have for me would be greatly appreciated, or even just a *hey you're screwed* response would suffice as I understand my situation is more likely to be hopeless at this point.

At the very least, thank you for listening to me,
Another disgrunted, unsatisfied student from the New Horizons network....

Ann

[Editor's note: This story, as well as others seen below, show why it is key to use the survival guides on newhorizonssucks.net or at least keep a skeptical mindset when shopping for and signing up for training of any sort in any school. If anybody opens their mouth and promises you something, they shouldn't have ANY PROBLEM WHATSOEVER putting it in writing. Demanding that might have saved Ann from the situation she's in now.]

My story is not unusual and it parallels countless others out there. The economic situation here in New York has been extremely rough for many, especially since the attacks of 9/11. I, like so many other IT people, got the heave-ho on April 2002. My financial situation grew tighter with each day and passing week. By November 2002 I had run out of leads. Then I noticed an advertisement on Monster.com from some place called New Horizons of NYC. There were a lot of selling points in that ad: Apprenticeships, boot-camp style training, A+, Network+, MCSA, CCNA certifications in as little as 3 months with "GUARANTEED job contracts with Fortune 500 companies" at the completion of the training. Let's keep that last part in mind.

I went in for open house, and the GM Don Lipari was there. He was going on and on about the school and the success stories kept popping up. It sounded pretty good at first. It was a lengthy process: go through their boot camp program (A+, Network+, Security+, MCSA and CCNA), then thru a quick unpaid internship before they stick you with a guaranteed 30-day contract with a Fortune 500 company. Course there is no guaranteed FULL-TIME job, but many people such as myself were hoping for a change of luck, for an opportunity to impress these Fortune 500 employers into taking then in as full-time employers. They made it sound like they had the inside leads with the HR depts of these companies.

I made an appointment to meet with a Gabi Golan, an account exec.

At the appointment, we spoke and he seemed impressed with my resume. Said something that I would do very well in the boot camp and other things. I asked him how the job contracts work. He reiterated what was spoken in the open house - go through the boot camp, the internship and then that's it. I asked him who were these Fortune 500 companies. He mentioned HBO, Morgan Stanley, etc etc and other high powered names. Were they Fortune 500? I didn't really know at the time. He discussed how some former students had gone on to very prosperous positions after the contract and talked about a friend who was in the IT industry for so many years and how he got laid off and was regretful about not having any certs under his belt. Then came the price. It hit me hard like a brick wall. A hefty 16 grand. After scholarship, some financial aid, it still looked enormous. I asked him how certain would someone like me land an opportunity after a contract. He said it was guaranteed. I shook hands and said that I would sleep on it. Whatever the reason was I took a gamble. It was around the first week of December 200. I called him back and arranged for a final get together. He had the paperwork with him when I met with him. I hesitated because something in the back of my mind told me otherwise. But at the last minute I signed it. By the next morning I was regretting it. I called back and met face to face with him and asked if there was any way for me to get out of that or perhaps take a single class instead. He replied that there was no refund and I would be hit with a 25% penalty for that. He also said that it would look bad for his manager because they would loose a $16,000 seat for nothing. He offered to discuss it with his manager but I doubted it. Before I left he said to me, "The big difference between our training center and others is that we have ACTUAL companies waiting for you." Again I took a gamble later on and decided that I was going to have to go through this program. You make your own bed and you have to lie in it, so to speak.

Well I basically aced the entire boot camp. Passed all my exams quickly and on the first try. The instructors were rather nice and very knowledgeable I give them that. However because these were night classes it was a tremendous strain on everyone. If you're a beginner you can pretty much kiss your ass goodbye. The lab setups were spartan and the practice labs for exams consisted of four machines sitting in a back room with practice exams anyone can download off the internet. My main objective was to get through this as quick as possible so that I can land those job positions and hopefully seal the deal with some nice company. I didn't have a year to waste. My money was running short and I had to get through this as quickly as possible. In regards to the job positions, it was all a big mystery to most people. There were talks of former students landing opportunities with HBO but this was all hearsay.

The ODDEST thing was that my classmates would get these job postings through emails sometimes. I didn't think much about them until later.

As for any career hookups or training, their so-called CGS Planners group was a total scam. We basically paid $800 to sit around on a Saturday and learn what we already know. In a nutshell, some guys were called in from down South and they started spewing out some stuff about interviewing techniques, internships and they gave us all a cold call list and pretty much said good luck. I mean WTF was that all about? We never once saw our personal websites much less smell anything about our supposedly revamped resumes. So much for the hookups there.

During my CCNA class I remembered asking my Account Exec about the job contract. How do I start it or sign up for it? He told me that I should send my resume now to my career supervisor. I did that but nothing was heard of it at that time.

I finished my entire boot camp in about 3 months and the unpaid internship lasted for two weeks. Unpaid internships means you sit around the tech guys that work there and try your best to apply what you've learned. Again, if you're a total beginner it's pretty much useless. They somehow give you this notion that the internship counts for something. I completed my two weeks and went back to my advisor. I was ready, I was psyched to start the most important part of my stay there at New Horizons - the guaranteed contract job with some Fortune 500 company.

"Did you send me your resume?", the advisor Maria asked.

"Yes so do I need to sign up somewhere, do the companies choose me?", I replied.

"No you will get emails about job positions"

"Emails?"

"Yeah emails...you didn't get anything? Give me your email again"

"??????"

Remember the little sporadic emails I talked about before. Yeah THAT. THAT WAS THE SO-CALLED GUARANTEED position. They were little blurbs that appeared once a while. They didn't PLACE you in actual Fortune 500 companies, no. None of that. You were basically left to wait and wait and wait for these little emails that cropped up once in a blue moon. Furthermore they never mention the actual company. Why the disguise? Basically you had to fend for your own. The mentality of it was, take it or leave it.

At that precise moment, my heart sank. My time, my efforts, my money all down the drain. I had to act and act fast. I found my first temp gig in a week and thanks to my preexisting skills manage to land a full time gig. No thanks to these losers at New Horizons. I left that place for good in April 2003. During those 3 long months, I received perhaps one or possible two emails for these "guaranteed" jobs. I remember one job was waaay down South somewhere and another called for extensive traveling but didn't start until July. July? I'll be dead by the time July rolls around. And do I look like I live in the South?? No one called me. I emailed the manager back and asked him if there was anything in Manhattan. Next few weeks I get a call from a headhunter saying that some Don Lipari forwarded my resume to him. A further attempt to hook me up with a full time position ended in nothing. Then around May or early June I got a call from some new "career advisor" named Monica Rodriguez. Once again I got referred to a personal headhunter friend of hers near the downtown branch of New Horizons. I go there only to find out, she doesn't really have a job - just a probability of an open position. That fell flat.

So the question remains, where was this guaranteed job contract? Where was my hookup to a Fortune 500 company? Where were all these companies that were waiting for us? No where. We were had, we were duped. Of all the friends that I made from those night classes, only a few got full time gigs. Not because of New Horizons but because they had no where else to turn and somehow Lady Luck found them a fresh start.

Then I get a frantic phone call last month. My acct exec Gabi called me up all frantic and everything. He wanted to know where I was, what I was doing, whether or not NH hooked me up with something. Course none of that happened.

"So do you still need our job services?", he asked.

He wanted me to send an email to him confirming that I am working and I no longer need their job services. Job services? What job services? I'm working right now BECAUSE I had act on my own! They never helped me. I was left with my nuts in the wind. Needless to say I never did send anything back. My guess is they're getting their asses in hot water and they were trying to cover their bases. Good. There's more where that came from.

I really really want them to pay for every red cent. All those subway tokens, the long nights, the weight loss, the tremendous loan I now have to deal with - every goddamned mothereffing red cent.

I had a choice of Productivity Point or New Horizons for training. I choose to try New Horizons since I thought they would be better than Productivity Point.

I went to New Horizons for MCSE Windows 2000 training. If I knew your site existed I would have had second thoughts. My price tag was $11,242 that I took a student loan out for. That included Net+, MCSE, and the Test Pass guarentee. To date I have my Net+ certification.

We had 6 different instructors, 3 different class rooms, and a WIDE array of prices my class mates paid for schooling.

We were using a local high school as our classroom. In the room the instructor could use his PC to display what he was doing on a monitor that was hanging from the ceiling. Very useful to follow what he was doing. UNTIL.... We come into class the next week and all the PCS and desks are turned to face the back of the room. The monitor and dry erase boards were in the front of the room. We had no idea why this was done.

Heres why...During our Tuesday night class our instructor forgot to turn off the overhead monitor. The high school teacher came in and start grading test on his PC that was connected to the overhead screen. The high scholl teacher was infuriated that this happened. He wanted the New Horizon instructor fired. To get back at us the high school teacher turned the class room around and took the hardware so we could use the overhead screen. How childish. There was about 14 New Horizon students in the class. New Horizons paid for the PCs in the classroom. They had hard drive swap bays so we weren't doing anything to the high school's hard drives.

Instructor 1 - 24 year old MCT that had NO real world experience

Instructor 2 - Captian Cert with 16 certs to his name

Instructor 3 - Former Army bomb disposal guy that was COMPLETELY clueless. No world experience but had great stories of IRA and other stuff that happened in the Army. (Army stories won't be on the MicroSoft exams)

Instructor 4 - Finally a good instructor we could learn form. (#4 hurts back and we lose him for the rest of the courses)

Instructor 5 - Horrible instructor. He even told the class that he was poor at teaching. Had him for 1 1/5 courses

Instructor 6 - Good but not as good as #4 and at this point of 10 months of school just wanted to get out and be done.

School was over in August of 2002 and I didn't even think about studying for a month.

I raised several concerns to New Horizons and did not get any money from them. I did get training vouchers for taking CIW (Certified Webmaster) trianing from them but I have to take the classes beforew the end of 2003.

I have several problems that I raised and really got nowhere. No I'm trying to study to take the 7 test for MCSE because the payments of $147.50 per month have started. It took me 1 month to study for the Net+ test.

It stressed my family, 2 nights a week in class, working 2 jobs. All I saw was a chance to get certified to somehow make more money. I didn't know if my company was going to pay me more or if I had to find a new employer. There are tons of radio commercials in my area boasting the $75K a year jo you will get once certified. In hind site I should have NEVER signed up for the schooling.

MY NEW HORIZONS STORY (alternate title: A CAUTIONARY TALE)

I first learned of Microsoft's MCSE title, and the series of tests one must pass to attain it, from a customer at a computer software retailer where I was working in early 1999. He had taken courses in the Windows NT4 MCSE track offered by a CTEC known as Spectrum Computer Services in Plymouth, Massachusetts, with an eye toward making a career change. Though the courses and the six certification exams required to attain the MCSE were described to me as being very daunting, this fellow indicated that MCSE holders were in high demand. In fact, he stated that he had already been offered an entry-level job even though he hadn't sat for any of the exams. My interest was piqued, and I decided to investigate the Microsoft certification program as a potential steppingstone to a new career myself.

As fortune would have it, a few days later I saw a local newspaper ad from Spectrum indicating that they'd have a representative giving a presentation regarding their MCSE courses at a local Borders bookstore the following Sunday evening. I decided to attend. A few other people showed, and the rep presented a slick song and dance about how IT jobs were hot, and that the MCSE was just the ticket for newcomers wanting to break into the industry. He trotted out the obligatory "salary surveys" which purported to show what MCSEs with varying levels of experience earned in various parts of the country. The Northeast region was hot. He passed out Spectrum's literature, and took down our names and phone numbers for contact purposes. I indicated that I would likely be interested in attending their intensive day sessions if I were to register. To make a long story short, a week or so later, I received a call from Spectrum informing me that their day program for fall 1999 was full. It was beginning to look as though I was out of luck, but I soon learned that Spectrum wasn't the only game in town. They had a competitor offering the same courses. That competitor was New Horizons, and their area franchise was based in Boston. This is where my cautionary tale really begins…

Late in the summer of 1999, I attended a "tech night" presented by New Horizons after seeing yet another newspaper ad. The location of the event was historic Plymouth, Massachusetts, to the south of Boston. The ad went so far as to advise interested parties to phone ahead to make reservations as seating at this event would be "limited." I did so. The presentation was to be given at a satellite campus of Curry College in Plymouth, whose facilities were apparently slated to be used by New Horizons (hereafter referred to simply as NH) to deliver an intensive seven-week program which would prepare students for the Herculean task of passing the MCSE exams.

I showed up on the appointed evening, along with 30 or so others. We took our seats in a classroom where the sales pitch was to be made, but were soon informed that the folks from NH would be late, apparently owing to Boston's notorious traffic congestion (though, in hindsight I wonder whether this was done deliberately so as to ratchet up the anticipation factor amongst the attendees…). Finally, the dynamic duo arrived, with literature, videos and overhead slides in tow. Believe me when I say that this man and woman were *wired*. With seemingly boundless enthusiasm, they proceeded to regale us with the endless benefits to be derived from MCSE status, not the least of which were the monetary rewards. Again, the much-ballyhooed salary stats were brought out to support their claims. As the room lights were dimmed, the audience was treated to a video featuring testimonials from all sorts of people about how gaining IT certification had catapulted them into a whole new world of financial and personal satisfaction. Next, it was the guy's turn to speak. All he had to offer was basically a rehash of what we'd already been subjected to via the video. Classics like the one about the tow truck driver who didn't feel fulfilled, so he got his MCSE and soon landed an entry-level job which paid him $56K in his first year of employment. He himself claimed to be an MCSE who was now working for NH (hmmm, if the MCSE is/was so hot, why wasn't he working in the "real world" knocking down that big $$$ rather than trying to recruit new customers for NH?? It did give me pause…). Of course, the courses weren't going to be had for a song. The pricing brochures were distributed, and the would-be students winced as they saw the prices: $7,500.00 for the seven-week MCSE program, a whopping $10,000.00 (or somewhere thereabouts) for the loftier ten-week MCSE+I program. But hey, what's seven or ten grand compared to the huge $$$$ you'd soon be earning as an MCSE, right? And besides, financing was available from the government for those unable to foot the bill all at once.

I didn't commit that night; I chose to spend a few days looking over their literature. The price was $500 greater than Spectrum's package; however, this program ran seven weeks rather than six, with a seventh course added (more on that in a moment). The price was indeed steep, but I was fortunate enough to be able to pay in full, with my own money. A week or so later, I returned to the Curry campus with the intention of registering for the courses. And here's where the fun began…

When I arrived, no representative from NH was present (even though this was supposedly where registration and payment were to be made). The receptionist/registrar at first did not know how to complete the transaction as I was paying via check. I sat around and waited several minutes while she phoned NH to ask for instructions on how to proceed. Finally, things were apparently straightened out. I was enrolled in their MCSE seven-week program for the fall of 1999. While I was waiting, however, I decided to have a look at the state-of-the-art computer lab in which I was to receive NH training. It turned out to be a facility scarcely any larger than my bedroom which was filled with a dozen or so PCs/workstations. In fact, I later learned that they hadn't even bothered to bring in the machines until they knew the course would be full. In hindsight, this should have been the first indication that NH Boston wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders. But there was more to come…

Finally, the long-anticipated start date for the training arrived. That morning, I arrived at the Curry campus at around 8:30. As I made my way into the parking lot, I noticed several electric utility trucks parked outside the building. I entered the building and found a dozen or so other students waiting around, some of whom I recognized from the earlier tech night. Soon the instructor for this first course, Sean, appeared and announced that the entire building had suffered a power failure. As a result, the lab would be inaccessible for the entire day. What we ended up doing was going through the first few sections of the interminably boring MOC books in a dimly-lit classroom. Day one of three was to run until 4:00PM; Sean ended up dismissing us at 2:00. The lab exercises for the course were compressed into the remaining two days. It didn't take me long to get the lay of the land. The courses in this program would consist of the instructor reading from the white/powder blue MOC binder textbooks, and I would have to do my best to follow along and complete the lab exercises as best I could. I was coming into the program with minimal networking experience, and I soon realized the following weeks wouldn't exactly be a cake walk.

The "lab" was a less-than-comfortable environment. It was situated in the building's basement, and was poorly ventilated. Imagine cramming twelve PCs and twelve or more people into a small room for seven hours at a time. It is a guaranteed recipe for frustration. It was quite stuffy and confining, and not at all conducive to a good learning experience (especially after lunch…). But, I had little choice but to deal with it.

Most of the lab exercises required you to have a partner, and I ended up with a fluky whose computer knowledge was slim to none (and slim had already left town…). On several occasions, he became overwhelmed by the labs and left class early, usually citing illness. After the third week or so, he stopped showing up altogether. There was no one else available for me to partner up with, so I had to limp through the remaining weeks trying to complete the labs by myself.

And so it went. I struggled to follow along with the coursework, though trying to compress the contents of 800+ page MOC books into the space of five days is tough, if not impossible, to do without cutting a lot of corners. The instructors I received essentially seemed to be going through the same motions – that is, reading from the textbooks. Some did have "real world" experience and would sometimes pepper a lecture with personal experiences, but as I recall those were few. Not that the rest of the class cared all that much, though. The class contained four or five early-twenty something jerks who thought they knew it all. Often, they would be playing Windows Solitaire or Pinball or surfing the web while the instructor was droning on and on from the MOC text. At one point, one of these morons went so far as to bring in a copy of a game called Unreal Tournament, load it on several workstations and use the lab's bandwidth to play against his buddies. And these were aspiring IT *professionals*? Go figure…

Finally, and mercifully, week number seven rolled around in late November. For me, this final week in the conveyances of NH was at the same time laughable and frustrating. First off, this "seventh class" wasn't focusing on a new topic at all; rather, it was a continuation of the previous week's class, the topic of which was Exchange Server 5.5. I thoroughly disliked the demeanor and overall M.O. of the instructor, Jim (I won't embarrass him by using his last name). I don't usually bad mouth people, but I'm sorry, this guy was a well-rounded jerk. He was totally full of himself. On day one, he begins by laying down the law with us regarding his teaching policy – he starts his spiel at 9 sharp each day, whether you're there or not. His was a "you leave, you lose" policy alright. However, he soon showed himself to be an utter hypocrite when *he* left class early that day to be with his pregnant wife, who was undergoing an ultrasound exam (or so he claimed). It didn't end there, however. On day two or three, he extended an offer to the class. He would be willing to "tutor" us on a one-on-one basis outside the class. However, he wasn't going to do it for nothing. At that point, I was thinking, "What, HUH??" You mean, Jim, the supposed "expert" NH had provided for our instruction, wants to bleed us for more $$$ on the side, after we've already paid NH $7,500.00+ for MCSE training?? Do you see anything wrong with this picture? On day 4, my workstation crashed and I wasn't able to complete the remaining lab, not that it really made much difference. Then there was the crowning touch. Also on day 4, Jim announces that we have "covered" all of the course material and that for day 5 he has other plans for his pupils: A PARTY! Yes, you heard right! The students were going to bring in snacks and refreshments, while he was going to bring in a DVD player with movies and jury-rig the overhead projection system to run them. Needless to say, I chose not to participate in Jim's little shindig. And so ended the training that was supposed to enable me to conquer the MCSE tests.

The final insult occurred a few weeks later, however, when NH mailed me a set of certificates of completion (their courses, not the MCSE cert itself). To my chagrin, I saw that they had misspelled my name on all of them. Granted, these weren't worth the paper they were printed on, but as a matter of principle I wanted to have my proper name displayed on them. I called NH/Curry College and requested a correction, giving them the proper spelling of my name. They sent me another packet, with my name misspelled again!! How inept can a training school be? I had to go to the school in person to have these corrected. Luckily, MS didn't make the same mistake…

At any rate, this whole experience left me feeling that I had not been prepared to attempt the MCSE exams. After the NH program ended, I had to go back to square one. I ditched the MOC books and bought Sybex study guides for each of the NT4 exams I had to take. Through many months of independent study, I finally managed to complete the NT4 MCSE in December 2000. Fearing that I might lose my certification if I didn't upgrade to Win2K, I studied for and passed all seven exams for that, completing the upgrade last April. I have yet to find a job in the industry, however. My out-of-pocket costs have exceeded $10,000. Though in my heart of hearts I know this amount was thrown down a rat hole, I am proud of the fact that I took the high road and earned the shiny certificates, wallet cards and lapel pins through dedicated independent study, without any help from NH.

So, what's the bottom line with NH? My experience has led me to one inescapable conclusion, which is as follows. The courses this and other organizations offer for MCSE certification are a total RIPOFF! In fact, the term highway robbery comes to mind. There is absolutely no reason or need to shell out several thousand dollars for the shoddy services they try to pass off as serious IT training. For my $7,500 I got a substandard lab, instructors with inflated egos, mediocre classmates, and material that later took me nearly a year to learn properly crammed into 3-5 day classes. I was scarcely any better off when I finished this program than when I began. Was that worth $7,500? I think not. For the quality of the training received, I'd be hard pressed to spend $750.

Does NH truly care about their students? Do they really care whether you pass or fail your exams? Do they give a flying flip whether you succeed or fail at landing a job in IT which might remotely utilize your skills as a newly-minted MCSE? Does it ever occur to them that you might never recoup one dime of the money you invested in their "services?" The answer to these questions is a resounding NO. They are just out to make money by selling a bill of goods to unsuspecting customers. Nothing more, nothing less. They will make whatever statements are necessary to get you to fork over your hard-earned cash, and then you are on your own. They couldn't care less whether you as a student and aspiring IT professional sink or swim. After they've got your money, that is.

If you are considering shelling out your money for MCSE training from NH (or any similar company), don't! Take it from someone who has learned the hard way. For a lot less than what you will have to pay them, you can easily setup a home lab that you can use at *your* convenience to learn Microsoft's NT4/Win2K network operating systems. If you are strapped for cash and can't afford the hardware, there is yet another option. For around $300, you can purchase software from a company called vmWare (www.vmware.com) that you can use to emulate a 3-4 node Windows network using a single system. Combine this with a time-trial version of Win2k Advanced Server which can be purchased from MS for under $20, and you've got the tools needed to give you a basic working knowledge of the OS – knowledge which *will* benefit you when exam time rolls around.

In the final analysis, you owe it to yourself to gain as much information about NH or any training school you can *before* committing your time and cash. Don't just accept whatever bill of goods they try to sell you, particularly claims to the effect that big money jobs are yours for the taking after you complete/graduate from their program. The events and shifts within the IT industry and the economy as a whole over the past 2-3 years has shown such claims to be unfounded where the MCSE is concerned, "paper certs" notwithstanding. Do some homework in advance. Ask for the names of previous students and phone or email them and ask what their experience has been. You might just end up saving yourself a lot of time, money and grief. What the webmaster had to say about organizations such as NH is true: They DONT have your best interests at heart, they are out to make a fast buck, plain and simple.

Thanks for reading this. To those in the same boat as me, I feel your pain.

Please withhold my name on this but here is a story to add to your collection.

I have recently attended a Cisco ICND course at New Horizons of Montgomery Alabama. The instructor’s name was Greg Clark; he is the owner brother in law. First of all, I got robbed! This idiot did not know anything about Cisco IOS let alone RIP and Spanning Tree. Greg claimed to be a CCNA, which as the time was hard to believe. Well the class lasted for 5 days and I got nothing from it. At first I thought that it was me and that I could not grasp the content. Well, recently while walking in the local mall I ran into a previous Instructor of New Horizons Montgomery (he left and trains else where).

This is what I have come to find out!

Greg Clark is not now, nor was he ever a CCNA. He also failed the CCNA exam 4 times. “Can you say fraud”?

I think that everyone that sat that course with Greg the village idiot as an instructor should get together and file a class action lawsuit against them!

I really find in all the complaints or upset students that I see while taking classes that they are usually the ones who are not paying attention to the classes and then turn around and complain because they didn't get the matterial. If you are a student and you are going to take a class, then PAY ATTENTION. Yes they are high paced classes, but you should know that if you are registering to take a 5 day class. Don't think you can come in and not pay attention and then go take a test, it is not going to happen.

I will admit that New Horizons may not be the best, but there are some instructors that DO know what they are talking about and really do care about the student, their well being, and their ability to pass the exams. Going to a class by itself is not going to make you past the test, YOU DO HAVE TO STUDY!!! It's just like when you were in real school, you sit in the class everyday, but before you go to take the test, you STUDY...same thing applies.

You might as well throw New Horizons’ two New Jersey locations in the garbage pail as well. (Iselin and Parsippany, NJ)

Instead of giving you a really long story, here are the sad facts about these two locations which I had attended for almost a year:

• The course material sucks!
• The instructors suck and have no real life experience, they are all book smart!
• The A.E.s are marketing geniuses and promise you the world after you complete the courses!
• Classes are constantly canceled or postponed!
• The hardware is old and outdated (except for the room in which they held their certification night, that was a high-tech, very impressive classroom, but I think it’s just used for these selling purposes…hmm, another marketing ploy???)
• Most instructors can’t answer a basic question without having to check with others in the field.
• They were not able to grant a certain instructors raise request. And of all the instructors there, this guy deserved it. He knew everything. We miss you Joe M.!
• I don’t care who you are, you cannot teach the fundamentals of TCP/IP or the OSI/RM in one day. (Out of a five-day course)
• Holy sh*t…did you know there was so much more to Macromedia Flash than just motion and shape tweening. (sarcastically speaking)
• It’s amazing that one instructor can teach everything from Microsoft Word to a MCSE course with no prior computer experience except for reading books.
• You cannot go and complain to anyone…they just don’t care and blow you off and give you some crappy excuse of how they are planning to fix the problem.
• They allow anyone to take any classes…I thought these classes had prerequisites. An Advanced Windows 2000 course I took had a student who didn’t know how to insert a floppy disk into the drive. He was putting it in upside down and couldn’t figure it out. The class had to stop while the instructor showed the student. ..Hey, I guess as long as you paid for the classes, they do not care about the students anymore.

But I guess this is why this site exists and gets so many letters of complaints.

Anyway, the franchise has more negatives than positives, and in all fairness, it actually does have a few positives. Unfortunately, the negatives far outweigh them. Oh well, $9,000 down the toilet. Thank God my company paid for it. They will never use NH again. The complaints not only came from me, but from fellow employees. It’s unfortunate; they could have a powerhouse of a school if they only had experienced professionals and a better overall company structure.

My advice to individuals interested in taking boot camp courses at NH or at any “two-week” school…DON’T! It’s not worth the financial investment. You could take the same amount of money and take the courses at a local College or University. At least they are professors and classes last a whole semester. Trust me, its better that way. One or Two-weeks will only make your butt sore and you will get nothing out of it. And if you’re wondering why I just didn’t do that…I was misinformed. I believed them and didn’t know about this website.

Would you want a surgeon with no experience and was completely book-smart??? They are the same principals, but different fields.

I guess its time to revise that Mission Statement, huh?

Wow, it turned out to be a long e-mail anyway. Please withhold any contact information from being posted to your website.

I first learned of New Horizons in January of 1998 when I was working at Mainstream Microsystems in Prattville, AL as a computer technician. I had received a free attendance certificate for a Microsoft Excel class. I then became interested in getting my Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certifications.

I attended a career night at which the Account Executives (AE) there told me about how they could help me go about getting the MCSE. They also gave me a projected cost that was around $7000.00 for the entire course. They also told me that they offered a test pass guarantee program. The guarantee was that if I made a score of 90% on the lab tests then New Horizons guaranteed that I would pass the test or they would pay for the test until I passed. I couldn't afford to take out a loan to pay for this at the time.

I was again invited to a career night at New Horizons in late July of 2000. They were still offering the same class with the same guarantee. This time they had a drawing for a free class, which was part of the MCSE course, and I won the drawing and obtained all the information to sign up for the MCSE course.

My account executive this time around was David Christian. He came up with a price of $10,000 for the course. He said that his Sales Manager was able to give a few other applicants and myself a special deal of $6500.00 for the course if we were approved for a loan or paid for the course within two weeks. That was as long as he could extend the "special rate," or so he said.

David Christian showed me a salary chart for Montgomery, Alabama showing that an entry level MCSE certified engineer made an average salary per year of $40,000. After six months to a year of field experience that figure rose to $50,000. They also said the average person completed the course in six to eight months, and rarely in three months. This led me to believe that in six months I could complete my MCSE training and hopefully obtain a job making $40,000. This would well be enough to pay for my loan.

I had applied for a loan with Sallie Mae Financial corporation and was regrettably declined. It was required that I have a co-signer. I consulted my father to co-sign with me and told him all about the New Horizons guarantee, the salary chart, and that in six months I could complete the course. I also told him about the special deal that the Sales Manager had worked out for me. I was also told that Sallie Mae wouldn't make me pay full payments for the first six months. My father already knew about the MCSE from my earlier interest. He took a look at the loan information and said they were going to finance it for 15 years and I would pay back around $15k. He suggested financing for a shorter term. Being on a short time frame he concluded to just pay for the courses himself and after I obtained my MCSE certifications and got a job I would reimburse the cost. Similar to Sallie Mae, but I would not have to pay any interest.

I enrolled in the classes and took my first class the last week of August. I also scheduled my classes for the end of the year because they said it could get booked up and I had to have night classes because I worked during the day. The classes consisted of four core courses and two electives. The instructors told me to take the four core classes all before taking the exams because they would build on each other.

In early to mid October my account executive, David Christian, told me that Microsoft had decided to retire the MCSE 4.0 course effective December 31. He also said that if I didn't pass at least the four core exams by that date all my money, time, and certifications would have been wasted. If I did pass the four core tests I would still have to pass a one-chance exam on the MCSE 2000 course the next year to effectively update and retain my certifications.

The projected failure rate of that exam was 90%. I had not taken all four of the core classes and the last two courses were scheduled for December. One of them was the last week of December. I then wanted to start the lab sessions. I was under the assumption that the labs would be hands on training, and that they would be based on real life scenarios. Unfortunately, this was not true. I was informed that the lab was not included in the price I paid and that it would be an extra $500 more to take the labs. Without the labs, the test pass guarantee was void. This had happened to several of David Christians’ clients. The Sales Manager had decided to let me take the labs at half price so we paid only $250.

When I first attended the lab it was not at all what I had thought. It was nothing more than reading material and taking practice tests. So I did the practice tests and scored 90% on the first course. I took the test in late November and failed. I then went back to the lab to study more and retake the test, and yet again I failed. They informed me that they would not be paying for any more of the tests and that if I took it again that I would have to pay.

I doubled up on studying and going to lab five nights a week from 5:00pm until 9:00pm. I was under a lot of pressure at this time because the deadline was closing. I started another class the second week of December while continuing the lab study sessions in hope of saving my certifications and money. I also took time off work to study but that was limited because I also have a family to support. The deadline was closing and I was losing hope fast. I couldn't accept a loss because all my dreams of becoming a MCSE were fading day by day.

Finally late in the third week of December New Horizons received news from Microsoft that due to the massive response and booked up testing centers they would extend the deadline for the course completion until the end of February. Some of the stress was slightly off. I took the last course at the end of December and continued to go to lab and study throughout January. In mid February I started taking exams again and continued to fail. Microsoft will only allow you to take an exam twice and then you have to wait two weeks before retaking. I had exceeded the two-exam limit and by the time the two weeks came around it was already past the deadline. There was nothing I could do. My money, and my certifications were gone.

Now and then New Horizons offers the MCSE 2000 course. This course is not scheduled to retire and you have as long as you need to take the courses and exams to achieve the certifications. They pushed the MCSE 4.0 exam on me and said that most companies would not be upgrading to Windows 2000 and that the 4.0 certifications would be worth more.

I am currently the Systems and Network manager for Moreson Conferencing. All of our computers have Windows 2000. We have no remains of NT 4.0. If New Horizons did not push me into the 4.0 exams and put a deadline on the cost I would have taken the 2000 course.

I have started a class action law suit against New Horizons. If you were sold classes on NT 4.0 at New Horizons late in 2000, you are eligible to become a member of the class-action and receive a share of any award or settlement.

Please contact me as soon as possible.

Jason Workman
Systems and Network Manager
800-368-1977 ext. 203
or
334-358-4377
jaworkman@earthlink.net

Hi, my name is (Name Withheld) and I was a student at New Horizons Computer Training School in Cincinnati, Ohio. Randall Xxxxxxx was my sales executive.

Now Randall, knowing (because I told him) I had no real computer experience or background. I didn't even have a home computer. I was working a full time job as a restaurant manager.

The package he sold me to become financially rich was around $10,000 and he arranged with Microsoft IT to get me money for a computer too! I too was made to believe that learning to be an MCSE was a piece of cake and could be done in 6months to a year. I informed him my plan was to move to Florida in 8 months. He assured me that my course was offered where I was moving and that I was fully transferable. (Not true, when I got to St. Petersburg, the nearest locations for MCSE training were in Jacksonville, Tampa and Atlanta, GA.)

I took the courses, taught by persons who could not answer MY most basic questions and instill a beginning knowledge of the coursework. Most of them joked about how they didn't agree with the coursework. The hands on work was very quick and incomplete. The majority of the time the computers did not work and were not close to a true simulation of the operating system or software being discussed.

I tried to get my money back for classes not taken so I could pay back some of the loan, then . . . the "package deal" was broken down into single units and my "refund" would have been a few hundred dollars.

I phoned Microsoft IT Loan Program and they told me they had no responsibility to me, that my beef was with New Horizons Cincinnati.

I hold Microsoft IT Loan Program partially responsible, for allowing this school to operate and represent themselves as a qualified institute to train inexperienced individuals how to become "experts" on their systems. Microsoft is making a killing on the financing interest. Also in Cincinnati, there was some kind of arrangement with Social Security and some city unemployment services to provide training (I'm sure at a huge expense to the government entity) to make individuals employable (what a scam).

I have been searching for persons who may be engaged in a class action lawsuit against either New Horizons or Microsoft IT Loan Program.

Working in the field I am in now, I have received a similar complaint about Tech Street also.

Thanks for listening. Please provide any advise you see fit.

I agree, New Horizons sucks, and I am in a position to tell people who listen.

I'm currently enrolled in the Network Support Technician Program at New Horizons in Santa Cruz California. So far things have gone really well for me. My account executive to my knowledge has been on the up and up with me. In fact the entire staff I find to be very knowledgeable, courteous and seem to care what I think of the program and facility. I have had two instructors so far teaching Windows 2000 level 1@2, DOS 6.2 Level 1@2, Fundamentals of Networking and Excel Level 1. The instructors definitely know the material they are teaching. In addition they both have excellent attitudes. I have enjoyed the delivery of the course material presented by the instructors so far.

As far as your web site I find it entertaining and informational, especially the "Links". I do understand your frustration and disappointment with your experience at New Horizons in Milwaukee. Unfortunately situations like this do happen. I wish they didn't. As a result of your experience you felt compelled to create the newhorizonssucks website. I'm glad you did.

I have a friend in Sacramento that is enrolled in the MCSE program at New Horizons. Unfortunately he is having problems also. Again this is unfortunate. I must say though, not ALL New Horizons training facilities are alike. The quality of education is dependent on the administration and instructors. It really sucks when you come upon substandard people running an organization.

Thinking of using New Horizons Computer Learning Center for your IT Training? Read about my experience before deciding.

I am in the process of upgrading my Microsoft Certification from Windows NT to the Windows 2000 based MCSE certification. If I pass Microsoft exam 070-240 - Windows 2000 Accelerated Exam for MCP's certified on Windows NT, I can take the exam for free one time. If I do not pass this exam before December 31st of 2001, I must take four individual exams at $100 each. To take classes for each of those exams I will have to take four individual classes at a cost of about $1500 to $2000 each. Plus lost work during that time and having to hire technicians to cover me. Also, it must be noted that this exam can only be attempted one time. If the exam is failed the four exams must be taken instead.

I was first contacted by a New Horizons Computer Learning Centers, Beaverton Oregon, sales rep by phone sometime around August of this year and she talked me into taking the Windows NT to 2000 upgrade course - Course # 1560 for almost $2000, at their facility, instead of through my usual training provider. So way back in Sept., I signed up for the course. I thought I'd have plenty of time to take the course and study for the exam by the end of the year. Well, when I signed up for the course, they told me there wasn't going to be one until the end of October. I thought fine, kind of late but I'll still have plenty of time to study after taking the class.

I had to prepay for the class and was told that 50% (I think) of the cost would not be returned if I where to cancel within 2 weeks of the class. Pretty stiff requirements but I guess they've been duped by late drop-outs before so no big deal. I'll play by their rules.

My original class was scheduled for Oct 29th through November 2nd. I was then notified one or around Oct 4th that the class was not going to be held due to a lack of students registered and I would have to be re-scheduled into another class. I complained that I did not feel it was right that they have all these requirements of the student to pre-pay for the classes and place restrictions on canceling and then turn around and do it to me. I am a business owner - computer consultant - and it is very difficult to schedule my time, especially to be gone for a whole week of training. No kind of compensation or discount was offered because of this.

I reluctantly agreed to take the next available course from them on December 3rd since there wasn't much time left to run my business, find another training facility, get enrolled in a class, take the class, study for the exam and then finally take the exam.

Then I was confirmed in the class for Dec 12th to the 14th from the sales rep. I thought it was strange that now it turned into a two day course from a five day course so I looked back in my records. I'm glad I did because if I didn't, I would have shown up on the wrong day and week. So, I questioned her on it and she confirmed that my class was indeed on Dec 3rd through the 7th. If I wouldn't have caught this mistake, I would have gone through the trouble of hiring additional part time technicians to cover me on the wrong days and would have notified all my customers of the wrong dates, etc., etc., etc. Basically a lot of wasted time and money.

Everything finally got straightened out for the new class and a person from New Horizons called a couple of days in advance to confirm that I would be in the class. We called them back and confirmed that I would indeed be there.

On Monday Dec 3rd, I drove from McMinnville, OR to Beaverton, OR (about an hour's drive) going through heavy traffic and construction and arrived at New Horizons at 8:50 am. The class was scheduled to begin at 8:30am. No big deal they always just go through introductions and learning facility layout the first½ hr anyway. I was sure I wouldn't miss much.

When I signed in for the class I was told by the receptionist that he would have to get my sales representative. Several minutes later another gentlemen approached me, telling me she was unavailable to talk to me and proceeded to tell me that my seat had been taken by someone on the waiting list because I was over twenty minutes late and there was nothing they would do about it. They said I could re-schedule for their January 2002 class but that would not work because I am already scheduled to take the test on December 14th. I have to take the exam before Jan 1st! They also suggested self study courses. At that point, I got up told them this was a joke and I wanted my money back then left the facility before doing something I'd regret later.

At no time was I ever told of this "rule" that if I were 20 minutes late they would give my seat to someone else. I have an invoice that states the 2 week minimum for cancellations but it does not state anything about this anywhere on anything I've received from New Horizons. I also checked their website very carefully and found no mention of this policy anywhere on there either. Also, nobody tried to contact me at all on Monday morning to see if I was on my way. They called me almost every day and wasted several productive hours trying to get me into the class and re-scheduling me on their schedule but they couldn't call or wait 20 minutes for me because I got stuck in traffic.

Now I have no training class, they still have my money, I have less than 2 weeks to either try to find another class or find a way to self study for it. I have also notified all my customers that I would be out for the week for training and hired technicians to replace me while I'm gone. If I don't pass the exam, I'm going to have to be away from my business for 4 weeks now instead of 1 for training plus the extra hours to take the different exams. Plus I'll have to hire technicians now for all that extra time I'll be away. Not to mention the lost business because of my delay in being able to promote being Windows 2000 certified.

I spent hours on the phone and by e-mail trying to set this up and work out all the previous problems, I spent almost $2000 on the course. I spent Monday morning driving for over 2 hrs to and from their facility. I wasted a lot of time and money and after months of dealing with them I have nothing to show for it! Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else.

My name is Kim Lee and I also had a horrible experience with New Horizons. I have tried for months to get a refund to no avail. I was in a bad auto accident and in between neck and lumbar fusions an account exec in Pensacola, FL sold me the MCSE and A + cert classes for a nice little sum of money.

Now I am a disabled mother of a 5 year old, age 42 and have chronic pain from sciatic nerve damage, fibromyalgia amongst other ailments. I had no idea what was going on as I had no computer experience. I did not know what DOS was but here I am with all the students who had worked for years in network administration.

I will now be going back for a 4 year degree in computer science and then either work or go for my mcse. The A+ was a joke and all the students met with the manager and complained after the class. This was the first time students were bold enough to complain.

[Editor's note: I'll bet it wasn't.]

I took an extended medical leave and as your wife experienced I also found the classes are outdated. I called for months for a refund and even was so mad I almost called the local news station to do a story which I find a very appealing idea at present. I am single and I need the money they took from me which leads to a new website. I just purchased new horizons took my money.com and .net so maybe this will help you as we can get this site up in the top 20 or so spots hopefully on a websearch. I believe everybody needs to know what a ripoff these schools are. The site is not running yet as I am not sure how to do this but I know I have friend who will gladly help. They are website designers and hate new horizons so maybe we will see this end up in national news if we are lucky!!!!!

Good Luck with your site and I will certainly tell everyone I know. By the way, I was told Friday at a job fair the New Horizons in Pensacola was being picketed the other day. Yea, good for the dissatisfied person. They were brave!

If you decide to use my letter, please omit my name and e-mail address and or any other material that might identify me. I prefer to remain anonymous except to you and your wife. Thank You.

I was reading your web site in pure amazement. However, not unrealistic in my findings. I was a student at New Horizons in Milwaukee and although not 100% satisfied, I chalked up my bad experience to learning Beta software rather than New Horizon's fault. Honestly, after trying all day shutting down GPF screens, I actually had to re-read the material to learn what I had paid for.

Over the last year, I was looking to change jobs, and possibly becoming a Microsoft Certified Trainer at various educational facilities. New Horizons would advertise in the Milwaukee Journal. I had sent them a resume which I feel is rather impressive, only to find out that they pay under $30,000 per year. Obviously, with that in mind, there is no way New Horizons will attract anyone that has experience in the real world in networking or software development / engineering. Which is why they probably have so many resumes (mine included). Experienced candidates will not accept a job with that kind of salary.

[Editor's note: A few paragraphs containing identifying information have been deleted here. The gist of the deleted information is that the author has obtained a training job at a facility not affiliated with New Horizons.]

Some training centers give their instructors all the training materials and preperation time their instrcuctors need for class presentation.

I pride myself and with the other workers in my facility that we are not "Book and Paper" certified trainers. All of us have had years of real world experience as developers, project leaders, project managers, and various positions from the IT world. Personally, I was an IS director before going into training. There are even some of us that are in print in various magazines that you can pick up where they sell software development / IT management magazines.

Our facility treats their employees like people, not like slaves to teach classes so they can make their money. Granted, I expect my employer to make money off of the classes I teach, but they work around our ability and skill set. They do not demand us to teach something that we are not capable to teach, nor ready to teach. My manager has pulled me off schedule on a few occasions to have me prepare for new classes rather than have me over worked to teach and learn new material for the following week.

What am I getting at? I really empathize with your New Horizon situation. Being an educator at a local technical college part time for 6 years, and now a full time trainer, I have a personal commitment to making sure my students learn in my classes. Even if they learn after taking class, they learn that this is not the job or career they do not want to pursue, they have learned at least that, and I have given them enough material to make that fair judgment.

A few other things that I would like to present to you:

No one can teach a Microsoft Official Course (Designated with the prefix M) before 1/1/2001 without the following:

• The trainer must be a MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer).
• The trainer must be an MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional). This is not a big deal as you can become an MCP by passing one exam.
• The trainer must pass the exam that corresponds to the course to be taught.

• MCSD (Microsoft Certified System Designer)
• MCSE (Microsoft Certified System Engineer)
• MCDBA (Microsoft Certified Database Administrator)

Now I'll put on my bragging hat:

I'm going through all exams for full Solution Provider certification (MCSD, MCSE, MCDBA). I'm 4 exams away from completion. Bragging hat off now.

For more information about these certifications, you can check Microsoft's web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/mcp which will redirect you to:

http://www.microsoft.com/trainingandservices/default.asp?PageID=mcp

There is also a way in which you can turn in a training facility to Microsoft. I do not know exactly how, but a call to the Microsoft District Office in Chicago (your local office affiliate) will point you into the right direction. We call them the "Microsoft Police".

Other links that I might supply you:
http://www.2000exams.com
http://www.measureup.com
http://www.transcender.com

Although I teach Microsoft Official Curriculum, the training and manuals are really not enough to prepare for your MCSE / MCSD / MCDBA exams. Microsoft states this on their web site as well.

I have found that the MOC courses will give you enough material to get a student working with the technology, it is not enough for their exams. 2000exams is a great web site that has sample exam questions. You can even have questions mailed to you every day. A great resource for the MCSE candidate.

Measure Up and Transcender sell exam prep software. I highly recommend to all of my students that are MCSE / MCSD / MCDBA candidates that they purchase the software and study constantly before sitting the exam. My rule of thumb: If you can pass the practice exams 3 times consecutively (That's 6 exams, 3 Measure Up, 3 Transcender), you are ready to sit the exam and you will pass!

The other source that I have found to help the MCSE candidate is: MCSE Training Kit: Windows 2000 Core Requirements http://mspress.microsoft.com/books/4681.htm

I have used these books with the MOC courseware to prepare for the exams (With the exam software). When I saw these books, I thought: If Microsoft is publishing these books for the exams, they must be geared for the exams. My impression was right. These books have two table of contents. The first one is the standard table of contents. The second is ordered to meet the exam requirements as outlined on Microsoft's Web Site.

Lastly, I highly recommend that any home study candidate purchase a few computers for lab material in the MOC course as well as the Training kit. This would have been a much better investment than spending the $1000 on "lab time".

Again, I credit you with the time and effort on your web site. I wish you and your wife all the best in her career and your endeavors.

Hello,

My name is Johnny Cope and have been battling with the Montgomery, Alabama New Horizons franchise on University Court for almost a year now, trying to get a refund for classes I paid for but didn't take.

I signed up for their MCSE+I track and their A+ track in December 1999 at one of their "Career Nights". At this particular event they were offering every class or track they offered at 50% normal pricing. The Career Night was on a Monday and in order to get the discount, you had to pay for all of your classes by the following Friday. My Account Executive said there wasn't any additional discount for signing up for more than one. I originally was only going to sign up for the MCSE+I. Towards the end of the night I expressed an interest in the A+ track. I asked my Account Executive, Mr. Justin Lee, if I signed up for A+ and paid for it then if I would be able to cancel later if I changed my mind and get my money back. His reply was that, as long as I had not taken any of the A+ classes, that I could cancel and receive a full refund.

I took most of the MCSE classes in Jan. and Feb. 2000. They were a complete waste of time and money. I have not taken any of the A+ classes. The classes consisted of sitting in front of an extremely old PC while their instructor reads to you out of the same book sitting in front of you. I gave up asking questions after about the 2nd or 3rd day because the instructors could rarely give a straight answer let alone an accurate one. There were even cases where the instructor would ask the other students in the class if they knew the answer! Other times the students were put on an "extended break" while they rebooted the whole system. Some exercises were skipped because the instructors could not figure out how to do them. I was and still am extremely dissatisfied with the training, or rather the lack of training, that I received.

I also signed up for their "NETg Lab". Unreliable. When I could get on to the network all I would get is frustrated at the quality of their equipment and the less than accurate information provided. For $400 I expected a product that would be worth $400. I would also expect, as most people who work full time would, to be able to use the lab on weekends. I have taken 4 Microsoft tests and nothing I saw on NETg gave me much if any help passing those tests. $7594.00 is the total amount paid and I have never felt more cheated in my life.

In Jan. 2000 I decided not to take the A+ class and they will not give me a refund because according to them (Martha Colson, GM and Dan Leatherwood, controller) I signed up for a "dual track". Their reasoning is that because both tracks are listed on the same contract they are considered a "dual-track". They also say that I received a considerable discount because I signed up for these classes together which is absolutely not true, and I have all the invoices to prove it, but they do not want to look at the invoices.

Nowhere in any of their literature do they say anything about a "dual-track". Using their logic, if you signed up for everything they offered at the same time then it is all one track. On the invoice the two tracks are listed separately each with their own price. I have been extremely patient with them, considering the fact they have been so dishonest with me. Every time I talk to them they come up with another B.S. excuse. I have asked them where, in black and white, I can read an explanation of this so called "dual-track". Their best response to that is that they are listed together on the contract or they will say that is why they are listed together on the contract...because they are a "dual-track". Someone tell me how that answers my question. I explain to them that it does not say anything about "dual-track" on the contract.....big circle....never ends. Never mind the fact that I was told by one of their employees that I could cancel and get a refund. Lies!

I now have new hope though after stumbling across this website. I wish I would have found it earlier. Looks like the President of New Horizons Worldwide, Mr. Thomas J. Bresnan may be getting another letter. I would be more than willing to show him the letters and emails I received from his managers and employees at the Montgomery franchise displaying their skills of deception and trickery. I am seriously thinking of starting my own website for the same purpose as this one and will include a list of all the available FREE resources I have found on the internet where you can learn everything there is to learn and know to pass Microsoft's test. I would be more than happy to help spread the word about the blatant disregard that N.H. has for their customers and the deception they use as a business tool.

Since I am in the military I will take this to the Judge Advocate General and petition to have New Horizons blacklisted so that no one in the military can take classes with them. This should be quite easy now that the military offers all the classes N.H. does and more for absolutely nothing to service members and DOD civilians.

Another extremely dissatisfied Hew Horizons customer,

Johnny E. Cope Jr.

[Editor's note: This writer's experience took place at the McLean, VA New Horizons branch at 2000 Corporate Ridge.]

This is a very long letter, just to warn you.

In the middle of last year, my supervisor thought it would be a good idea to have me go to an "official" Win NT class. Even though I had been working with NT 4.0 for over six months, he felt that this would be a good class to catch anything that I may have missed with hands on training. I have been to several training classes for various programs and systems over the preceding months. Since I am a contractor at my company I have to pay for the class with my company card and than get a receipt for reimbursement.

Since I have done this many times before with other companies I didn't give it a second thought. So with that in mind I called New Horizons to register for the class, that was when I noticed something was different. On Thursday July 6th, I called the Tyson's Corner, Virginia office to register, the receptionist was basically a human automaton. When I stated that I wanted to register for a class, the receptionist asked for my company name and then just transferred me to one person, this I found to be rather odd, since other companies usually have a specific registration phone number. After leaving several voice messages with Charlie Tang, the person who was supposed to complete my registration, I called the main number again and asked if there was anybody else who could register me. I was informed by the receptionist that only Charlie Tang could register me because my company started with an "H" and he handled those accounts.

Not liking that answer I asked for his manager, the receptionist transferred me to his manager,(whose name I don't remember) where I got his voice mail as well. The next morning, Friday the 7th, I got a call back from Mr. Tang. After I finished registering with him, I asked if he could fax me a copy of the receipt so that I can expense it out to my company. Charlie informed me that he doesn't do the billing and that his billing department will send me the receipt by mail. I informed him that I would prefer a fax, but he assured me that it would arrive by Wednesday at latest. I then informed him that a coworker of mine will call him later that day to register as well. After he assured me that I will have my receipt before the day of class I hung up and waited for my receipt and for the day of the class, Friday July 14th.

On Friday July 14th, I went down to New Horizons to take the class, and to have a little chat with Charlie Tang, because I have not seen my receipt yet, and thus could not be reimbursed by my company. I got there at 8:15 and met my coworker who was taking the class as well. Apparently he did not receive his receipt either. Before class began I went up to the receptionist at the front desk and asked to see Charlie Tang. The receptionist informed me that he was not in yet and that when we have our first class break she would contact him for me. I accepted this and went off to class.

And now the fun begins!

My coworker and I settled into our seats and waited for the instructor to arrive. Jon [the instructor] showed up on time and very professional, he gave a good introduction and over view of Win NT that lasted for about 10 minutes. Just as he started his instruction in earnest, a message started to pop up on everyone's machine:

"The shareware version of Windows NT 4.0 will expire in one hour. Please purchase a full copy of this application and install it on your server."

Jon, to his credit, went white as soon as realized what just happened. He told us he was going to go talk with the MIS dept, and then ran out of the room. After several minutes he came back in and told us to set the computer clocks back several hours so that it would fool the machines. I told him that that will not work, he looked at me and asked if we could try it anyway. I looked at my watch and waited... An hour later, all of the machines blue screened. Jon thought this would be a good time to take a break while he went to go yell at someone. So my coworker and I went over to the receptionist so she could get a hold of Charlie Tang for us. Here is the conversation;

Me, "Could you contact Charlie Tang for me please?"

Receptionist, without missing a beat, "He is not here today. He went to a convention."

Me, "Then I would like his manager please."

Receptionist, "He is not here either. He is at the same convention."

I blinked once and turned away from her. My coworker thought I was being nice, but I told him that she isn't any help and there for I won't talk with her.

So after our little break, we returned to class and Jon told us to reboot the machines, which we did. Twice. We got the machines up and running again, but one hour later, the same message popped up, and one hour after that bluescreens for everyone. This continued all day. At the end of a somewhat ok class, Jon did tell us to note the problems with the machines on the class evaluation forms. I left he class feeling that it did some good, but it was not worth the agony I had to go through. Now I had to wait all weekend until I could contact poor Charlie Tang.

On Monday July 17th, I got to my desk to find a letter from New Horizons. I assumed it would be my receipt and that it would appear that Mr. Tang was about to get let off the hook. When I opened the letter, addressed to me, I found, my coworkers receipt in the envelope, but not mine. Now I was ticked!

I called New Horizons and asked for Charlie Tang. When he answered the phone I began to inform him that I had yet to receive anything in writing, that I paid for the class. And that it had been over a week since I registered and that I had never experienced such a complete lack of professionalism from a company before. Charlie tried to tell me that he was going to make sure that the receipt would be mailed out that day. My response was simple; I told him that I had better here the following words out of his mouth, "Yes Mr. Houghton, I have your receipt and I am faxing it to you right now. And that I will make sure that you have received the fax." Charlie did follow my instructions and asked if I would like to talk with his manager.

After another lengthy conversation with him, in which I recounted the my various problems with New Horizons, he simply apologized and said that he would look into it. Now I am not looking for a free ride here, but other companies would either reimburse me for my troubles or at least offer a free class of equal value. New Horizons did neither. I told them that, not only will I not use there company again, but I will make sure MY company will not use them again, and that my friends in other IT departments never use New Horizons. Hopefully they will fold, because I can't see how they can operate the way the do and still be in business.