I purchased the Pimsleur Unlimited French course in the latter part of December, 2014.
I was very dissatified with my progress and wrote to them withing the 30 day money back guarantee period they advertise on their site.
A person responded saying there was no such policy and "sorry for the inconvenience."
I was not a happy camper.
Once again I wrote and asked for a refund, detailing the reasons why I believe the course is flawed. I have yet to receive a reply to that emai.
Today I wrote them again saying:
I have contacted you before and I will continue to write you until this matter is resolved to my satisfaction.
I purchased the Beginning French course in late December and wrote you within 30 days to request a refund.
The person who responded to my request said that you do not offer refunds. That is not true. Your guarantee states that I can take a test, for which I must pay, and if I fail I will receive a refund.
That is preposterous. Why should I pay you more money just to prove I have not learned French using your method?
My reasons for requesting a refund are these:
The instructions say to listen to the course, repeat, and continue until you master 80% of the material before continuing to the next lesson. Furthermore I was instructed not to consult any written material. The lessons have taken hours for me to complete.
Part of the problem is the native speakers, especially the man, are impossible to understand when they speak in sentences. Before you tell me that the French speak quickly and I have to adjust I can only say that is ridiculous.
The idea underlying the Pimsleur method is that it is based on the way we learn languages naturally, through listening and repeating. While that is technically correct, there are at least three huge flaws in the way the lessons work.
First, we learn the language that is spoken by everyone around us all day, every day.
Second, when we "teach" our children we say the word slowly, clearly, and repeatedly. Moreover we use visual aids when appropriate. For example: "ball" and "book."
Third, the native speakers introduce some, but not all of the vocabulary used in the lessons, slowly and clearly. For example, the word "belle" is pronounced "bell-ah" and it is spoken slowly. The next thing that happens is the speaker spits out a sentence at the speed of sound that includes not only the target word that is not pronounced the same way it was introduced, but also pronouns, verbs, and auxiliary verbs that are not introduced or explained.
Finally I have noted that Pimsleur is now selling written material to supplement courses which belies your philosophy of learning through listening and repeating only.
I want a refund. Your program is flawed and fails to teach the minimum basics that are required to learn a language.
I will contact your legal department if you do not rectify this situation immediately.
Rolayne V
I only hope this will move them to do what they said they would.
Do not purchase this product. Pimleur offers no support to its customers
PIMSLEUR Reviews
I purchased the Pimsleur Unlimited French course in the latter part of December, 2014.
I was very dissatified with my progress and wrote to them withing the 30 day money back guarantee period they advertise on their site.
A person responded saying there was no such policy and "sorry for the inconvenience."
I was not a happy camper.
Once again I wrote and asked for a refund, detailing the reasons why I believe the course is flawed. I have yet to receive a reply to that emai.
Today I wrote them again saying:
I have contacted you before and I will continue to write you until this matter is resolved to my satisfaction.
I purchased the Beginning French course in late December and wrote you within 30 days to request a refund.
The person who responded to my request said that you do not offer refunds. That is not true. Your guarantee states that I can take a test, for which I must pay, and if I fail I will receive a refund.
That is preposterous. Why should I pay you more money just to prove I have not learned French using your method?
My reasons for requesting a refund are these:
The instructions say to listen to the course, repeat, and continue until you master 80% of the material before continuing to the next lesson. Furthermore I was instructed not to consult any written material. The lessons have taken hours for me to complete.
Part of the problem is the native speakers, especially the man, are impossible to understand when they speak in sentences. Before you tell me that the French speak quickly and I have to adjust I can only say that is ridiculous.
The idea underlying the Pimsleur method is that it is based on the way we learn languages naturally, through listening and repeating. While that is technically correct, there are at least three huge flaws in the way the lessons work.
First, we learn the language that is spoken by everyone around us all day, every day.
Second, when we "teach" our children we say the word slowly, clearly, and repeatedly. Moreover we use visual aids when appropriate. For example: "ball" and "book."
Third, the native speakers introduce some, but not all of the vocabulary used in the lessons, slowly and clearly. For example, the word "belle" is pronounced "bell-ah" and it is spoken slowly. The next thing that happens is the speaker spits out a sentence at the speed of sound that includes not only the target word that is not pronounced the same way it was introduced, but also pronouns, verbs, and auxiliary verbs that are not introduced or explained.
Finally I have noted that Pimsleur is now selling written material to supplement courses which belies your philosophy of learning through listening and repeating only.
I want a refund. Your program is flawed and fails to teach the minimum basics that are required to learn a language.
I will contact your legal department if you do not rectify this situation immediately.
Rolayne V
I only hope this will move them to do what they said they would.
Do not purchase this product. Pimleur offers no support to its customers