Spent $300 on a "career coaching" course that was just a guy reading a PDF out loud

I signed up for this online career development program after seeing an ad promising to help me "double my salary in 6 months." It cost me $300 and I was So pumped for the first session. The "coach" literally just read a 20-page PDF about networking tips that I could have found for free on Google. I sat through 4 sessions hoping it would get better, but it was the same boring content every time. By the end I felt like a total fool and asked for a refund, which they denied. Has anyone else fallen for one of these overhyped career programs that just recycle basic advice?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_patricia18d ago

Oh for crying out loud, $300 for someone to read a PDF at you? That's Infuriating. What kind of specific nonsense was in that PDF that they thought was worth charging for? Like, was it the basic "update your LinkedIn" stuff or did they actually claim some secret insider method that turned out to be total crap?

lane.cameron18d ago

Hang on, did she actually say it was a PDF? I thought she mentioned it was a video course she bought. Might be mixing up two different things. But either way, $300 for any kind of generic career advice that you could find for free online is a ripoff. I remember paying a guy fifty bucks once for a "resume blueprint" and it was just three pages of common sense.

angela_grant17d ago

Hang on, I'm gonna push back on this a little bit. If you actually did the exercises and implemented what that PDF said, you probably got your money's worth. People act like because info is available for free that means paying for it is a scam, but paying a coach forces you to actually do the work. Most people who complain about these courses never even opened the PDF after the first session. And $300 is nothing compared to what a bad career move costs you. Plus the coach has to eat and pay rent too, they're not a charity. Maybe the real issue is that you expected magic instead of putting in the effort yourself.