I am extremely put off by this business and their practices. I went in search of a vocal coach and found one that sounded good in theory on their site takelessons.com. Using their 'complete this to ask questions' form I submitted a question I thought would go to the teacher in question. My question was very specific and in no way asked for more details about their company.

An hour or two later I get a phone call from Takelessons.com . Immediately the little girl (and I say little because she sounded like she was 12) goes into a marketing spiel - all of which I already knew from looking at their website.

I stopped her mid pitch and told her I didn't need a commercial, I needed to ask the TEACHER a question. I submitted a question for the TEACHER while on their site, and wanted a response from the TEACHER. She then informed me that 1) she saw no such question from me - which is bull pucky since my phone number was attached to that submission and the only way she could have gotten it was to have gotten said question. But here's the kicker...

2) No, she said. you may not speak to the teacher until you pay for lessons. period.

Now - they claim to have a 100% money back policy if I pay for lessons and hate the teacher after the first lesson which I am sure is true, but as I explained to her, no sane person pays for something in advance without having done the proper research. I don't want to ask my question to a random disinterested party, have that person ask the teacher, then get my answer filtered back to me through the grapevine. I want to talk to the actual person to whom I will be giving my time and my money.

Futher reading has produced many complaints about their refund policy and bait and switch type practices.

Just thought you all should know this, in case you are like me and are not comfortable with the situation.

Hi,

Just thought you should know that they treat their teachers just as bad. In an economy where music teachers in particular are being laid off all over California, TakeLessons.com has the gall to pay at least 37% below the going rate for a private teacher.

And, if that weren't bad enough, they post pictures on their Facebook page about the masseuse they hired for their call center staff. Great, what about the ACTUAL TEACHERS that make their business go, huh?