Why student is able to refund even after giving great review?

Hi All,

I want to understand the refund policy. One of my students took one of my courses and gave a really good review. And in the review, he said that the course was so good that he has purchased another course as well and also said that he can't wait for my upcoming courses. I was very happy with this comment. But then one fine day I saw the user has refunded from both of my courses!

Below is his exact comment -

"Great course, everything worked the first time.

The first time that the firebase configuration on ios works the first time.

Clear and precise explanation. I just took the course on testing.

Can't wait for the next courses that I will definitely take."

I really cant understand how users can purchase a course, leave such great comment which means he has watched the whole course! And then go and get the refund

This makes me really sad. Please let me know if this is valid.

Best Regards,

Richa

Comments

  • Mafer R
    Mafer R Posts: 560 researcher rank

    Hi @RichaHarSivo
    I understand how you feel, but in this case, it's best to ask the team at the Trust & Safety team will be happy to clarify further.

    Fernanda Rivera

    Community Moderator

  • This happens a lot. People constantly abuse the refund policy and they never have to give a reason or justify anything. I already went with another service that I can self manage my own refunds.

  • brudemy
    brudemy Posts: 6 researcher rank

    I wonder if you told this case to UDEMY? If you did, how did they take action to solve this issue? According to their policy, they should do something with that obvious abuse of the refund policy. Please update your post if any action is taken. I really wonder if Udemy really cares for the instructors or is it just me feeling that instructors rights are ignored.

  • They did nothing. They just say they monitor for repeat offenders and that if they watch a certain amount of the course they can;t request it, but still gets abused like crazy.

    I moved all my courses to Thinkific where I handle all sign ups. I have been making the same monthly income, even though I get a little less students (because I don't get the marketplace promotion from Udemy which was mostly people buying my course for huge discounts) but I have not had to give a single refund. So to me it is worth it. My courses will keep selling more as my social media poresence grows.

  • brudemy
    brudemy Posts: 6 researcher rank

    Your reply seems like an ad Gabriel... "Course Marketplace" and "Course Creation Platform" are two different things. Udemy is a Course Marketplace and Thinkific is NOT. It is only a course creation platform. Why would anyone pay monthly fees starting from 40 USD for a "Course Creation Platform" while there are many LMS systems free and/or with small yearly fees comparing to Thinkific. Thinkific is not an alternative to Udemy. I have my courses both in Udemy and my personal website which I created with wordpress (free) using a nice theme and a convinient Learning Manangement System plugin. No need to Thinkific. Anyone can get their own domain name and use wordpress to sell their courses in their own platform without the need of a course creation platform like Thinkific. So why would anyone pay a yearly subscription fee arround minimum 500 USD to Thinkific just to create their courses. Thinking that Udemy is a Course Marketplace where people search courses within the Udemy platform, Thinkific is not an alternative to Udemy. It has a completely different purpose. So I think your message is irrelevant.